Dylan Cozens may have played his final game as a member of the Phillies organization after news broke that he would be undergoing season-ending foot surgery. Cozens had been slashing just .158/.273/.289 across 44 plate appearances in AAA Lehigh Valley. With no minor league options remaining at the start of next season, his time may be up before it ever really got going.
Cozens of course was once regarded as one of the club’s top ten prospects. MLB.com had him ranked as the 6th best prospect in the organization prior to the 2016 season. That year in AA Reading, Cozens mashed to the tune of .276/.350/.591 with 40 total home-runs.
Sadly, Cozens became one of many Phillies prospects who haven’t seen their success in Reading’s hitter-friendly environment translate elsewhere. He slashed just .210/.301/.418 while striking out 194 times over 542 plate appearances with Lehigh Valley in 2017. As a result, his stock dropped and he opened 2018 as MLB.com’s 15th top prospect in the Phillies organization. Like Darin Ruf, Matt Rizzotti and others, Cozens saw his stats inflated by Reading.
Still, there was hope that Cozens could be an asset. The silver-lining in his 2017 campaign was 27 home-runs. Expectations may have been tamed but he was still looked upon as a part of the future.
However, Dylan Cozens never got a chance to do much at the big league level. He racked up just 44 plate appearances in 26 games MLB games in 2018, amounting to a .158/273/.289 line with just one home-run. The former 2nd round pick only had one major league AB in 2019; an unsuccessful pinch-hit attempt against Miami before immediately being sent back down.
It is entirely possible that Cozens may have played his final game with the Phillies. Hopefully he heals well and gets an opportunity to be successful, in Philly or elsewhere.