Dylan Cozens

Dylan Cozens
Cozens with the Clearwater Threshers in 2015
Philadelphia Phillies – No. 25
Outfielder
Born: (1994-05-31) May 31, 1994
Scottsdale, Arizona
Bats: Left Throws: Left
MLB debut
June 1, 2018, for the Philadelphia Phillies
MLB statistics
(through 2018 season)
Batting average .158
Home runs 1
Runs batted in 2
Teams

Dylan Wallace Cozens (born May 31, 1994) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a second round (77th overall) pick in the 2012 MLB draft. He made his major league debut in 2018.

Early life

Cozens was born in Scottsdale, Arizona. His father Randy played football for four years as a defensive lineman at the University of Pittsburgh, and was drafted in the 17th round of the 1976 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos, but never played for them.[1][2]

Cozens initially attended Desert Mountain High School in Arizona, but was suspended midway through his junior year for an altercation with his baseball coach. Baseball writer Keith Law reported that Cozens "shoved his coach and told him to 'f off' in the dugout during a game, so he was kicked off the team - the culmination of a series of incidents that turned many scouts off him, one even calling him a 'bully'".[3]

That led to Cozens transferring to Chaparral High School.[4] Due to his transfer, Cozens was forced to sit out the rest of his junior season due to eligibility restrictions.[5] As a senior, Cozens posted a .520 batting average and hit 19 home runs in 33 games, breaking the school's single-season record, formerly held by longtime Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko. His 19 home runs led the state and were second nationally only to the 21 hit by future major leaguer Joey Gallo.[6] He ended the season by hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning of the Division I state championship, winning the title.[7][8]

Cozens' also was a standout defensive end on Chaparral's football team and verbally committed to play for the Arizona Wildcats football team before opting to sign with the Phillies.[7]

Professional career

Minor leagues

As a scout for the Philadelphia Phillies, Marti Wolever, among other representatives of the organization, evaluated Cozens before the 2012 MLB draft and watched him during a workout at Citizens Bank Park. Though there were some concerns about Cozens temperament, the Phillies selected Cozens in the second round with the 77th overall selection of the draft and he signed a contract with a $659,800 signing bonus.[9] "That was probably the guy I was most excited about", said Phillies general manager Rubén Amaro Jr., "Extraordinary power for a kid -- great body, runs well, seems to move pretty well".[9]

Cozens began the 2012 season with the Gulf Coast Phillies of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. In 50 games, he batted .255 with five home runs and 24 runs batted in (RBIs).[10] The Phillies promoted Cozens to the Williamsport Crosscutters of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League the following year. He finished the season second in the league in doubles (19), extra base hits (30), and runs (50) while also ranking third in slugging percentage (.469).[11] Cozens struck out 147 times in his first full season of professional baseball for the Lakewood BlueClaws of the Class A South Atlantic League.[12] In 2015, he shared time with the Blueclaws and the Reading Fightin' Phils of the Class AA Eastern League.[12][13]

During the Fightin' Phils' 2016 season, Cozens hit 40 home runs, the most by any Eastern Leaguer since Ron Kittle in 1981, topping the team's single-season record set by Darin Ruf four years prior, and earning him the Joe Bauman Home Run Award for the most home runs on the season by a minor leaguer; he led the league in runs scored (106), extra-base hits (81), total bases (308), doubles (38), RBIs (125) and slugging percentage (.591).[14][15][16] His production helped the team finish with a league-best 89-52 record.[17] However, Cozens batted just .197 off left-handed pitching and struggled to make contact, striking out a league-leading 186 times in 521 at-bats.[18][19] MLB.com ranked Cozens as the seventh-best prospect in the Phillies farm system and the Phillies added him to their 40-man roster.[20]

Cozens spent the 2017 season with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs of the Class AAA International League, where he struggled to make contact consistently; Cozens batted .210 with 27 home runs and 75 RBIs but led the league with 194 strikeouts.[21][22] He was named an International League All Star.[13] The emergence of Rhys Hoskins and Cozens' high strikeout ratio dashed his opportunity to obtain a spot on the Phillies' Opening Day roster in 2018.[23]

Philadelphia Phillies

Cozens was promoted to the Major Leagues on May 31, 2018 to replace Hoskins while he was on the disabled list.[24] At the time of his promotion Cozens was batting .226 at Lehigh Valley, with 10 home runs and 75 strikeouts in 168 at-bats.[25] He debuted on June 1 against the San Francisco Giants and recorded his first major league hit in the same game.[26]; his first home run came on June 7 against the Chicago Cubs’s reliever Brandon Morrow.[27] He was recalled as a September call up once rosters expanded on September 1.[28]

References

  1. ↑ Webeck, Evan (2018-05-24). "Dylan Cozens couples power and athleticism". MLB.com. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
  2. ↑ "1976 Denver Broncos Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
  3. ↑ 1:00 PM. "Chat: Chat with Keith Law - SportsNation". ESPN. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
  4. ↑ Lovano, Nick. "Phillies Dylan Cozens Overcomes High School Indiscretion". Toronto Observer. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  5. ↑ Odegard, Kyle. "Tribune Baseball Player of the Year: Dylan Cozens | VarsityXtra". eastvalleytribune.com. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
  6. ↑ "Chaparral slugger Cozens named player of the year | Sports". ahwatukee.com. 2012-06-23. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
  7. 1 2 Ignelzi, Lenny. "Dylan Cozens traded Arizona football for a diamond, and he's shining". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  8. ↑ Garcia, Jose. "Phillies Draft Dylan Cozens". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  9. 1 2 Kaplan, Jake. "Phils pick Cozens has 'extraordinary power'". MLB.com. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Dylan Cozens". Phuture Phillies. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  11. ↑ Floyd, Jay. "Prospect Nation 2016: #16 OF Dylan Cozens". Phillies Nation. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  12. 1 2 Apter, Brandon. "Dylan Cozens Displaying Improved Approach". Philadelphia.com. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  13. 1 2 "Dylan Cozens Stats, Highlights, Bio | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". Milb.com. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
  14. ↑ Kraft, Alex. "Minors' home run king Cozens belts 40th". MiLB.com. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Dylan Cozens Named Eastern League MVP". MiLB.com. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  16. ↑ Salisbury, Jim (December 5, 2016). "Phillies prospect Dylan Cozens honored with Joe Bauman Award". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  17. ↑ Seidman, Cory. "WITH 40 HR AND 125 RBIS, PHILLIES PROSPECT DYLAN COZENS NAMED EASTERN LEAGUE MVP". Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  18. ↑ Sickles, John. "Thoughts on Dylan Cozens". MiLB.com. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  19. ↑
  20. ↑ "Phillies Add Dylan Cozens to 40-Man Roster". CBS. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Dylan Cozens Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  22. ↑
  23. ↑ Gross, Stephen (March 20, 2018). "Dylan Cozens has work to do with Lehigh Valley IronPigs in 2018". Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  24. ↑ "Phillies are calling Dylan Cozens up to majors". NBC Sports Philadelphia. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  25. ↑ "Dylan Cozens". The Baseball Cube. 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
  26. ↑ "Philadelphia Phillies at San Francisco Giants Box Score, June 1, 2018".
  27. ↑ "Heyward hits walk-off slam in 9th, Cubs beat Phillies 7-5". ESPN.com. Associated Press. June 7, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.