By: Brandon Apter, contributor 
On Thursday night in Reading, Phillies fans got a small glimpse at the future. Though the game ended in a 19-4 blowout, the Phillies Futures Team got nice contributions offensively, with home runs off the bats of Roman Quinn, Dylan Cozens and J.P. Crawford. The minor league season is less than week away from starting and last night made some of the farm team rosters a little clearer.
Heading to Double-A to start the season will be outfielder Roman Quinn, catcher Jorge Alfaro and Phillies top prospect, shortstop J.P. Crawford. Both Quinn and Alfaro aren't really a surprise for the Double-A roster, but some believed Crawford would be starting in Triple-A, which isn't the case. The 21-year-old shortstop was promoted to Reading in 2015 after hitting .392 in 21 games with Clearwater. He turned plenty of heads with his defensive ability in Double-A, but in 86 games with Reading, he hit just .265, so his hitting is the main reason he's bound for Double-A.
Just because Crawford doesn't start in Triple-A doesn't mean he can't get there quickly if he produces from the start. His offense still needs some fine-tuning and most teams around the country stash their best prospects at the Double-A level, so it makes sense for him to be there to begin 2016. The announcement was not anything that concerned Crawford when he met with the media at FirstEnergy Stadium on Thursday.
"Not disappointed at at all," Crawford said. "Double A, Triple A, it's basically the same thing." [CSNPhilly.com]
Quinn will return to Reading, where he spent the majority of 2015 prior to injuring his quad. The speedy outfielder hit .306 in 58 games last season with six doubles, six triples, four homers, 15 RBIs, 44 runs scored and 29 steals. Quinn hasn't played more than 88 games in his career. Jorge Alfaro will make his much anticipated debut in Double-A after missing the back half of last season with an ankle injury. Prior to going down, Alfaro hit .250 with Double-A Frisco.
Meanwhile, Nick Williams, Andrew Knapp and Tommy Joseph will begin the season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Williams, 22, will make his Triple-A debut following a 2015 season that saw him hit .303 with 26 doubles, six triples, 17 homers and 55 RBIs between the Rangers Double-A team and Reading. Andrew Knapp will be the primary catcher in Lehigh Valley after having a breakout season in 2015. The 24-year-old switch hitting backstop hit .360 with 21 doubles, 11 homers and 56 RBIs in 55 games with Reading last season and earned the Eastern League Player of the Month award in August after hitting .404 with nine doubles, eight homers and 28 RBIs.
Tommy Joseph heads to Lehigh Valley after another season that saw him miss time due to a concussion. Joseph hasn't played more than 58 games in a season since 2012. He'll get time at first base along, but with Brock Stassi likely starting in Triple-A as well, Joseph will serve as a DH as well when the team needs one.
Reading will host Portland to begin their season on April 7th while The Ironpigs open their season on the road against the Syracuse Chiefs. The two teams will play one another in Reading on April 5th prior to the start of the season.
