The beginning of Alec Bohm's one-year, $10 million contract has not gone the way anyone in the Philadelphia Phillies' organization had hoped. The Phillies' everyday third baseman is no stranger to a slow start to begin the season, but this slump has been different.
Through a bleak 2-7 homestand, before the team's losing streak continued in Chicago, there was no other player in the lineup who was struggling more than the 29-year-old infielder, who is making his name known throughout franchise history ... just not in the ways he had hoped.
According to Todd Zolecki, "[Bohm's] .384 OPS is the lowest in the Phillies' first 23 games (minimum 75 plate appearances) in the live ball era (since 1920)." This historically bad slump is also happening alongside a legal battle brought by Bohm against his parents, who allegedly siphoned his money and "froze him out" of his funds, according to ESPN and the Associated Press.
However, Phillies' manager Rob Thompson recognized a silver lining coming as the team traveled out to the Windy City. After getting asked about sitting Bohm out in Chicago, Topper's candid reply to NBC Sports Philadelphia's Jim Salisbury proves that, despite what the doubters say about him, Thomson, while noticeably dejected, is not mismanaging his team. He noted while talking to Salisbury that his team would be facing two lefties during the Cubs series, and it would be wiser to keep him in the lineup to try and "get him going a little bit."
Alec Bohm's historic struggles look like they could start to turn around
In the last two games of the Cubs series, the decision to let Bohm play through his struggles started to be a wise choice, as he went 2-for-4 in Game 3, and 1-for-3 in the series finale (with his third extra base hit on the season), bringing his slash line up to .153/.221/.212. If fans remember back to this time last year, Bohm had posted a line just as abominable, hitting .178/.208/.244 and going 8-for-45 with only one double.
This season has been tougher for Bohm off the field, though, after finding out that his parents have reportedly been stealing millions of dollars from his personal accounts into LLCs they controlled and denied him access to, and while there is reason to believe these on-field struggles could be happening with or without the legal battle with his parents, you have to feel for the infielder that seems to have nothing going his way right now.
Some are ready to dismiss Bohm due to his performance this season so far, and while the numbers are there right now to back that argument up, between a legal battle against his parents, who allegedly have always wanted to "act in his best interest," and a similar slump to that of 2025, patience is required at the beginning of the season.
Alec Bohm went on to slash .287/.331/.409 by the end of 2025, and seemed more dejected than he is now. Despite it all, he's still optimistic. He fully believes he can turn it around as the season continues, as he's proven he can over the last few years. Perhaps with the peace he'll feel from this legal battle, his 2026 season could see his focus and ability at the plate return to what we've watched grow throughout the Phillies' organization.
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