The Cal Stevenson Game and why every roster spot matters for postseason-bound Phillies

It really does take everyone.

It’s a message Rob Thomson uttered many times as those on the outside fretted over who was going to be on the Opening Day roster during spring training.

In reality, 47 players have appeared in a big league game for the Phillies this year. Among the many names that have shuffled in and out of the Phillies clubhouse, Cal Stevenson has stood out.

A baseball journeyman, Stevenson has spent time in six different organizations since his professional career began in 2018. He debuted with the Athletics in 2022 and first appeared on the Phillies’ 40-man roster on May 26, 2023 as a waiver claim from the Giants. He was designated for assignment and sent outright to Triple-A Lehigh Valley a few weeks later on June 7.

Stevenson had to wait more than a year for his next big league opportunity, but he’s making the most of it. In one week, he’s had two game-winning RBI doubles and a home-run robbing catch at the wall.

“It’s been a good one,” Stevenson joked when asked what the week has been like. “It feels good to contribute this late in the year to this team.”

Stevenson was due up in the seventh inning with two on, two out and the Phillies down one. Facing Reed Garrett, who has been equally tough on righties and lefties, he took a first-pitch cutter down the middle and chased another inside to get to two strikes. He sat either cutter or slider and guessed right as he golfed one off the right-field wall to score two and complete the Phillies’ four-run comeback against the New York Mets on Saturday.

It didn’t stop there. The ball found Stevenson a half inning later when J.D. Martinez hit a high and deep drive to center field. Stevenson followed it all the way and made a leaping catch at the center field wall to rob a home run to keep the lead at one.

“Thank God I squeezed onto it,” Stevenson said.

“He can go get it in the outfield,” Rob Thomson said. “I was going to defend for him in the ninth with [Johan] Rojas until he made that catch. Then I told Rojas, ‘We’ll let him play.’”

The Phillies don’t want to say they are in evaluation mode because they haven’t clinched a postseason berth yet, but for players like Stevenson who are on the roster bubble, games like this go a long way.

There are still spots on the bench up for grabs for the Phillies. Outfield is probably the position most in flux. Brandon Marsh and Nick Castellanos are locks. Johan Rojas will probably be on the team for defense.

Austin Hays’ status for the postseason is, at this point, up in the air. When asked if Hays, who is out with a kidney infection, could be ready to return before the end of the regular season, Thomson said on Friday, “Possibly.”

When asked a day later to clarify, Thomson provided more details.

“My sense is that one day he’s going to wake up and it’s going to be gone,” Thomson said. “The antibiotics work and it’s all out of his system. It hasn’t happened yet. Now, he is feeling a little bit better every day, but there’s still some fatigue there. You know, he hasn’t really done anything for a couple weeks. He’s probably lost some weight and some strength. Gotta get that back, too.”

That could open up another roster spot for an outfielder. Weston Wilson will probably make it as an infielder/outfielder and right-handed bat, but Hays’ prognosis could lead to Stevenson getting a chance. Being able to play center field matters. Taking good at-bats late in games matters too.

“I said to him today and I said to Buddy [Kennedy] the other day. If you can take those at-bats in that situation, you can take any at-bat in your career,” Bryce Harper said. “In that moment, 40,000 people, 40,000 plus people. Big situation. Big moment. I think that’s why we rely so heavily on our young guys.”

The Phillies lacked legitimate pinch hit options in last year’s postseason and it cost them as Rojas struggled to hit playoff caliber arms. With the universal DH, the need for a Matt Stairs type of power bat has gone by the wayside. But there will be spots where a pinch hitter is needed late in games.

If the Phillies opt for Rojas to start playoff games in center field for defense, they could pull him back late in the game if they need a base hit to drive in a run. The IronPigs trio of Kody Clemens, Wilson and Stevenson have all at one point proven to be capable of handling those at-bats, giving Thomson more options.

“All those guys that have come up from Lehigh Valley have contributed,” Thomson said. “They’ve done a great job. I trust them. They’re pros. They work hard. They’re not scared. They just relax, go out and have fun.”

Before it was the Cal Stevenson Game, it was the Bryce Harper Is Back Game. After going 30 games without hitting a home run, Harper hit two in back-to-back plate appearances against Mets starter Luis Severino to get the Phillies within one.

Harper didn’t want to make much of the end of his long power drought.

“I’d go another 100 at-bats without one,” Harper said. “It is what it is, right? I’m having good at-bats, we’re winning games. Obviously, I want to hit homers, but I’ll take the doubles. I’ll take the singles.”

The Phillies will also take this locked in version of Harper. To get to 3-2 in his third at-bat against Severino, Harper fouled off a sweeper on the outside and took a sweeper inside that dipped in and out of the strike zone. The Phillies, after struggling to lay off the sweeper all afternoon, suddenly found themselves down by one after Harper battled through and crushed another sweeper to right field.

“Those guys, those big time power guys. They [the home runs] come in bunches,” Thomson said. “So, I feel like a bunch are going to come and they’re going to come soon.”

The comeback wouldn’t have been possible without Taijuan Walker’s first scoreless outing of the year. Pitching in long relief after starter Kolby Allard gave up four runs through three innings, Walker threw three scoreless. He walked zero batters and induced early contact, something the Phillies have been waiting to see out of him all year.

It will take more for Walker to earn some of the trust he has lost after this tough season, but Walker looked like the kind of pitcher who is capable of taking down the multi-inning lower leverage role the Phillies like to have in October. It’s technically the role he occupied in last year’s postseason, but he wasn’t trusted enough to appear in games.

Walker credited a few mechanical adjustments made after watching video. His sinker velocity was up by 1.4 mph relative to his season average.

“We tweaked something a couple days ago and it kind of clicked and felt good,” Walker said.

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