Phillies need Alec Bohm to overcome sophomore slump

The Philadelphia Phillies offense — as well as the overall team — is hurting.

Tuesday evening’s 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals marked the Joe GIrardi-led squad’s 19th consecutive games without back-to-back wins. According to The Athletic’s Jayson Stark, the Phillies have scored two runs or fewer in seven of their last 13 games. The team has also scored just a pair of runs in three consecutive games.

“[The Phillies] were a top-6 offense in MLB last year,” Stark writes. “They’re 26th in the big leagues in runs per game this year.”

Phillies 3B Alec Bohm is no doubt in a ‘sophomore slump’ this season.

Not much has changed player-wise between the 2020 and 2021 seasons, especially since the Phillies re-signed both shortstop Didi Gregorius and catcher J.T. Realmuto. The only significant new face is Brad Miller, who has started each of the last two games in left field in place of Andrew McCutchen.

What appears to be the biggest change that can help explain the Phillies scoring problems is individual production, particularly from third baseman Alec Bohm. The rookie made a significant impact across the 60-game season last year, slashing .338/.400/.481 with 15 extra-base hits and 23 RBI across 44 games and 180 plate appearances.

Bohm’s statistics this year, however, are hardly as impressive. The Phillies need the Omaha, Nebraska, native to overcome his “sophomore slump” to help turn things around.

Bohm has gone hitless in each of his last four games, totaling 13 at-bats with three strikeouts. His season batting average is down to .198, while his OPS is down to .538. To date, Bohm has produced a pair of doubles and home runs each, along with 12 RBI, six walks, and 24 strikeouts, spanning 23 games and 81 at-bats overall this season.

All blame cannot be put to Bohm as to why the Phillies cannot seem to escape the .500 mark. Despite the revamped bullpen, the squad’s 5.24 ERA is the worst in the National League. Phillies center fielders are also slashing just a combined .106/.200/.165 with 30 strikeouts in 95 plate appearances, according to The Athletic’s Matt Gelb.

The Phils are in a serious scoring slump, and Bohm’s sophomore slump is just one part of that. If he can overcome that, perhaps the team overall will start to perform better.