Cozens announced Tuesday via his personal Twitter account that he has elected to retire from professional baseball in order to pursue opportunities in the NFL.
The 27-year-old outfielder's decision to step away from baseball comes after he got off to a slow start to the season at Triple-A Nashville in the Brewers organization, batting just .177 with a 43 percent strikeout rate in 100 plate appearances. Cozens has posted some gaudy home-run totals during his time in the minors since being selected by the Phillies in the second round of the 2012 first-year player draft, but an inability to make consistent contact prevented him from having much staying power in the big leagues -- he appeared in only 27 games with Philadelphia between 2018 and 2019. An excellent athlete who checks in at 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds, Cozens boasts the sort of physical profile that could translate well to football.