Draft Sleeper Day 3

Yesterday I touched on Parker Morin, the Royals 14th Round selection. Today I am touching on another catcher, Chris Cowell, the 1038 pick in the 34th from the University of Richmond by the Colorado Rockies.

Cowell is immediately different from Morin in the sense that he is a senior and spent all four years at the NCAA D1 Level.

He is also different in the size category. Cowell stands 6'4" and weighs in at 215. Height wise that puts him in line with Jarrod Saltalamacchia. In other words, he is tall, and for the most part catchers aren't nearly that tall.

Cowell finished second in the nation with 20 homeruns this season. He did that in 7 games fewer than the overall leader. The biggest hole in the game though is clearly the swing and miss percentage. He finished this season with 74 strikeouts in 210 at-bats (35.2%). That percentage does not bode well for Cowell. To put it in perspective, Mark Reynolds in college struck out in only 25.3% of his at-bats. In general players who swing and miss that frequently in college do not succeed in the pro game.

The fact of the matter though is he does generate a ton of power. This season when he wasn't striking out, he was mashing the ball all over the country. 38 XBH's out of 57 hits. In other words, 66.6% of his hits were either a double or a homer. 19 singles. 20 homers. 18 doubles. Add in his walks, which he had 40 of this season, and you get an interesting outlook on his skill... In 250 Plate Appearances Cowell, reached base and advanced any runners (in other words had a base hit or walked) in 38.8% of his appearances.

38.8% Reached Via Hit or Walk
29.6% Struckout (Failed to put ball into play)
31.6% Created an out with the ball in play

What this goes to show is that Cowell can have value as a hitter. Despite the high-rate of strike outs, 15.2% of his 250 Plate Appearances resulted in extra bases. In other words, he was putting himself into scoring position with one swing 15.2% of his appearances.

To compare this to the whiff-king in the Majors, Mark Reynolds during his final season at UVA.

Reynolds and Cowell had identical .387 OBP's in the final season of college ball, so it makes for an interesting comparison.

Reynolds
34.7% Reached Via Hit or Walk
20.3% Struckout (Failed to put ball into play)
45% Created an out with the ball in play

Furthermore, only 9.3% of his at-bats resulted in extra bases.

Now, Cowell and Reynolds are not the same player. Richmond is a small A10 school. They play one ACC game a season. UVA is one of the strongest baseball programs in the nation, in one of the best conferences. But what this goes to show is that Cowell can produce at a good clip, despite the high-rate of strikeouts.

Defensively he has never been a top-notch receiver, but he is a solid catcher. He threw out a total of 22.4% of potential base runners over his four year career. That average was consistant throughout his career at Richmond, and leads me to believe that it is relatively accurate. That said, because of his size and arm strength, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Rockies move him to 1B or LF where his skills may play up a little better.

Needless to say, if you are a Rockies fan, Chris Cowell is a solid 34th rounder. And if the strikeouts can be minimized the Rockies may have a steal.