Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson has been managing games with a greater sense of urgency this season after his team failed to make it past the New York Mets in the NLDS last October. Previously a player's manager to a fault, this year we've seen a new side of Topper that includes trying out new lineups and faithfully observing platoon splits. How long this will last is anyone's guess, but Thomson's sudden willingness to tinker is a noteworthy development after complacency and people pleasing did him no favors a year ago.
That being said, managing for the next game while handling players' egos is a bit of an art form. On one hand, if you manage personalities too aggressively, you run the risk of alienating your team. And if you're a player's manager to a fault, you can let the relationships in the clubhouse negatively influence the lineup card. With Thomson showing more of a willingness to manage somewhere in the middle, it's becoming increasingly clear that he's not messing around this season.
Bryson Stott's success leading off for Phillies comes with a price
The most notable of changes in Thomson's so-called enlightenment period can be seen in his use of different lineup configurations. Sure, the Phillies won plenty of games with designated hitter Kyle Schwarber leading off over the years, but it's always begged the question: Are the Phillies missing opportunities to create havoc on the base paths early in games and score more runs?
That's a theory that's been tested early and often so far this season. First it was Trea Turner making his debut out of the leadoff spot during the first week of April. More recently, it's been left-handed hitting Bryson Stott's name penciled in at the top of the lineup.
For Stott, the move up to the top spot has clearly worked out, as evidenced by a .304 batting average, and .365 on-base percentage with 10 runs scored and four steals in 13 games since moving to the leadoff spot. He's now hitting .292 on the season, after finishing with a .245 mark last year. Putting that 47-point batting average increase aside, Stott's numbers don't look so hot when facing left-handed pitchers once again this season.
Stott has fallen into 2B platoon after struggling against lefties again
And that's bad news because Stott's offensive splits against southpaws have been noticeably down over his last two seasons. After recording an encouraging .282 batting average against lefties in 2023, he followed it up with a dismal showing last year when he hit a disappointing .223 in 112 at-bats.
After hitting only .190 in limited at-bats against lefties this year, Stott now finds himself in a platoon situation. He has earned just one start in the last six games in which the Phillies have faced a left-hander, and hasn't started against a left-hander since moving in to the leadoff spot.
Thomson's recent trend of managing with left-handed splits in mind could compel him to continue sitting Stott in favor of right-handed hitting utility man Edmundo Sosa. It's always possible that Thomson eventually slides Stott back in to face lefties, partially due to his gold glove caliber defense, and also to find out if his splits against lefties last year were the exception and not the rule.
Either way, Stott looks like a good fit in Thomson's re-envisioned lineup plans so far, evidenced by Stott's success out of the leadoff spot, and the vast improvement he's shown as a hitter following a down year at the plate in 2024.