It was little surprise after the May he had that outfielder Dylan Cozens on Friday was named the Phillies' Minor League Hitter of the Month.
The 6-foot-6, 22-year-old, left-handed hitting Cozens hit .289 with 10 doubles, nine home runs and 26 RBIs in 30 games for Reading in May.
For the season, Cozens leads the Eastern League in homers (14), doubles (18), extra-base hits (32) and slugging percentage (.582). He's also second in the league with 44 RBIs and 57 hits.
Prior to the Phillies' game Friday against the Brewers, manager Pete Mackanin acknowledged Cozens' eye-opening power.
"We played him one game in spring training in Port Charlotte. His batting practice, he was hitting balls over the batting eye in center field, so we know he's got that kind of pop," Mackanin said.
Mackanin did caution, however, that Reading's ballpark and the wind that tends to blow flyballs out of it make it a bit tougher to gauge what kind of year a power hitter is truly having there.
"I don’t want to take anything away from him," Mackanin said. "I’ve seen his swing and I’ve seen him play — I haven’t seen him play defensively enough to get a read on that — but I also know when we played that exhibition game in Reading, that place is ... it’s hard to really get a good read on a guy if he hits a lot of home runs."
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It is worth mentioning that 11 of Cozens' 14 home runs this season have come at home.
The Phillies' other minor-league honors went to right-handed reliever Edubray Ramos (Pitcher of the Month) and outfielder Carlos Tocci (Defender).
Ramos, 23, allowed just one earned run and 12 baserunners in 17⅓ innings in May, earning a promotion from Double A Reading to Triple A Lehigh Valley.
In 20 appearances this season (11 at Double A, nine at Triple A), Ramos is 2-1 with seven saves and a 1.27 ERA. He's struck out 29 batters and walked just two in 28⅓ innings.
Tocci, 20, has just one error in 419⅓ innings in center field this season for High A Clearwater. He's a .250/.303/.315 hitter in 1,876 minor-league plate appearances.
