Skip to main content

Lakewood's Randolph looking toward post-season

C Randolph, image- Jay Floyd
The Phillies’ top draft pick from 2015, Cornelius “C” Randolph, is back in the swing of things following an injury and is helping to lead the first place Lakewood BlueClaws toward a possible postseason berth.

After missing more than two months with a shoulder/back strain, the 19-year-old outfielder is beginning to heat up on offensive. Entering action on Wednesday, Randolph was batting .290 in nine August games and sported a five game hitting streak.

With their win and the Hagerstown Suns’ (Nationals affiliate) loss on Tuesday night, the BlueClaws took over first place in the South Atlantic League’s Northern Division, leading the first-half division champions by ½ game.

Randolph points out that he and his teammates are actively paying attention to the standings and the out-of-town scoreboard on a nightly basis.

In 39 games this season with Class A Lakelwood, the five-foot-11 205-pounder is batting .255 with seven doubles, a home run and 13 RBI.

According to his manager, Randolph, who was drafted 10th overall last year, has looked like he’s been a contributor all season long for Lakewood.

“He came right back and maybe the hits weren’t there the first couple of games but his at bats were definitely there. He’s had some good, tough at bats, especially against left-handed pitchers,” BlueClaws skipper Shawn Williams said.

The lefty batting Randolph, asserts that the team is confident as they compete for the top spot in the division with the Hagerstown team that’s already proven worth of the post-season.

“We know if we go out and play how we play, we’re going to get a win,” Randolph said with swagger. “So we just go out there and play every day, do the little things right.”

Doing the little things right could make an impact, but the big things, like pitching and hitting, could be the true determining factors.

The BlueClaws have tallied a solid 3.16 ERA along with an exceptional 11.45 K/9 mark, but are batting just .258 with a .676 OPS in nine games this month. With the pitching staff really delivering of late, it may be up to “C” and his fellow batters to barrel up, make the difference and push the team into the playoffs. He’s up for the challenge.

“100-percent, we want to win it. We want a ring, so we’re trying to go after it,” Randolph said

Hagerstown’s first-half title has them locked into a playoff spot. If they finish in first place again for the second half, the team with the next best overall record in that division would be chosen as the Wild Card entrant to the playoffs. Lakewood, having finished the first half with a 29-40 record, aren’t a real option to make the playoffs as a Wild Card, as other teams would sneak in ahead of them. The 'Claws will need to stay ahead of the pack in order to play beyond the regular season.



Additional nuggets...

-While rehabbing his injury with the rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies, Randolph was able to bond a bit with this year’s 1st round draft selection, Mickey Moniak.

“Two first rounders, so I mean, of course (we bonded),” Randolph stated. “He came in and he’d do what he needed to do. He’s done a great job, so it’s good to see.”

-Randolph found a silver lining with his down time this season.

"Down in Florida I learned a lot of stuff just from watching guys play because I couldn’t be on the field. I was just picking up what guys were doing. If they did this right, if they did this wrong, stuff like that.

"Hanging around GCL club, the rovers came around and I talked to them a lot. I’d just sit with them and watch the games....Just learning different things about the outfield, where I should be on what plays, the first step, how I’m supposed to take and stuff like that," Randolph said.

-Randolph would welcome the opportunity to make up for missed time this year.

"I know I need to get extra AB’s and it’s always time to work, so this is what I do for a living and I mean it’s whatever they say I need to do, I’ll be happy to do it," Randolph stated.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...