3 Phillies who led the team back to the MLB playoffs
Which Phillies stepped up this season and helped the club get back to the playoffs for the second year in a row?
The Philadelphia Phillies are back in the MLB playoffs for the second straight season. For that to happen, plenty of things have to go right over the course of a 162-game season. All facets of the team have to lift the team to win because it’s a team game. There are always catalysts for leading the charge of winning baseball.
The 2023 Philadelphia Phillies, like the 2022 Phillies, are special. That, along with so many other reasons, made it a real brain workout to crunch this list down to three players. Like last year’s team, it had its catalysts in breaking the postseason curse.
This year, Trea Turner, Bryson Stott and Cristopher Sánchez carried the torch, rising above the rest of their teammates, to make it consecutive postseason berths for the Phillies.
Trea Turner
Trea Turner being a reason the Phillies would return to play playoff baseball was the expectation in Spring Training and on Opening Day. That expectation was soiled by Turner’s most prolonged slump of his career through the first 100 games or so of the season.
Ever since "The Ovation," Turner has been reinvigorated with the baseball powers he has possessed his entire career. The outward display of support and connection to Turner's success from the fans allowed Turner to relax a bit. The gesture let him know the fans will be there for him as long as he always tries his best.
Turner has certainly shown his appreciation through his play after that first at-bat against the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 4. He hit for a .344 batting average while racking up 65 hits, 16 home runs, 41 runs batted in, 42 runs scored and nine stolen bases.
On the day of "The Ovation," the Phillies came into the game with a 59-50 record, and the team was in the thick of contention for an NL Wild Card spot with four or five teams. Without Turner's return to his two-time All-Star self, the team may not be in the position that it finds itself in. It was the breakout that Turner, his teammates, coaches, fans and the rest of the baseball team had been waiting for.
NEXT: A playoff hero who helped carry the team most of the season.
Bryson Stott
Bryson Stott is a player who has been one of the more consistent players on the team this season.
Of course, he has had his trials and tribulations throughout the season. Stott bookended the beginning and end of his season with two streaks in opposite directions.
To start the year, Stott began the season with a 17-game hitting streak, which is a Phillies franchise record. Fast forward all the way to the end of September, Stott was given a day off in the final game of a three-game series against the Pirates because he had been slumping. In his previous 70 plate appearances prior to that announced day off, Stott had a .159 batting average, a .232 on-base percentage and a .238 slugging percentage.
Other than that, Stott has been rock solid, and he even made a leap at the plate. You may not be aware, but the 26-year-old had the highest replacement value on the team, according to FanGraphs. He led the veteran-laden Phillies with a 3.9 fWAR.
How did he do it? All of his major traditional statistics have gone up substantially from last year.
Stott played in 151 regular season games, collected 164 hits, 78 runs scored, 32 doubles, 15 home runs, 62 runs batted in and 31 stolen bases while batting .280/329/.419 for the season. Stott’s stable play at the plate is a large part of why he was instrumental in the team making it back to the postseason.
That consistency extends to when Stott has two strikes on him in an at-bat. He posted an OPS of .744 when facing a two-strike count. Someone had to do their job at the expected level and then maybe add a little bit more, and that’s exactly what Stott has done. All while making some great plays on the diamond at second base.
NEXT: A surprising pitcher who went from fringe player to the starting this summer.
Cristopher Sánchez
The final member of the trio is an unlikely one if we’re thinking about this season with Spring Training brain, or even casual baseball fan brain. Cristopher Sánchez is the third and final catalyst of the team making it back to the postseason.
Sánchez started the season competing for a spot on the roster. It didn't matter where it was, either the bullpen or the starting rotation. Sánchez was gunning for a secure spot in the majors. He was given a chance because the back end of the Phillies' rotation was not set in stone due to injuries and inconsistency.
Of course, it’s difficult to leave off ace Zack Wheeler because without him where would the team be? At the same time, Wheeler is expected to carry, shove, wheel, deal and dazzle as one of the best pitchers in baseball.
The marginal players matter just as much as the stars because it all catches up to a team in a 162-game season. Sánchez stepping up represents the outcome good teams get when they’re looking for an answer. Wheeler was in consideration, but the stopgap nature of Sánchez, especially in June and July, gave him the final spot on this list.
Sánchez has pedestrian numbers if you look at the stats in a vacuum. This young guy in his third stint with the Phillies has a win-loss record of 3-5, an ERA of 3.44, 96 strikeouts and 16 walks in 99 1/3 innings pitched.
If one zooms out, then they’ll see that Sánchez provided stability and hope after top pitching prospect Andrew Painter was sidelined. He emerged before the Michael Lorenzen trade and filled the hole from earlier in the season when Bailey Falter and Matt Strahm were given shots as the fifth starter.
Sánchez was able to provide the most value in June and July. He posted a sub-2.50 ERA in both months. The lanky, left-handed pitcher proved to be serviceable in every one of his June and July starts, as he went at least five innings and didn’t allow more than three runs.
A huge pick-me-up for a team with the expectation of a mashing offense is that Sánchez put them in a position to win games. The team didn’t win most of those games, but Sanchez demonstrated how he can help the team.
He showed that he knew how to pitch, giving the front office more time to find added starting depth (which they eventually did) and eating up innings instead of the bullpen. That last part is paramount, as a fully equipped, rested bullpen has been one of the biggest factors in winning the World Series for the past decade.