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Sam Fuld talks decision to demote Bryson Stott to Triple A

The Phillies demoted top position prospect Bryson Stott to Triple-A Lehigh Valley prior to Monday’s game. To replace him on the active roster, they selected the contract of outfielder Roman Quinn. Ryan Sherriff (left shoulder strain) was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room for Quinn on the 40-man roster.

Bryson Stott was demoted to Triple A on Monday. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)

Stott, 24, forced the Phillies’ hand with an excellent showing in spring training. He was selected to the roster and started at third base on Opening Day, but he is stuck in an 0-for-18 slump and hasn’t received an at-bat since April 19, when he came into the game as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning. It was evident that a move like this was coming, especially since Stott was just not receiving regular at-bats at the major league level.

For general manager Sam Fuld, were there any regrets for carrying both Stott and Alec Bohm considering that the Phillies struggled to find regular at-bats for both of them?

“There’s always learning experiences,” Fuld said. “I think a lot of the game’s great players will tell you that their first bout of adversity in the major leagues was a positive learning experience when it’s all said and done. You never want that. You never root for that, but this brief look at the major leagues and the brief bout with struggles I think will be beneficial in the long term for Bryson. So clearly, he earned this spot on the team given the performance last year and in spring training. Do we have any regrets? We knew this was a possibility.”

When the Phillies got word on Monday that Didi Gregorius, who has not played since April 19 after getting hit in the hand by a pitch, was ready to return to action, the team made the call on Stott. Even when Gregorius was unavailable to play, Stott was still not getting reps on the major league roster.

“To Didi, Camargo, and Bohm’s credit, they’ve all created this good problem in that they performed well,” Fuld said. “We knew that we could live out a situation like this one. It’s why you continually monitor it and juggle those two criteria. It felt like this was the time to do it. This doesn’t happen without Bohm, Camargo and Didi’s performance.”

Prior to his injury, Gregorius was on a five-game hitting streak. He’s slashing .286/.342/.371 on the young season. While Bohm and Camargo are both batting over .300, the two third basemen are in the midst of an 0-for-6.

Phillies Notes

Most of Stott’s reps at Triple A will be at shortstop, but Fuld said they’ll make sure “he’s getting reps at other positions.”
Are the Phillies still committed to an Odúbel Herrera-Matt Vierling center-field platoon with Quinn in the mix? That’s up to Joe Girardi:
“Obviously, Quinn adds some flexibility there and some options. Much like a lot of what we do, it’ll be monitoring, and certainly Joe will ultimately make the decision there. But Joe’s aware of Roman’s abilities. It’s exciting to get a guy like that to help us in a lot of different ways, including playing center.”
On why Quinn was added to the roster as opposed to recalling Nick Maton: “One, he’s shown that he’s healthy and back to the elite athlete that he was coming off of his injury. We have as much confidence that he can impact the game with his legs in the same capacity in previous years. If it’s pinch-run, if it’s defensive replacement, it’s obviously a versatile bat with the switch hitting. There are a lot of ways that I think he can impact us, especially late in games, and with the DH spot, you just get a little bit more flexibility to use a guy with Roman’s unique skillset.”
As of 20 minutes after 5 p.m, Quinn had not arrived at the ballpark yet. It’s unclear if he’s available for Monday’s game.