Tommy Joseph is built like a Nebraska corn farm. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Ah, the irascibility of youth. Kids are so cute at this age.

Phillies catching prospect Tommy Joseph, acquired from the San Francisco Giants in the Hunter Pence trade last July, is the youngest Phillies player in camp this spring. And at just 21 years old, Joseph is making quite an impression down in Clearwater.

Not only did Joseph go 3 for 4 with two singles against one of the best pitchers in the National League yesterday, Stephen Strasburg, he also did something during the Phillies’ 6-3 win over the Nationals that would scare even the most hardened Major League veterans.

He tried to talk to Roy Halladay.

In between innings.

Of a game Roy Halladay was pitching.

Like, for real.

“You know what? That takes some stones,” Phils pitching coach Rich Dubee said, clearly envious of Joseph’s moxie and seeming indifference to living. “That’s what you’re looking for out of a catcher, some leadership. That’s pretty good right there. You have a two-time Cy Young winner with almost 200 wins and you feel confident enough that you can go up and talk to him. That’s perfect.”

For his part, Halladay also noted Joseph’s testicular fortitude, even if he did want to strangle him with a telephone wire at the time.

“He wanted to talk a lot in between innings, which really isn’t my thing,” Halladay said, laughing. “But I didn’t mind it because he was trying to get a feel for what I wanted to do. I thought he did a great job. He was very on top of things. He was aware of what was going on in the game and the situations. That’s what you want to see.”

And by “I didn’t mind it,” what Roy really meant was, “I decided not to murder him with my eyes… this time.”

Despite Joseph’s obvious death wish, the young catcher is enjoying a terrific spring, hitting .462 (6 for 13) with three extra base hits, including this mammoth home run against the Yankees a couple weeks ago.

I mean, dang. That’s a sweet swing.

Charlie let Joseph stay in the entire game on Wednesday, wanting to get a longer look at the kid.

“I left him in there, didn’t I?” manager Charlie Manuel said. “I liked the way he was playing.”

What’s not to like? Joseph has been aggressive and has shown some impressive defensive skills as well, tracking down two tough pop ups in windy conditions yesterday and throwing out a baserunner trying to steal.

Phils officials believe he still needs work calling a game, which is perhaps why he spent so much time trying to poke a bear with a stick… er… trying to talk to Halladay during yesterday’s contest against Washington.

Joseph will begin the season as the starting catcher for AAA Lehigh Valley this year, but if all goes well, it’s a lock that the Phils will bid adieu to Carlos Ruiz when his contract expires at the end of the season, and anoint Joseph the starting catcher in 2014.

That is, if Roy Halladay doesn’t kill him first.

Joseph gets self into legacy of Billy Hamilton

Another AFL has come to a middle, and what better way to celebrate than to pit its best players against each other?  Ha, ha, ha.  DANCE PUPPETS DAAAAAAANCE.

But enough with all that crap.  What you want to know is, which Phillies prospects made it onto the roster?  Pitchers fly in and out of these games as quickly as hitters, so by necessity alone they would need to include as many as possible.  Sadly, no Phillies pitching prospects made the cut; which is less surprising when using “statistics” to determine players’ value.

While still a collection of talented slingers, Colby Shreve led the crew with a 4.50 ERA, in a group where it has gotten as high as 12.00 (Tyler Knigge).  Shreve is also tied for the team lead in holds and appeared in the most games.  Kyle Simon is on pace to take home the Most Earned Runs Allowed award, which is a tiny trophy often presented to its owner without a ceremony in the creepy alley behind the clubhouse.

No, the only names on the AFL Rising Stars East squad from the Phillies franchise were offensive, and they were two thirds of the eligible prospects we sent in that category–third baseman Cody Asche and catcher Tommy Joseph (he of the .425 OPS and team-leading three errors, so…?)

Unfortunately, both had to work very hard to get mentioned in this recap of the game, which featured far more Billy Hamilton than anybody could stand, but that’s only because Hamilton is a promising young prospect who rarely screws up and is fun to watch and says cool things.

Joseph squeezed himself into a Billy Hamilton story, however, as he singled in the top of the fifth, and then was immediately replaced by Braves SS prospect Nick Ahmed, who scored after Billy drag bunted a beaut to Jonathan Singleton, who was so impressed that he hurled the ball into right field.  Asche went 0-for-2 with a strikeout.

Old pal Jarred Cosart was out there on the mound again to start for the AFL Rising Stars East, going two innings with a hit, two earned runs, and two walks.  Package deal bedfellow Jonathan Singleton went 1-for-2 with a walk and that aforementioned throw into the outfield.

It was a stifling performance by the opposing Eastern Stars, and our boys went down by a 9-4 score, courtesy of the Athletics’ Michael Tonkin’s fifth inning meltdown to end all fifth inning meltdowns, in which he coughed up three hits and five runs, four of them earned.

The AFL surges forward now, memories of a lopsided Rising Stars game getting further and further away.  On November 17, the Championship Game will be played in Scottsdale, and we can only assume the powerful might lurking in our prospects has surfaced by then.

**pokes prospects**

Come oooooonnn.

Surfaaaacccce.

I mean it’s not like we’ve got anything else to do. Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Stats as of 10/21

Cody Asche:  32 AB (tied for team lead), 10 H, 4 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .313/.324/.855

Tommy Joseph:  16 AB, 2 H, 1 RBI, .125/.263/.388

Zach Collier:  22 AB, 6 H, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 CS, .273/.304/.668

Colby Shreve:  4.2 IP, 1.93 ERA, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 K

Kyle Simon:  3.1 IP, 21.60 ERA, 9 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Tyler Knigge:  4.0 IP, 11.25 ERA, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K

Jay Johnson:  2.2 IP, 16.87 ERA, 5 H, 5 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 7 K

Monday, the Phillies finally got their revenge on that pesky Jarred Coasrt, who had the audacity to have himself traded for Hunter Pence last season.  The kid gave up two runs over five innings and got tagged with the loss to the Phils prospects of Peoria on Monday.  Same goes for ex-Phils prospect Jonathan Singleton, who went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.  Cody Asche had a monster night, converting three of five chances at the plate into hits, including an RBI double.  Not to be outdone, Zach Collier walked and tripled from the nine-hole, scoring a run in a blood-splattering top of the fifth when his three-bagger set off an offensive six-run explosion for the Javelinas.

Colby Shreve pitched an inning of relief on Tuesday against the Mesa Solar Sox, got tattooed for a hit and a run, chucked a wild pitch past Tommy Joseph, but not enough to give up the lead.  His offensive battery mates did little to secure the win themselves, as Joseph managed a 1-for-3 day with a single and a GIDP.  Zach Collier snuck in an at-bat in the sixth inning but did nothing with it.

At one point leading 7-1, Wednesday’s 12-9 loss stung a bit, despite Kyle Simon getting the start and chiseling his ERA down to a healthy 21.60 after three innings of one-run, two-hit, one-walk, one-strikeout ball.  Jay Johnson pitched a third of the fifth inning and somehow gave up four earned runs over two hits and two free passes to Salt River hitters.  Tyler Knigge matched his teammate in earned runs when he entered the game in the eighth, surrendering four of his own and five hits, while being the third Phillies pitching prospect of the game to watch his ERA hit double digits.  Cody Asche dropped a couple of singles or whatever who cares GOD.

Thursday’s 3-1 Javelinas victory cannot be attributed to any of the Phillies’ pitching prospects, as none of them found themselves getting the call.  Cody Asche and Zach Collier made starts at third base and center field, and combined to go 1-for-6 with a hit and a run scored between the two of them.  However.

dat Asche RT @minorleagueblog #Phillies Cody Asche has hit his 1st Home Run for Peoria in Arizona Fall League action tonight

— Bill Baer (@CrashburnAlley) October 19, 2012

Peoria refused to be startled by the Surprise Saguaros on Friday and pulled off the one-run 3-2 victory that would elude them the following night.  The Red’s “Runnin” Billy Hamilton led off, giving Cody Asche the opportunity to hit behind a player with the ability to be everywhere at once, and reached on an error only to be called out after being struck by a batted ball.  Also making the lineup were Tommy Joseph and Zach Collier, who experienced varying degrees of effectiveness going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, respectively.  Joseph and Asche hooked up to catch Kolten Wong stealing third.  Colby Shreve threw an inning, gave up a hit, but smothered the rest of his opposition and kept that ERA under 2.00.

The Javelinas scored 11 runs in the first four innings against Phoenix Saturday, with the major Phillies contributors being Jay Johnson, who threw one inning and gave up a single hit while striking out two, and Tyler Knigge, who gave up the losing 12th run in the bottom of the 9th and had a fiery red “L” singed onto his back flesh as punishment.