Cornelius Randolph says he models game after Robinson Cano

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Phillies scouting director Johnny Almaraz did not want to offer a particular player as a comparable to first-round pick Cornelius Randolph, but he said Monday night that the 10th overall pick has similarities to former batting champions.

But on Wednesday, Randolph himself revealed the player he has modeled his game around.

"Robinson Cano really stood out to me, just watching him play," Randolph said via conference call.

"I know I have a lot of work to do with my hitting, but I feel like I could be a plus hitter. I try to model my swing after Robinson Cano — that's my favorite player. I watched him growing up, so that's where I got my smooth swing from the left side."

Not a bad player to emulate. (Although let's hope Randolph meant pre-2015 Cano.)

Almaraz saw Randolph as the best high school hitter in the draft and was thrilled to land him at 10. On Monday, he touted Randolph's "extremely high ceiling as far as hitting ability is concerned."

The Phillies plan to play Randolph in left field. The player says he saw time there last summer and thinks he can adapt quickly. 

If there is one aspect of his game that Randolph feels needs work, though, it's his defense.

"What I want to improve the most about my game would be defensively," he said. "I want to be an all-around player. Everybody talks a lot about my bat, but being an all-around player is what I want to be."

The hit tool came from his father's tutelage. Randolph never had a private hitting lesson in his life, he said Wednesday, instead drawing from the daily trips to the batting cages with dad. 

"The best advice that I had from him was just have fun, enjoy the game, enjoy every moment," Randolph said. "He played coming up as a recreational sport, but he never really took it serious. But he's just a baseball fanatic, he studied the game and was just crazy about it."

Randolph grew up outside Atlanta and recalled trips to Turner Field to watch Phillies-Braves games growing up.

"The biggest guys I always picked out were Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, so getting selected by the Phillies is actually pretty cool," he said.

If Randolph signs — both Almaraz and Randolph are confident he will — he will likely start with the Williamsport Crosscutters, the Phillies' short-season Class A affiliate in the New York-Penn League. 

But he says those discussions have not taken place yet. Right now, Randolph is just glad to be seen as one of the 10 best players in the draft. 

"I had no idea," Randolph said when asked if he knew he'd be going 10th to the Phillies. "I actually found out I was drafted by the Phillies on TV. It was pretty exciting."

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