The Phillies changed three-fourths of their infield after trading for Luis Arraez at the deadline, and the move sent Bryson Stott to third base, Alec Bohm to first base and Bryce Harper back to right field. Trea Turner stayed at shortstop, but the rest of the alignment was rewritten with less than 50 games left in the season.
That is why Kevin Stocker’s view matters now. The former Phillies shortstop from 1993 joined The Inquirer’s Phillies Extra podcast to talk through the shuffle, and he started from the point that he liked the addition itself. “I was happy because it was Luis Arraez,” he said, a reminder that the trade was not the issue for him. The issue was what the move forced the team to do around it.
Stocker singled out Stott as the player most affected by the switch. “To me, Bryson Stott is probably the best fielder, definitely on this team,” he said, before adding, “He’s the captain of the infield, and now you’re moving him out of there.” That matters because Stott had been the steady presence at second base, and now he is being asked to handle a new side of the diamond while the season is already deep into its final stretch.
He had a softer read on Bohm, saying the third baseman had made tremendous strides there, even as he noted that first base still brings plenty of work. Stocker also made clear where he stands on Harper’s role. “I love that Harper’s going back to right field,” he said, calling him a hitter first. That leaves Turner in the middle untouched, but it also means the Phillies are asking the rest of the infield to absorb the change all at once.
And that is where the concern sits. Stocker liked the bat the Phillies brought in, but he also said uprooting three infielders in the middle of the season was concerning, because the infield demands so much focus all the time. The move may make sense on paper, but there is no easy way to know whether Stott, Bohm and Harper can settle fast enough to make it work without costing the team on defense before the season runs out.
