Phillies prospects benefit from winning environment

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The continuing overhaul of the Phillies' analytics department received a lot of attention late last season and into the offseason as the faces in the front office changed. Numbers will be crunched now that never were before, and it was all necessary to bring this team into the 21st century.

Still, there are things of great value in baseball that can never be calculated by algorithms or big brains. One of them is the value of winning and developing relationships of trust at the minor-league level.

For proof that it matters, check in with the guys who played at double-A Reading last season. It was a team with top prospects, a team with great chemistry, a team that came within one victory of the Eastern League championship. The roster evolved during the course of the season, as it should, but the bonds between the coming and the going remained strong.

Outfielder Nick Williams, traded from Texas in the deal that sent Cole Hamels to the Rangers, realized there was something special about the Fightin Phils shortly after he joined the team.

"I came from being in last place in the Texas League to being in first place," Williams said. "I think we won our first 12 games after I got traded here. It was awesome."

Reading actually won nine in a row and 14 of 15 after Williams joined the team on Aug. 4, but his point remains unchanged. It meant a lot to him to win, and it helped him immediately grow closer with his teammates.

The player who became his best friend and roommate was shortstop J.P. Crawford, the top prospect in the farm system. Williams needed a place to live, and Crawford had an extra bedroom in his apartment. The two had hit it off at the Futures Game in mid-July, and as teammates and roommates they got to learn more about their ultracompetitive natures.

"We hung out all the time," Williams said. "We played video games like we were high school teammates."

That is hardly far-fetched considering Williams is still only 22 years old and Crawford turned 21 in January. Each feels he is the superior video game player, although Williams is at least willing to concede that Crawford might be a little better at "Call of Duty."

"I like 'Madden,' " Williams said. "I play a lot of 'Madden.' I don't think anybody in the world can beat me in 'Madden.' Sometimes I pick a last-place team just to prove a point. J.P. is really good at 'Call of Duty.' "

Williams' confidence goes beyond baseball and even video games.

"When I think of my game, I think I can go to any level," he said. "I think I can go to any sport and be a professional."

Perhaps, but Crawford does not believe Williams can beat him in any video game.

"Oh, no, it's me 100 percent," the shortstop said. "It doesn't matter what game, I'm going to get him. If it's a matter of winning or losing, I'm playing to win."

Like Williams, Crawford was thrilled to be a member of winning teams in his second full season in the minors. He had played for terrible teams at low-A Lakewood and high-A Clearwater in 2014, a year in which the Phillies' top five minor-league affiliates finished with a combined 267-393 record. All five teams were at least 10 games under .500, and Clearwater finished an astounding 40 games under that mark.

That much losing is never good for development.

Those same five teams were 341-295 last season, and three of the five participated in the postseason, including Reading, which lost a decisive fifth game to Bowie in the Eastern League championship.

"Oh, it was fun," Crawford said. "I've been on some teams where people don't care about winning or losing, and last year everybody cared about winning and they would get ticked about losing. To have that mind-set and that atmosphere where you're playing to win, it will help when we get up there to the big leagues."

Winning in the minor leagues can be overrated, especially if it's a matter of older and more experienced players beating up on younger guys at a given level.

"But we won the right way," said Joe Jordan, the Phillies' director of player development. "We had one roster that was over the league average age, and that was Lehigh Valley. Everyone else was at or below the average age, so I liked that as much as anything."

Lehigh Valley was the only one of the top five affiliates with a losing record. The Iron Pigs should be a younger and vastly improved team in 2016.

"We talk a lot about creating that environment where guys play confidently and they play loose and they achieve the best versions of themselves," Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said. "Learning how to win in the minor leagues helps to build a winning culture and environment. It absolutely does. On top of that, having players who move through the system together allows them to formulate relationships, and they become better teammates."

In a short time, Williams and Crawford have forged a special bond with each other and their teammates. It will be fascinating to see where it all goes from here.

bbrookover@phillynews.com

@brookob