Kaleb Bryant Cowart (born June 2, 1992) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Major League Baseball (MLB). He won the Gatorade High School Baseball Player of the Year Award in 2010.^[1] Cowart was drafted by the Angels in the first round (eighteenth overall) in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft.

High school[edit]

Cowart attended Cook County High School in Adel, Georgia. In his senior year, Cowart played third base and also pitched. As a pitcher he went 10-1 with a 1.05 ERA in 73 innings, recording 116 strikeouts and one save. As a batter, he hit .654 with 11 home runs, 59 RBIs and scored 55 runs. He also recorded a 1.206 slugging percentage, a .721 on-base percentage and was 36/36 on stolen bases. His batting average is the second highest in state history for a single season.^{[citation needed]}

Professional career[edit]

Cowart was selected 18th overall in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Though he committed to play baseball at Florida State University, Cowart signed with the Angels.^[2]

Cowart played for the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Class A Midwest League and Inland Empire 66ers of the Class A-Advanced California League in 2012. Between the two levels, he had a .276 batting average and 16 home runs in 135 games. Promoted to the Arkansas Travelers of the Class AA Texas League in 2013, Cowart struggled, batting .221 with six home runs and 124 strikeouts in 132 games. Returning to Arkansas in 2014, Cowart batted .223 with six home runs and 99 strikeouts in 126 games.^[3]

After two poor seasons, the Angels assigned Cowart to Inland Empire to start the 2015 season, where he demonstrated an improvement in plate discipline. In June, due to promotions of C. J. Cron, Efren Navarro, and Kyle Kubitza to the major leagues, the Angels promoted Cowart to the Salt Lake Bees of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League.^[3] The Angels promoted Cowart to the major leagues on August 18, 2015.^[4] He made his major league debut that night.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)