MLB Rookie Profile: Franchy Cordero, OF, San Diego Padres

On May 27th the San Diego Padres promoted outfield prospect Franchy Cordero to the major league roster. He slipped through our rookie dragnet during the Memorial Day holiday weekend but he’s off to a good start in the majors (5-for-16 with a double and a triple). Let’s look at what he offers.

Signed by the Padres out of the Dominican Republic in 2011, Cordero was distinguished more by his tools than his performance at the lower levels. He took a large step forward in 2016, hitting a combined .290/.344/.450 in 555 at-bats between High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A, then hit .289/.349/.520 in 173 at-bats for Triple-A El Paso before his recent promotion.

Cordero was rated as a Grade C+ prospect pre-season, unranked on the San Diego Padres Top 20 Prospects for 2017 list, fitting in somewhere in the 21-26 range.

Listed at 6-3, 175, Cordero is a left-handed hitter and right-handed thrower born September 2nd, 1994. Originally an error-prone shortstop, he moved to the outfield last year and was a natural as a flycatcher, showing excellent range and throwing ability with 60-grade speed and a 60-grade arm that work well in center field.

As an offensive player his most polished tool is the running speed, but he has enough bat speed and raw power to produce respectable pop. All of his power was originally pull-side but he has been going the opposite way more often this year, with good results, and his home run production should gradually increase.

His strikeout rate is high and his approach is quite aggressive, factors which major league pitchers will eventually expose.

Cordero’s combination of speed, defense, and growing power makes him a multi-factor threat. He’s only 22 and still has work to do to be a complete hitter, but his ceiling is quite high and his stock is up from pre-season.

Video by Baseball Census