Phillies season preview: A healthy Bryson Stott will be looking to bounce back at second

The pressure is on. After two straight playoff implosions in 2023 and 2024 — following a World Series loss in 2022 — the Phillies are running it back and are hoping to prove that their highly paid and highly talented roster has what it takes to be champions.

Philly will enter 2025 with the fourth-best World Series odds, behind the juggernaut Dodgers, Yankees and division rival Braves. They are tied with another rival in the Mets (at +1100 via FanDuel).

The NL East will be a fierce division this summer, but the Phillies believe they have what it takes to defend that title.

As we do every season, as players work out and play exhibition games in Clearwater, we'll check in and tell you the prognosis and expectations for every position.

Today's look is at second base and Bryson Stott, who is looking for a bounce-back year…

Scouting report

Bryson Stott never looked quite right last season, or not consistently to the level he was in 2023, when he appeared on the verge of a full breakout.

His baserunning stayed on par, but his fielding took a step back, and at the plate, his numbers dipped.

In 2023, Stott's second year in the majors, he slashed .280/.329/.419 with 32 doubles, 15 home runs, 78 runs scored, and 62 runs batted in across 151 games and 640 plate appearances. He also stole 31 bases.

In Year 3, 2024, Stott bumped up to 32 stolen bases, but dropped to .245/.315/.356 with 11 home runs and just 19 doubles. He also scored 13 fewer runs (65) and knocked in five less (57), then, much like the rest of the Phillies, struggled through the NLDS burnout against the Mets. He played 148 regular-season games and made 571 trips to the plate.

So what went wrong here?

Well, earlier this week down in Clearwater, Stott revealed to reporters that he suffered a nerve injury in his elbow last May. He dealt with it all of last season after.

"I messed up this nerve – some long word for a nerve in there – and I did it in the end of May in Miami," Stott explained, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. "I was hitting really good. I was like 'Alright, I'm feeling back to normal' after the rough first month and kind of got it going, took a weird swing and kind of felt my pinky go numb."

That never went away.

"It just kind of lingered the whole time," Stott continued. "It was kind of when I was out in front fooled. Had that hyperextension that would make my fingers go numb. I had to call time, and then it would feel fine, and I think as it kept going and going, it got weaker and weaker, and I was trying to compensate with different parts of my body. It kind of got me into some bad habits."

Still, Stott said he was healthy enough to keep playing with the injury last season, and with the realization that his ability at the plate was limited for the time being, he prioritized trying to make a bigger impact along the basepaths and with his glove.

But that only carried him and the Phillies so far.

Stott's goal now is to work back to his 2023 form, and with the lineup well-stocked on power already, for him to be someone who can regularly reach base so that when the rest of the Phils' stars do make their damage, it counts for that much more.

"Obviously, just the type of hitter I am, my power's to right," Stott said. "I know that, the league knows that, and if they don't want to throw the ball in there, then I got to take my hits to left. I'm OK with that.

"I can steal second and I can steal third and things like that. We have plenty of guys who are going to hit homers. My job is to be on when they do."

NL East comparison

Stott is among a relatively young, but at the same time, mostly established group at second base across the NL East.

Ozzie Albies in Altanta and Jeff McNeil in New York have been mainstays for a good while now, but Miami and Washington are on their own respective youth movements with Otto López on the Marlins and Luis García Jr. on the Nationals.

Stott, approaching his fourth major league season at 27 years old, is in the middle ground of those two camps.

Here's how each of their 2024 seasons, along with their 2025 projections (both via baseball-reference) compare:

Also keep in mind: baseball-reference's future projections do tend to err on the conservative side.

Phillies' depth and future

Stott is under team control through 2027, and from where things stand right now, he doesn't appear to be going anywhere until then.

And as it's been since he arrived to Philadelphia with the 2022 trade deadline, super utility man Edmundo Sosa will be available off the bench to fill in on Stott's off days or in case of an injury.

The Phillies do have a couple of second base prospects in the system, but they're further down the ranks and very young.

Devin Saltiban is a 20-year-old right-handed bat down in Single-A, who slashed .237/.346/.428 last season, but with 17 homers, 50 walks, 22 stolen bases, and 53 runs batted in.

The 2023 third-round draft pick was the Phillies' eighth-ranked prospect in 2024, and is being brought up as a shortstop and second baseman depending on wherever the opening for him is as he climbs.

Aroon Escobar is another 20-year-old who the Phillies signed out of the international pool in January 2022. Escobar, out of Venezuela, is also a right-handed bat and being developed as a second and third baseman.

In rookie ball last season, Escobar put up a line of .338/.495/.481 with three homers, two doubles, and 17 runs knocked in across 24 games and 77 at-bats. He struck out just 10 times and drew 21 walks – impressive, but still with a very long way to go.

Phillies season preview
C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | DH | OF | SP | RP | B

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