AGE: 22
POSITION: RF
TEAM:Reading Fighting Phils (AA affiliate of Philadelphia Phillies)
DRAFTED: By the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2nd round of the 2012 draft
SCOUTING REPORT: The Phillies always knew Cozens could hit for power, but it wasn't until this past season that we really got to see just how powerful Cozens is. He strikes out a lot, largely in part because he struggles to recognize breaking pitches. Some scouts are concerned about his swing, saying it appears "stiff" at times. Pitch selection can be an issue, but the Phillies are willing to overlook that because of his enormous power potential. Will most likely never hit for high average, and will probably top out in the .280s. At the beginning of the 2016 season, Baseball HQ said he had speed but because of his size (6'6", 235 lbs.) that aspect of his game wasn't likely to stay around. But Cozens proved them wrong, swiping 21 bases this past year.
STATS: In 50 games as a rookie in 2012, Cozens hit .255/5/24. The following year, he spent the entire season at Low-A Williamsport where he hit 9 home runs and drove in 34. He also reached double-digit steals for the first time with 11. In 2014, he spent the entire season with Class A Lakewood, again increasing his homer count to 16. He also doubled his previous games played high with 132. This was the first look at how Cozens would do over the course of a full season. He also participated in the Australian Baseball League that winter. Then, in 2015 the power numbers dipped. He only launched 8 home runs in 111 games. The run production was still there, as he drove in 59 runs, and he hit a (so-far) career high .280 with most of his playing time coming at High-A Clearwarter. He then went to the Puerto Rican Winter League. There, the power numbers increased slightly, perhaps enough to give the Phillies confidence he was getting his home run stroke back, but certainly not enough to provide any indication of what was to come in 2016. Cozens spent the entire 2016 season at AA Reading,where he hit a very solid .276 in 134 games. But he truly found his power stroke, leading all of Minor League Baseball with 40 home runs, to go with 125 runs driven in. For good measure, Cozens stole 20 bases for the third time in his five minor league seasons.
PROJECTION: Cozens has power that every big league team wants in their lineup. He projects as a solid everyday player who should have no trouble keeping a job for 13-15 years. May make a few All-Star games in his prime as well. The MLB comparisons for Cozens are Mike Cameron, Raul Mondesi, and Reggie Sanders, but Cozens will have just a tick less speed than those players did. An average line for Cozens in the Majors should be a .260 average, 25-35 home runs, 80-100 RBI, 15-20 steals, and upwards of 160 strikeouts.
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