Dalton Guthrie living the dream on Phillies' World Series roster

PHILADELPHIA – Ever since he was a teenager, Dalton Guthrie had an intense desire

to become a major league baseball player. Make the big leagues, he

hopped, and life would be elevated to its finest level.

Slightly less than two months ago, that wish was fulfilled. The Philadelphia

Phillies called up the Sarasota native from their Triple A farm club, the Lehigh

Valley Iron Pigs, and placed him on the roster as one of their outfielders.

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“Play in the big leagues,” said Guthrie, whose father, Mark, was a major

league pitcher for 15 years. “That’s all I ever wanted to do. Getting called up

was so cool. It happened kind of quickly, but it was a dream come true.

“Since I originally signed with them, I was always anxious to play with the

Phillies,” he added. “Now I’m so happy to be playing with a team full of talent. In Bryce Harper, the Phillies have one of the best players in the world, and it is

great being on a team with him.”

The 25-year-old Guthrie, who attended Venice High School and the

University of Florida, had been playing in the Phillies farm system since

2017. Although he was originally drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2014,

he rejected that option and stayed in college until the Phillies selected

him in the sixth round of the 2017 draft.

Subsequently, he spent time with teams from low Class A to Triple A, and

that included stops at Lakewood, Clearwater, Reading and Lehigh Valley, a

team that is located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Before joining the Phillies, Guthrie was

hitting .302 in 92 games this season with the Pigs.

The right-handed Guthrie, who has played not only in the outfield, but briefly

at shortstop and second and third base, became a big leaguer Sept. 4.

At that point, Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos was out with an injury and

several of the club’s other outfielders were hitting poorly.

On the other hand, he became a member of an outfield that not only included

Harper. the National League’s reigning Most Valuable Player, but also Kyle

Schwarber, who would become the league’s home run champion.

Two days after being brought up, Guthrie made his major league debut,

starting in right field and going 0-for-3 against the Miami Marlins. Then on

Sept. 9, after Edmundo Sosa had tripled, he collected his first big league hit

with a single and an RBI off of the Washington Nationals’ Patrick Corbin in a game won by the Phillies, 5-3, at Citizens Bank Park. He also slugged another hit

and drove in his second run in the game.

“That was pretty cool,” said the 5-11`, 195-pound Floridian. “Getting my

first big league hit was something I always thought about, starting when I

was 14 years old.”

Back then, Guthrie’s father, a resident of Sarasota, had taken Dalton

under his wing and taught him the rudiments of the game. Guthrie would

then become a standout player with both Venice High and Florida U.

Mark Guthrie had spent a long career in the big leagues primarily as a relief

pitcher. He was originally signed by the Minnesota Twins for whom he played

seven years before taking the mound for eight other teams during a

career that went from 1989 through 2003.

“My father grew up loving the game of baseball,” Dalton said. “He

introduced me to baseball when I was a little kid. Not many people have a

dad who played in the major leagues. So I was really lucky to have a

dad who did. And he taught me so much about how to play the game.”

Those lessons came to fruition in September when he made his big

league debut. A little while later, he slugged his first major league

home run while facing Ross Stripling of the Toronto Blue Jays.

When the season ended, Guthrie had a batting average of .333, banging

seven hits in 21 at-bats with one home run and five RBI while playing in 14

games. Meanwhile, the Phillies had overcome an early September slump to earn

a place in the National League playoffs.

After sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals with two wins in the Wild-Card

playoff, the Phillies, who had finished in third place in the National League’s East,

advanced to the Division Series where they beat the Atlanta Braves in three out

of four games in a best-of-five series.

Guthrie made his first post-season appearance in Game Three of the NLDS

when he was inserted as a pinch-runner for Castellanos in the seventh

inning. He then went to right field for the rest of the game that the Phils won. 9-1.

Then, after surprisingly winning the NLDS, the Phillies moved on to the

Championship Series where they faced the favored San Diego Padres. Hardly

anybody considered the Phillies as a possible winner over a talented team that

had finished in second place during the regular season in the National League’s

tough West Division.

But how wrong they were. The Phillies romped to four wins in five games in

a best-of-seven series, capturing their third win, 10-6, while led by Rhys

Hoskins’ two home runs, then winning the clincher, 4-3, with Harper’s two-run

homer in the eighth inning overcoming a Padres’ lead and sending the Phils to

their first World Series since 2009.

For the Phillies, playing in their 140th season as a major league team, it

would be just their eighth trip to the World Series. The Philadelphia team

had won the Fall Classic in 1980 and 2008.

This time, they faced the West Division champs, the Houston Astros,

winners of 106 games—the second highest number of victories in the big

leagues—and a team that had a 7-0 record in the playoffs.

Guthrie did not appear in any games in the NLCS, but that was not

something that he found disturbing. He was thrilled to be there.

“It’s something that I often dreamed about,” he said. “Coming to the big leagues,

then going to the playoffs. It’s just so cool. And I have to thank my dad for

helping me get here. I really appreciate all that he taught me.”

And it can safely be said, that sooner rather than later the Phillies will thank

Dalton for making the trip from Sarasota to Philadelphia.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Former Venice High and University of Florida standout achieves goal