Ben Cowles #4

Benjamin Joseph Cowles (pronounced COW-uhls)...Graduated from Newark High School located in Newark, N.Y...Was a Rawlings Perfect Game Honorable Mention All- American...Awarded Finger Lakes East Player of the Year in 2017 and 2018...Also played basketball...Attended the University of Maryland located in College Park, MD...In three seasons with Maryland from 2019-21, slashed .243/.364/.471 with 18 doubles, a triple, 24 home runs, 80 RBI, 18 stolen bases, 44 walks, 125 strikeouts and an .835 OPS...Named to the Baseball America Third Team All-America, First Team All-Big Ten, and ABCA/Rawlins All-East Region team in 2021...Played for the Newark Pilots of the Perfect Game Collegiate League in 2018 and the Nashua Silver Knights of the Futures Collegiate League in 2019...Appeared in a combined 39 contests with the Mesa Solar Sox in 2023 and 2024, slashing .250/.351/.431 with 10 doubles, a pair of triples, four home runs, 22 RBI, four stolen bases and a .782 OPS.

2025

Spent time in the Cubs and White Sox organizations in 2025...Played with Triple-A Iowa for the majority of the campaign, before being claimed off waivers by the White Sox near the end of the season...Combined to play 128 games at the Triple-A level, slashing .235/.300/.371 with 30 doubles, four triples, nine home runs, 49 RBI 18 stolen bases, a 7.2% walk rate, a 28.8% strikeout rate and a .671 OPS... His 30 doubles ranked tied for eighth in the International League... Against left-handed pitching, slashed .252/.294/.450 with seven doubles, five home runs, 20 RBI and a .745 OPS in 119 plate appearances.

2024

Ben split the 2024 season between Double-A Somerset in the Yankees system and Double-A Tennessee, setting single-season career marks in doubles (25), RBI (51) and OPS (.829) in a combined 92 games...Began the season in Somerset and was named the Eastern League Player of the Month for April, batting .351 (27-for-77) with eight doubles, two triples, three home runs and 14 RBI in 21 games...Hit three home runs in a four-game span from April 24-28 and had a five-game RBI streak from April 23-28 (seven total)…Led I-Cubs hitters (min 40 G) in slugging percentage (.514) and OPS (.850)…Tallied a nine-game hitting streak from June 19-28, batting .353 (12-for-34) during the run...Was traded from New York (A.L.) to the Cubs on July 30 with right-handed pitcher Jack Neely for right-handed pitcher Mark Leiter Jr...Was on the injured list from July 26-Sept. 9 with a right wrist fracture...Following the season played in 19 games for Mesa in the Arizona Fall League.

2023

Reached the Triple-A level for the first time in 2023, playing in 106 games for High-A Hudson Valley and three games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre...Combined to hit .253 (97-for-383) with 18 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs and 41 RBI...the 10 home runs marked a single-season career high...Hit .309 (21-for-68) with an .866 OPS vs. left-handed pitching...Hit safely in 14 of 17 games from Aug. 1-23, batting .352 (19-for-54) during the run...Batted .290 (20-for-69) with four doubles, one triple, four home runs, 15 RBI, a .405 OBP and a .956 OPS in 20 games with Mesa in the Arizona Fall League following the season.

2022

In 2022, combined to hit .272 (82-for-302) with seven home runs and 41 RBI in 93 games between Single-A Tampa (70 games) and High-A Hudson Valley (23 games)...Began the season with Tampa where he hit .289 (65-for-225) with seven home runs and 33 RBI...Spent time on the injured list from April 27-May 11 with a left groin strain...Was promoted to Hudson Valley Aug. 9 where he spent the reminder of the season.

2021

Began his professional career in 2021, batting .250 (26-for-104) with seven doubles, one triple, four home runs and 25 RBI in 36 games with the FCL Yankees (three games) and Tampa (33 games).