The good, the bad and the notable from Bryson Stott, leadoff hitter

It was the preeminent debate all offseason: Who hits leadoff — Kyle Schwarber or Trea Turner?

Wrong and wrong.

It appears Rob Thomson has found his guy, at least for now. These things are fluid, and there hasn’t been any indication he’s married to the current configuration. But on April 11, it became Bryson Stott’s job, and 29 games later, it’s Bryson Stott’s job.

Here’s what’s gone well, what hasn’t gone well and what’s merely worth noting about this experiment and everyone it touches, a tad over a month in.

The Good

The leadoff prototype has changed in recent years (yes, we know, Kyle Schwarber led off for the bulk of the past three seasons), but one thing has not: It’s good to make the pitcher throw a bunch of pitches.

No one does that better than Stott. Not just no one on the Phillies. No one in Major League Baseball.

Stott leads the league this year with 4.53 pitches seen per plate appearance. And it’s not as if he’s getting himself into deep counts he can’t get out of, because he’s adept at hitting with two strikes: He’s at .221 in those spots this year, not crazy far off from his .259 overall clip. For context, the league-wide two-strike average of .169 is 74 points below the overall league-wide batting average.

Two-strike hitting is something Stott did well in his career-best 2023 season — and not well last year. He’s back on the right track again, and leadoff is conducive to that approach: He’s seeing pitches, working deep counts and making it out of them alright.

The Bad

Forgive the oversimplification here: Stott is not getting on base a ton. Overall, he’s reaching at a .327 clip, which is just two ticks under his rate from two years ago. He’s not, however, doing it from the leadoff spot:

	Plate appearances	OBP
Batting leadoff	109	.306
Batting 7th	16	.500
Batting 8th	27	.370

There’s some sample size issues at play here, and the chronology matters, too: Stott was slashing .282/.364/.410 when he assumed full-time leadoff duties; he’s slashing .250/.313/.375 since. The approach has still been good — you never really worry about that with Stott — he’s just cooled off, especially against lefties.

Needless to say, .313 — or even .327 — is a bit low for leadoff over the course of a season.

The Notable

Turner was the preseason favorite to receive the bulk of leadoff assignments this year, and one of the main arguments went like this: Hitting Turner leadoff unlocks the best version of Trea Turner, one who doesn’t chase as much, works counts, sprays the ball all over the field instead of hunting dingers.

Here’s what’s happened: He’s chasing some, but way less than he ever has as a Phillie. He’s seen 3.76 pitches per plate appearance, which ranks 117th out of 167 hitters. Thomson told him not to focus on the long ball, and though Turner wants to slug more, as he should, it seems he’s taken that advice somewhat to heart.

He’s hitting .306 overall. He’s hitting .374 in his last 21 games.

This is not the best version of Trea Turner. But maybe it’s close?

The best version of the Phillies’ lineup features Turner at leadoff, doing what he’s doing now — plus more walks, more slug, more pitches. But on May 14, 2025, that isn’t who he is. He’s found his groove at No. 2. It would seem foolish to mess with that. Ditto for Schwarber at cleanup.

So maybe the best realistic version of the Phillies’ lineup, until more baseball is played and we get any reason to think otherwise, is the version you’re seeing right now: with Stott leading off, working counts, holding his own in those counts, reaching base a bit less than you’d like but not terribly rarely, and leaving unfixed what isn’t yet broke.