The Philadelphia Phillies are well known to have one of the best clubhouse cultures in baseball. From the veteran stars down to the young kids in The Daycare, the Phillies are a group with one common goal: winning the World Series.
Brandon Marsh, newcomer Whit Merrifield, and Bryson Stott talked about the Phillies’ impressive clubhouse culture on the Audacy original podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” this week.
“I think this team has a good balance of veteran leadership and young dudes that kind of bring some youth out of those guys,” Marsh said (4:10 in player above). “It’s just a good mixture and everyone loves each other here. We’re all united. We’re all fighting for the same goal so it’s a pretty cool feeling.”
Marsh came up in the Los Angeles Angels system after being drafted in the second round of the 2016 draft. After just 163 games with the Angels, he was shipped to Philadelphia at the 2022 trade deadline. And he’s grateful for that.
“I don’t have much experience in this game but just speaking from my experience, I truly think that there’s really nothing like it; just in the city of Philadelphia and our locker room. The unity we have, it’s different,” he said. “For lack of a better term it’s just a really cool feeling. It makes it fun to come to the park every day just being with guys like this.”
Although Marsh was a newcomer to the clubhouse in 2022, he quickly became a big part of the energy in the room. The same has happened with Whit Merrifield, who the Phillies signed in February.
“Even with Whit being here, being the new guy to the clubhouse, he fit in right where he was supposed to fit in. He fit in the spot where he was supposed to be in and he’s taken it and running with it,” Marsh continued. “It’s like he’s been here for a whole year or two years, the same amount of time I’ve been here. It’s a cool relationship that all of us create and the bond that we have together, it’s special.”
Merrifield is a 35-year-old veteran and three-time All-Star still searching for his first ring. After seven years in Kansas City and two years in Toronto, Merrifield is willing to do whatever it takes to win – even if that means taking a lesser role as a utilityman.
“It’s not a cliche, it’s a huge thing. If you have a bad clubhouse it’s just not going to work,” Merrifield said. “It’s well known around the league this is one of – if not the best – clubhouse environments in baseball and that’s a big part of success.”
The veteran had heard about the Phillies clubhouse and was excited to join it.
“It’s definitely a part of the equation. You want to play somewhere you enjoy coming to the field every day,” he said. It was fortunate that Philly came calling and I just couldn’t be happier.”
Merrifield knows how much impact the feeling in a clubhouse can have on a team, both good and bad.
“When you’re with a group of guys for seven months in a row you want to treat people well and when you have guys that their number one objective is a common goal, and that’s to win a World Series, it makes it easier to come to the field everyday,” he continued. “When you find that a lot of the guys are in it for the wrong reasons like themselves or just trying to collect checks, that energy can spread through the clubhouse in a bad way.
“That’s not what I’ve seen here. Guys want to win. Guys want to win the World Series. And they’re willing to do what it takes to win.”
One of the younger players on the team that injected some energy to the clubhouse in recent years is the now-26-year-old Bryson Stott. Stott was a rookie in 2022 when the Phillies made it to the World Series and he took a step forward last season.
“Even ‘22 it was a good clubhouse and last year we had a very similar team, and this year’s team’s almost identical,” Stott said. “Everyone loves each other and give each other crap when we need to and mess around and have fun.”
Stott mentioned the horror stories you would hear about in the past with rookies being treated poorly compared to the veterans. That’s not the case in Philadelphia.
“I think the biggest thing is the veterans don’t think they’re above anybody,” he said. “You obviously know who they are and you respect them and their 10, 11, 12 years in the big leagues, but they treat rookies how they treat the other veterans and I think that is a big thing in clubhouses.”
Kyle Schwarber is a great example of how the Phillies clubhouse meshes together, Stott explained.
“Everyone’s their own self and you can see that just sitting in here. I always mess with Kyle (Schwarber) because he’s got eight personalities it seems like,” he said. “He’ll get rowdy with me and Marsh, and he’ll tone it down when he’s talking to (Aaron) Nola or J.T. (Realmuto). It’s fun.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0