The Phillies demoted Alec Bohm. Here’s why that was a bad idea
As of Aug. 23, the Phillies sit 5 games back from first place behind the Atlanta Braves as, since the eight-game win-streak, the Phillies have gone 3-8, including dropping four straight games. In this time the Phillies benched and then demoted Alec Bohm in favor of Ronald Torreyes and Brad Miller.
Bohm was surprisingly sent to Triple-A Lehigh Valley while first baseman Rhys Hoskins was activated from the injured list.
Matt Gelb of The Athletic (sub. req.) wrote down some interesting quotes from Joe Girardi on the Bohm benching last week.
“And you have to think about winning right now. It’s not April 15. It’s August something. So you have to think about winning right now.”
Phillies needed Alec Bohmb’s offense during their losing streak
Girardi isn’t putting enough emphasis on the Phillies’ lack of offense since Hoskins has been out. He had been out since the four-game series against Washington and in those 11 games, the Phillies have scored more than three runs just four times.
Bohm could have provide some offensive punch the Phillies desperately need.
Has Alec Bohm’s offense been good for the year? No, it hasn’t but since June first Bohm has a .302 average, .372 OBP, a .401 slugging giving him a .773 OPS. This isn’t superstar production or anything but it’s still solid production and proves that he can hit at this level.
A lot of people want to compare him to Torreyes, who for the year has been a better hitter. However, since June first Torreyes only has a .251 average, .300 OBP, a .379 slugging giving him a .679 OPS but with better defense. Torreyes has 1 DRS across 164.1 innings of time at third, Bohm has -11 with 817.2 innings.
Phillies’ Brad Miller is not the answer
Now let’s discuss the more controversial decision to play Miller at first instead of Bohm. Brad Miller started out the year as a very productive piece to the Phillies roster with a .292 average, .353 OBP, and a .481 slugging giving him a .835 OPS in April and May.
Since that point, Miller has been for lack of a better term terrible with a ..145 average, .264 OBP, and a .347 slugging giving him a .611 OPS. It’s also not like he plays good defense for the Phillies either with a -0.8 dWAR.
Is comparing Miller and Bohm even close in that span? Bohm has clearly been the better hitter and the defense isn’t something your playing either for. Why is Alec Bohm not playing first base?
Going back to Girardi’s quote saying that “And you have to think about winning right now.” Maybe he is the one that needs to be thinking about winning right now. Alec Bohm hasn’t had exactly the best season but the Phillies would benefit from putting him back in the lineup, especially without Rhys Hoskins.
