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Murphy: Phillies' young stars offer a glimpse of what might be

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The odds say this wasn't a preview. Roman Quinn, J.P. Crawford, Dylan Cozens, Nick Williams and Jorge Alfaro, all in the same lineup, all wearing Phillies red. It happened Thursday afternoon, and the performance they turned in almost dared you to dream: 6-for-13, four extra-base hits, two of them home runs.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The odds say this wasn't a preview. Roman Quinn, J.P. Crawford, Dylan Cozens, Nick Williams and Jorge Alfaro, all in the same lineup, all wearing Phillies red. It happened Thursday afternoon, and the performance they turned in almost dared you to dream: 6-for-13, four extra-base hits, two of them home runs.

Now batting for the 2019 Phillies . . .

But the odds are the odds. The closer a prospect gets to the big leagues, the more daunting they become. And, really, to ignore them is to ignore the beauty of the Phillies' situation. For while the lineup that took the field in their exhibition opener against the University of Tampa might never be together in a big-league game, the odds also say that at least one or two of them will. And for a team with the resources the Phillies have at their disposal, one or two might be all they need.

This, in fact, was the gist of a pregame conversation between Pete Mackanin and the man who oversaw the Phillies' last extended run of success. Charlie Manuel remarked about the quantity of prospects the organization had amassed since his last season as manager, and both agreed about what it portended.

"Perhaps not necessarily blue-chip prospects," Mackanin said after his team's 6-0 win, "but enough where you know that some of them are going to make their way to the top. This is a good start with what we're looking at right now."

The early part of this Phillies spring training will feature a significant amount of the players in question. Barring injury, all of them will start the season in the upper levels of the minors. In a best-case scenario, that is where they will remain until the season's later months. The Phillies have plenty of players to look at on their major league roster, each them a lottery ticket in his own right. Tommy Joseph, Cesar Hernandez, even Michael Saunders and Howie Kendrick: All have the potential to play a part in the ongoing rebuild. Some could establish themselves cogs of the future, others as chips to be exchanged for a greater quantity of potential.

It's remarkable how much has changed in such a short period of time, with credit going to both the old front office and the new. All five of the aforementioned players were added under the previous regime. Quinn, a development success, went 2-for-3 with a home run against Tampa. Crawford, a blue-chipper since he signed, went 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Cozens, whose power was all Ruben Amaro Jr. could talk about on the day he was drafted in 2012, went 2-for-3 with a homer and four RBI. The last two were the centerpieces of the July 2015 trade of Cole Hamels, a move that served as a bridge between past and future, with current president Andy MacPhail working in an advisory role with Amaro and his lieutenants. Williams went 0-for-3 with a walk, while Alfaro went 1-for-2 with a double.

"I remember when he had guys like Freddy and Cesar coming up, but they were so far away, we had to add six-year free agents who were fair to middling," Mackanin said. "Now when I made out this lineup, you look at the guys and it's really encouraging to see. We didn't have to get a lot of six-year free agents, and you look at that lineup, and everyone of them has very good potential - more than I've seen since I've been here."

Crawford is the steadiest, Quinn and Williams the most electric, Cozens the most raw. In terms of intrigue, though, none tops Alfaro, whose raw power has been on display throughout the early part of spring, his batting practice home runs battering the high stucco wall that rises behind the practice fields. He hit 15 home runs in 404 at bats at Double A Reading last season and on Thursday somehow smashed a ball at his sternum into the gap in right-centerfield (this one fell victim to a diving catch, his double coming later).

"I never think, like, I'm going to stay in the big leagues this year or whatever," said Alfaro, who will soon depart to compete for Colombia in the World Baseball Classic. "Wherever they send me, I'm going to play the same way. I'm going to play hard, and I'm going to help my team and give 100 percent every play. It doesn't matter where I play, I'm going to keep playing hard, keep doing what I do. I don't really think about where I'm going to play, just how hard I can play."

At this point, that's all any of them can do. Individually, their odds remain long. But, taken as a collective, the future for the Phillies is most definitely bright.

dmurphy@phillynews.com

@ByDavidMurphy