The Philadelphia Phillies are inserting one of their many 2024 All-Star players back into their lineup for Game 3 of the NLDS against the New York Mets on Tuesday.
In a surprising, although not that surprising, move ahead of Game 2, Phillies manager Rob Thomson kept third baseman Alec Bohm out of the lineup. He instead opted to give reserve infielder Edmundo Sosa the start at the hot corner. Thomson cited Bohm's scuffling and Sosa's energy as the reasoning for the switch, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
Phillies All-Star third baseman Alec Bohm back in lineup for NLDS Game 3 after benching
After a day off to collect himself, Bohm is right back in the lineup, as expected. He didn't even get a full day off. He appeared in Game 2 as a pinch-hitter for Sosa in the seventh inning. Perhaps too eager to prove his manager wrong for benching him, he popped out down the third base line on the first pitch he saw, a 94.6 mph sinker up and in.
He followed that up with another pop-out when he got a second chance in the eighth, this time to the first base side, on another pitch up and in. This one came after taking the first pitch of the at-bat right down the middle of the plate. He was obviously eager to break out of his dire slump.
Bohm was ice-cold heading into the playoffs. After returning from the IL on Sept. 15, he whiffled to a .170 batting average with a .502 OPS over his last 12 games of the regular season. Even after the five-day break, his struggles followed him into Game 1 of the NLDS. He went 0-for-4.
As for the All-Star's explanation? He doesn't really have one, per se.
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be getting out,” Bohm said at Citi Field on Monday, per Zolecki. “It’s just not going my way. ... I feel like I missed a homer yesterday , but sometimes this game is unforgiving. I think the only thing I can do is keep going up there, keep putting my best foot forward and play the best defense that I can. Eventually, I’m going to get there. I’m going to start hitting and it’s going to come soon.”
Hopefully, a couple of games against a pair of Mets left-handed starters will help the cause. Bohm hit .287 with an .808 OPS versus lefties this season, compared to .276 and .767 against right-handers. It's not a huge difference, but the larger sample size of his career shows how much better he has been against southpaws, batting .307 with an .870 OPS compared to .265 and .693.
For the sake of the Phillies' hopes of extending their playoff run into the next round, we're all pulling for Bohm to figure it out soon. A driving force of the offense in the first half of the season, if his bat is going, it can lengthen an already potent top half of the lineup.