Bryce Harper wants surging Bryson Stott to play against righties and lefties: ‘He’s an everyday guy’
PHILADELPHIA — The right side of Philadelphia’s infield put on a late-game show at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies tacked on eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings on Tuesday night en route to a 9-1 blowout win over the Athletics. Second baseman Bryson Stott hit a towering two-run home run off the Toyota sign in right-center field in the bottom of the seventh, and first baseman Bryce Harper hit his second homer of the night to dead center field an inning later.
Both of the Las Vegas natives are rolling right now. Harper has nine home runs and a .948 OPS in 36 games. Stott’s overall numbers are still underwhelming due to a poor start to the year, but he’s hit three homers in his last five games.
And with Stott beginning to swing a hotter bat, Harper made the case for him to get more opportunities.
“He’s an everyday player,” Harper said of Stott. “When you have a guy that needs to play every day — lefty, righty — it doesn’t matter. He’s going to keep having good at-bats. He’s an everyday guy. He always has been. When you take an everyday guy out of the lineup, it’s kind of tough for them to get going each day.”
Stott, 28, has been a strong-side platoon player for most of his big-league career, often splitting time with utility infielder Edmundo Sosa. The lefty-hitting Stott has a career .704 OPS against right-handed pitchers and a career .675 OPS against left-handed pitchers; Sosa has a career .683 OPS against righties and a career .789 OPS against lefties. Sosa, who had an .895 OPS against left-handers last season, has been a productive part-time contributor for the Phillies, and the team has deployed him as a weapon against southpaws.
But so far in 2026, both Stott (.558 OPS vs. righties, 1.009 OPS vs. lefties) and Sosa (.823 OPS vs. righties, .646 OPS vs. lefties) have actually had reverse splits. With Rob Thomson as manager, the Phillies were fairly strict about their platoons at second base with Stott and Sosa and in left field with Brandon Marsh and a right-handed hitter (currently Felix Reyes). But the club has not faced a left-handed starter since Thomson was fired and Don Mattingly took over as the interim manager. Could the Phillies reverse course on the platoons?
Stott thinks it could help him if so.
“Obviously, it’s something I want to do,” Stott said. “It’s just kind of been a career thing for me of the more I play and the rhythm I can get in and do things like that. We’ve faced a few righties in a row now. I kind of feel just that rhythm of the game and the season and things like that.”
Wednesday night’s Phillies lineup against left-hander Jeffrey Springs could be indicative of how Mattingly views the platoon situation. Since stepping in as interim manager, he’s praised Marsh as a hitter. He’s also been very complimentary of Stott. But he also noted on his first day in his new role that the Phillies need to find time for Sosa to play. It makes the most sense to do that with a lefty on the mound, and Stott is a left-handed hitter. Second base is the obvious place for Sosa to platoon since the Phillies have abandoned past attempts to put Sosa in the outfield.
Sosa has certainly had some defensive lapses at second base this year, while Stott is one of the most valuable fielders in the major leagues. Still, Sosa’s track record versus left-handed pitching makes him tough to sit, and he can be a game-changing player when he’s put in positions to succeed.
While Mattingly did say it was too early in the season to give up on Alec Bohm, perhaps he can have both Stott and Sosa play against lefties on occasion by sliding Sosa over to third base if Bohm continues to struggle as badly as he has. But for Sosa to be best utilized and not glued to the bench, he’ll need to cut into one of the regulars’ at-bats when the Phillies face a lefty.
Even if Stott would prefer it’s not his, he’s on board for whatever the team needs.
“That’s not up to me, as much as I would want it to be,” Stott said. “But I’m just here to win and win a bunch of games.”