Prospects putting pressure on Phillies' big-leaguers | Marcus Hayes

J.P. CRAWFORD has an impish grin and a curious habit: He twirls his goatee between his thumb and forefinger when he's pensive.

Crawford was twirling and grinning at the end of spring training as he considered how close he and the rest of the Phillies' promising players are to making it to the majors . . . and how their proximity should be making the established players feel.

"All of us are putting pressure on everyone up there," Crawford said. "Our Triple A team's going to be unreal. We're going to win a lot of games."

Crawford is the biggest name in the battalion of blossoming players at Lehigh Valley. He might be the darling of the moment, but feel free to pick your prospect: mature first baseman Rhys Hoskins; his bash brother, rightfielder Dylan Cozens; five-tool outfielder Nick Williams; speedy outfielder Roman Quinn, who was impressive in a September call-up; second baseman Jesmuel Valentin, who nearly made the major league team in spring training; or maybe hulking catcher Jorge Alfaro, who pops your eardrums when he finds the sweet spot.

"If you're a prospect in this organization, you've got to be licking your chops," said Phillies bench coach Larry Bowa, giddily. "It's time for the prospects to push the guys here, and it's time for the guys here to respond. They see what's coming."

They're pushing, real good.

As the IronPigs entered their 12th game Tuesday night, Alfaro was leading the regulars with a .361 average and a .923 on-base-plus-slugging rate. Hoskins' 1.129 OPS led the club, as did his three home runs and seven walks. Valentin was hitting .355 with a .412 on-base percentage.

There are issues. Crawford is 3-for-35. Cozens and Quinn have 17 strikeouts apiece. Quinn and Williams have drawn one walk each. The team is 5-6.

Phillies player development director Joe Jordan said he wouldn't pay much attention to the 'Pigs until after Easter. Well, it's after Easter. They began a six-game homestand Tuesday night.

The Phillies, meanwhile, are 4-8. Shortstop Freddy Galvis, third baseman Maikel Franco, first baseman Tommy Joseph and catcher Cameron Rupp are hitting below .200.

Asked before the season began whether they heard the footsteps chasing them down from Allentown, Galvis and Franco said they didn't care that the kids were coming.

"No," Galvis said, abruptly. "I just need to play good baseball, and that's it. I'm not thinking about them. I'm thinking about what's going on right here."

Galvis has Gold Glove fielding skills that increase his value. Franco has power, and that eases his mind.

"Pressure? Not at all," Franco said blithely. "I know on the minor league side, we've got a lot of young talent. I don't feel pressure because I know what I have to do; what I'm capable of doing. I've been in their situation."

Indeed, Franco knows what it's like to be Alfaro, or Cozens, or Hoskins . . . except, when he was them, he was the only one. To the established major leaguers, Franco was a pest. This group is an infestation.

"If all eyes are on us, it means we've done well in the past," Hoskins said. "Hopefully, there's more of that to come in the future."

Hoskins, 24, might see his future arrive sooner than the others. He hit .281 with 38 home runs and a .377 on-base percentage at Double A Reading last season, numbers that built nicely on his 2015 results, compiled at Class A Clearwater and Lakewood. He also drew 126 walks in 270 games the past two seasons. Cozens, 22, was drafted in the second round in 2012. He's a power plant and a strikeout machine, but he drew only 130 walks in the past three seasons.

As Hoskins ascends, his competition flails. Joseph and backup first baseman Brock Stassi entered Tuesday a combined 8-for-52. Don't expect fatherly manager Pete Mackanin to exercise his nurturing patience if he's getting no production from baseball's most offense-oriented position. That might have been his strategy in 2015 and 2016, but, like all but one player on the roster, Mack isn't signed beyond 2017. He needs wins, and he needs them now. The gloves are off.

"Everybody's got pressure. All players have to be aware of pressure and deal with it," he said. "There's certainly a lot of pressure when you're playing in the World Series, or trying to get into the playoffs. If you're worried about somebody taking your job, and you don't deal with that pressure the right way, you might not be the right guy. If you had pressure in spring training trying too hard to make the team, how are you going to deal with pressure in the ninth inning of a ballgame with the winning run on second base?"

How, indeed?

It's enough to make you twirl your goatee.

hayesm@phillynews.com

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