Phillies prospect Bryson Stott is wearing his friend’s memory on his way to the major leagues

Bryson Stott’s car pointed to Las Vegas last month as he made the 5-hour drive home from the Arizona Fall League. But his career — after five weeks in the MLB’s annual showcase of top prospects — pointed to Philadelphia.

He arrived in Arizona as a minor leaguer the Phillies could dream about and left as a contender for a starting job on opening day. The 24-year-old shortstop, whom the Phillies drafted 14th overall in 2019, was one of the fall league’s top hitters and team president Dave Dombrowski stopped in Arizona to tell him that he would be competing in spring training for a big-league job.

Stott played himself into the team’s immediate plans. And it all started with selecting a uniform number.

“They gave us options and I saw 5 was an option,” Stott said of first arriving in Arizona. “It was really a no-brainer for me.”

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Stott, who has worn No. 10 in the minors, decided to switch his number in Arizona to honor his friend who died from cancer when they were high school seniors. They were best friends. Stott would watch Cooper Ricciardi play basketball wearing No. 5 for Desert Oasis High while Ricciardi would watch Stott play baseball wearing No. 10.

“He always told me that I was going to make it to the MLB and he was going to make it to the NBA,” Stott said. “We had all these big dreams and aspirations.”

So perhaps it was fitting that Stott wore his buddy’s number when he moved even closer to making one of his predictions a reality.

Ricciardi was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 15, forcing him to leave school in January of his freshman year. Stott and Ricciardi were friends who did everything together: playing video games at each other’s house, going to football games, trick-or-treating on Halloween, and filming goofy videos for class.

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“It was tough to go to school and not see your buddy or be able to go to his house and stuff like that,” Stott said. “I’m sure he felt better that we were being strong for him. We never let him know that we were being down on ourselves. We were thinking about him every second of the day.”

Ricciardi was the funny kid in school that everyone seemed to love. He was missing from school, but his personality — the one that other students gravitated toward — was shining during cancer treatments.

“The little kids were drawn to him. They loved him. The 2-year-olds, the 4-year-olds. They would want to sit by him in chemo and be his buddy,” said his mother, Mary. “They looked up to him and were just so shocked that ‘Big Boy’ was there. I don’t know what it was. It was weird. Even when we were in the hospital, little kids would come and knock on our door. ‘Can Cooper play games?’ I just thought that was really sweet and cool. He was a big teddy bear for them, giving them encouragement, and they looked up to him.”

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Ricciardi was well enough to return to school for his junior year. Stott’s baseball journey by then was reaching new heights. He would soon commit to play at UNLV, showing the promise of a future big-leaguer just like Ricciardi predicted. And now Ricciardi could watch again.

“He was just Mr. Supportive for everyone else. He was so sweet. He was just so excited to be at school,” Mary Ricciardi said. “His favorite thing to do was to watch the baseball team because Bryson was on it.”

Before their senior year, Ricciardi was diagnosed with a secondary cancer and his quality of life soon deteriorated.

“His perspective was just different: Be in the moment and appreciate everything around you because you don’t know how long you’ll have,” his mother said. “He was just different. Even when we found out he wasn’t going to make it, he was like, ‘OK, Mom.’ It was so hard to tell him that, but he was so brave. ‘Could all my friends come and see me?’ ‘Of course.’ ”

Within an hour, Stott was there to say goodbye to his buddy. He was leaving for college in a few months, taking the next step in a baseball career that was inching toward the majors like Ricciardi said it would.

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“Life is short. You have to live your life. I know it sounds cliché, but losing a best friend at that age really opened my eyes to see how fast it can go,” Stott said. “Having his family’s support now and his support when he was still with us is big to me.”

Stott starred at UNLV, playing just 13 miles from the high school fields where Ricciardi saw enough of his buddy to say he was a big-leaguer. The Phillies drafted Stott in 2019, three years after Ricciardi died. Mary Ricciardi, watching Stott’s draft selection on TV, started crying.

“Cooper called it. ‘Mom, someday Bryson is going to get to the major leagues.’ He just knew it,” Ricciardi said. “He just knew. He’d just say, ‘Mom …’ He was like projecting it.”

Stott still needed to climb baseball’s ladder to prove his buddy right. But that climb is now in the final steps. He started last season at high-Jersey Shore, then went to double-A Reading, and finished with 10 games at triple-A Lehigh Valley. Stott’s time in Arizona — he hit .318 with a .934 OPS and made strides with his fielding while wearing Ricciardi’s No. 5 — could be the push he needs to get to Philadelphia.

If Stott reaches South Philly, he’ll need to again select a new uniform number. His usual No. 10 is already claimed by J.T. Realmuto, but Ricciardi’s No. 5 is up for grabs.

“I believe everything happens for a reason,” Stott said. “For the Phillies to [have] that list of certain numbers and 5 to be on that list, it was awesome. I love my buddy, Cooper. We miss him every day. His favorite thing to do was to see me hit a home run. Being able to hit a couple in his number was awesome. It means a lot to wear his number and make him proud.”

“He’s definitely watching from heaven,” Ricciardi’s mother said. “I’m sure he knows and see it all. I’m sure he’s so excited. Bryson does a lot for our family. He knows how much this all means to us.”