Phillies 2020 Draft: Matt Klentak talks adapting, four picks
By Matt Rappa
Round 5: OF Baron Radcliff, ‘incredible raw power’
"“He’s not that far away from being a really good big-league player.”"
Everyone loves home runs, and, that is why fifth-round draft pick, outfielder Baron Radcliff, has turned most heads among the Phillies community.
And, he is already being compared to 2008 World Series champion first baseman Ryan Howard.
“It’s the power it’s just the crazy bat speed and incredible raw power,” Klentak noted. “He hits balls that still haven’t landed yet. It’s wild.”
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So, if Radcliff has perennial home run-hitting potential, there has to be something about him that caused concern among teams, right? Klentak pointed that out: “He swings and misses a lot. I also think that’s why he was there in the fifth round and didn’t go first overall. We know that, but the way we kind of thought of it is, ‘He’s not that far away from being a really good big-league player.'”
Radcliff had been reported by Baseball America for having among the the best raw power in the 2020 draft, but with it comes a high strikeout rate. Due to the COVID pandemic, Radcliff was limited to just 58 at-bats in his junior season, but put together three home runs and 17 RBI while striking out 23 times.
Klentak says there are a lot of really good players in the major leagues who strike out, but Radcliff will have to improve in that area, but not as much as people may seem to think: “He may not need to improve quite as much as it seems for him to all of a sudden become a really good big-leaguer, as long as he can maintain that power.”
The Phillies general manager noted that there should not be any concern that Radcliff’s power will not carry over to the minor leagues.
“When you watch him swing and read the numbers — the exit velocity and everything about his swing — we have a lot of reason to believe that he’ll continue to hit for power,” he says. “It’s just going to be a matter of making contact.”
Klentak says the Phillies’ minor-league hitting coordinator, Jason Ochart, is “really excited” about the pick. Ochart and Radcliff will surely be spending many hours over the next several years to refine his game.
“If we can help him with that and he can continue to work hard and improve, then we think we got something and he can be a really good big-leaguer,” Klentak says.
“We’re committed to helping out however we can.”