Philadelphia Phillies first baseman/outfielder Brock Stassi has been a positive surprise for the club this spring, so much so that if the season started today, he may be on the 25-man roster. Stassi is quick to talk about how his confidence at the plate has allowed him to be successful, but he's willing to spread the credit for his early success around.
Stassi raved to 69 News WFMZ about new hitting coach Matt Stairs, suggesting that he doesn't have a one-size-fits-all approach to hitting:
"Matt Stairs is an awesome hitting coach, really open minded, which is cool. It's not his way or the highway, he works with guys individually and I've had a lot of good conversations with him about my swing mechanics and what works for me and how I like to feel my body move. So in case I go into struggles, we can work on what I need to get back on track."
Thus far this spring, Stassi hasn't succumbed to any struggles, as he leads the team with five home runs, 15 RBIs and a .382 average. He entered Spring Training firmly expected to begin the season at Triple-A, but his strong production thus far has forced the Phillies to at least consider dedicating a 40-man roster spot to him.
While Stassi has had a nice spring, he will turn 28 during the 2017 season and is yet to play at the major league level. The fact that he thinks this highly of Stairs is more relevant to players like Maikel Franco, Odubel Herrera, Nick Williams and J.P. Crawford, all of whom struggled with consistency and bad tendencies at the plate in 2016.
Also Read: Matt Stairs compares Maikel Franco to Miguel Tejada, says he can win MVP
Former hitting coach Steve Henderson may not have solely been fired for Franco's lack of progression against off-speed pitches or Herrera's inability to consistently have his timing down at the plate, but they didn't help. And while the Phillies organization may have wanted to promote Dusty Wathan, a future managerial candidate, to Triple-A, it would have been much harder for the organization to part ways with former Lehigh Valley IronPigs manager Dave Brundage if Crawford and Williams hadn't stalled at the plate one step away from the majors.
A gigantic part of Stairs' job over the next few seasons will be to make sure that the team's plethora of young talent is able to progress in a manner that allows them to reach their full potential and help the Phillies to return to playoff contention.
That someone like Stassi, who is performing extremely well, not only credited Stairs, but pointed out that he's able to be flexible with different types of players, is a good sign for the Phillies. It's probably significantly more important than the fact that Stassi is one of the few Phillies that have hit well in a small sample size of Spring Training that has seen struggles from veterans like Howie Kendrick, Cesar Hernandez and Cameron Rupp, among others.
