Despite their recent winning ways, the Phillies offense is still struggling to produce runs on a consistent basis. There hasn’t been much power to be found outside of Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, and Brandon Marsh is still the only other hitter who has been anything close to consistent.
Perhaps the Phillies should look to alternative methods to help boost their offense. In Rob Thomson’s time as manager, the Phillies stole the ninth most bases in baseball with 503. Bryson Stott had the most on the team
over that span with 103. Trea Turner is second despite joining the team in 2023 with 88 steals. The team was mostly efficient at stealing too, only being caught 102 times, good for a success rate of around 80%.
However, the Phillies entering Wednesday were 19th in stolen bases this year with 21. Stott and Turner haven’t run often so far, combining for just nine steal attempts, but neither have been caught yet either. In addition to those two major threats from previous years, the Phillies also now employ another major stolen base threat in Justin Crawford. Crawford stole 46 bases last year while only being caught 11 times at Lehigh Valley, but so far in the majors he’s only swiped three bags and has already been caught twice. He has not quite found his footing yet as a base stealer in the majors.
Outside of those three, Brandon Marsh would be the next logical candidate. He’s swiped all three bags he’s attempted this season after swiping seven on eight attempts in 2025. J.T. Realmuto has been an underrated base stealing threat in years past and he totaled eight on ten attempts last year, but it’s likely the Phillies will not ask him to steal as often in order to preserve the 35-year-old catcher’s legs. Bryce Harper stole 12 bags last year while being thrown out twice but has already been thrown out once on three attempts this season.
So, should the Phillies attempt to steal mores bases? Is it a good way to try and find some offense? Or are they better off not running into outs with the few baserunners they actually have?
