- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,269,791
- Reaction score
- 59
In a season where the Philadelphia Phillies are not hitting the ball all that well, there have been a couple of scapegoats for this development. The most relevant is probably corner infielder Alec Bohm.
Of course it is not just Bohm that has had a rough season. The Phillies’ team OPS of .708 ranks 21st in MLB, and .309 on-base percentage ranks 25th.
Bohm is in his seventh MLB season, having debuted in the 2020 COVID season. He has had incredibly apparent highs and lows during his career, never quite able to stay consistent with the bat and glove year over year.
MORE: Brewers must be careful with Jackson Chourio after Pat Murphy’s comments
Jul 22, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm (28) hits a two RBI home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
In 116 games, the 30-year-old is slashing .228/.289/.359 (.649 OPS) with 17 home runs and 63 RBIs. He has spent the most time at the fourth and fifth spots in the batting order.
Defensively, Bohm has always been a bit of a wild card. At his best, he is a league-average corner infielder. His best defense came in 2024 when he had two fielding run value in 1,096 innings at third base and 107 ⅓ at first base.
This season has been quite catastrophic. Bohm has not been great, first at third base and then at first base following Bryce Harper’s return to the outfield. He has accumulated -6 fielding run value in total.
John Stolnis of Hittin’ Season proposed in a recent podcast that the Phillies should just bench Bohm. They would theoretically do this by having outfielder Bryan De La Cruz take back over in right field and move Harper back to first base.
De La Cruz is on his fourth MLB team in six career seasons. He made his 2026 season debut on July 22 when he was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The outfielder had posted an .806 OPS in 84 games at that level.
In 12 MLB games this season (32 plate appearances), De La Cruz is batting .346 with a 1.021 OPS. His red-hot bat could be of great use to Philadelphia as they try to climb back in the National League East race.
— Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories with The Big Lead Newsletter —
Continue reading...
Of course it is not just Bohm that has had a rough season. The Phillies’ team OPS of .708 ranks 21st in MLB, and .309 on-base percentage ranks 25th.
Bohm is in his seventh MLB season, having debuted in the 2020 COVID season. He has had incredibly apparent highs and lows during his career, never quite able to stay consistent with the bat and glove year over year.
MORE: Brewers must be careful with Jackson Chourio after Pat Murphy’s comments
Bohm’s troubles this season
You must be registered for see images attach
Jul 22, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm (28) hits a two RBI home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
In 116 games, the 30-year-old is slashing .228/.289/.359 (.649 OPS) with 17 home runs and 63 RBIs. He has spent the most time at the fourth and fifth spots in the batting order.
Defensively, Bohm has always been a bit of a wild card. At his best, he is a league-average corner infielder. His best defense came in 2024 when he had two fielding run value in 1,096 innings at third base and 107 ⅓ at first base.
This season has been quite catastrophic. Bohm has not been great, first at third base and then at first base following Bryce Harper’s return to the outfield. He has accumulated -6 fielding run value in total.
A solution
John Stolnis of Hittin’ Season proposed in a recent podcast that the Phillies should just bench Bohm. They would theoretically do this by having outfielder Bryan De La Cruz take back over in right field and move Harper back to first base.
De La Cruz is on his fourth MLB team in six career seasons. He made his 2026 season debut on July 22 when he was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The outfielder had posted an .806 OPS in 84 games at that level.
In 12 MLB games this season (32 plate appearances), De La Cruz is batting .346 with a 1.021 OPS. His red-hot bat could be of great use to Philadelphia as they try to climb back in the National League East race.
— Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories with The Big Lead Newsletter —
Continue reading...
