2011 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #9 Cord Phelps

Cord Phelps – Second Baseman
Born: 01/23/1987 – Height: 6’2” – Weight: 200 – Bats: Switch – Throws: Right

(Photo: Tony Lastoria)

History: Phelps was selected by the Indians in the 3rd round of the 2008 Draft out of Stanford University. His professional debut in 2008 was slowed by a sprained ankle he suffered prior to the College World Series. He played in the Pan-Am Games qualifying tournament for Team USA out in Puerto Rico last October where in nine games he hit .237 (9-for-38) with 6 runs, 1 2B, 2 3B, 6 RBI, a .661 OPS and a 3-6 walk to strikeout ratio. Team USA took third place and qualified for the Pan-Am Games this year in Guadalajara, Mexico and also the 2011 IBAF Baseball World Cup this fall. He then went out to the Arizona Fall League (AFL) last fall where in 19 games he hit .367/.474/.557 with 3 HR, 10 RBI, 3 stolen bases, and had 16-14 walk to strikeout ratio. His .308 average last year was good for 4th in the Indians organization. At Stanford he majored in human biology.

Strengths: Phelps is one of the most complete players in the Indians system. He does not have any one great tool, but he is well balanced across the board and can impact a game in almost every area. He is an above-average offensive player with great instincts who maintains a consistent, patient approach at the plate that results in a good ability to put the bat on the ball and get on-base at a very good rate. He is an extremely disciplined and intelligent hitter who has a good plan when he goes to the plate and a very strong understanding of the strike zone. He consistently gets on top of the ball and swings at good pitches. He has a good feel for contact and squares the ball up well, and he has some developing power where he has started to drive the ball with more authority to all parts of the field. He has average speed and shows excellent instincts on the bases, runs them hard, and makes good decisions.

Phelps is an overachiever who gets the most out of all his skills and plays them up because of how consistent and disciplined he is with his preparations and approach day in and day out, his incredible intelligence, and his exceptionally strong instincts. He is a hardnosed, serious player who is very mature, driven, has a great attitude, understands the game, and is as committed as anyone as far as his work ethic is concerned. He is the very definition of a “baseball player”, and his patient, polished approach at the plate, decent speed, and switch-hitting ability profiles him as a #2 hitter in the big leagues and potentially a leadoff hitter.

Phelps is often under-rated by national pundits as a defender at second base. He has exclusively played second base in his two and a half years in the Indians organization, and over that time period he has played a very good, consistent second base. He is a fundamentally sound, solid defender who moves around well and displays very good instincts and gets good reads on the ball. He can make all the routine plays and the occasional exceptional one, and shows a very good ability to cover the hole between second and first well. He has made strides with his pivot where he now turns a good double play and displays a solid, accurate arm. He is considered a slightly above average defender with some room for growth still where he could be an above average defender at the big league level.

Though Phelps has only played second base in the minors, he does have experience at third base and shortstop in college. While he cannot play shortstop at the big league level except in a pinch, he has the ability to play third base. The Indians experimented with him at third base in the AFL last fall to find a way to get his bat in the lineup and liked what they saw from him. He struggled initially – which was to be expected - with seven errors in 11 games, but had just one error in his last eight games. More importantly, the subjective evaluations of him from Indians staffers were positive as they felt he settled in nicely, looked comfortable, and improved as he went along. Overall he showed good range and got good jumps on balls and his arm was more than adequate there. They believe he is an option for them this coming season at both third base and second base, and maybe potentially even in left field down the road.

Opportunities: Offense is going to dictate Phelps’ plate appearances as there are not a lot of players who are just solely defensive minded second baseman and primarily play just two positions. He is very strong and has good size, but his size and strength do not show at the plate as he plays smaller. Prior to his junior year in college he did not hit a home run in 278 at bats, but he hit 13 home runs in 259 at bats his junior year in 2008 and has continued to show improved power since coming into the Indians organization. Last year the Indians challenged him to use his discipline from both sides of the plate to his advantage to make sure he is taking advantage of mistakes and driving the ball. The results speak for themselves as he had a spike in his slugging percentage. Going forward he needs to continue to improve in this area and be more consistent driving the ball by being more aggressive at the plate and better understanding what to expect in certain situations. He also needs to make a few minor adjustments with his approach at the plate to be shorter to the ball and maintain a consistent bat path. He needs to continue to work on refining his defense, and adding some versatility should only help increase his value. He has been injury free in his career, but he had a minor bout with a wrist injury last
August which forced him to be in and out of the lineup for much of the rest of the year until the fall.

Outlook: Phelps saw his stock skyrocket last year as he went from a player viewed as a high on-base singles hitter to a guy who can not only get on base at a consistent clip but also drive the ball out of the ballpark. He is certainly in the discussion as far as infield options go for the Indians this year as he is an option at two positions of need and provides a lot of versatility. Since Brandon Phillips’ failure in 2003 the Indians have been searching a long time for an everyday second baseman in their system, but suddenly they have tons of immediate options at the big league level with Phelps, Jason Kipnis, Jason Donald, and even the widely panned Luis Valbuena. He will get a long, extended look this spring at second base and third base, but will likely open the 2011 season at Tripe-A Columbus, though is expected to be a quick call up sometime in May just like Donald was last year.

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2008	21	GCL Indians	R	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
2008	21	Mahoning Valley	A-	35	141	24	44	10	2	2	21	15	22	4	.312	.376	.454	.830
2009	22	Kinston	A+	130	479	72	125	27	5	4	53	93	97	17	.261	.386	.363	.749
2010	23	Akron	AA	53	199	25	59	8	3	2	23	15	29	1	.296	.346	.397	.743
2010	23	Columbus	AAA	66	243	41	77	20	4	6	31	24	39	3	.317	.386	.506	.892
		MiLB Totals		285	1065	162	305	65	14	14	129	147	189	25	.286	.376	.413	.790

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