The two minor-league sluggers stepped onto a big-league field Tuesday and saw their manager, catcher and centerfielder. Dylan Cozens and Rhys Hoskins, who each wore a button-down shirt and tie instead of red pinstripes, hugged the men with which they shared long bus rides during the unglamorous life that is double-A baseball.
"It's pretty surreal," Hoskins, 23, said.
"I'm excited," Cozens, 22, said, "to hopefully be here next year."
Right now, everything is possible for Cozens and Hoskins, who had two of the most productive seasons for any Phillies farmhand in recent history. They are not regarded as top prospects; both have holes in their games that could be exposed at higher levels of competition.