Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE

Meanwhile, a Venezuelan coastal community was terrorized this week by a young man with the endearing baby face of an Amazon River Dolphin and the strength of a thousand loggers.  If that sounds like the worthless, poorly written hyperbole; the stuff folk legends are made of, that’s because that’s basically what’s happening with the Tiburones de La Guaira right now.

Darin Ruf went 2-for-2, with two home runs and six RBI–six!–in Saturday’s game against Anzoategui de Caribes.  In the first three innings.  That’s four in two days, with the garnish of eight RBI, leading to some excitable tweeting by people who may or may not have exploded.

#Phillies DARIN RUF HIT TWO MORE HOME RUNS TODAY. He now has 8 HR’s in 14 Venezuela Winter League games. He hit two HR’s yesterday also.

— Top Prospect Alert (@MinorLeagueBlog) October 29, 2012

A two run dinger in the first and a grand slam in the third gave the Tiburones almost all the runs they would need, but they for some reason felt compelled to add a few more before settling on an 8-2 victory.  Darin’s fellow Phillies prospect Justin Friend picked up the win after 1.2 innings scoreless, but that will most likely be lost in the shuffle because Darin Ruf scored all the runs in the world.  Then he walked and struck out swinging two times, going through sort of an intense horrible Ryan Howard thing  in the course of nine innings.

That’s eight home runs for Darin in 50 Venezuela Winter League ABs, a .240 average, 15 RBI… uh, yeah.  He’s got, um 12 hits, eight of which are… are those home runs.  Huh.  His slash line is a friendly .240/.345/.740, which aren’t Freddy Galvis numbers, but still supportive in the areas you’d expect for Darin Ruf.  Which is to say, mindless power.  And that is most likely the reason that he has been tucked safely into the designated hitter role for the team, so that we may all gasp in awe and terror at his resounding offense while remaining blissfully ignorant of any defensive issues.  It’s a nice plan that will keep us especially warm as a hurricane bears down on us at an alarming rate.

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Gillies, playing for Cardenales de Lara, led off against Freddy Galvis’ squad, Aguilas del Zulia.  Pitting prospects against each other is part of offseason baseball, apparently, and neither of these two shied away from the challenge, even if they did have bedgrudging respect for each other.  By the time they’re both leading the Phillies in things, they won’t even be clutching to Venezuelan Winter League memories where their drive to compete and win made them inconsolable rivals anymore.

Four games into the season, Gillies is hitting at a .467 clip, and went 2-for-4 against Galvis’ new friends, with a run and an RBI.  Galvis went 1-for-4 and maintained the standard to which Phillies prospects are held to in this league, batting over .400 (.444).

Gillies has plenty of lost time to make for, playing in only 68 games for Reading this year thanks to a concussion and a suspension.  He has wasted none of it, making the Winter League his offseason pressure release valve.

Boy, wouldn’t the timing just be perfect for the 23-year-old Gillies to emerge as a speedy option in center field?  And Galvis to cement himself into a Major League role?  And Darin Ruf also providing surprise power from nowhere?  And suddenly everyone is young again, including Ryan and Chase and Jimmy?

But these guy are playing positions the Phillies will be looking to fill this winter.  Four games in South America don’t prove anything, but are encouraging signs from players who saw their regular seasons shrink up and die.  Really, Gillies just seems like he’s having a nice time.

¿Qué hace todo el mundo gusta hacer para divertirse aquí en Barquisimeto?!#LaLiebre!! Ja ja

— Tyson Gillies (@TysonGillies21) October 15, 2012

Meanwhile, reports of Amaro and his underlings residing in a shadowy tower overlooking the field and exchanging briefcases full of money with international criminals as his prospects fight each other have been greatly over dramatized.

It’s more of a monolith than a tower.  And nothing’s been proven to be criminal about them, they’re just wanted by Interpol to “clear some things up.”

He’s gonna do something awesome… any second… Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

We’ve watched Freddy Galvis transform before us over the past few months.  First, he was a slick fielder being promoted as part of an infielding emergency when Chase Utley’s knees revealed themselves as traitors to the rest of his body.  Then, he was the starting second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies who seemed to perform offensively but only when his name was chanted by tens of thousands of people.  Then, he was a bright spot on a roster full of smudges.  Then, he was the poor kid with the broken back.  Then, he was the suddenly suspended youngster who tested positive for a banned substance with a broken back.

We have many questions about Freddy these days.  Like, where is Freddy?  What is he doing?  Where will he play next year?  How effective are his vertebrate?  And so forth.

We got answers this week, as the Venezuelan Winter League opened on Thursday, and Freddy Galvis didn’t waste any time reminding us of why he is widely considered an offensive dynamo.  Going 4-for-5 with a home run, Galvis went against the notion that he was a glovesmith who sometimes was forced to hold a bat, for one day at least.

Playing alongside Phillies icon Darin Ruf, who went 1-for-4 in the same game, Freddy has a long winter in front of him, during which the Phillies are hoping he can solidify himself as some sort of role-player, despite them not being sure which role and how much he would play in it.

It is nice to see the 22-year-old back on his feet, being allowed to play, and playing so effectively.  You can only hope the team finds a place for his skills and youth, at a point when both are in high demand.  Also, he can swing a bat without looking uncomfortably into the dugout.  PROGRESS.