Threshers' Randolph hitting just homers so far

When Cornelius Randolph has connected with a pitch this season, he's connected hard.
"Literally, all of my hits right now are home runs," the Phillies' No. 10 prospect said. "[My teammates] are all like, 'You keep going like what you've done so far, you're going to have 140 bombs this year.'"
After going hitless on Opening Day, Randolph has gone yard in three straight games. His first-inning dinger got Class A Advanced Clearwater started in its 4-2 win at Dunedin on Sunday.

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"It feels like a great way, a wonderful way to start the year. I'm putting barrels on balls, I guess," he said, noting that despite his teammates' comments, he's not feeling any pressure to go deep when he steps into the box. "I'm just having fun, taking it day by day, pitch by pitch. I just try to do things that help the team."
The 19-year-old outfielder gone 3-for-17 (.176) over four games. Although he's struck out six times, he has six RBIs, four runs scored and a walk. He'd obviously prefer to have collected more hits, but he's hardly panicked.
"I'm having good at-bats," Randolph said. "I've hit a couple of other balls hard -- they were just right at people. But it's OK. All of my hits aren't going to be home runs. Eventually, some are going to get in there for me. I'm not worried."
The first-round pick out of a Georgia high school in 2015 is the second youngest player in the Florida State League. (The Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Fire Frogs was born about six months after him.) Last season, Randolph played five games in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and got into Class A action for 63 games with Lakewood in South Atlantic League, where he batted .274/.355/.357 with 12 doubles, two homers and a triple. MLB Pipeline gives Randolph 50s for both hitting and power on the 20-80 scouting scale.
His solo jack Sunday came against No. 20 Blue Jays prospectAngel Perdomo (0-1) in the game's second at-bat. In a left-on-left matchup, Randolph swatted the first pitch he saw over the wall in right field.
"In my first AB, I'm always trying to do something to get us going, get a ball into the gap early, get an inning started to help us put some runs on the board," he said. "That happened for me, so it feels great."

The Threshers added two more runs in the second and another in the fifth, which was ample support for 2016 fifth-rounder Cole Irvin (1-0). Making his first start in full-season ball, the southpaw scattered two hits and a walk while striking out eight over six innings.
Max Pentecost, Toronto's No. 12 prospect, was 1-for-4 with a run scored.
Perdomo took the loss, giving up four runs on eight hits and four walks while fanning two over 5 2/3 innings.