"This is a kid that people knew about, but were kind of [turned] off of for whatever reason," said Amaro, who usually is reserved when discussing draft picks. "I love the guy's power, I mean, extraordinary power for a kid; great body, runs well, seems to move pretty well. He looks like a pretty decent athlete."
The last decent outfielder the Phillies drafted in the second round was (gulp) Larry Hisle in 1965, and he had most of his major league success with the Twins and Brewers.
The Phillies used their own second-round pick, No. 95 overall, on Alec Rash, a 6-5 righthander out of Adel Desoto Minburn High School in Iowa.
In the third round, the Phillies selected Zach Green, a 6-3 shortstop said to have good power and a strong arm. The Phils generally are traditionally enamored with high school players, and took five prep players with their first five selections, including righthanders Shane Watson (No. 40) and Mitch Gueller (No. 54) in Monday's compensatory round.
They closed out Day 2, however, by taking college players with nine of their final 12 picks.
Cozens is the son of Randy Cozens, a defensive end who played at Pitt and was drafted by the Broncos in 1976. A lefthanded hitter and projected corner outfielder, Cozens hit a state-high 19 homers this spring and is a University of Arizona signee for both baseball and football (defensive end). He also had several scholarship offers for basketball, but baseball is his primary sport, his mother said.
"Baseball has always been a lifelong dream. And his dream has come true," Sandra Michele said. "Now we're just ready to watch him do what he does best: play baseball and hit home runs."
Signing with the Phillies should be just a formality. Cozens' draft position is slotted at $659,800, according to the rules of the new collective bargaining agreement.
Cozens played his junior season at Desert Mountain High School before he was kicked off the baseball team and transferred to Chaparral and led the Firebirds to a state title this spring. The Cozenses did not elaborate on his trouble at Desert Mountain. Amaro said only that Cozens had "got into a couple of tussles, but that's OK. I don't have a problem with that." Wolever also isn't concerned.
"He broke [fellow Chaparral product] Paul Konerko's home-run record in Arizona," Wolever said. "We spent a lot of time on his makeup and on his family. We believe this kid's got what it takes."
Cozens turned 18 on May 31. Two days later, he was putting on a show in front of Phillies' brass.
"Being able to check out the clubhouse and meeting Charlie Manuel and seeing guys like Cliff Lee and Carlos Ruiz was cool," he said.
Cozens was one of 10 players the Phillies worked out before the draft and the only one they've selected over the first 2 days. Now, it's up to him to prove it was merited.
"This guy bounced around a little bit, and people got on him late," Wolever said. "People [may have] heard all the information, but they didn't do their homework. They didn't find out what he was made of and his character, and we did. Once we saw him play, we thought this is a guy we have a lot of interest in, so let's find out everything that goes with it. I think we have and we feel real good about his selection."
Contact Ed Barkowitz at barkowe@phillynews.com.
