Phillies' Alec Bohm's early struggles can be mitigated with recent success

After Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm found his swing after interim manager Don Mattingly benched him for two games, he is back to struggling. Since going four-for-four against the Cincinnati Reds on May 20, Bohm is 1-for-13 with two walks and two strikeouts. 

Passing the first milepost of the season with Memorial Day now over, Bohm needs to reset again and get into a groove if he is to help the Phillies' offense. 

Alec Bohm needs to put his struggles in the "rear-view mirror" to help the Philadelphia Phillies down the road

The former National League starting third baseman in 2024, Bohm, will need to return to that level to help elevate the Phillies' lineup. According to MLB.com's Brian Murphy, Bohm has shown signs of returning to that player, but his early-season struggles need to be put in the "rear-view mirror" and focus on his recent success. 

"There's no way to sugarcoat it: Bohm was one of the worst hitters in MLB through the season's first full month," wrote Murphy. "He came into May with a .151/.218/.208 slash line. He had four extra-base hits in 106 at-bats. His wRC+ was 20, second lowest among qualified hitters. Matters didn't get much better in early May, so Bohm was benched for two days by interim manager Don Mattingly with the hopes that the time off would allow the third baseman to reset. Sure seems like it worked. Bohm homered twice in his first game back and owns a .346/.393/.654 slash line with eight XBHs in 14 games since his return to the lineup."

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The Phillies' offense has sunk back to being one of the worst in Major League Baseball, ranking 25th in team batting average (.227), and for a team built around slugging, they're not in the top 15 in MLB (17th, .384). Designated hitter Kyle Schwarber is out in front of the team by far in home runs (21), with first baseman Bryce Harper second (12) and Bohm a distant third (five). 

Bohm is not known for his power, but has been one of the Phillies best run producers, tallying 97 RBI in back-to-back seasons (2023 and 2024). Once Bohm can figure out how to get back to being the high average, doubles hitter and run producer he had been, the Phillies' woes for finding multiple bats at the trade deadline (Aug. 3) could be alleviated. 

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