3 Phillies players most likely to have a breakout season in 2023
Which member of the Philadelphia Phillies roster is ready to become a household name all over the Delaware Valley? Who is ready to have such a big year that the city forgets about the Eagles for even a week?
Having a breakout season might not push Jalen Hurts and company to the side. These three Phillies prepared to take the next leap forward can still help establish themselves as fan favorites in the city. We should count on these three to be the ones most likely to take the biggest steps forward.
1) Phillies infielder Bryson Stott is ready to have a breakout season
Some may fear the dreaded sophomore slump with Bryson Stott. Others know better. The sophomore slump isn’t a rite of passage for all players. In fact, when they spent much of their rookie season slumping, they may have gotten it out of the way already.
Stott didn’t have a fantastic first season in the big leagues. He slashed .234/.295/.358 with 10 home runs. Working primarily as a shortstop for the club throughout the 2022 season, he has the benefit of sliding over one spot and starting at second base this year.
Stott’s minor league numbers suggest what we saw from him last year is nothing close to his ceiling. His one full year on the farm, the 2021 campaign, included a .299/.390/.486 slash line. It’s not what we should expect from him this year. What we can anticipate is a rise in at least his average and OBP.
A favorable number from Stott’s first season many may overlook are the 89 strikeouts in 466 plate appearances. He struck out in 19.1% of his plate appearances in a league with an average of 22.4%. Stott is making contact. The next step is turning them into hits, maybe even a jolt in his power.
2) Phillies starting pitcher Taijuan Walker is ready to have a breakout season
Taijuan Walker has been around the league for quite a few years. Can he technically have a breakout year? About to enter his age 30 campaign, we can compare him to Zack Wheeler who many will say had a breakout year when he joined the Phillies several years ago.
Walker comes to the Phillies with a lifetime 54-50 record and 3.89 ERA. Injuries have held him back many times in the past. He has managed to avoid any extensive stays on the IL in the past two years. He is now coming off of a 12-5, 3.49 ERA campaign with the New York Mets.
The Phillies are paying Walker the kind of money to suggest they also feel he can have a breakout season. He’ll receive $18 million in each season for four years. It’s a hefty pay day for a pitcher who has appeared in games for parts of ten seasons now.
Fans should be high on Walker after seeing what Wheeler was able to do for them since arriving. Plenty of pitchers take a little more time than the average fan can accept to become a stud. Walker may not enter the Cy Young conversation, but he can definitely become one of the most reliable Phillies starters we’ve seen in years.
3) Phillies center fielder Brandon Marsh is ready to have a breakout season
Brandon Marsh gave fans a taste of what he can be when he came over from the Los Angeles Angels last summer. In 138 trips to the plate, the young outfielder hit .288/.319/.455 with 3 home runs and 15 RBI. He gave the team a jolt. There are shades of Shane Victorino in the way he does a lot things. He is both reckless and aggressive.
The Phillies did give up quite a bit to acquire Marsh. At the cost of catching prospect Logan O’Hoppe, the Phillies are committed to making Marsh work.
There are definitely areas Marsh can improve upon. Assuring the team he is a satisfying enough defensive player in center field is one of them. Channeling his ability to draw walks at a high rate as he did in the minors is another.
Marsh’s career is still in its early phase. He played 163 games with the Angels prior to the trade and didn’t exactly win a permanent job with them. While we should have some doubts about his ability to hit versus left-handed pitchers, it’s one of those things he’ll need to simply do in order to improve upon.
We should find Marsh at the bottom of the lineup for the Phillies regularly this season. It can take some of the pressure off of him. If he excels, it might be almost like having a second leadoff hitter. Marsh is on the rise. The 2023 season could be one where he far exceeds projections.