Back in 2011, the Philadelphia Phillies picked a Georgia high school power hitter named Larry Greene in the first round of the June MLB First-Year Entry Draft. That didn’t work out so well, so more than a few eyebrows were raised when the team selected another Georgia high school power hitter, Cornelius Randolph, with their first pick in this year’s draft.

The Phillies swung and missed on one Georgia high school product, but appears to have hit a line drive with this one.

Greene “retired” at the age of 22, leaving this year’s Spring Training after a miserable three years at the low levels of the minor leagues. In the past three years, Greene hit only .213 for Single-A Lakewood (NJ) before being demoted to the Rookie League Gulf Coast Phillies, where hit only .250. Promoted again to Lakewood in 2014, he finished his career with a .183 average.

It is admittedly a small sample but Randolph is holding his own in the same rookie league where Greene had his problems. Playing for the Gulf Coast (FL) Phillies, Randolph is hitting .286 through 14 games with a homer and 12 RBIs. This came after scholastic season playing for Griffin High in which Randolph hit .536. At this pace, he should make a lot of money not only for him, but for agent Scott Boras.

The Phillies seem intent on converting this lifetime shortstop into an outfielder, but Randolph has the athleticism to make the transition. The Phillies have to do that because their top prospect J.P. Crawford is a shortstop, and he is projected to be an MLB starter. Crawford could be on the big club as early as next season, but will likely the starting shortstop by Opening Day 2017.

All signs are pointing to Randolph joining him as a teammate not long after that. If so, the Phillies could even be a good team by then.

Mike Gibson is a MLB Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @papreps , “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.