Inexcusable: Bryson Stott cannot allow Dalton Rushing to scream at him from behind home plate while he’s standing on second in his own ballpark

The Phillies were tied 3-3 with the Dodgers in the bottom of the fifth inning on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park when Rafael Marchan squared to bunt and popped it straight up in foul territory.

Dalton Rushing caught it, then turned and told Bryson Stott to “get the fuck back” like he was scolding a kid who wandered too far from the shopping cart.

Bryson Stott x Dalton Rushing…Yikes

Bryson do something bro please 😂 https://t.co/2WgryMUZ93

— Drew Smith (@drewmsmith) July 23, 2026

Look, I didn’t expect Bryson Stott to charge the catcher from second base. That’s not a realistic ask and it would have gotten him tossed and suspended for a game the Phillies can’t afford to play shorthanded.

At the absolute minimum, Rafael Marchan should have confronted Rushing about it. He’s standing right there. He’s the one who popped up the bunt. He’s the reason the whole sequence happened. It’s not like he’s doing anything else on the field to justify a roster spot, so stand up for your guys or explain to me what the point of having you around actually is.

Bryson Stott looked confused more than anything. His face while this was unfolding was completely lifeless, like he wasn’t sure whether it was happening or what he was supposed to do about it.

Again, I’m not asking for a charge at the catcher. Just tell him to shut the fuck up and go back to second base. You cannot get talked to like that at home in a tie game against the best team in baseball and respond with nothing.

What are you even doing, bro?

Let’s start with the root of the problem

Rafael Marchan was in the game at all in the bottom of the fifth inning of a tied ballgame against the Dodgers in late July. Marchan is not a Major League Baseball player and the Phillies organization refuses to DFA him despite months of evidence that he cannot hit, cannot handle situational at-bats, and cannot execute the one thing you’d ask a backup catcher to do in that exact spot, which is lay down a bunt and move the go-ahead run to third.

It’s nearly August. The Phillies are 56-47, fighting for a Wild Card spot, three games back in the NL East, and their backup catcher is a guy who couldn’t get a bunt down in foul territory with the game tied and the ballpark rocking.

There has to be someone else in the organization or on the waiver wire or in an independent league who can catch a few innings a week and put a bunt in fair territory. Please, God, find that person before the deadline.

The Sequence Before the Bunt Made It So Much Worse

Bryan De La Cruz, called up from Triple-A specifically because he was crushing left-handed pitching, homered to center off Dodgers lefty Eric Lauer to tie the game at 3-3. Stott doubled on the very next pitch. Two pitches, a tie game, the go-ahead run standing on second, and the whole ballpark losing its mind with the momentum swinging completely in the Phillies’ direction.

Then Marchan popped up the bunt and Rushing got to talk trash to a Phillies starter in his own building. Then two batters later Turner worked a 13-pitch at-bat before grounding to third, where Bryson Stott broke for the bag on a ball hit directly to Muncy with the play right in front of him. Muncy tagged him out to end the inning and Citizens Bank Park went silent in about four seconds.

Bryson Stott? LOL

The Dodgers broadcast seemingly can’t believe what they’re seeing from the Phillies in this series. pic.twitter.com/WbGIgWjUT9

— Jack Fritz (@JackFritzWIP) July 23, 2026

A homer, a double, and a 13-pitch at-bat completely wasted because the Phillies couldn’t execute a bunt and then ran into a tag at third for the second consecutive night. Mattingly said Muncy’s positioning might have factored into Bryson Stott’s decision, and maybe that’s true, but the result is a rally that died in the most humiliating way possible while an opposing catcher yelled at our infielder about it and nobody on the Phillies said a word back.

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