Phillies agree with draftees Ragsdale, Radcliff

June 20th, 2020
;

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies agreed to terms Friday with their fourth- and fifth-round picks from the 2020 MLB Draft.

MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis reported that fourth-round pick agreed to a $225,000 bonus. The slot value was $497,500. He also reported that fifth-round pick agreed to a $100,000 bonus. The slot value was $371,600.

The club has not confirmed the reports.

Ragsdale is a 6-foot-8 right-hander from South Florida. His fastball sits in the 91-95 mph range. He throws a solid curveball, too. He went 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA in four starts this season. He struck out 37 and walked seven in 19 1/3 innings. He allowed two hits, one run and one walk and struck out 10 in just four innings against No. 1 Florida on March 8.

“To be able to see him compete at that type of level against a quality team as the University of Florida, it probably gave us more comfort with what we had seen in the other starts as well,” Phillies amateur scouting director Brian Barber said last week. “I don’t know if anybody has seen the video. He just completely dominated a high-level team like Florida with his curveball and with the mid-90s velocity.”

Radcliff is a 6-foot-4, 239-pound left-handed hitter from Georgia Tech. He has raw power but will need to make more contact at the professional level. Radcliff hit .259 with three home runs and 17 RBIs in 16 games before the season was canceled. He struck out 23 times in 58 at-bats. In 2019, he hit .257 with 12 homers and 44 RBIs. He struck out 68 times in 183 at-bats.

The Phillies found Radcliff’s mix of bat speed and power impossible to pass up.

“Baron has some of the best bat speed and power out of anybody in the entire Draft,” Barber said. “We know Baron well, we love the makeup there, we love the athlete and we love the bat speed and power combination.”

Did you like this story?

Senior Reporter Todd Zolecki has covered the Phillies since 2003, and for MLB.com since 2009.