So I know Lewis Brinson is just so hot right now, and there are quite a few very good reasons to suspect Brinson might be the next rookie roaming the Ranger's center field. However, one of Brinson's good friends in Frisco is well on his way to making sure that it won't happen though. Ryan Cordell is breaking out in a big way in Frisco and it's been a long time coming. Cordell is sort of a fair haired poster child for the Texas Rangers minor leaguers. By all accounts he is a fantastic person and teammate and I heard once that it would almost be impossible to get Cordell to cuss. He's every bit a southern gentleman and he would probably very quickly become a fan favorite in Ranger land, and think of how amazing another Mitch Moreland-esk cow grazing commercial would be.

The newly 24 year old outfielder was drafter out of Liberty University in the 11th round in 2013. He got off to a bit of a slow start in Spokane, but had his first breakout season in 2014 where he demolished pitchers while playing for Hickory and Myrtle Beach. In 2015 he had an OPS of 1.017 in High Desert before earning a big promotion to the Rough Riders where he struggled for the remainder of the season. At 6'4 200 pounds, Cordell looks extremely lithe roaming the outfield and hauling around the base paths. His backside is fairly stocky though which does give him some pretty surprising power from an otherwise thin frame. His tools are not exactly loud, but he has a lot of them and he uses them to the fullest. This video by Tepid should give you a pretty good idea of his frame/build.

The Tools

Ryan's hit tool is probably the most questionable as he has a longer swing that has a bit of swing and miss. For his minor league career he's stuck out around 20% of the time, but it's been a bit worse than that in AA. He's got a decent approach and will probably take walks at an average clip around 8% of the time. His bat speed is solid and he sprays the ball to all fields with authority when he makes contact. I've regularly seen his hit tool graded at a 45 future and after seeing him quite a bit, that seems like a likely outcome.

Cordell's power is louder than I expected it to be. One of the first games in Frisco this season he launched a ball clear to the fence behind the white overhang in left field. It was the hardest hit ball I have seen in Frisco since Joey Gallo was there and that's including some of the shots I saw from Brinson last season. He takes a pretty vicious looking hack at the plate sometimes and he generates excellent bat speed. I think it is possible that his raw power is around a 60, but his hit tool might only let that play up to a 50/55 in the future. Either way, Cordell could very possibly hit 18-20 home runs in a full season. At his current rate in AA, he'd have 40 in 630 PA's, but that's probably not sustainable.

Cordell is an above average runner, although it does take him a second to get to max speed. He's stolen a decent amount of bases in the minors, but as he's put on muscle we likely won't see that many going forward. He's a smart base runner with good instincts and reads on balls so he will be a positive on the base paths. He has more than enough top speed to play CF right now, but as he ages he might have to transition into a left fielder, and there his speed will play extremely well.

Having a player who can play all three outfield positions is pretty damn useful on an MLB club, and for now Cordell can. His speed, reads, and routes are all at least average to slightly above average for an outfielder and he will likely be able to play center field for at least another two or three seasons, if not longer. He makes the routine plays and cuts off balls in the gap well from what I've seen.

When you're spoiled with watching Gallo/Mazara/Rua/Martin/Cruz/Hamilton/Desmond throw the baseballs from the outfield for so long, you can forget that a 50-55 grade arm in CF/LF is a very nice thing to have. Cordell's not going to be considered in the same tier as Puig, but he's going to have some defensive value with the arm.

Final Thoughts

While it's hard to see a future where Ryan Cordell is the starting center fielder for the Texas Rangers in 2016 and moving forward, it's not hard to see him come up and be an important part of the 25 man roster sometime relatively soon. A role that Cordell could realistically fill when he makes it to the bigs is the same one that David Murphy filled for so long with the Rangers. A few .270/.330/.440 seasons seem while playing average defense in CF and above average defense in LF/RF seems well within his grasp and I have very little doubt that Cordell will get that opportunity some way or another, even if that opportunity is not with the Rangers. The issue for Cordell is that he's getting close to being ready for the call up within a year or so, but calling the Texas Ranger's outfield crowded would be the understatement of the year. Here's a list of outfielders in the org who potentially could be productive players on a major league roster; Choo, Hamilton, Desmond, DeShields, Rua, Mazara, Jones, Gallo, Brinson, Hoying, Strausborger, Kivelehan, Robinson, and finally Cordell. Cordell's going to get a shot somehow some way with how much the front office loves him, but finding a spot for him long term is going to be difficult. Even so, he's a guy that is easy to root for and no matter where he ends up I will be excited to watch his career unfold.