By Hunt Palmer
Jay Johnson scouted Zac Cowan hard entering the 2024 Chapel Hill Regional.
At that time, Cowan was the Wofford ace who had thrown better than 200 pitches in the SoCon Tournament a week prior. Because of the workload, Cowan didn’t see the mound against LSU on that Friday, but Johnson had seen enough.
When Cowan entered the transfer portal two weeks later, LSU pounced.
Early in the 2025 season, Cowan’s role was undefined. He was pitching multiple innings once a week, and as the good outings piled up, the leverage of those spots heightened.
By SEC play, Cowan had joined Casan Evans in a dominant closer tandem.
Eight of Cowan’s first 10 SEC outings were scoreless, and five resulted in saves. His league ERA was under 2.00. Then the bumpy finish to the season began in College Station. He was dinged for a loss in the first game of the series and surrendered the go ahead home run a day later in game three of the series.
A trip to South Carolina came two weeks later, and Cowan was tattooed for three earned runs in 1.2 innings.
All was forgiven after his start in Omaha, though. Cowan tied Arkansas in knots for 5.1 innings in the bracket final. He kept the Tigers close enough to come back and win it in the wild and crazy ninth inning.
Cowan now has a decision to make.
Because he’s a 5-foot-11-inch right hander with a fastball that tops at about 93 mph, he’s not overly projectable to the professional ranks. I believe Cowan will field phone calls from rounds 10-20, but is the offer worth jumping on?
LSU has prepared an NIL-revenue share package for Cowan (and the other draft-eligible players). That could be a better option than his potential signing bonus.
If Cowan returns to LSU, he will forfeit his draft leverage and lose out on any shot at a sizable signing bonus next year.
IF HE STAYS
Cowan likely starts the season in the weekend rotation. There are no questions whether or not he can handle a starter’s workload. He did it two years ago as an ace. I don’t see him as a Friday night SEC starter. That likely falls to Evans. But Cowan does profile as a steady presence at the back of an SEC rotation. He’d be a great Sunday option as a guy who throws a ton of strikes and can almost always get through five or six innings.
If some of the higher upside potential starters like Evans, William Schmidt, Danny Lachenmayer, Cooper Williams and a member of the signing class can hold down the first two starter slots, maybe Cowan represents the first true No. 3 starter LSU could count on since Eric Walker in 2017.
IF HE GOES
LSU loses a very reliable inning eater on the weekend. That’s either the closer or a weekend starter. Cowan has proven himself, posting a 2.94 ERA over 52 innings at the highest level.
Arms like Schmidt, Mavrick Rizy and others still have lot to prove against league hitters. That’s not the case with Cowan.
It would be a hit to the staff if he turns pro.
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