CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Bryson Stott swung and missed at a pitcher’s pitch on Sunday in Sarasota, and he felt good about it.

Orioles right-hander and old buddy Zach Eflin threw Stott a sinker away during an at-bat at Ed Smith Stadium. Eflin followed with a changeup, which looked like a sinker out of his hand. Same spin, same spot. Everything.

“I couldn’t have hit the ball more off the end of my bat,” Stott said on Tuesday morning at BayCare Ballpark. “But it was a full swing. I was like, ‘Oh, wow. It didn’t hurt.’”

Stott injured a nerve in his right elbow last May. The rest of the season, whenever he swung and missed a pitch and hyperextended it, he felt numbness in his fingers. It contributed to his struggles. He batted .245 with 11 home runs, 57 RBIs and a .671 OPS, taking a step backward from an encouraging 2023, when he hit .280 with 15 homers, 62 RBIs and a .748 OPS.

But Stott is healthy this spring. He is batting .310 (9-for-29) with one home run, five RBIs, 10 walks, five strikeouts and a .901 OPS in 13 Grapefruit League games.

“Spring Training numbers are more for show,” Stott said. “You can’t really tell how someone’s feeling. But I feel good. That’s all that matters.”

Stott feels good because he feels free when he swings.

“Not really getting stuck anywhere,” he said. “I got into some bad habits last year with all the stuff going on. It forced me into losing my energy to first base. I was falling toward first. Just trying to get the bat around, it would make my body go [to the right] just so I could get around and not snap my arm in half. I think I just got into a subconscious bad habit [that led to me] not really being able to hit the ball to left.

“I was fine when the pitch was in, because I was leaning that way already, but just being able to swing and where the ball goes is where it goes is a good feeling. [I'm] not thinking about my arm and not thinking about anything other than seeing the ball and putting a good swing on it. It’s just being more free and letting it rip.”

Stott’s two favorite swings this spring illustrate how he feels:

He hit a line drive to left field on Monday against Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt. The ball would have fallen for a hit, but the outfielders were playing in with the wind blowing in from left. Stott liked how he stayed on a 3-2 sinker.

He also liked how he waited on a 2-2 curveball from Red Sox right-hander Adam Ottavino on March 11 in Fort Myers. Stott hit a line-drive single to left.

“I feel stronger and the ball is coming off my bat a lot better,” Stott said.

Stott feels like he is in a good place with Opening Day nine days away. He will start the season hitting in the lower half of the Phillies’ lineup, but manager Rob Thomson has said in the past that Stott has the stuff to be a leadoff hitter.

Maybe the opportunity will present itself at some point. If not, a productive Stott means a deeper, more dangerous offense.

“I think he can hit .300 in this league,” hitting coach Kevin Long said.

Stott has a .487 on-base percentage this spring. It's a small sample size, of course, but he sees no reason he can’t get on base more than he has in the past. He had a .315 on-base percentage last season, which matches his career mark, after getting on at a .329 clip in 2023.

“My gig is getting on base, whether it’s walking or hitting,” Stott said. “It counts the same.”

Bryce Harper led the Phillies last season with a .373 on-base percentage. Kyle Schwarber was second at .366.

Stott said he doesn’t know what is considered a good on-base percentage for an everyday player.

“I know everybody talks about [Juan] Soto’s [OBP] being .400,” Stott said. “That sounds cool.”