The Philadelphia Phillies used the fourteenth round one slot in the amateur draft to take Bryson Stott, a shortstop reminiscent of a Hall of Famer.
The Philadelphia Phillies liquidated some talent and spent significant real money to acquire and keep shortstop Jean Segura this past off-season (read, $59.4 million through 2022, plus an option), and the hitting machine is only in his age-29 season this year. But time will move on. Therefore, the Phillies took UNLV shortstop Bryson Stott at #14 in this year’s MLB draft.
Stott was the first college shortstop drafted, and in size (6-foot-3, 195) calls to mind Cal Ripken, Jr. He had just finished his third year with the Rebels, compiling an NCAA slash line of .340/.430/.515. In his age-21 season, his OPS was 1.085. As a sophomore, that figure was only two ticks under 1.000.
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Various videos indicate that Stott has a relaxed and natural, left-handed batting stroke, and a graceful approach to fielding. He may not be particularly fleet of foot, but he was a freshman All-American. His UNLV coach, Stan Stolte, has said he’s “consistently good at everything,” including running the bases.
If Bryson Stott is as good at that as recent Phillies infielder Chase Utley, another player who could never challenge Usain Bolt in a dash of any length, that would be a very good thing indeed.
One scouting report (see the third link above) notes Stott as an infielder as follows: “On the dirt, Stott shows solid glovework, good first-step quickness, and a left-side arm, making him a good candidate to stick at shortstop long term.” However, video of the player actually fielding is a bit hard to come by.
An intriguing data point is slightly hidden in the same report by Nick Faleris: As a sophomore at UNLV, Bryson Stott struck out only 18 times in 290 plate appearances. That year he also hit .365, the best of his averages for three years in the Mountain West Conference.
Assuming agreement on a contract can be reached, Stott will join an interesting crop of promising young players in the Philadelphia Phillies pipeline, including outfielder Adam Haseley and infielder Alec Bohm, the 2017 and ’18 first-round draft choices Philadelphia also used to acquire players with college experience.