The Day Care Kids Hold the Key to Phillies Future
Brandon Marsh celebrates with his guys (Tampa Bay Rays v Philadelphia Phillies | Kevin Sabitus/GettyImages)
The Phillies Daycare is the nickname given by fans and media to the trio of Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh as the younger and more jovial members of the 2022 roster that made it to the World Series against the Astros. The trio earned a spot in the hearts of fans as a likeable group who brought some young energy and shenanigans that the Philly faithful seemed to enjoy.
Most contending teams want productive young controllable players. They help balance the roster and payroll by being long-term assets at a discount. That is especially true for top-heavy teams like the Phillies, who this year are spending a combined $154 million on just six players. For a while, that payroll structure was affordable because “the daycare” gave them discounted production, helping the team reach the 2022 World Series and the 2023 NLCS.
Four years have passed since and unfortunately for the Phillies, the progression of the once called daycare has not been linear. In the case of Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott, as their salaries have risen, their performances have trended in the opposite direction leading to a disappointing offense so far in the 2026 campaign. The Phillies have the 4th highest payroll in the league but sit second in the NL East with a 34-29 record with a disappointing offense largely driven by the underperformance of the two home-gown players.
Bohm’s case is probably the most pivotal one. As a former top-5 pick, the expectation for him is higher and the team’s desperate need for some right-handed hitting only adds fuel to the fire. He has shown some progress, hitting .277 in May, but will need to compensate for his terrible start to the year if the Phillies want to sneak into the playoffs and if he wants to get paid in free agency next year. His power seems to be deteriorating every year, but now he is not even hitting for average. He could be the key piece for the Phillies offense to start clicking. If Bohm can get back to the .280 hitter he once was, he can provide Harper some protection and help balance a lineup heavily reliant on left handed power that has struggled to hit southpaws.
Alec Bohm’s stats since 2023 (Baseball Reference)
Stott’s 2026 has been super disappointing as he had a terrific second half in 2025 plus a promising spring training in 2026 that made some of us believe he could be on the verge of a breakout year. Unfortunately, the opposite has been true as he’s hit for an anemic .267 OBP (at the time of writing) this year. While his defense and speed still provide some value, the expectation was for Bryson to be something more along the lines of a Brice Turang type of player by this point in his career. Instead, the Phillies have gotten offensive production way below league average that has translated to a negative WAR at this point of the season.
Bryson Stott stats since 2023 (Baseball Reference)
The only bright spot from the trio has been Brandon Marsh who is fantastic this season. In fact, he has been fantastic for a while. Since the 2025 All-Star break to the time of writing, Marsh has hit .318/.357/.506 in 117 games for an 864 OPS per Baseball reference (as of 6/6/2026) . He is the only player not named Bryce Harper or Kyle Schwarber that has been productive this season. He has made adjustments to start hitting left handed pitching which has earned him the opportunity to be an everyday player. Now while Marsh has been terrific, there are people out there that believe the team will need to move him for a similar right handed bat to balance the lineup.
Marsh numbers since the 2025 All-Star break (Baseball Reference)
With the Phillies core group all being over 32 years old, their competitive window may be closing, so it is important for Marsh, Bohm, and Stott to step up to try and extend said window. Eventually age will be a factor and players like Harper and Schwarber will start to show some regression, like it has happened to the likes of Realmuto and Nola. The other factor is that the Phillies top earners, besides Wheeler are tied to long-term contracts that will be hard to move, so whether it is this year or in the near future, the former daycare will be the more flexible and moveable assets in order for the team to look for improvements or even a change of direction.