By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor
The Philadelphia Phillies Double-A affiliate in Reading, Pennsylvania has the best record in all of professional baseball at 76-38 and they also have the top two home run hitters in minor league ball, with both Dylan Cozens (32) and Rhys Hoskins (34) hitting a round-tripper nearly every game it seems nowadays.
Cozens, the Phillies No. 7 ranked prospect by MLB.com, has been named the Eastern League Player of the Week for the second occasion in 2016, this time for his performance in games from August 1-7.
During the week he's been recognized for, Cozens put together four multi-hit games and two multi-home run games in a row, hitting three on August 3 and two on August 4 against the Bowie Baysox, Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Overall this past week, Cozens hit .381 (11-for-30) with a double, two triples, five homers, seven runs scored and 14 RBIs.
He's hitting .381 (16-for-42) with three doubles, two triples, six homers, eight runs scored and 18 RBI over the last 10 games.
Drafted in the second round of the 2012 draft out of Chaparral High School in Arizona, Cozens is hitting .287 this seasonand leads the Eastern League with 103 RBIs.
It will be interesting to see what the Phillies decide to do with Cozens moving forward. His numbers, along with Rhys Hoskins, are deserving of a promotion to Triple-A, but the organization may opt to keep the two in Double-A to finish out the season. Either way, you'd have to expect the slugging duo to start the 2017 season in Lehigh Valley.