Thursday, October 1, 2026
79 ° Clear
79 ° Clear
If you take a look under the hood, Bryson Stott is playing better baseball than he ever has in his Major League career. And, if you remove a putrid April from the picture, a month that began with a 6-for-38 slump, it’s easy to see the engine that powers the Philadelphia Phillies’ second baseman is running more smoothly than ever.
Presently, Stott sits behind only Ozzie Albies on the National League’s All-Star voting for second baseman.
Sure, the hometown All-Star boost might be propelling him above the Milwaukee Brewers’ Bryce Turang and San Francisco Giants’ Luis Arraez, but there’s reason to believe Stott will continue to improve as the summer wears on.
He currently sports the highest xwOBA (.318), HardHit% (39.9), average exit velocity (89.3 mph), and barrel% (7.5) of his career. The only reason his traditional stats don’t match his 2023 breakout campaign is due to bad batted ball luck, something the Phillies have become well acquainted with in 2026.
Stott’s career BABIP is .287, well above his .270 figure this year. If he’s hitting the ball harder than ever, it just doesn’t make sense that more hits won’t start falling for him soon.
But maybe they already have.
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Since the calendar flipped to June, Stott is slashing .301/.378/.466, a remarkable sea change from a .534 OPS in April for the 28-year-old Las Vegan. If you want to point to a date with more meaning to Stott, however, gander at his .773 OPS since May 11, when Bryson and his wife Dru publicly announced the pregnancy of their third child. In his first start following the news, Stott went 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base.
He has yet to be caught stealing this year. A perfect 15-for-15 in 2026 has put Stott third in all-time career stolen base percentage leaders (min. 100 attempts).
Furthermore, his defense has been as exemplary as ever. The eye test confirms that this year, and even in a small sample size, Statcast outs above average ranks him at the 84th percentile.
During Tuesday night’s comeback win over the Washington Nationals, Stott may have authored a signature moment to define his 2026 All-Star drive.
Coming up with two out and two on during a tie game in the top of the ninth, Nationals’ closer Brad Lord delivered a first-pitch 84 mph sweeper to Stott. The offering was off the plate, just inside. The former first-round pick pulled his hands in and drove the ball into the second deck above the Phillies’ bullpen in right field, 403 feet from home plate.
“I don’t know how he keeps that ball fair,” Phillies manager Don Mattingly said in an article by Matt Gelb of The Athletic. “That’s (Barry) Bonds-ish, right?”
The blast propelled Stott’s OPS to .701, cresting that mark for the first time since March 29.
Brighter days are ahead for Stott.
If he can keep up the momentum he’s found as hitting season has arrived in Philadelphia, he might just find himself representing the Phillies at the All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park next month.
