Daycare No More: Phillies Young Players Need To Graduate

The Phillies Daycare, Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, and Brandon Marsh quickly found themselves stealing the hearts of the city. Their antics like dumping water on their teammates' heads in post-game interviews, brought life to an organization that had grown stale under past managers like Joe Girardi and Gabe Kapler.

But they are not young players anymore. They are seasoned members of the team with more post-season experience than most MLB players. With experience, comes increased expectations.

All 3 guys have been a part of all 3 of these post-season runs. Bohm has played in 34 games and has 117 playoff at-bats. Stott has 101 at-bats over 33 post-season games. Marsh has 90 at-bats over 32 post-season games. The problem is none of them have made enough of an impact over that significant sample size.

Yes, they have each had moments. Stott had the Grand Slam vs the Marlins and the iconic at-bat against Spencer Strider. Marsh was also part of that rally vs Strider in the first series vs the Braves. And Bohm had the hit-by-pitch that made the rally vs the Cardinals work. But outside those few moments, no one from the daycare has hit consistently.

Marsh's stats are okay. Not great, but not a complete killer. He was actually really good vs the Braves in the 2023 NLDS and D Backs in the 2023 NLCS. But in other series, he has been a non-factor. Take his 0 for 14 against the Padres in 2022, or his 1 for 13 against the Mets.

But Bohm and Stott have struggled across the board. Bohm has hit under .200 in 4 of the Phillies 8 series. Two of the series he managed to top .200 were the 2 game Wild Card Series. Stott also has hit under .200 4 times, including going hitless twice. His OBP was under .300 in 5 of the 8 series, and his SLG was under .400 6 times. The highest BA he had in a series was .267 vs the Padres, a series where he drew no walks.

We just watched an Eagles team win it all with no weak links. But as the stats show, the Phillies have had 3 weak links in the lineup most nights in the playoffs. You can make it 4 when you count Johan Rojas, and 5 when you count JT Realmuto whose post-season slash line is .216/.295/.400/.695.

How do you get a rally going when you get to the 5th spot in the lineup, and the production falls off a cliff? Have the top 4 guys been perfect? No. But even the greatest players have bad at-bats and bad nights. Winning can go 1-9 and see role players pick up struggling stars. The Phillies have not gotten that.

Bryce Harper is the superstar, and he should have the highest expectations and the most pressure. But while he has come up small in individual at-bats, he has hit .325/.444/.709/1.153 in the playoffs with the Phillies. He has 12 HRs, 24 RBIs, and 9 Doubles. Harper has been as advertised in the post-season.

Schwarber has hit .220/.373/.559/.933 with 12 HRs, 17 RBIs, and 24 Runs. Nick Castellanos was terrible in the 2022 postseason run but had an OPS of .844 in the 2023 playoffs, and 1.059 vs the Mets last year. Turner has an OPS of .906 in the playoffs with the Phillies.

Scwarber and Turner struggled vs the Mets last year. Turner disappeared vs the Diamondbacks. Those two have still made an impact. Castellanos has made an impact. Harper always makes an impact. But the Daycare plus Realmuto almost never make an impact.

The Daycare is all grown up now. Bohm is 28 years old and has 5 seasons of experience. Stott is going into year 4, Marsh is going into year 5. There can be no more excuses. The 3 of them need to leave the playpen behind, ditch the nanny, and graduate from Daycare. This Phillies team is going nowhere if they don't start hitting in October.