The Philadelphia Phillies took it down to the wire, but they made some important franchise history on the final day of the regular season, crashing the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year. It's only the second time the organization has ever accomplished the feat.
Their reward for doing so? A crummy schedule and an even crummier matchup with Chris Sale and the Atlanta Braves. The Phillies went 4-9 against their NL East rivals in the regular season, including three separate losing streaks of at least two games. Likewise, the veteran southpaw has cruised against Philly throughout his career, recording a 3.27 ERA and 83 strikeouts over 66 innings.
Having Jesús Luzardo available to counter Sale is a nice reprieve -- though how much he can give the Phillies in his return from a multi-week absence is anyone's guess. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that this team will need to find some source of offense against one of the best pitchers in the National League to avoid going down 1-0 on the road in a best-of-three series.
Enter: Alec Bohm.
Luis Arraez's absence puts pressure on Alec Bohm to perform against Chris Sale
At first glance, Bohm may seem like an unlikely hero pick for Game 1 considering how disappointing his season was; both his OPS (.698) and wRC+ (90) were his worst marks since his first full campaign in the majors back in 2021. However, with Luis Arraez officially ruled out for the series with an ankle injury, he's indisputably got the best track record against Sale of anyone on the roster.
Through 25 career plate appearances against the 37-year-old, Bohm is hitting .304/.360/.478 with a pair of extra-base hits. He has struck out 24% of the time, but that's par for the course against Sale. What's important is that he makes frequent contact and gets on base with regularity; not including Arraez, he's the only Phillies player with an average above .300 and an OBP above .340 against the Braves' ace.
After him, things turn ugly real fast. Kyle Schwarber does have two home runs and a .779 OPS in this matchup, but he's struck out in 10 of his 27 trips to the plate against Sale. Trea Turner is slugging .400, though most of that damage has come courtesy of a few doubles. Of the three other players on the roster with at least 20 plate appearances (Bryce Harper, Edmundo Sosa, and J.T. Realmuto), none have an OPS above .451.
That's not to say the Phillies' Game 1 hopes rest solely on Bohm's shoulders, but he clearly has an edge against Sale that others do not. If he can contribute a timely hit or create some traffic on the basepaths, there may yet be a path for Philly to steal the opener in Atlanta.
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