A breakout 2023 season wasn’t enough to catapult Bryson Stott of the Philadelphia Phillies onto a countdown of the top second basemen in baseball.
MLB Network revealed their list of the top 10 second basemen right now Wednesday evening, a list that excluded Stott:
A first-round pick out of UNLV in 2019, Stott took a major step forward in his second MLB season, both at the plate and in the field.
Offensively, Stott slashed .280/.329/.419 with 15 home runs, 32 doubles, 62 RBIs and a .747 OPS. One of the things that you come to appreciate about Stott’s game when watching him on a day-to-day basis is that he has a world-class ability to foul off pitches with two strikes, which sometimes ends up with him getting on base after lengthy battles with opposing pitchers. Even if Stott is ultimately retired, he’s forced the opposing pitcher to exhaust a ton of pitches, and allowed his teammates to see quite a bit of the arsenal of pitches they might see when they come to the plate.
A natural shortstop, Stott shifted to second base on a full-time basis in 2023 after the Phillies signed Trea Turner. In his first year at the position, Stott was a Gold Glove Award finalist in the NL. Stott was second among all second baseman with 16 outs above average in 2023, and fifth with six defensive runs saved.
At first glance, he definitely seems like someone worth of inclusion. The question then becomes, if Stott should have been on this list, who would you take off?
Mookie Betts and Jose Altuve are both future Hall of Famers, so there’s no argument on them being at the top of the list. We won’t push back against Marcus Semien, Luis Arráez, Ketel Marte or Matt McClain either. There’s at least a debate to be had about whether Stott’s offensive profile could put him above Andrés Giménez, but the Cleveland Guardians second baseman is one of the best defenders at any position in baseball.
Eduoard Julien and Zack Gelof both impressed in limited stints last year, but they’ve played in a combined 178 games at the Major League level, so there’s a fair argument to be made that Stott should be on in place of either of those two. Nico Hoerner beat out Stott for the Gold Glove and stole 43 bases to 31 for Stott, but the Chicago Cubs second baseman had a lower OPS (.729) and generally has comparable offensive numbers. It wouldn’t have been egregious for Stott to be on over Hoerner, but it’s not hard to make the case the other way either.
The feeling here is that Stott probably should have cracked one of the final three spots on the list, but having him as the first guy off isn’t unforgivable when you start to look at the other names on the countdown. But the 26-year-old has proven to be an elite defender at second base, and if he can hit closer to .300 in 2024, there’s a good chance that one way or another, he’ll be on this list next year.
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