Phillies’ young guys come up big with Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott igniting six-run inning

Before the Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins hit a towering, three-run home run and slammed his bat empathically on his way around the bases, Bryson Stott stepped up to the plate on Friday in Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves.

It was the bottom of the third inning, and he was facing Braves starter Spencer Strider, who hadn’t thrown in 26 days due to a stint on the injured list, but had yet to allow a hit through the first eight batters he faced.

Stott is a rookie with just 127 big-league regular season games behind him, but he is not fazed by much. He’s had some of the Phillies’ better at-bats this postseason and on Friday, he did more of the same. He worked Strider to nine pitches and launched a 86.2 mph slider into right field for the Phillies’ first hit and a 1-0 lead.

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Scoring on Stott’s double was Brandon Marsh, who was the Phillies’ first baserunner after drawing a walk. When he took a lead, Strider threw back to first base and the ball whizzed past Braves first baseman Matt Olson. Marsh didn’t feel a tag, and he didn’t hear the ball pop inside Olson’s glove, so he started running.

When he reached second base, he took a peek back at Olson, who was still chasing after the ball. He started running toward third, making it just before Olson’s throw. Marsh was able to score easily on Stott’s double.

“I was like, alright, it’s going to have to take the perfect throw,” Marsh said. “Sometimes you’ve got to be willing to take the chance, and sometimes not. I thought it was the right time.”

It was fitting that a tandem of 24-years-olds started a six-run inning against one of the best pitchers in the National League on the way to a 9-1 Phillies victory. For most of this season, the Phillies’ younger players have stepped up when others have not. Stott hit a two-out, walk-off home run on June 5 against the Angels. Josh Hader had 40 straight scoreless appearances when he faced Matt Vierling and Alec Bohm in the ninth inning on June 8 in Milwaukee, but they hit back-to-back home runs off him.

Twenty-five year old Bailey Falter was called up from triple-A to fill in for Phillies ace Zack Wheeler when he was placed on the 15-day injured list in late August. Falter posted a 3.09 ERA over six starts.

The moment has never seemed too big for the Phillies’ younger players, regardless of their age, but that is especially true for Stott. He said the key to his slow heartbeat is the ability to put the game in perspective. His best friend, Cooper Ricciardi, passed away from leukemia in 2016 at the age of 18. Since then, Stott has viewed baseball for what it is — a game. Nothing more, nothing less.

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“Ever since then, I have tried to slow the game down,” Stott said. “I try to take it all in. I mean, Coop was playing basketball and the next day he was in the hospital. You never know when your last day is. I never lose sight of that.”

Ricciardi is often on Stott’s mind — he wears his friend’s favorite number, 5, to honor him — but that was especially true on Friday. Before the game, the Phillies held a moment of silence for minor league pitcher Corey Phelan, who passed away from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 20. The news hit Stott hard. He had talked to Phelan about Ricciardi. He plans on reaching out to his family in a few days.

In the meantime, Stott will keep that heartbeat slow, and keep delivering when his teammates need him most. He will do it for Ricciardi and also for Phelan, two athletes who were not able to experience the moments that every young athlete dreams of. What better way to honor them than by never taking those moments for granted?