Prospect Q&A: Randolph ready for anything

It's no secret that the Philadelphia Phillies are in the midst of a dramatic rebuilding effort. Eight of the system's top 15 prospects have come into the organization since June. When MLB.com's 2016 Top 100 Prospect list was revealed in January, no franchise had more players on it than the Phillies with seven. Not to be lost in the high-profile trades that brought in the likes of Jake Thompson, Mark Appel and Nick Williams, though, is Philadelphia's first-round Draft pick last summer.

Cornelius Randolph, the 10th overall selection, turns 19 this June, but he's already shown he can apply his above-average hitting and power tools at the pro level. The native of Griffin, Georgia, produced a remarkable .302/.425/.442 slash line in 53 Rookie-level Gulf Coast League games, collecting 19 extra-base hits, 34 runs scored and 24 RBIs over that time. Formerly a shortstop, the left-handed hitter also began a transition to left field -- his future as a pro looks to be in the outfield -- splitting time between there and serving as the designated hitter.

After helping the GCL Phillies to a 36-24 record and a second-place finish, Randolph reported to the fall instructional league in late September. He spoke with MiLB.com at the end of February as he was preparing to get back into action on the Minor League side of spring camp.

MiLB.com: Are you already in Florida?

Randolph: Yes, I'm in Clearwater. I feel great to be down here, and my body feels great. I'm ready to go. Right now, I'm just getting into hitting, doing a lot of outfield work, getting my arm sharpened back into shape for the season.

MiLB.com: How'd you spend the offseason?

Randolph: Just working out every day, Monday through Friday. And I was hitting every day.

MiLB.com: Now that you're in camp, is there anything in particular you're working on there that you'd like to see especially sharp by the time the season starts?

Randolph: Defense would have to be the main thing I'm working on, because I'm still learning the outfield, so I'm working a lot on that.

MiLB.com: Are you meeting a lot of new people, or so far has it mostly been guys you've already met?

Randolph: I'm meeting a lot of new people. Everybody's cool. Everybody's nice. I'm meeting a lot of [Class A Advanced] guys and a lot of low-A guys for the first time. I've already met J.P. [Crawford], Nick Williams, [Jorge] Alfaro… I met all those guys at instructs, so the guys I'm meeting now are mostly the A guys.

MiLB.com: Do you plan to come out of camp with any specific goals for this year -- either in terms of any numbers or a level you hope to reach?

Randolph: Not really. My plan is to go out and play as hard as I can every day, and if I get moved, I get moved. If I don't, I don't. As long as I'm playing my game, I know the Phillies have a plan for me.

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• PROSPECTive: Lightning round with Cornelius Randolph

MiLB.com: A lot of guys in their first crack at pro ball don't do quite what they're projected to or maybe what they're capable of, but you came out of high school and had really impressive offensive numbers in the GCL. What was that like for you?

Randolph: It was just me playing my game. That was me not going away from my normal approach -- me seeing the fastball, me hitting it. It's true that the game speeds up, yes, but it's all about you slowing it down.

I wasn't used to seeing 92-plus [mph] every day. I wasn't used to seeing people spot their change-ups and breaking balls where they wanted to. I wasn't used to facing lefties at 97, but it's something you just have to adjust to, and I felt like I did a nice job making that adjustment.

MiLB.com: Something that really stands out is that in your first time facing that kind of professional pitching, you walked as many times as you struck out [32]. Will that kind of control of at-bats be an important part of your game as you go on?

Randolph: Very much so. When I first came down, I was kind of free-swinging. I was striking out a lot [in exhibitions] before the season started. I was talking to my dad and he was like, "Slow it down. Wait for the pitch you want and don't miss it." So I started slowing it down, taking the first pitch. Once I started taking first pitches, I was locked in. I would say [controlling at-bats] is definitely going to be part of my game going forward.

MiLB.com: One thing people talk about when your name comes up is that you'll probably end up hitting for more power down the line than you do right now at age 18. Do you think when home runs start coming a lot more often, it will be a challenge for you to not chase them and to stick to that approach?

Randolph: Not at all. As you stated, the home runs are going to come. The power numbers are going to go up on their own. When they do, I'm going to keep my same approach, because that's what will get me there. Why would I go away from what I'm doing to get those power numbers? It doesn't make sense to go away from the approach that got you there.

MiLB.com: You may not remember the specifics now, but you had a big first game in the GCL, going 3-for-3 with a triple, a walk and a run scored. What were you feeling after your first experience as a pro?

Randolph: Oh, I definitely remember it. The first pitch I saw was a fastball, and I swung through it. Then [Nestor Oronel of the Pirates] threw a fastball that missed up, and after that -- it was lefty-on-lefty -- he threw me a changeup and I barreled up on it. After I hit [that] triple, I was really locked in. I felt amazing.

MiLB.com: And when the game was over that night, how did that feel, knowing what you'd done in your first game as a pro?

Randolph: When it was over, it was like, "Bring on tomorrow. I'm ready to keep going." I even had my agent calling me and saying, "Keep going. Keep getting hits."

"My dad would say to me, 'Watch Jimmy Rollins. Watch him do this. Watch him do that. Look at his swing.' To think that I'm playing with the Phillies now, that's really cool."

-- Cornelius Randolph

MiLB.com: After the season, you went the instructional league in the fall. What was that like? How was it different than your time in the GCL?

Randolph: I was facing older guys. I faced a lot of big time arms -- I faced James Kaprielian, one of the top prospects with the Yankees, and I faced a lot of top arms. They had better command and they had better stuff. I did pretty well, but I could definitely feel the difference. You just have to make some adjustments.

MiLB.com: Did you have extra confidence to make those adjustments, since you knew that you'd already been able to make adjustments and have them pay off in the GCL?

Randolph: I'm a confident guy, so when I face a guy like that, I want to face a guy like that. I want to face guys that are good. I want to face the best, so making an adjustment against guys like that is really not too hard, because I feel like I can hit anybody.

MiLB.com: At what point in high school did you know for sure that playing pro baseball was going to be a legitimate possibility for you?

Randolph: Senior season was when all the scouts started coming in and I was putting up big numbers, and all the hype started. I try not to focus on that, but after my first game, when a lot of scouts came and I went 4-for-5 and almost hit for the cycle, after that, I could see that pro ball was going to be a possibility in the near future. I wasn't sure if I would sign or not, because I wasn't sure about that until I got drafted, but I figured it would happen.

MiLB.com: Did you have favorite subjects in school?

Randolph: Math. Well, I had a couple. But really, math. I took AP statistics my senior year.

MiLB.com: So were you into all the sciences too?

Randolph: I didn't have a subject I didn't like, to be honest. School always came easy to me. I didn't mind going to school. I didn't mind being in any class.

MiLB.com: I know Tim Beckham went to your high school, and he was drafted with the first overall pick in 2008, when you were 10 or 11. Do you remember that being a big deal?

Randolph: Yeah, because the day he got drafted, I went to his Draft party. I remember that like it was yesterday. My brother [Xavier] was his first baseman. When I was a little kid, I hung around my brother a lot, and I hung around the dugout a lot.

MiLB.com: Have you and Beckham talked since everything started happening for you?

Randolph: Me and him stayed in touch. He ran a little camp in Griffin in January, and I helped out and we hung out a little. We text every now and then, talk about hitting.

MiLB.com: Did you play in travel leagues growing up?

Randolph: I played up all my life. I started playing with all my friends I went to school with, and I was tearing it up my whole life, until I was 15, 16. I started playing with 17-year-olds then, and that's when I saw that there were other guys out there that can play as much as I can. I'm thankful to my coach for that, because he showed me that and made me work harder. He put a fire in my heart.

MiLB.com: Along the way, you've played shortstop and pitched some too, and now as a pro you're going to be an outfielder. Are you going to miss those other parts of the game?

Randolph: I played shortstop all my life. Of course I'm going to miss it.

Cornelius Randolph collected 76 total bases in 172 at-bats during his debut season. (Cliff Welch/MiLB.com)

MiLB.com: We understand you have an approach at the plate that helps you to use the whole field. Are there left-handed hitters or swings that you admire, or guys you've tried to emulate as you grew up?

Randolph: I watched a lot of Robinson Cano. I started watching a lot of Tony Gwynn during my 11^th-grade year, because I heard a lot of comparisons. I've heard comparisons, and then I would go watch their swings and study.

I do like to hit the ball to left field, stay through the ball. That's just my swing.

MiLB.com: When you watched a lot of somebody like Gwynn, did you find clips online or were you able to track down old tapes of games?

Randolph: I would just look on YouTube and I'd watch him hit, watch his approach.

MiLB.com: You're on MLB.com's Top 100 Prospects list. How cool is that for you to get there without even having played a full professional season yet?

Randolph: It's really cool. But again, I try not to feed into the hype and just keep playing.

MiLB.com: Did your family watch the countdown show on MLB Network? They must have been proud.

Randolph: They watched it. I was watching TV and I saw my name pop up on the bottom of the screen. I called my dad to tell him, and he said, "Yes, I'm watching right now." They are [proud of me]. They tell me every day.

MiLB.com: The Phillies are in a unique position as an organization with this rebuild. Do you feel like it's a special time to be a young, talented player in that system?

Randolph: It's a great time to be in the Phillies organization. There are a lot of talented guys in this organization right now.

MiLB.com: The other organization that's going through a similar rebuild is the one that I bet you grew up cheering for -- the Braves.

Randolph: They are going through the same thing. But the Braves? I wasn't really a fan, because I didn't really have a team. I had players that I loved to watch. [Derek] Jeter, he was one of my favorites, for sure, being a shortstop, and Cano was one of my favorites too, so I tended to watch the Yankees. I wasn't really just a fan, though.

My dad would take me to Braves games and I did love that. I remember going to see the Braves and the Phillies. I remember that like it was yesterday too. I liked the Phillies because of Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard. My brother was a first baseman, so my dad would tell him, "Watch Ryan Howard. Watch how he does this." I was a shortstop, so my dad would say to me, "Watch Jimmy Rollins. Watch him do this. Watch him do that. Look at his swing."

To think that I'm playing with the Phillies now, that's really cool.

MiLB.com: We saw on Twitter that you got a new tattoo recently. What is it?

Randolph: On my right arm, it's a sleeve, I got a family portrait. On the backside it says, "Family Forever." It's a nice design.

MiLB.com: Do you have other tattoos?

Randolph: I had a Samoan tribal tattoo. It's for strength, love, peace, happiness, all the things that I consider important about myself.