The Phillies fired Joe Girardi on Friday after a disappointing 22-29 start to the season. In three games since then, interim manager Rob Thomson has led them to a 3-0 record. That included a dramatic 9-7 win over the Angels on Sunday.
Philadelphia was able to earn the win thanks to some late-inning heroics from Bryson Harper and rookie Bryson Stott. First, Harper crushed a game-tying grand slam over the right field wall in the eighth inning.
FAGAN: Joe Girardi wasn't the miracle worker the deeply flawed Phillies needed
.@bryceharper3 GAME-TYING SLAM!!!
— MLB (@MLB) June 5, 2022
(MLB x @DairyQueen) pic.twitter.com/pnfy4Sgi3q
Then, after the Angels scored to take a 7-6 lead in the top of the ninth, Stott answered in a big way in the bottom of the frame. He clubbed a walk-off, three-run homer to clinch a series sweep for the Phillies.
BRYSON. STOTT. WOW. #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/EyaURHZLgd
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 5, 2022
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Harper came away impressed with Stott's at-bat and praised him for it after the game. He also appeared to take a dig at his former manager while doing so.
"I'm so happy for [Stott], man," Harper said, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. "What an at-bat. What a situation for him. Being able to put our trust in our young guys the last couple days, and really let them just play...it's been great. And it paid off today."
Harper noting that the uptick in playing time for the Phillies' younger players has come over "the last couple days" is significant, as that aligns with Girardi's departure. As such, Harper's comment reads as criticism of his former manager in addition to praise of the team's three-game winning streak since his departure.
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Either way, Harper explained exactly why he believes the team benefits from playing its younger players. It boils down to one thing: they are used to playing every day during their high school, college and minor-league careers, so keeping them in that routine is beneficial.
"Our young guys have got to play. When you want your young guys to have success, they have to play every day," Harper said, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. "And when they have those opportunities, I think they’re going to take full advantage of that.
"If that’s Bryson, if that’s [Nick] Maton, if that’s [Alec Bohm] or anybody else, we need our young guys to come in each day being ready to play and knowing that we have the faith in them to go out there and do their job and have fun doing it."
