One of the major reasons why the Philadelphia Phillies were able to make it back to their second-straight National League Championship Series in 2023 was due to the play of their young players.
With injuries to Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper, plus the early slumps by Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber, the Phillies need players to step up that would keep them afloat.
Perhaps no one on the team rose to that occasion more than Bryson Stott.
The second year player went from a below average hitter his rookie year, to slashing .280/.329/.419 with 15 home runs and 62 RBI with an OPS+ of 104 during the 2023 season. He also provided elite defense at second base that turned him into a Gold Glove finalist.
Now, expectations are much greater for the young star entering his third year as Todd Zolecki of MLB.com has selected Stott as his breakout player in 2024.
"Stott gets the nod because he is one hot start away from making his first NL All-Star team ... He finished with 4.3 WAR, which was tied with Zack Wheeler for the team lead. The average baseball fan knows Stott, but they don’t really know him. If he has a good April, May and June, they will," he writes.
Philadelphia would love nothing more than to see their first round pick in 2019 make his first All-Star game. Not only would that be a great moment in his career, but it likely also means the Phillies likely have gotten off to a much better start than they had in 2022 and 2023.
They were able to overcome their slow starts in both seasons to make a deep run in the playoffs, but they would like to avoid that and compete for a division title.
Stott becoming a breakout player would certainly help that.
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