The Phillies’ Bryson Stott felt like he was ‘swinging with one arm.’ Here’s how he fixed it.

SAN DIEGO — About two weeks ago, Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott was looking at video of one of his games and noticed he was hitting balls off the end of his bat. He was flaring them into left field and cutting them but couldn’t figure out why. He was striking out more, and recorded just one walk over that span.

Stott doesn’t walk a lot, but that was an unusually low number for him. Nevertheless, he was still able to hit — until Milwaukee this past weekend. Stott went 0-for-12 over the Phillies’ three-game series against the Brewers. It was his first three-game hitless streak since July 22-24.

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He was out in front of sliders and late on fastballs. He realized he wasn’t using his top hand the way he needed to. His top hand was rolling over and not staying through.

“It felt like I was swinging with one arm,” he said.

So, Stott did what any hitter does when he’s in a funk: He went to the batting cage after his game on Saturday night. He told hitting coach Kevin Long that he wanted to make sure he was using his top hand properly. They got to work, and it didn’t take long to see the results.

Stott looked like a different hitter on Monday in the Phillies’ 9-7 victory over the Padres. He wasn’t rushing at pitches. He went 4-for-5 with a run and a stolen base, hitting a single in the first, a single in the third, a double in the fourth, and a double in the sixth. Three of his four hits came off the bat at 95 mph or harder.

“It didn’t feel weak, but [the top hand] was just along for the ride,” Stott said. “I noticed it two weeks ago. I was hitting sliders and stuff like that, so I couldn’t really figure out what was going on. Those are things you are able to hit if you’re just swinging with one arm, technically.

“So, just making sure I’m using that top hand the way I need to.”

It’s easy to forget Stott is only in his second big league season. He has a maturity beyond his 25 years. He has quickly become one of the Phillies’ most consistent hitters, producing at the bottom of the lineup when some of the seasoned veterans have struggled to do so.

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He has raised his batting average by 60 points from last season, from .234 to .294 going into Tuesday’s game, and his OPS from .653 to .779. He’s hitting for more power, already eclipsing his 10 home runs from 2022 with 14 through 129 games this season. He leads his team in Fangraphs WAR at 3.9.

But perhaps what’s more impressive are Stott’s instincts. He has a feel for where he should be on the field, what he should swing at in the strike zone, and other facets of the game that normally take years to develop. The fact that he knew something was off, as far as two weeks ago when he was still hitting, speaks to those instincts.

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It means that when Stott struggles, he likely won’t be for long. He’ll watch tape, go to the cage, and figure it out.

“Just looking at my games I could tell,” he said. “I just tried to get to the bottom of that as quickly as I could.”