After starting the season 7-2, the Philadelphia Phillies are coming off a disappointing road trip. The team went 2-4 in the last six games, dropping two consecutive series to the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson experimented with the lineup in Game 1 of the Cardinals series, notably moving Bryson Stott to the leadoff spot and Kyle Schwarber to the four-hole. The Phillies’ offense had just three hits and was shut out in the series opener.
It was a forgettable series and road trip for the Phillies. The offense went quiet, particularly against the Cardinals, and Zack Wheeler was even off his game in the series finale, allowing seven hits and four earned runs in six innings during the 7-0 loss on Sunday. The road ahead doesn’t get any easier with the 11-4 San Francisco Giants in town for a four-game series.
The Phillies’ offense needs to get back on track, and it would help if an All-Star third baseman from a season ago could find some life at the plate.
Phillies’ scuffling Alec Bohm offers confident prediction for his season
After offseason trade rumors and a drama-filled end to the 2024 season, Alec Bohm has struggled to start the 2025 season. Entering Monday, the 28-year-old is slashing .150/.164/.167 with a .331 OPS. He has just one extra-base hit, one walk, three RBI and struck out 13 times in 60 at-bats.
"Results are not happening right now,” Bohm said about his early-season struggles, per NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Corey Seidman. “At some point this year, they're gonna happen and I've got to think for some extended period of time I'm gonna get some luck too. I think when we look up at the end of the year, I'm gonna be right around .280, right around 100 RBIs, right around everywhere I'm supposed to be. I guess the game's trying to teach me a lesson, maybe."
Bohm has been on the short end of the stick through the early parts of the season. He’s hit the ball hard and has made solid contact, owning a 92.2 mph exit velocity and 51.1 percent hard hit rate, both above MLB average, per Statcast. He has an expected batting average of .250 this year, well above his actual .150 average.
Bohm was the Phillies’ three-hole hitter on Opening Day against the Washington Nationals. He’s hit in that spot three times this season, was the two-hole hitter three times and batted cleanup four times. Bohm was moved down to seventh in the batting order on April 10 and 11 and hit eighth and sixth in the last two games.
Bohm is a proven hitter in the majors. He’s a career .274 hitter and hit .280 in two different seasons. He was tied for the third-most doubles with 44 a season ago and has had consecutive 97 RBI seasons.
It may not be the start Bohm and the Phillies were hoping for, but his numbers suggest it’s not time to panic. It’s a long season, and he’s too talented a hitter for his struggles to continue.