Phillies farm system very talented at all levels | Bob Brookover

The day is coming, and many would correctly claim it is long overdue, when Citizens Bank Park is a happening summer destination in the city again. Surely you remember gridlock in Ashburn Alley; the long, aroma-friendly lines for cheesesteaks; and the delayed trips to the restroom because you did not want to miss one of Ryan Howard's loooooong home runs.

You went to the ballpark expecting two-hit, double-digit strikeout performances from the cast of aces and you fell in love with Chase and Chooch, Jimmy and Vic, and, really, all of them. Got postseason? Every season for five straight seasons the Phillies did.

Now, the Phillies have gone five straight seasons without even recording a winning record, and, barring some unforeseen developments, the streak of postseason absences will reach six in 2017. It's not really good news that the best news for the Phillies these days is still coming from below, but the fact that the once-barren farm system remains on the rise is the biggest reason for hope.

The optimism starts at the top level of the minor leagues, too. Trips to triple-A Lehigh Valley in the recent past never yielded much insight into what the Phillies lineup might look like in a year or two. The IronPigs roster was typically filled with minor-league veterans, guys often described as four-A players because they've been to the big leagues but weren't able to stay.

That's not this Lehigh Valley team. First-year manager Dusty Wathan, a loyal soldier who groomed some of the organization's top prospects during his four-year run at double-A Reading, will have a roster of guys pushing for permanent big-league jobs in the very near future.

Six of the organization's top 10 prospects in the Baseball America rankings will open the season with the IronPigs. Shortstop J.P. Crawford has held the top spot in that order for three straight years and he is still only 22 years old. This is the season a lot of people expect him to break through to the big leagues, but he'll have to show considerable growth from a year ago, when he struggled with his first exposure to triple-A pitching.

More than a few scouts believe that catcher Jorge Alfaro, a 23-year-old Colombia native acquired in the 2015 Cole Hamels trade with Texas, belongs at the top of the Phillies' prospect list because of his power bat and power arm. No one would be surprised if he replaced Cameron Rupp as the starting catcher before this season is over.

Nick Williams, also acquired in the Hamels deal, was ranked fourth by Baseball America even after a disappointing close to his 2016 season at Lehigh Valley. He bounced back with a strong spring training, and a corner outfield job should be his for the taking if he plays well with the IronPigs.

First baseman Rhys Hoskins, a 2014 fifth-round pick out of Cal State Sacramento, cracked BA's organizational top 10 for the first time this winter after hitting .281 with 38 home runs for Reading, but he's in an intense competition to be Howard's long-term replacement at first base. Tommy Joseph has the first crack after performing pretty well at the big-league level last season, but Brock Stassi made sure he drew some attention in spring training, and Kyle Martin, a fourth-round pick in 2015, will stake his claim this year with Reading after hitting 19 home runs at high-A Clearwater last season.

The other two IronPigs on the BA top 10 list are outfielders Roman Quinn and Dylan Cozens. Quinn, 23, has blinding speed but has to prove he can stay healthy, and Cozens, 22, has enormous power but must prove he can handle breaking balls.

Not a single Lehigh Valley pitcher was listed among the top 10 prospects, but the Phillies are excited about an IronPigs cast that includes Jake Thompson, Zach Eflin, Ben Lively, Mark Appel, and Nick Pivetta. Those five combined to make 64 starts at Lehigh Valley last season, going 31-17 with a 2.95 ERA, and two of them already have some big-league experience. Eflin will open the season on the disabled list because of surgeries on both knees.

Lehigh Valley figures to be the most closely watched Phillies affiliate this season, but Lakewood, the lowest-level affiliate that will open play this week, should also generate plenty of excitement. That is where you will find outfielder Mickey Moniak, the No. 1 overall pick in last year's draft, and Sixto Sánchez, the highest-rated pitching prospect in the farm system.

"[Moniak] didn't show us anything last year that says [Lakewood] would be too big of a challenge for him," said Joe Jordan, the Phillies' director of player development.

In his first professional exposure with the Gulf Coast League Phillies, Moniak, 18, batted .284 with 11 doubles, four triples, and a home run, while stealing 10 bases in 14 attempts. Nothing earth-shattering about those numbers, but they were definitely encouraging.

The eye-popping numbers on the GCL team were put up by Sánchez, an 18-year-old righthander who went 5-0 with a 0.50 ERA in 11 starts. Moniak is ranked the second best prospect in the Phillies' system, and Sánchez is fifth.

Sánchez will be joined in the rotation by Adonis Medina, who posted a 2.92 ERA with the Phillies' rookie-league team in Williamsport. It's possible that Kevin Gowdy, last year's second-round pick, could also crack the Lakewood rotation at some point during the season.

Moniak, meanwhile, will be joined in the field at Lakewood by Daniel Brito, a 19-year-old second baseman who also had a terrific season for the GCL Phillies, and Jhailyn Ortiz, who hit eight home runs - third most in the GCL - after receiving a $4.2 million signing bonus in July 2015.

"I think in every system there are lower-level guys you have not had as much time with them, so you naturally look at it as more optimistic," Jordan said. "As they matriculate up through the system, you start to see the challenges and the flaws and also the strengths, so the picture gets a little easier to forecast."

Talent at the bottom of the system and talent at the top.

There's talent in between, too. Jordan said Alberto Tirado, acquired in the 2015 deadline deal with Toronto for Ben Revere, has the organization's biggest arm, and it's hard to argue after he struck out 102 batters in 64-plus innings a year ago. He'll be at high-A Clearwater. Second baseman Scott Kingery, coming off an impressive spring training, will open at Reading and should be on the fast track to Lehigh Valley.

Some of the names above will struggle and players not mentioned will emerge. But there's strength in numbers, and the Phillies farm system is the reason gridlock out in Ashburn Alley is only a year or two away from returning.

bbrookover@phillynews.com

@brookob