John Clark and Danny Pommells discuss who the more favorable matchup would be for the Phillies in the NLDS.
Say what you will about Barry Bonds, but here are two indisputable facts. He was one of the greatest baseball players who ever lived, with or without steroids. And in seven trips to the playoffs with the Pirates and Giants, he was never named Most Valuable Player of a postseason series.
Hey, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. For a variety of reasons, many of the best players of their generation have empty spots in their trophy cases where an LCS or World Series MVP trophy would go.
But you know who has earned that hardware? Steve Pearce for the 2018 Red Sox. Eddie Rosario for the 2021 Braves. Howie Kendrick for the 2019 Nationals. David Eckstein, Brian Doyle, Rick Dempsey before that. It would take a while to call the roll of all the lower-profile players who stepped up when it mattered most.
Which is a long-winded way of saying that, when the Phillies begin their playoff odyssey Saturday at 4:08 p.m. with Game 1 of the National League Division Series, they’ll be relying on their Big Name, Big Money Stars to do what they’re paid to do. Of course they will.
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But the more help they get from every corner of their roster, the better their chances of completing their quest by winning the World Series for just the third time in franchise history. Duh. Heck, without the contributions of Buddy Kennedy and Wes Wilson and Kody Clemens and Cal Stevenson and the rest of the Lehigh Valley Brigade down the stretch, they might well have opened on the road instead of in the Comfortable Confines of Citizens Bank Park.
Which brings us to second baseman Bryson Stott.
He looked very much like a rising star in 2023. In his first year as a full-time starter he batted .280 with a .747 OPS. He started hot this year, too: .280/.842 through May 16. Did somebody mention potential future batting champion?
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Then, in his last 108 games, hit just .234 with a .612 OPS.
The Phillies still have hope that he can be one of their BNBMS. He doesn’t turn 27 until Sunday. In the meantime, he’s just looking to get hot as the weather gets cold. Asked earlier this week to evaluate his season, Stott quickly noted that none of what has happened to this point matters now.
“I did a lot of things that I liked. And some things that I obviously didn’t,” he said. “But everyone starts at zeroes now. Good or bad, you’ve got to put your season behind you. We won a ton of games as a team. It’s the ultimate team game. You don’t care if you’re 0-for-5 or 5-for-5 as long as long as you win the game and help your pitchers out (defensively) and things like that.”
Things like that include the fact that Stott was a Gold Glove finalist in 2023 and could well be again this year. He’s also stolen more than 30 bases each of the last two seasons. “He hasn’t produced as well offensively as he has in the past. But he’s still a really good player. And he brings so much to the club even if he’s not hitting,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski noted.
With that being said, it’s not a given that that he’ll be in the lineup against lefthanded starters this fall. He batted .223 and .595 against lefties this season.
“If you’re the manager, that’s the tough part,” Dombrowski continued. “We have a really good backup guy in Edmundo Sosa. Well, who does he match up at that time? Does he decide to play Stott if we face a lefty, thinking, ‘Stotter has hit lefties in the past. He just hasn’t hit them as well this year. But his defense is so good.’ Or do you go ahead and say, ‘We’ll give him a day off and play Sosa over there.’”
The manager was noncommittal on the subject. (He also has a decision to make in how to juggle Austin Hays, Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas and whoever else might be on the NLDS roster in left and center fields.)
According to Rob Thomson, Stott swung the bat “pretty good” in Wednesday’s intrasquad game. “As long as he’s chewing up pitches, having that balance of aggressiveness versus patience. That’s a big thing for him,” he said. “And being able to use the (whole) field. Low line drives to left and, when he gets a chance to turn on a ball, hit it high to right. When he does that, he’s a really good hitter.”
At the same time, he studiously avoided painting himself into a corner, even mentioning Wilson as a possible option when asked who would start at second against a lefthander. “It depends on the matchups and what their splits are versus our guys. So I don’t know,” he said. “But (Wilson hit a home run in the scrimmage). He looked very good. Sosa hit a couple balls hard. So everybody’s in play, really, you know?”
The postseason is, literally and figuratively, a whole new ballgame. A chance for the stars to shine. Not to mention an opportunity for players who may not have met expectations during the regular season to write a more upbeat ending.
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