Bryson's parents are Derek and Shana Stott. He has two siblings: Brennen and Breauna.

Stott's father, Derek, played football at UNLV from 1988-91.

In 2016, Stott graduated from Desert Oasis High School in Las Vegas.

Bryson earned 2016 Southern Nevada Player of the Year honors. In high school, Stott never hit less than .336, including a senior season with .410 average, 17 doubles and 3 home runs.

Derek Stott stood behind center from 1989 to 1991 as UNLV’s starting quarterback, and he ranks seventh in school history in career passing yards.

He met a Rebels cheerleader, Shana, who would become his wife.

Their devotion to their alma mater was strong, but son Bryson didn’t share that enthusiasm and was attracted to the idea of playing college baseball elsewhere.

“We always told him, ‘Make your own decisions,’” Derek Stott said. “So if he wanted to leave town, he could’ve done that. I think he’s got some real strong ties to Las Vegas with us being here, but it was always his own decision. It was never going to be an issue.”

Bryson took the recruiting trip to UNLV, and decided they could be a good fit. And he is happy with the choice he made.

“My mom always told me I was the one who was going against whoever they liked,” Bryson Stott said. “They liked UNLV, so I would go against them, and I would like whoever they were playing. I really didn’t think I was going to come here until my junior year summer when I came on my visit and fell in love with it.” (Mark Anderson - Las Vegas Review Journal - 5/10/2018)

During the summer of 2018, Stott earned a spot as the starting shortstop on USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team and this spring was voted a second-team Preseason All-American by major league scouting directors. He has a chance in June 2019, to become the fourth player from UNLV drafted in the first round.

During the 2018 season at UNLV, OF Kyle Isbel helped Stott carry the offensive load, hitting .357/.441/.643 with 14 home runs. He was drafted by the Royals in the third round.

Isbel watched Stott in the first few days of practice and thought that he would be good. But it wasn’t until he saw his off-field effort that he knew how good.

“His work ethic is insane. He is constantly pushing himself to be better and learning new things,” Isbel said. . “He does all the little things that are so important in baseball to help you get comfortable. Once you get comfortable in baseball, that is when everything starts to click.”

June 2019: The Phillies chose Stott in the first round (#14 overall), out of UNLV. He signed for a $3.9 million, via scout Mike Garcia.

“I think my best attribute is my offensive game," said Stott, who had 55 walks and struck out just 39 times this season. "I love hitting, I love running the bases. So just being able to do that, and keep swinging it how I have been, is what I look forward to."  (Casella - mlb.com - 6/4/19)

2019 season: In 44 games for Low-A Williamsport, Stott hit .274 with 43 hits, eight doubles, two triples, five home runs, and five stolen bases.

In 2020, the Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Bryson as the 3rd-best prospect in the Phillies organization. And he stayed at #3 in both 2021, and again in the spring of 2022.

Q&A with MLB.com:

MLB.com: Coming out of high school, did you draw a lot of interest from pro teams at that point, or was it pretty much a done deal that you were going to UNLV, being from the area and a lot of your family went there too? 

Stott: I had a couple of teams here and there, but I kind of just knew that I wanted to go to school there and that would be my best option.

MLB.com: How much do you think your Team USA experience made you a better player? Did you take away anything in particular from that experience?

Stott: Yes, the way some guys just went about what they did every day and how they approached the cages and certain things of that nature. It was a little different than some of the other things you might see growing up. Seeing how they went about their business was my biggest takeaway.

MLB.com: Your power increased throughout your college career, with you leading NCAA Division I with 30 doubles as a sophomore and doubling your previous career total with 10 homers as a junior. Was that a case of you getting more physically mature or developing as a hitter or some combination?

Stott: I think it was a combination. I really focused in the weight room and I really didn't lift in high school, so when I got to college it was kind of like weight room, weight room, weight room. It started translating towards the end of my college career and into the summer.

MLB.com: In terms of the Draft, you probably had a sense of roughly where you were going, but did you know the Phillies were taking you? How nerve-wracking was Draft Day?

Stott: I kind of had the general area but you never know with the Draft because somebody could take somebody and then it messes up everything. It was funny, two or three months before the Draft, Bryce Harper was telling me that if I'm there at 14, the Phillies are going to take me. I was just like, "Yeah whatever, man." Each pick was like, that wasn't me, that wasn't me, so when you finally hear your name called, it's awesome.

MLB.com: How well did you know Bryce before you got here?

Stott: I knew him well. His sister, she cheered for my mom in high school. (Shana Stott coaches at Eldorado High in Las Vegas.) I kind of grew up watching him in club ball and stuff like that through high school. As I've gotten older, we've built a relationship and it's just awesome having a role model that you can look up to like that.

MLB.com: So I guess it's kind of cool coming to the Phillies and you already know a big leaguer.

Stott: Absolutely. When it happened on Draft Day, he called me and said, 'I told you so.' It was just kind of funny. Growing up in Vegas, you always looked up to him and had the eye-black on your face and stuff of that nature. You wanted to be him when you were playing in Little League and club ball. To see him in the clubhouse or see him on the same field, it's a dream come true.

MLB.com: You got off to a little bit of a slow start in pro ball and then you took off after the first month or so. Anything that changed? Any adjustments you made? Was it a matter of getting acclimated?

Stott: I would say acclimated but I kind of got out of my strengths. I was really trying to pull everything. No matter what pitch, it was like, I'm going to pull this one. I didn't really get into hitting the ball where it's pitched like I've always done my whole life. When I got back to that, that's when I really took off.

MLB.com: If you were scouting yourself, how would you describe your game?

MLB.com: What do you think is the best part of your game and what do you think you need to work on the most?

Stott: I'd say probably my offensive game. I love hitting, I love running the bases and I take pride in the bases. Any way to get on base, whether it be a walk, hit by pitch, a hit, anything of that nature. I really love the offensive part. I feel like your first step in the field, baserunning, any of that stuff could improve. That's something that I always work on.

MLB.com: What did you do in the 2019 offseason to prepare for your first Spring Training in 2020? You have your relationship with Bryce, so I guess you had a better idea of what to expect than some guys might.

Stott: I've gone to the same gym for the past four years, so I really hit that hard. I conditioned a lot, I swung a lot, I took a lot of ground balls. They told us to take a couple of weeks off, but I just got so bored, I just started hitting a lot earlier than probably some people. Like I said, I love hitting, so that's just something that I do.

MLB.com: What was it like getting a couple of at-bats this Spring Training in big league games?

Stott: That's the first step. It was awesome. You see those guys on TV and you see them growing up, so to be on the same field was awesome. It's the first step and there's still a long road to go.  (Callis - mlb.com - 3/10/2020)

The Phillies brought Stott to their alternate training site in 2020, where he faced more advanced pitchers, worked on his strength and conditioning, and concentrated on hitting the ball to all fields.

Bryson impressed the organization with his daily routine and earned high marks for his makeup.

In 2021, Stott was chosen to represent the Phillies in the MLB All-Star Futures Game.

2021 Season: Stott was named the Reading Fightin Phils MVP at FirstEnergy Stadium as the team celebrated the end of the season with its fans. The 2019 first rounder hit .296/.363/.481 with 10 home runs in 76 games since joining the Fightins in June.

Sept 17, 2021: The Phillies named Stott their Paul Owens Award winner as the organization’s top Minor League player. Stott, 23, is MLB Pipeline's No. 99 overall prospect. He is batting .294 with 26 doubles, 2 triples, 15 home runs, 46 RBIs, a .381 on-base percentage and a .493 slugging percentage in 100 games this season with High-A Jersey Shore and Double-A Reading.    

Phillies shortstops have a combined .663 OPS this season, which ranks 24th in the Majors. Didi Gregorius is signed through 2022, but if Stott starts the season in Triple-A and fares well early, he could push for a promotion.

“Bryson has played consistently great baseball all season long on both sides of the ball,” Phillies general manager Sam Fuld said in a statement. “His ability to use the whole field, control the zone and impact the game with his athleticism makes him a unique player. He continues to impress as a teammate and as a worker. We’re excited to see Bryson progress through our system.” (T Zolecki - MLB.com - Sept 17, 2021)

2021 Season: After COVID forced the cancellation of the 2020 minor league season, Stott began 2021 in high-A Jersey Shore. But after only 22 games there, he was promoted to Double-A Reading. By season’s end, he was in Triple-A, one step away from the big show.

Over 112 games between the three levels this season, Stott hit .299/.390/.486 with a .876 OPS, 26 doubles, two triples, 16 home runs, 71 runs scored, and 49 RBI. He went 10-for-14 in stolen-base attempts. Defensively, he worked as a shortstop and second basemen in the minor league season, and at short and third in Arizona.

2021 AFL: 26-game on-base streak. There is talk that Stott could be competing for the Phillies Major League shortstop position next spring. How’s this for a resume builder? He played 26 games for Peoria. He reached base in 26 games. While Stott showed off a slew of skills in Arizona, his advanced approach stood out most. He walked 24 times, compared to 14 strikeouts, on his way to posting a .318/.445/.489 line in 119 plate appearances. (Sam Dykstra - Nov. 21, 2021)

Phillies top prospect Bryson Stott’s new uniform number has a heartbreaking meaning behind it. In franchise history, 76 Philadelphia Phillies players have worn the number five on their back, most recently, backup catcher Andrew Knapp.

But when top prospect Bryson Stott makes his presumed big-league debut in 2022, he could choose #5 for a deeply meaningful reason.

The future of the franchise is bringing a special piece of his past with him in the form of his uniform number; in the 2021 Arizona Fall League, Stott switched his uniform number from 10 to 5, to honor his best friend who tragically passed away from cancer during their senior year of high school. Cooper Ricciardi had worn #5 for their high school basketball team. Now, Stott will wear #5 for Ricciardi.  (Gabrielle Starr - Dec. 13, 2021)

Feb 16, 2022: Stott, the No. 2 prospect, aims for an Opening Day roster spot. He is on the move again.

He moved from field to field at Carpenter Complex, where he joined 58 other players for the beginning of a Phillies Minor League minicamp. He hit, he fielded, and he ran. Stott rarely remains in one place for long. He divided 487 plate appearances last season between High-A Jersey Shore, Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He got 119 more plate appearances in the Arizona Fall League. He jetted to Hawaii afterward for a well-earned vacation with friend Bryce Harper. And he even spent a little time at home in Las Vegas, but he got antsy quickly.

“I was like, 'I don’t want to do this anymore,'” Stott said. “'I want to go.' My mom always tells me I get to one place for a month, and I want to go.”

Where will Stott go next? He is the Phillies’ No. 2 prospect and the No. 97 prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, so he has options. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told Stott in the fall to come to Spring Training prepared to win the Opening Day job at shortstop, igniting an intriguing and somewhat unexpected competition with veteran incumbent Didi Gregorius, who struggled in 2021.

“He was pretty straightforward, telling me what he told me,” Stott said about Dombrowski. “I just want to come here and play my game and do what I need to do. Obviously, you have that goal and to hear it and know you’re in that mix is pretty awesome. I’m not going to change anything I do on an everyday basis. Just go about my business and see what happens.”

Stott put himself in this position because of a strong 2021. He slashed a combined .299/.390/.486 with 16 home runs and 49 RBIs at Jersey Shore, Reading and Lehigh Valley. And he hit .318/.445/.489 in the AFL.

It was a confidence booster, both offensively and defensively. There have been questions about Stott’s ability to stick at shortstop, but the Phillies believe he will play there, at some time in the not-so-distant future, if not on Opening Day.

That would be a gift for an organization that has used 19 different shortstops since it traded Jimmy Rollins to the Dodgers in December 2014. That group includes everyone from Freddy Galvis, Jean Segura and J.P. Crawford to Ronald Torreyes, Asdrúbal Cabrera, and Pedro Florimón.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Stott said when asked if he thinks he can win the job. “You always love competition, and you always think you’re going to win, and you never want to be scared of anybody or do anything different because somebody is watching, or somebody isn’t watching. So I’m just going to go out and see what happens.”

Stott has shown his versatility, too, so it's not out of the question that he could see time at third base or second base.

“If I have to move over, it is what it is,” Stott said. “I just want to do anything I can do to get to Philadelphia and help that city and that team win, so whatever it may be—if it’s short or anywhere else, it’s obviously not up to me.” Short, second, third. Triple-A, big leagues. Stott is on the move again. Where he starts is the only question. (T Zolecki - MLB.com - Feb 16, 2022)

CAUGHT ON CAMERA

June 10, 2022:  Caden Marge’s 8-year-old life has been crazy since an NBC Sports Philadelphia camera caught him praying before Bryson Stott’s walk-off home run against the Angels on June 5 at Citizens Bank Park.

Marge’s euphoric reaction after Stott homered was equally priceless.

Marge and Stott met before the series opener against the D-backs at Citizens Bank Park, completing an unforgettable week. Marge’s pre-homer and post-homer reactions went viral almost immediately after Stott’s homer landed in the right-field seats. It happened only an inning after Bryce Harper hit a game-tying grand slam, which landed just a few rows in front of Marge in the second deck in right field.

Stott presented Marge with a Phillies jersey with Marge's last name on the back and an autographed bat with a message:

“To Caden: Thanks for the Help! Go Phils! Bryson Stott.”

What was Caden's favorite part of the week? “Getting this,” Marge said.  So is Stott his favorite player?

“Bryson and Bryce Harper,” Caden said.

Stott talked this week in Milwaukee about the viral moment becoming permanently linked to his first career walk-off homer.

“He looked pretty nervous,” Stott said, smiling. “I’m sure he probably thought I was going to get out, but then he started jumping around. I’m sure he’ll remember that forever. I still remember going to games and seeing home runs. I was telling Bobby Dickerson, the last time I went to Dodger Stadium, I got a video of Manny Machado hitting a homer. You remember stuff like that.”

Caden was on the field prior to a game, along with his father, Joe, mother, Katie, 6-year-old sister, Madison, and a few friends. The Marges are from West Chester, Pa.

“I don’t think he realizes how far it’s gone,” Joe Marge said. “It’s gone everywhere. But he really loves every Philly sport. He lives and dies with everything. They just caught him being him in that moment. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.” Joe said he realized his son was blowing up on social media before they got home from the game. He was getting texts from people saying Caden was everywhere.

He can thank NBC Sports Philadelphia camera operator Greg Farnese for that. Farnese has been in the business for 28 years, starting at PRISM. His camera is stationed in left-center field and he was just looking for a fan who captured the significance of the moment.

“We’re doing games for the people at home watching,” Farnese said. “There’s somebody at home on the edge of their sofa praying. But we want to show them here at the ballpark. So every once in a while, depending on a certain situation, I’ll go to the crowd and shoot that to show the emotion of what’s happening. And every once in a while, we find something that’s just priceless. “It’s like, this is a tense moment, let me see if I can find somebody. Sometimes I’ll find a guy biting his nails or a couple where one is wearing an opposing jersey and they’re bickering at each other. Sometimes you find a kid that’s praying. When I see that, I don’t leave it, because you never know, maybe this guy will hit a home run and his prayers will be answered. It makes for great television.”

And a week that one 8-year-old will never forget. (T Zolecki - MLB.com - June 10, 2022)

2022 Season: As a rookie, Stott’s whole season was a highlight reel of career firsts — both good and bad. First hits, homers, walk-offs, and playoffs. But also first errors, strikeouts, and disappointments. Overall, the most encouraging thing about his season was watching him turn into a confident every-day starter that the Phillies can rely on. With good management, more coaching, and more Major League experience, he’s only going to continue to get better.

2022 stats: .234/.295/.358, 10 HR, 49 RBI, 19.1 K%, 7.7 BB%, 83 wRC+, 1.3 WAR

The Good. Stott definitely found his footing in the second half of the season, slashing .276/.331/.404 in the second half. August and September were by far his most successful months of the regular season.

While he took a small step back at the plate in the playoffs, he also came up big when he needed to. All three of his playoff RBI came at crucial moments. In game 1 of the Wild Card series, Stott’s RBI fielder’s choice gave the Phillies the eventual winning run. In game 3 of the NLDS, he worked a nine-pitch at bat that culminated in an RBI double to right to score the first run of the game. The Braves then intentionally walked Schwarber, which set up Hoskins’ three-run bat-spike homer. In game 4 of the NLCS, he singled to tie the game and fully erase the 4-run deficit the Phillies fell into in the first inning. They needed him in those moments, and he showed up.

The Bad. Stott struggled mightily in the beginning of the season, especially with having a consistent approach at the plate. He hit just .188/.255/.307 in the first half, including a horrid .116/.192/.140 month of May. Was his rough start a result of making the jump to the Majors? Was it a result of being stifled by a poor manager? We may never know. What’s important is that he eventually figured it out.

The Future. As a rookie in 2022, Stott still has a long future with the Phillies. The only question is what position he’ll play, second base or shortstop.  (Allie Foster - Nov 19, 2022)

April 16, 2023: Stott tied the Modern Era Phillies record for the longest hitting streak to start a season. Willie Jones started the 1950 season with a 16-game streak as well. He hit the second pitch of the game out to right field to extend his season-long hitting streak to 16 games.  (J Fay - MLB.com - April 16, 2023)

Shana Stott glanced at her middle child while he was doing his homework in high school. Sometimes, she saw him practicing his autograph. She still has that notebook because she was not going to tell Bryson what he could not do. She just wanted to protect him. “Dude, let’s just have a plan B,” she told him. “Can you pass biology?” There was only one plan in Bryson’s mind.

“He was always going to be Derek Jeter,” Shana said. “Not like him. He was going to be him.”

So, Shana had an idea. She schemed with the mother of one of his teammates. They took Bryson and his friend to a pizzeria in Las Vegas after a summer American Legion game. The pizza place had a faux Statue of Liberty. Shana stuffed a bunch of other clues into a bag. That’s how she surprised Bryson: They were flying to see Jeter play at Yankee Stadium during his farewell season in 2014.

Bryson’s coach insisted on his players not missing even one practice. But Shana had it all figured out. They took the red eye from Vegas. They arrived in New York at 5 a.m. ET and did as much as they could. “His ankles were so swollen at the end of the day,” Shana said, “because we walked and walked and walked.” Then, they sat in the bleachers. They saw Jeter.

“She knew what I’ve always wanted to do,” said Bryson, 25, who’s in his second year with the Phillies. “And I never wanted a real job. I didn’t know what kind of real job I wanted to do. And she was always there saying, ‘OK, you can do it. This is what you want to do. We’re going to drive to Arizona and we’re going to drive to California and we’re going to go to Tennessee. We’re going to do all this stuff, just so I can play baseball.’”

They had about 36 hours in New York. They flew home and 16-year-old Bryson, on a few hours of sleep, played his next Legion ball game. He slugged his first home run.

“It was,” Shana said, “just a perfect day.” A photo of Shana and Bryson from that day at Yankee Stadium hangs in the classroom where Shana teaches. Next to it is a black rectangle with BELIEVE in white letters. That same friend who went with Bryson to see Jeter nine years ago came to Dodger Stadium earlier this month to watch Bryson play second base for the Phillies. Shana was there, too.

“He was that little boy asking for autographs,” she said of Bryson. “So to watch him be on the flip side of that, it’s just really surreal. I think sometimes it’s hard just to even let it all sink in, you know?”

Shana has three special walls in her classroom at Eldorado High School in Las Vegas. One, where the Yankee Stadium photo resides, is a family wall that celebrates her three children. The second is a wall with pictures of her former students. And the other is a Phillies wall with pennants and photos of Bryson and his teammates. “I don’t talk about it a lot at work,” Shana said. She has a few students who, until recently, did not realize one of her sons was a big-league ballplayer.

Shana graduated from Eldorado High and, since 1994, has taught there. She was a P.E. teacher and a cheerleading coach, but for the past seven years, she has run a credit-retrieval program for students who have fallen behind. 

The athletes at Eldorado — especially the soccer boys — often gravitated to Shana. She has always juggled two families at once.

Bryson did not really understand until he was a teenager.

“The first time that she was late to a game because she was at one of their games is when I was like, ‘All right. She’s not just our mom. She’s a lot of people’s mom,’” Bryson said. “Shoot, some of my best friends call her their mom as well. Second Mom. She just cares about every single person that we’ve brought into her life, or that she’s met at school. We always say she has thousands of kids instead of three.”

When her own kids were younger, Shana would bring them to Eldorado. She wanted them to see: Not everyone was as fortunate as them. “So,” Shana said, “I think it did put a lot in perspective for them growing up.” One of the families Shana met along the way at Eldorado was the Harpers. Britt, Bryce’s sister, was a cheerleader. Shana coached her. The Stotts and Harpers became close.

“Anytime somebody has a problem or anytime somebody needs something, she’s always there,” said Bryce Harper, who, like Bryson, still lives in Vegas. “She’s like the mother of every kid in the school. She’s always been that way. And Bryson is always there for everybody, as well. That’s just how that family is.” “I think that’s probably why I do the stuff that I do with fans — losing somebody or going through something,” Bryson said. “Knowing that I could help them just by leaving an $80 ticket to make their whole year. I don’t even think twice about it. You want to help as many people as you can. My brother’s like that. My sister’s like that. I think it’s just kind of the way that we were raised.”

Shana didn’t have to push Bryson. “He’s a perfectionist and he doesn’t like to fail,” she said. He’s always set goals. He wrote them in a journal. He wanted to play varsity as a freshman. He wanted a scholarship to a Division I college. He wanted to make the Team USA Collegiate National squad. He wanted to be picked in the first round of the MLB Draft.

He accomplished all of it.

“You don’t know what your kids can do,” Shana said. “I don’t know. Who am I to tell him he can’t do it? I was there just to support him and do what I could do to help him along the way.”

Now, Shana likes watching Bryson sign autographs. He’s good at it. “He doesn’t like to walk away from kids,” Shana said. It makes her proud. She tells her kids — both at home and at school — to never forget where they come from.

“I tell him this,” Shana said, “all the time. ‘Yeah, it’s cool that you play Major League Baseball and you reached your goals.’ I love that for him because that’s been his dream. But my dream, as a parent, is you want your kids to turn out to be good people. If you can be anything in the world, just be kind. Because you never know what people are going through.” (Gelb - May 12, 2023 - The Athletic)

Who is Bryson Stott's girlfriend Meet this fitness influencer.

Dru White is 23 years old and is a native of Las Vegas, Nevada. Her parents are Adam White and Marta Katz. She attended Palo Verde High School.

 At school, in addition to her studies, Dru was also involved in athletics, especially as a track and field athlete. After finishing school, Dru attended the University of Nevada in Reno. She majored in kinesiology and exercise science. She also received her Nutrition and Wellness Educator certificate.

Bryson and Dru started their relationship in February 2019 when he was still a junior at the University of Las Vegas. However, they made their relationship public in May 2019. The two celebrated their fourth anniversary together in 2023.

The couple often visits various locations during their holidays. They visited the United Kingdom, where they were seen supporting Arsenal against Crystal Palace. This shows that they are also soccer fans. She also often accompanies Bryson Stott to his baseball games.

Dru has her TikTok handle, where she works as a personal fitness influencer and enthusiast. She is seen interacting with her followers on how to keep their bodies in shape and stay healthy. (Arka Mukherjee Modified May 22, 2023)

Until he didn’t.

“I just kind of stopped because I always said I could stop if I felt like it,” Stott said. “Then I actually did. I went to the dentist. I hate the dentist. I had a cavity. I was like, ‘All right, I’m really done now.’ Because I hate the dentist.”

That was it. Stott got Invisalign, a teeth-straightening treatment. He hasn’t had the temptation to dip since. “No,” Stott said. “I mean, I don’t know if it’s because I bite my fingernails. Or because I’m always drinking water. But I never even think about it.” He set his mind to something, and he made it work. His intentions never wavered since the winter — in many ways. The Invisalign is clear. Had he been tempted to dip again, maybe it would have turned yellow. “I always said I could stop,” Stott said, “if I felt like it.” (Gelb - Jul 6, 2023 - The Athletic)

Bryson Stott, as of now, has more two-strike hits than any hitter in the majors.  Stott leads Phillies hitters in WAR, 3.9. 

“We kind of just knew our role coming in,” Stott said. “I mean, we’re all Major League Baseball players. So, when we get in the clubhouse, it’s not, ‘Oh, you make the league minimum, but you make $25 million.’ We just go out, do what we’re supposed to do, and help the team win.” (Gelb - Aug 18, 2023 - The Athletic)

The Phillies and Nationals played in the Little League Classic on Aug 20, 2023, in Williamsport, Pa., and Victus went all out with the decorated bats. Bryson Stott’s sported a giant pencil-shaped bat! So fun! (Weaver/Rosenthal - Aug 21, 2023 - The Athletic)

Dave Dombrowski, president of baseball operations: “Stott has become a quality major-league player, although not that well known because of all our big-name players. He has become an above-average second baseman with speed. In addition, he’s a good major-league hitter that makes contact and can work the count. He is a gamer.” (Bowden - Aug 25, 2023 - The Athletic)

2023 Season: For a good portion of the regular season, second baseman Bryson Stott was the Phillies’ best overall player in terms of how consistently he played offensively and defensively, including his first Gold Glove nomination.

He finished the regular season with a .280/.329/.419 stat line and emerged as one of the league’s better hitters with two strikes. The 26-year-old hit a key grand slam that helped clinch the Wild-Card series for Philadelphia over the Marlins.

He struggled at the plate during September and has been inconsistent hitting during the postseason. Before Game 6 of the NLCS, his stat line in the playoffs was .237/.302/.316.  (Oct 24, 2023 - Matt Grazel)

Stott has a real good feel for the barrel. He has learned to tap into his power to all parts of the park. He gets more into his lower half. His hit tool grades 55 and his power grades 50.

Since his college days, Stott has exhibited an advanced approach from the left side of the plate with the ability to hit the ball hard to all fields. He draws a ton of walks and walked more than he struck out in the AFL, much like he did in college. That helps him get in more favorable counts to let him drive the ball with more extra-base authority than he’s had in the past, with the chance to get to average in-game power in the future.

Bryson showed better recognition of finding the right pitch to hit and raised his walk rate. Stott’s power gains give him a fifth average or better tool, and the added juice didn’t lead to more swing-and-miss or cause him to be too pull-happy. (Spring, 2022)

Stott was a standout in the Phillies system in 2021.

“He played consistently great baseball all season long on both sides of the ball,” Phillies general manager Sam Fuld said. “Keep swinging and playing defense,” Stott said. “You’ve got to hit and play defense to move. You’ve got to earn it. I feel like I really made strides this season in knowing my strike zone and using the whole field.”

A left-handed-hitting shortstop, Stott has shown a knack for making contact and using all fields and an advanced approach at the plate that enabled him to walk more than he struck out in college. He uses all fields well and the added strength led to an increased ability to drive the ball at the alternate site in 2020, something that only will improve as he continues to mature. The Phillies were particularly impressed with his recognition of spin and his ability to handle left-handed pitching. (Spring 2021)

Bryson is a solid all-around player who doesn’t have many holes in his game. He makes at-bats tough on pitchers and rarely chases out of the strike zone. He struggles some against high velocity, which he worked on at the alternate site.

Stott has been too pull-happy at times, but the Phillies were impressed with the progress he showed hitting the ball to all fields. He has solid bat speed and showed an uptick in his power. (Chris Hilburn-Trenkle - Baseball America Prospect Handbook - Spring, 2021)

While none of Stott's tools jump off the page as obviously plus, he can do a lot of things very well. The one tool that has the chance to be plus in time is probably his hit tool. He makes a ton of contact and can drive the ball to all fields, working counts and drawing a ton of walks as well. He doesn't sell out for power, but it did show up more during his junior year and during his pro debut, particularly to his pull side. (Spring 2020)

Bryson has an advanced approach at the plate. He can string together some very tough at-bats. He knows the strike zone and punishes mistakes. He can be beat by high heat but rarely chases pitches out of the zone. Stott’s plate coverage needs to improve because he’ll sometimes get pull-happy even though he has the strength to drive the ball to the opposite field. He has average bat speed.

In the summer of 2018, with USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, Stott faced concerns that he was too much of a slap-oriented hitter, and scouts questioned his impact ability,

But Bryson has exceeded expectations by hitting for power to all fields. However, evaluators believe he still needs to work on making more adjustments for the hit tool to be impactful. (Spring, 2020)

2020 Season: Stott made strides at the alternate training site.

“It was a big growth experience, offensively and defensively,” he said.

Bryson was encouraged not to worry about stats as the lefthanded hitter saw an abundance of lefthanded pitchers and worked on using his legs more in his swing, especially when hitting the ball the other way. The goal, he said, was to eliminate opposite-field flares and hit the ball with authority to all fields.

“I learned that I’m big enough and strong enough that I don’t need to rely on right field to get extra-base hits,” the 23-year-old said.

Bryce Harper offered a scouting report on Stott.

“I think if he pushes the envelope, he’s a big leaguer, I really do,” Harper said. “He’s a very good mix, I would say, of J.J. Hardy and Brandon Crawford, a guy who makes every play.

"He’s not super flashy, but he has the arm like Crawford and he’s very good up the middle. He has a similar swing—doubles to left, homers to right—as Garret Anderson, if I could imagine that. I know that’s pretty good praise because he was a very good hitter.

“He’s a very good player and he’s going to do whatever he can to get to here, whether that’s playing second or shortstop." (Jim Salisbury - Baseball America - Apr 2021)

In 2022, Bryson was named an Arizona Fall League all-star after slashing .318/.445/.489 in 26 games for Peoria. He reached base in every game and hit two homers. He walked 24 times and struck out just 14.

Dave Dombrowski spent a few days watching Stott in Arizona and liked what he saw and heard.

“He’s a good-looking kid, a really good player,” Dombrowski said. “I had people in the AFL tell me he’s one of the best players there. He loves to play the game. He’s a baseball rat. He knows how to play the game.

“He recognizes pitches very well out of the hand. Not only does he swing a nice bat, but he’ll get walks . . . and he doesn’t strike out that often. He’s the type of guy who I think has a chance to be a winning big league player."

April 16, 2023: With his homer, Stott tied Willie Jones with the longest season-opening hit streak in Phillies history since 1900. (Tom Dougherty)

Even if homers bring big paychecks, Bryson is not all about that approach.

“I don’t want to hit the ball in the air,” the Phillies second baseman said. “I think there are certain guys that can do that. It’s a waste of time (for me) to hit the ball in the air because you miss it more than you need. Trying to lower my launch angle has really helped me hit better.”

“I like to use the whole field,” he said. “There’s no room for me to try to pull the outside fastball. Maybe that works for some of the big guys but not for me. If it’s 15 fly balls for every home run you hit, then you shouldn’t try to hit home runs or try to swing under.”

But he also thinks it’s the best general approach, and there are many who back this concept as the best alternative to how the game is being played right now.

“Me and Kevin Long are kind of about going down and the ball goes up, but don’t swing up,” he said of his hitting coach. “You go down, your legs go down, and you use your legs, the ball won’t go straight up. It gives you more room for error.”

For Stott, who has eighth percentile maximum exit velocity — a decent metric for raw power — this looks like the best approach, though. And you can’t argue with the results! He’s been a top-10 second baseman by Wins Above Replacement, and his lower-angle approach has been a big part of his success. (Sarris - Jun 29, 2023 - The Athletic)

July 23, 2023: Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott went hitless in an 8-5 win over the Guardians. But despite this, he made MLB history. 

Stott became only the 12th player in history to draw four walks and steal three bases in a game and the first since Darren Lewis in 1991, per Baseball Reference. 

Bryson displays good actions at shortstop, with above-average range and an above-average arm, both grading 55.

Stott has the arm, hands, footwork and instincts to play shortstop at the big league level, with enough speed and range to stay there long term. He’s also shown he can slide over to second or third with ease should the need arise, giving the Phillies many options of getting his solid bat into the Major League lineup. (Spring 2022)

A solid runner, Stott is a natural shortstop who got some experience playing second and third at the alternate site to add versatility to his resume. But he has the range, arm and instincts to stick at shortstop long-term and the upside to be a big league regular at the premium position.

“The more positions you play, the better your chances are,” he said in 2021. “To be able to play all three infield positions is big. I enjoy moving around. I’ll do whatever I can to get here.”

Stott handles the glove really well at shortstop. He has quick, soft hands, solid footwork and a strong arm. He is a lefthanded-hitting shortstop with a chance to stick at the position displaying impressive athleticism.

An above-average runner, Stott has worked hard on the defensive side of the game. He has plenty of arm for shortstop and excellent instincts, giving him a chance to stick there long term. Should he slow down as he matures, he could be an excellent defender at second or third. Alec Bohm, the Phillies' first-round pick from 2018, reached Double-A in his first full season and Stott is a fellow college bat who could follow a similar path up the ladder. (Spring 2020)

Stott has a shortstop’s easy actions and above-average range to go with an above-average arm. Some scouts believe he could end up filling out to the point where he has to slide to third or second.

Stott worked hard and sped up his footwork at short, by 2019. He also displays a solid internal clock on throws to first base, and exceptional body control.