The 5 most mesmerizing skills we can't wait to see from the Phillies in 2024

We're coming down to the stretch run of the offseason and sprinting toward Spring Training, where we'll finally see some actual baseball. While square in the middle of the offseason, it’s sometimes hard to remember the great plays, clutch moments, and electric skills of Philadelphia Phillies players that ignite the Citizens Bank Park crowd and fans watching at home.

In the social media era, short clips and replays make their way around the forest of the internet at lightning speed. In the baseball world, there are a number of players who are often the center of attention in these extraordinary viral moments.

Oftentimes, over a 162-game marathon, we can take for granted some of the outrageous talent that we, as fans, witness over and over again, so it’s good to take a step back and recognize the best of the best on this Phillies team.

Whether it’s a knee-buckling pitch or a homerun launched to the upper deck, the 2024 Phillies team is loaded with players who, at any moment, can deliver jaw-dropping pitches, hits, or defensive plays.

So, what are the five most extraordinary skills that we're looking forward to watching in 2024?

We can't wait to see José Alvarado’s unhittable cutter

When José Alvarado returned to the big league squad in 2022 after a short stint in the minors, he dedicated himself to two pitches: his sinker and cutter. In 2021, Alvarado threw his cutter just 16.3 percent of the time, but fast forward to 2023, he threw it 41.2 percent of the time.

The cutter, in particular, is a pitch that is simply beautiful and mesmerizing to watch. It almost seems unfair at times, the way batters flail at the pitch, just hoping to make contact to live to see another offering. But inevitably, they swing through it and are next seen walking back to the dugout.

Alvarado famously said, “Strike one, strike two, and good luck,” regarding his thought process when he goes to the mound.

The cutter moves an absurd 25 inches vertically and has 1.3 inches of horizontal movement. It’s a pitch that batters just can’t get a handle on and whiff on at a high rate. In 2022, the whiff rate on the cutter was 55.7 percent, while in 2023, batters whiffed at a 44.5 percent rate. The xBA on the cutter is .153, and the xSLG is .201, meaning players have very little chance of getting a hit, and if they do, it’s for minimal damage.

Here's one more, for good measure.

We can't wait to see Bryce Harper’s otherworldly clutch gene

The face of the Phillies franchise has a knack for coming up big in the game's biggest moments. Time and time again, when Bryce Harper steps to the plate, he delivers. How can any Phillies fan forget the "swing of his life," as called by Joe Davis in the 2022 NLCS?

Not only does it seem like he comes up big in the highest of leverage spots or late in games, but the numbers prove it out as well.

According to Baseball Reference, in 2023 "late and close" game situations, Harper hit at a .387 clip, getting on base almost half the time with a .495 on-base average and an OPS of 1.161. He hit five home runs with 18 RBI in 91 plate appearances. In high- and medium-leverage situations, he hit .321/.446/.567 with 15 home runs.

That's clutch.

It’s a similar story during postseason play for the 31-year-old superstar. Since joining the Phillies, he has helped break a decade-long playoff drought and carried the team to the World Series in 2022 and to Game 7 in the NLCS in 2023. In 215 total plate appearances over 18 playoff games, Harper has a .276/.383/.613 slash line, with 16 home runs and 31 RBI.

Bryce Harper was built for moments like these, and he shines the brightest when the pressure is on.

We can't wait to see Bryson Stott’s golden glove

When Bryson Stott came up to the big leagues, he wasn’t necessarily known for his glove at second base. In fact, he was a shortstop when he came up and played 83 games there his rookie year. But when the Phillies signed Trea Turner, he willingly moved to second base and immediately impressed.

In his first full season, Stott was a Gold Glove finalist, and some say he should have won the award. In 602 total chances, he ended the season with just five errors and a .992 fielding percentage. He had a defensive runs saved above average (rDRS) of six, and according to ESPN, he ranked fifth for qualified second baseman with a 1.2 dWAR.

The eye test may do even more justice to Stott and his defensive prowess. Seemingly every game, he makes an extraordinary play look like a run-of-the-mill typical play. His range at second base is vast, constantly making plays that take him out to right field. It’s astonishing to think that he has just one full year playing second base at the big league level.

As he gets even more comfortable at the position and with his infield partners, the quality of his defense and the team as a collective will improve. In his first year with Turner at shortstop and a learning Bryce Harper at first base, Stott was the league leader with 109 double plays, 16 more than second place. It will be fun to watch him evolve into a perennial Gold Glove second baseman.

We can't wait to see Kyle Schwarber’s devastating power

Kyle Schwarber is a baseball enigma. The power-hitting lefty has made a reputation for himself as one of the best leadoff hitters in baseball. Historically, a player of Schwarber’s ilk would be the last person teams would want to lead off. He hits for a low average, is not a speed demon, and strikes out at a high rate. But boy, can he hit home runs.

For his career, Schwarber has 246 home runs over nine years, averaging 41 over 162 games. In his two years as a Philadelphia Phillie, he has 46 home runs in 2022 and 47 in 2023. And when Schwarber hits a home run, they sure aren't cheap ones.

According to Baseball Savant, Schwarber hits "no doubters" at a 50 percent rate, and his 16.4 percent barrel rate is in the 96th percentile. His average exit velocity was 92.4 mph, which is in the 94th percentile, and 28 of his 47 home runs were over 400 feet. In 2023, he recorded the third-farthest home run, registering at 483 feet, launched at 113.9 mph.

Now that Schwarber is the full-time DH and doesn't have to expend energy tracking down balls in left field, he’ll have even more juice to unleash at the plate. It’s a sight to behold when he barrels one up, and Philadelphia Phillies fans are surely looking forward to seeing more of that in 2024.

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