What’s next for Stott? History with top prospects makes fans wonder
Bryson Stott sat comfortably in the IronPigs dugout, surrounded by microphones, during the final week of the minor league season. He talked confidently about the current state of his game.
“I’ve just got to stay in my strike zone,” he said. “I’ve been really comfortable at the plate. I’ve had ups and downs. I’ve just tried to stay as level as I can no matter how I’m doing, and keep that same swing and go from there.”
The Phillies’ 2019 first-round pick recently completed a whirlwind 2021 campaign that included stops at the three highest levels of the system.
The 24-year-old’s batting average increased as he climbed, but his OPS dipped at each stop. His strikeout-to-ratio remained consistent. Above all, he looked like a hitter with a plan, one capable of making adjustments as games wore on and as he saw more experienced, crafted pitchers.
Translation: Stott is close to being major league ready.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said as much earlier this week during his season-ending press conference.
The question weighing on the minds of Phillies fans is: How is the organization going to keep him from reaching his full potential?
Fair question, right, if you consider the organization’s track record with high draft picks and promising prospects:
Traded
J.P. Crawford hit .214 in parts of 201718 seasons and played 30 of those 72 games at positions other than shortstop. He has consistently improved in virtually every offensive category in the three years since being traded to the Mariners. He established career highs this season in batting average, OPS, doubles, home runs, RBIs and walks. He won a 2020 Gold Glove. In 2019, he committed 12 errors in 93 games; this season, he committed 12 in 160. The 26-yearold was part of a trade that brought Jean Segura to Philadelphia. Crawford made $2.05 million this season. The Phillies owe Segura $14.85 million next year and $17 million in 2023. The Mariners, with a considerably lower team payroll, were as close this year to the playoffs as the Phillies.
Cole Irvin was traded for cash to the Athletics after the 2020 season. The 2018 International League pitcher of the year with the IronPigs was 10-15 this season in an American League-leading 32 starts for Oakland with a 4.24 ERA and 1.33 WHIP in a career-high 178 ⅓ innings. The Phillies gave him three starts in 19 major league games across 2019-20 seasons. Matt Moore and Chase Anderson, signed in the offseason to be the Phils’ fourth and fifth starters, were a combined 4-8 with a 6.47 ERA.
Spencer Howard was a starter, then he wasn’t. He was a starter again, then he wasn’t. He was on a pitch/innings limit, then he wasn’t, then he was again. Then the 2017 second-round pick, who said he was never sure what his role/future was, got traded to the Rangers. He never pitched in Triple-A until he made nine appearances for the Phillies between 2020 and the 2021 yo-yo campaign.
Free agents
Phil Gosselin, the definition of a utility bench player and quality clubhouse guy, had his best season in five years, slashing .261/.314/.362/.676 in 104 games with the Angels after playing 83 combined games in 2019-20 with the Phillies. He played five positions plus the designated hitter with the Angels.
To be determined
Rhys Hoskins had a stellar, 50-game debut late in 2017 that was followed by consecutive full seasons of dipping
numbers and a dead-pull approach — which was contrary to the philosophy that saw him excel in the upper levels of the minors and during his rookie season. He also spent a year in left field. Injuries wrecked much of his second half of 2021.
Scott Kingery arguably is the best all-around player to ever put on an IronPigs uniform. A visit in August during his 63-game Triple-A stint from then minor league field coordinator Doug Mansolino was the beginning of Kingery’s digression. The two stood near the third-base bag at Coca-Cola Park. It was a position Kingery never played to that point. It was one of seven positions the Phillies would put the organization’s best defensive second baseman at starting in 2018, the first of his six-year contract. There also was the battle between personal and organizational hitting coaches. Shoulder surgery ended his 2021 season.
Mickey Moniak was yo-yo’d all season. He got eight at-bats in 12 games in 25 days worth of Philadelphia callups once the Triple-A season started. He batted a collective .171 in the several days after each return to the minors. The 2016 first-round pick has to wonder if the organization values him after that kind of treatment.
Adam Haseley, in addition to injuries and COVID, took a personal break in 2021 after getting similar treatment to that of Moniak from the Phillies the last three seasons. The 2017 first-round
pick looked solid in the final three weeks of the IronPigs season.
Alec Bohm did not play a game in Triple-A until he played 129 major league games, and that was an injury rehab contest. He was demoted a month later when his offensive output equaled his defensive deficiencies.
The Phillies need help at second base, third base, left field, center field and starting and relief pitching. Many of these players above appeared or appear to be ready to fill some of those voids. But the organization’s instability and inability has not helped their collective progress.
Firings and demotions in the front office and within the major and minor league field staffs have come in recent months as Dombrowski embarks on his first full season in charge. More figure to come this offseason in addition to the trades and free-agent signings to address the Phillies’ many needs.
They are the same needs that existed in previous regimes. Those needs put undue pressure and expectations on many of the names listed above. How will things play out next season with Stott? No one knows, but, for now, the 24-year-old has progressed enough to put his name in the hat.
The Phillies’ 2021 Paul Owens Award winner as the minor league’s top position player batted near the top of the order and played almost exclusively at shortstop in his two-plus years in the
organization.
But the club’s track record has shown there is no telling what is next — even if you’re a first-round pick.
“They always told me that if you hit and play well,” Stott said, “they are going to move you. You play the whole season to win games. When you walk into [Citizens Bank Park’s clubhouse] you want to be there one day. That’s the end goal. You keep swinging and keep having fun and, hopefully, get there one day.”
The trick is staying there and being put in the best possible situation to succeed.
Stott has played 12 games at second base as a professional and seven at third. He last played second base in a college summer league and as a high school freshman. He exclusively played shortstop the last three years in high school and three at UNLV.
“It’s just a comfort level thing for me,” he said. “I’ve got to go get reps, take grounders. Playing all three [positions] is big.
“If it helps me get to big leagues so be it.”
Stott, like Moniak, Kingery, Haseley and others, will need a fair shot to stay in the big leagues and play to their potential.