With Bryce Harper at first and two outs against one of baseball’s most dominant relievers this season in the ninth inning, the Phillies had the matchup they wanted at the plate.
Bryson Stott, one of baseball’s best two-strike hitters, came in to the at-bat against Yennier Canó knowing he wanted nothing to do with the All-Star reliever’s changeup. If he got a high sinker that was anywhere close to the middle-in sweet spot for lefties, he was going to pounce. He was surprised that pitch to hit came immediately. He swung and pulled a ball down the line for a double.
Harper flew around the bases and rounded third base as Dusty Wathan waived him home. The Orioles may have had a play at the plate, but the cutoff man Adam Frazier slipped while trying to field the throw from the outfield. Harper, for a second consecutive night, tapped home with his custom Phanatic sliding mitt. Instead of walking back to the dugout in rage as he did the night before, Harper pumped his fist and yelled “let’s go” to one of his closest friends in life at second base.
The next batter Alec Bohm put the bat on a 1-1 changeup from Canó to score Stott and finish off one of the most thrilling Phillies comeback wins of the season.
In a lineup built around highly-regarded veterans, Stott, 25, has been the steady presence. He’s one of only four qualified National League hitters with a .300 batting average or better. He began the season with a historic Phillies hitting streak and a .382 batting average when it ended. That number dropped all the way to .279 about a month later, but he slowly began heating up again. He needed only a month to crawl back up to .300.
The numbers don’t lie, especially when you’re over the 100-game mark in a season. Stott is a good hitter that’s having the kind of season that makes you optimistic about what the future holds.
It’s on Harper’s mind. When a reporter asked Harper to juxtapose his emotions running from first to home over the last two games, Harper attributed his excitement level when he scored to how proud he was to see Stott come through.
“He’s such a baller out there, man,” Harper said. “It’s so much fun to watch. He’s one of my best friends, but I can’t say enough about how he goes about it. The way he does it. At-bat by at-bat. Situation by situation. It doesn’t matter where he’s hitting in the lineup or what he’s doing. It’s just fun to watch.
“He’s going to be a star, man. It’s a lot of fun to see him do his thing.”
Forgive Harper if he’s a little biased; he’s known Stott since he was nine years old. But if there’s anyone in baseball qualified to speak on this subject, it’s the “Chosen One” himself.
“I think I just kind of laugh it off,” Stott said when asked about Harper referring to him as a future star. “He’s one of my best friends. Having the support from him and I do the same for him. I know he’s a superstar. Like, he’s learned first base. Just being out there for him everyday. Just kind of being there for each other has been huge.”
If Stott is indeed a star, he’s not the prototypical toolsy young player with big-time power like Ronald Acuña Jr. He plays great defense at second base, is tough to strike out and is able to reach base at a respectable clip and wreak havoc when he’s on. Veterans like Harper are good at judging who can stick and who can’t and based off of Harper’s words and a similar comment made by Kyle Schwarber during the last homestand, the Phillies have a feeling about Stott.
“The makeup on him is really good,” Schwarber said on July 18. “He’s not fazed by a moment and he’s not fazed by a pitcher, whatever it is. He wants to be in there every single day. He’s ready for the challenge and the preparation is A-plus and that’s just not on offense. That’s on defense as well. Playing Gold Glove caliber second base, in my opinion. He’s a huge part of what we’re doing here.
“The way that he’s been able to go out there and handle himself against a lot of tough pitching. He handles it in stride and you guys all see the plays and tags that he makes. It’s all fantastic. He’s a heck of a player and we’re really lucky to have him.”
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