The last shot for Kaleb Cowart?

In 2013, Cowart was widely considered the top prospect in the (weak) Angels system. He was always a top fielder in the system and was expected to be a moderate batting average guy with a solid OBP and good power. That’s not exactly what we have seen from Cowart in 4 trips to the big leagues. Cowart still has an option year left for 2019, but the system is getting stronger and guys are waiting in the wings (Luis Rengifo, Taylor Ward, etc). Not to mention David Fletcher who has already arrived and Zach Cozart who will be returning next season.

Cowart’s “moderate” average has yet to materialize. In 370 plate appearances he’s hitting .194 in the big leagues with a .263 OBP and only 6 home runs.

In 2015, his first big league season, Cowart was 23 years old and hit .174 across 31 games and 52 plate appearances. More of the same followed in 2016. Last year, Cowart had a “bettter” .225/.313/.382 slashline but that is still far off what you want from a regular big league guy.

Cowart is back again for shot #4 thanks to the DFA of Luis Valbuena. He’s been less than impressive so far with a .167 AVG in 36 plate appearances. Pretty much a lot more of the same. Even in Salt Lake, Cowart had a pretty light line of .287/.333/.457 with only 6 home runs in 64 games.

There is no doubt Cowart can play defense and for Salt Lake he logged innings and second, third, short, first, right field, and left field. A guy with that kind of versatility is nice - if he can hit. But so far, Cowart has shown otherwise and there are plenty of guys waiting in the wings to take his spot.