Rival pitcher talks mentoring top Phillies prospect Bryson Stott

Philadelphia Phillies top infield prospect Bryson Stott’s path to MLB is guided by Bryce Harper and Amir Garrett

By now, everyone knows that Philadelphia Phillies top infield prospect Bryson Stott is buddies with Bryce Harper.

The two Las Vegas natives go way back, with Harper telling the media that Stott is always at his house watching Ohio State football games and Stott rooming with him for Spring Training in Clearwater, Florida. Throughout the MLB lockout, Harper and Stott have continued to pal around, taking a group trip to Hawaii, bringing Harper’s kids to a Christmas village in Vegas, and making homemade pizzas together.

Together, these activities give an exciting glimpse of what the Phillies could look like in the near future, a dynamic duo leading the team to better days.

Stott is also very close with Cincinnati Reds pitcher, Amir Garrett, also from Vegas. Between the MVP Harper, who can give him pointers on how to destroy baseballs, and Garrett, who can lend insight into the pitcher’s mindset, Stott’s education really covers all the bases, so to speak.

According to Garrett, Stott is a frequent guest at his house, too:

"“I’m always messing with Bryson.Before he got big time, he was always at my house, almost every day. He didn’t really come over that much this offseason. So I’m gonna have to give him some s— for that.”"

When Stott was the Phillies’ first-round pick in the 2019 June Draft and made his professional debut, Garrett admitted that the young slugger had lit him up in high school.

During the pandemic shutdown in 2020, the two passed the time competing in MLB The Show and Fortnite:

And when Garrett made the Reds’ Opening Day roster that year, Stott congratulated him:

Last Spring Training, Phillies manager Joe Girardi praised Harper for his “big brother personality” with Alec Bohm and Stott:

"“That’s the one thing I’ve noticed about Bryce is he’s kind of got that big brother personality.Bryce has been in the big leagues a long time but he’s really not that old. I think he enjoys that leadership role. I think he enjoys mentoring. He knows what it’s like to have expectations on you, probably as many as anyone when he signed. He knows how hard it is to get to this level and stay at this level and I think he has a lot of knowledge to offer these young kids, and he’s not that far removed from being that young kid himself.”"

Between Harper and Garrett, who says Stott is “like a little brother” to him, the Phillies’ hopeful has two great mentors guiding him on his path to the majors.

At this point, it’s not a question of if Stott will make his big-league debut, but when. Roughly 10% of minor leaguers actually make it to the major leagues, but Stott will be one of them at some point this year. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told Stott to come to Spring Training with the goal of earning a spot on the big-league roster, and the shortstop has made it clear he’s up to the challenge.

Garrett gave him a strong endorsement on that front, too:

"“He’s a minor-leaguer right now, but he has big-league thoughts… I feel like if the pandemic hadn’t happened, he probably would have been in the big leagues last year.”"