Both Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm will make the Philadelphia Phillies Opening Day roster, per MLB.com‘s Todd Zolecki. As Zolecki notes, the Phillies will need to open up a 40-man roster spot for Stott, their 2019 first-round draft pick.
While both Bohm (third base) and Stott (second base) are in the starting lineup for Tuesday’s Grapefruit League game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the two figure to be competing for playing time to begin the season.
Jean Segura will be the Opening Day second baseman. Stott may get some chances to play his natural position of shortstop, but one would think Didi Gregorius will get a bulk of the starts at the position to open the 2022 campaign. That leaves Stott and Bohm vying for time at third base.
Bohm is a natural third basemen, but is coming off a season where he had -13 defensive runs saved at the hot corner, and posted just a .647 OPS. The former National League Rookie of the Year runner-up has a .226 batting average with one home run and two RBIs in 31 at-bats this spring.
Stott, meanwhile, has been arguably the most impressive player for the Phillies during the spring. Entering play Tuesday, Stott was hitting .429 with one home run and three RBIs.
MLB rosters have been expanded to 28 players for April, but will return to 26 in May. It may be whoever gets off to a slower start to the 2022 campaign ends up being optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after the first month of the season concludes, if not sooner.