**huffs rag soaked in turpentine**

It’s been a turbulent offseason for these kids.  First, they had to go to Arizona. Then, they had to team up with a crew of ragtag prospects from the Padres, Reds, Mariners, and Twins.  Would they put their differences aside, come together and eventually win it all?  I just told you, yes.  But now these young Phils of the future return home, uncertain of what even an ostrich is doing here and why it wants so badly to fight them.

But an AFL trophy is just what they need to overcome such trauma.  First, the numbers.

• Tommy Joseph:  49 AB, 10 H, 1 2B, 5 RBI, 6 BB, 8 SO, .204/.224/.515
• Cody Asche:  89 AB, 25 H, 11 2B, 1 HR, 12 RBI, .281/.438/.782
• Zach Collier:  62 AB, 23 H, 4 2B, 3 3B, 10 RBI, 12 BB, .371/.461/.532
• Tyler Knigge:  12.0 IP, 7.50 ERA, 13 H, 10 ER, 5 BB, 10 K
• Jay Johnson:  8.0 IP, 10.13 ERA, 13 H, 9ER, 9 BB, 14 K
• Kyle Simon:  12.0 IP, 9.00 ERA, 21 H, 12 ER, 3 BB, 8 K

Collier is clearly the MVP of the group, going on an offensive tear and also walking a lot–they all wound up walking a lot.  Whether that’s a sign fo completely gasses young AFL pitchers or an increased awareness at the plate, we’ll never know.  I mean we, here at this site will never know.  Beat writers and the like; they probably know already.

The championship game was not a glorious arena for our heroes’ triumph, however.  Joseph didn’t get go play, and only Jay Johnson saw action out of the pen, allowing a hit but then punching out the only batter he needed to get.  Asche got the start at third, as he did most of the season, and Collier played left and then center field in the eighth.  Collier grounded out three teams, but did have a successful sac bunt, while Asche went 0-for-2 with two of those walks I was just mentioning.

The real heroes, however, came from other squads.  The Mariners’ young catcher Mike Zunino went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI, knocking in the Reds’ Billy Hamilton at one point in the first inning after he led off the game with a triple.  The Padres’ outfielder Rymer Liriano was 3-for-3, and Nate Roberts went 3-for-4 with an astounding mustache.

The Salt River Rafters did their best to overcome various small deficits, and all the scoring was done in the first three innings, leading to an intense start that ended in six long, monotonous innings.  But the 4-3 victory for Peoria came to a mighty close when the Padres’ Kevin Quackenbush set the last SR batter down on strikes.  Then everything came to a mighty pause when the first ever AFL protest was staged on a call in the seventh regarding whether or not Nationals prospect Brian Goodwin left third base too early on a sac fly (he did).  Then everything came to a mighty close, again, and the Javelinas flooded the field, celebrating wildly, like a herd of actual javelinas after a delicious kill.

So now, it’s back to boring old regular fall, when there is no baseball played, hockey is on strike, the Eagles are cannibalizing each other, and Andrew Bynum’s knee tries to escape from his body.  It’s a cold world once you leave Arizona.  But that’s not fair.  They say it’s a real dry heat.

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.