Prospect Profile - Kaleb Cowart (3B)
Bats: Both Throws: Right Height: 6’2”195 lbs. DOB: 6/2/92
(Cedar Rapids/Inland Empire): .276/.358/.452 with 16 HRs and 14 SBs
Kaleb Cowart's first full professional season with Angels, split between two levels (Cedar Rapids, IE 66ers), was a good one. The Halos 3B prospect showed signs of having solid power down the road clubbing 31 doubles, 7 triples and 16 home runs while demonstrating an advanced approach at the plate. Cowart's 45 walks in 69 games ranked fourth in the league during his time with the 66er's in High-A Ball (.358 OBP overall).
Scouts believe Cowart will be a 25 plus home run guy in the big leagues, a true middle of the order bat and all-star. Cowart fit the profile in 2012 driving in 103 runs. The scout I spoke to loved his ability to go the other way, with power as well. Coming out of high school, Cowart had more success and power coming from his natural right-side of the plate and his swing from the left-side resembled former Angel Adam Kennedy with a loopy offering, resulting in too many pop ups. Cowart corrected his approach from the left-side in 2012 and looked a lot more comfortable there in 2012, hitting 14 of his 16 home runs from the left-side, and hitting more line drives.
Defensively Cowart makes all the routine plays, looks good coming in on bunts and slow grounders and has the arm strength and accuracy to profile as a major league caliber third baseman. After a rough beginning to his career defensively, committing 16 errors in his first 66 games, Cowart committed the same amount of errors in 2012 in 125 games. Like former top prospect Mike Trout, Cowart earns praise for his ability to make adjustments, his incredible work ethic and is considered likeable by all his teammates. Cowart has just average speed, but runs the bases well.
A strong first half with the Inland Empire 66er's in 2013 could see the Angels 2010 first rounder follow Travis Witherspoon's 2012 path, getting promoted to Double-A at the mid-way point with the Arkansas Travelers.
Check out our interview with Kaleb Cowart toward the end of his 2012 minor league season below.
