‘I know I can hit’: Phillies top prospect Bryson Stott remains confident amid rough start

ATLANTA -- When the Phillies board the bus that takes them to or from the ballpark on the road, Bryson Stott often takes a seat near Nick Castellanos. The positive reinforcement flows from there.

“He’ll just kind of talk to me and ask me what I’m feeling and how I’m feeling,” Stott said. “And I feel good. It’s not like I’m going up there thinking I’m out. He says that’s the right mindset to have. He tells me I’m learning as I go.”

And Stott has endured growing pains. A former first-round draft pick and top prospect, the 24-year-old shortstop dragged a 1-for-17 slump into Thursday night’s game. He was 4-for-35 (.114) with 13 strikeouts in 11 games since returning from a brief stint back in triple A and 8-for-65 (.123) with 23 strikeouts overall.

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But Stott was back in the lineup for the series finale against the Atlanta Braves. Veteran shortstop Didi Gregorius is out with a sprained left knee that continues to nag him when he rotates on his back leg through his swing. Utility infielder Johan Camargo has played well, but mostly against left-handed pitching.

Despite the numbers, the Phillies see signs that Stott isn’t overmatched by major-league pitching. For one thing, he isn’t swinging at an unusually high number of bad pitches. His chase rate, according to Fangraphs, was 32.9%, better than Castellanos (40.1%), Bryce Harper (39.3%), and Jean Segura (37.4%), three of the team’s best hitters.

“He has not gone out of the zone a lot,” manager Joe Girardi said. “He’s been pretty good about swinging at strikes, and usually when a guy does that, success usually follows.”

The more Stott plays, the more the scouting report on him grows. He said he has noticed a pattern in the way he has been pitched. He said most pitchers try to bust him inside with fastballs to set him up for offspeed pitches away. Regardless, he said they have a far better plan of attack than most triple-A pitchers.

Stott has only 81 career plate appearances in triple A, so it isn’t a stretch to suggest he would benefit from more time at that level once Gregorius finally comes back.

But Stott also wouldn’t be the first young player to struggle in his initial exposure to the majors. Former Boston Red Sox All-Star Dustin Pedroia batted .191 through his first 98 major-league plate appearances. Mike Schmidt famously hit .197 in his first 145 games.

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“It’s not really something I’m too worried about,” Stott said. “I know I can hit. I know I’m good. I think I’m going to turn it around.”

It’s possible that center fielder Mickey Moniak could join the Phillies in New York this weekend and be reinstated from the injured list.

Moniak, sidelined since April 6 after breaking a bone in his right hand, was set to play again Thursday night for double-A Reading. He went 4-for-9 with one homer in the previous two games, 8-for-19 overall through five games of a minor-league rehab assignment that began last week at low-A Clearwater.

“We’ll continue to watch him,” Girardi said. “We’re not quite there [with a decision] yet, but I’m sure we’ll talk about it again.”

The Phillies have gotten a .600 OPS from four center fielders -- Matt Vierling, Simón Muzziotti, Odúbel Herrera, and Roman Quinn. Moniak is 6-for-47 (.128) with 22 strikeouts in his brief major-league career, but based on a solid spring training, the Phillies are optimistic that he can help.

When the Phillies do call up Moniak, it’s unclear how they intend to create a roster spot, although it likely will involve a pitcher.

Major League Baseball announced Thursday that teams will be permitted to keep a maximum of 14 pitchers through June 19. (Initially, teams were going to have to scale back to 13 pitchers on May 30.) Girardi said the Phillies may get down to 13 pitchers before the new deadline.

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Another roster move may be in the works, with the Phillies talking about calling up lefty Bailey Falter and adding him to the rotation as a sixth starter. But with rain in the forecast Thursday night in Atlanta, Girardi said they had not yet finalized their pitching plans.

Braves star right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. wasn’t in the lineup for a second consecutive game because of a strained right quadriceps. ... Harper was 23-for-42 (.548) with five homers in his last 10 road games entering Thursday night. Since 1900, the only Phillies players with more hits in a 10-game span of road games were Richie Ashburn in 1948 and 1951 and Pete Rose in 1979. ... If the Phillies stay on rotation, Zach Eflin (1-3, 3.65 ERA) is lined up to start Friday night’s series opener in New York against Mets right-hander Carlos Carrasco (4-1, 3.50).