With the Seattle Mariners having embarked on a rebuild this offseason, they are free to experiment with some things in 2019. They can let new shortstop J.P. Crawford go through growing pains, find out whether Daniel Vogelbach is a viable big league first baseman, and give Justus Sheffield a chance to show what he can do as a starter, among other things.
Among those other things is experiment with a two-way player. On Monday the Mariners claimed infielder Kaleb Cowart off waivers from the division rival Angels and announced he will split his time between infielder and pitcher going forward.
Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto was the Angels GM when Cowart came up through their farm system as a top prospect. He was a legitimate pitching prospect in high school but preferred to hit, and the Angels gave Cowart a $2.3 million bonus as the 18th overall pick in the 2010 draft and agreed to let him swing the bat.
Cowart has never pitched as a professional. Never in MLB and never in the minors, even in an emergency situation or in the late innings of a blowout. The Mariners will presumably have him get in some mound work this offseason and see what he looks like during bullpen sessions in spring training.
In parts of four seasons with the Angels the 26-year-old Cowart is a career .177/.241/.293 (47 OPS+) hitter in 380 plate appearances while playing all around the infield and even some outfield. He's a career .298/.361/.469 hitter in Triple-A and seems to have settled in as a 'tweener, meaning he's too good for Triple-A but not good enough for MLB. A classic Quad-A type.
Although he preferred to hit when he was drafted, Cowart has not yet established himself in the big leagues, and it stands to reason he'll welcome the opportunity to pitch with the Mariners because it gives him a better chance to stick around. A utility player who can pitch in relief would be a nifty use of a roster spot, and the Mariners are in position to give it a shot.
