PHILADELPHIA — Bryson Stott pointed out to the bullpen, as is the Phillies’ custom when one of them hits a home run. But he might as well have pointed to the owners’ box. Or the general manager’s suite.
A week from the trade deadline, it’s their turn to step up.
Dave Dombrowski said as much Monday. A few hours before Stott’s big hit, a three-run homer against tough Atlanta Braves lefty A.J. Minter in the eighth inning of a come-from-behind 6-4 victory, the Phillies president of baseball operations sat in the dugout at Citizens Bank Park and said he’s looking to add to the roster before 6 p.m. next Tuesday.
The only question, it seems, is how to prioritize the Phillies’ needs. There aren’t any wrong answers. Zach Eflin is out indefinitely with another knee injury, so the Phillies could use another starting pitcher. But the offense has struggled over the last few weeks without Bryce Harper and Jean Segura. An extra hitter could help.
Stott’s shot turned around what had otherwise been a frustrating night for the Phillies’ hitters. They dinked and dunked Braves ace Max Fried for nine hits in six innings but scored only three runs. They were 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position when Stott stepped to the plate with two out in the eighth inning.
To that point, the Phillies’ biggest hit came off the bat so softly that it didn’t even register an exit velocity on Statcast. Stott topped a ball with so much English that it hit the ground in front of Braves first baseman Matt Olson and spun away into right field for a two-run double in the second inning.
The Braves took a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning on Austin Riley’s 75-foot-chopper. And it seemed the Phillies could lack the offense to come back.
But the Phillies are 13-11 without Harper because they have been getting just enough offensively. Very often, it has been young players who have led the way. Stott, who entered with a .190 batting average but better peripheral numbers to leave the Phillies encouraged by his progress, worked the count full against Minter.
Minter, who hadn’t allowed a homer to a left-handed hitter since 2019, threw a cutter that Stott lifted out to right-center. He finished with five RBIs, the most by a Phillies rookie in a game since Rhys Hoskins in 2017.
Messing with the Johan
With lefty sinkerballer Ranger Suárez on the mound, it made sense for Thomson to put surehanded Johan Camargo at third base.
It just didn’t work out.
Camargo got charged with a two-base error that enabled the first two Braves runs to score in the second inning. He charged a two-out slow roller, and perhaps thinking he had to rush to get speedy Michael Harris II, sidearmed it wide of first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who was unable to knock it down.
But Camargo redeemed himself in the fifth inning by snaring a hot shot down the line and starting an around-the-horn double play.
Slow build for Suárez
Suárez gave up three unearned runs -- two on Camargo’s misplay, one on an ensuing wild pitch -- in five innings before exiting after 78 pitches.
The Phillies are building Suárez back up to a full workload after he missed two weeks earlier in the month with back spasms. He threw 64 pitches in five innings in his return July 16 in Miami.
