TORONTO – The Phillies had José Berríos on the ropes. With one out and the bases loaded, the top of the lineup was due up with the Phillies up 1-0 in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s eventual 2-1 walk-off loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

It’s debatable whether or not lineup construction matters even a little bit over a 162-game season, but it does come into focus when it doesn’t work in key spots. Bryson Stott has been the Phillies’ leadoff hitter against right-handed starting pitchers since the Cardinals series in mid-April. They like his ability to see pitches. It hasn’t translated into consistent results yet.

Stott had a chance to come up big for his team, but couldn’t come through. He fell behind 0-1 on a tough strike call on the outside corner. He took a pitch in the same spot for a ball, then a high fastball to get ahead 2-1. Berríos gave him a pitch to hit, a fastball near the middle of the plate that he missed to even the count.

The at-bat ended with Stott seeing eight pitches, but he popped up on a high fastball for the second out. The guy behind him, Trea Turner, flew out to right field to end the inning. The Phillies did not have a batter reach base safely again until the ninth inning.

“I thought we were going to score (in the fifth),” Rob Thomson said after the game. “Bases loaded and one out with 1 and 2 guys coming up. Stott had a good at-bat. Long at-bat, but he just popped it up.”

Overall, Stott is slashing .249/.316/.354 with four home runs and 26 RBIs on the season. He got off to a hot start in April, but has cooled off. His OPS since May 1 is .536. One of the reasons why the Phillies put him in the leadoff spot in the first place is for his ability to get on-base against righties. His career on-base percentage against righties is .311. It’s .328 this season. Since May 1, it’s .250.

He is back in the leadoff spot for Thursday’s series finale against the Jays and right-hander Chris Bassitt. Before Wednesday’s game, Thomson was asked if he is committed to keeping Stott in the leadoff spot against right-handed starting pitchers.

“I’m pretty committed, you know,” Thomson said. “The length of the at-bats are good. When we first put him in there, he was really productive. He’s kind of cooled off a little bit. There’s a trust factor there that as long as the at-bats look good and they’re long, I’m good with it.”

The word trust is interesting. The Phillies putting Stott at the top of the order says a lot about the player they think he is – and could be in the future. Since moving to second base full-time in 2023, he has looked the part of a perennial Gold Glove candidate. He has yet to put it all together at the plate. His .492 OPS against lefties in 51 plate appearances this season just isn’t good enough to justify taking away at-bats from Edmundo Sosa, who crushes lefties.

The down numbers in 2024 were pinned to a nerve issue in his elbow that impacted his ability to drive the ball. He was considered a bounce-back candidate entering this year because of it.

The bar has to be a little higher for Stott if he is occupying a big spot in the order. Maybe he will get going again. Or maybe the Phillies will have to consider another change at the top of the order.