The Day Care Are The Phillies Biggest Disapointments

Teams need more than just stars to reach the promised land. Look at the Eagles. Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts, and the other stars all stepped up. But would they be there if not for guys like Cam Jurgens, Reed Blankenship, Nolan Smith, etc? The Phillies have issues getting production from both their stars and their role players. But one group in particular has been the most disappointing, though—the players formerly known as The Daycare.

Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh, and Bryson Stott stole some Phillies fans' hearts back in 2022. Not just for their play on the field, but for their personality off of it. They brought youthful energy that added a level of fun to the team. They were dubbed the Day Care. But the thing about children is even if you love them, they can disappoint you. And those 3 players have been nothing but disappointing.

Brandon Marsh still can't hit lefties. Now his numbers vs righties are in the tank too. The glove is inconsistent at best, and the bat has gone past being inconsistent and is instead consistently bad. Outside of a short hot streak when he came back from an IL stint, he has added little to nothing to the Phillies' lineup.

The Phillies traded a big-name prospect to get him. Top catching prospect Logon O'Hoppe. At the time, it was justified by O'Hoppe being blocked by JT Realmuto and Marsh being a former top prospect himself. But even at Marsh's best, he is a platoon player. Of late, he is borderline unplayable. To rub it in, Realmuto has regressed, while O'Hoppe has established himself as a solid starting catcher.

Marsh brings nothing to the table. The alternative, Johan Rojas, is not much better. CF has plagued the Phillies for a long time. Shane Victorino was the last guy out there you could trust on a year-to-year basis. Marsh is the latest in a long line of disappointing center fielders.

For 4 months last season, Bohm was an All-Star. Since then, he has sputtered, generated almost no extra base hits, and has not come close to being the run-generating machine that got him to the All-Star game.

At one point last season, Bohm was battling for the league lead in RBIs, with almost 90 in mid-August. Since then, he has 35 RBIs in the last 90 games. He also has just 18 extra-base hits in that time.

Not everyone needs to be a power hitter. But a 6 ft 5 3rd basemen should have some pop. You forgave him for the lack of raw power when he was driving in runs left and right. Especially when that came with a significant amount of doubles, but now he is a slap hitter, an average fielder, and is not driving in anything.

Even worse, he has been helpless in the playoffs. His playoff resume is not a small sample size. He has played in more playoff games than almost any MLB player in the last 3 years. But in those 34 games, he has just 14 RBIs and a .212 AVG.

Stott at the very least does one thing very well. He is an elite glove at second base. More than you can say about his fellow daycare members, but after a promising start to his Phillies career, the bat leaves a ton to be desired.

In his sophomore season, people hyped Stott as a future batting title contender. In the last 2 seasons, his slash line stands at .243/.312/.350/.662. A far cry from battle title contention. Like Bohm, he has also been a non-factor in the playoffs, hitting .188 over 34 games.

Like Marsh, he has yet to prove he can play every day. He still platoons with Edmundo Sosa. It looked like early this season that a move to leading off unlocked him. But it was a short-lived hot streak, and he is hitting under .200 since May 1st. It is time to accept this is who he is at the plate. He is a great fielder, but he is a loss at the plate.

They are far from the Phillies' only problem. Kyle Schwarber is the team's only consistent hitter this season. But they are a problem. When you have this many high-paid players, you need the young, cheap guys to step up. The Phillies have never gotten that. Especially not when it counts.

The failure of Bohm, Marsh, and Stott are a big reason why this Phillies team continues to fail. Yes, the high-paid guys need to be better. The bullpen has let them down. But if the Phillies had those 3 guys living up to their potential, maybe they would already have a ring by now.

The experiment with these guys eventually has to end. Aidan Miller is in the wings. Justin Crawford is closer than that. Stott you can maybe get by with given his glove. But it has come time to stop babying the daycare and kick them out of the house. Bohm in particular is no longer a kid. He is a grown man still failing to live up to his potential. Meanwhile Marsh and Stott have proven this might just be who they are.