Alec Bohm leans on teammates, past struggles during ice-cold start to season

PHILADELPHIA — Alec Bohm stepped off the bench and to the plate with the chance to take the lead with one swing of the bat. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning against Cubs left-hander Caleb Thielbar, Bohm entered as a pinch hitter for the Phillies, trailing by three runs.

The ice-cold Bohm struck out on four pitches to end the inning and the threat. The Citizens Bank Park crowd booed. And Bohm retreated into the dugout and picked out a spot next to Kyle Schwarber.

The scuffling third baseman looked forward at the field with his hands folded while the veteran designated hitter spoke to him.

“I actually went and just sat next to him,” Bohm said Wednesday inside the Phillies’ clubhouse, “just because I’d rather sit next to him than sit alone. Just kind of reiterating the same thing. I started in the same spot last year and told everyone, ‘I’m going to end up hitting .280 this year.’ Ended up hitting .280. We’re in the same spot.”

This season has been a struggle for Bohm. He sat in favor of Edmundo Sosa in Philadelphia’s eventual 10-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night, and his batting average dropped to .153 after his 0-for-1 night as a reserve.

Through 16 games, the right-handed hitter has one double and one home run with a .448 OPS. He’s been moved from the No. 4 hole to the bottom of the order. He’s leaning on teammates like Schwarber and past experiences to remain hopeful for what’s to come.

“I’ve been here long enough to not be worried,” Bohm said, “but obviously, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, it’s still frustrating.”

On April 13, 2025, Bohm went 0-for-3 in a 7-0 loss to the Cardinals in St. Louis. It was the lowest point in his season, as he was batting .150 with a .331 OPS. He rebounded to hit .287 in 120 games.

Bohm thinks he can fix this poor stretch and author another in-season turnaround. He feels like he’s hitting the ball decently hard and has squared the ball up 31% of the time. “It’s more annoying than anything,” Bohm said. But there have certainly been concerning trends. Bohm has not pulled a single ball in the air all season. The gap-to-gap double power that made him an All-Star in 2024 has vanished. There is plenty of time to correct it, but these 66 plate appearances have not been pretty.

“It’s just really easy to get caught up in it,” Bohm said. “Because, obviously, you show up every day and the game starts and there’s numbers all over the stadium — stat here, stat there, numbers everywhere.”

The 29-year-old has also had a serious off-field situation to deal with. On Opening Day, it became public that Bohm had filed a lawsuit against his parents over alleged mismanagement of his finances. Bohm declined to address “personal matters” at the time.

It’s fair to wonder if those personal matters have affected his professional performance and mindset. Bohm is a player who has often worn his frustrations on his sleeve through the toss of a bat or the spike of a helmet. But Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Tuesday that Bohm has seemed to be in “a really good space” in the clubhouse and on the field.

“The performance is getting better,” Thomson said. “The swing is getting better. But when he does struggle, you don’t see the same frustration you saw in the past. So that’s good. He’s growing up.”

The Phillies need more from the middle of their lineup. They entered the year with Bohm as their cleanup hitter and Bryson Stott hitting fifth. Bohm is batting seventh in Wednesday night’s series finale. Stott, hitting .204 with one extra-base hit so far this season, is out of the lineup so Sosa can play second base against left-hander Shota Imanaga. Adolis García, with a .651 OPS, is in the fourth spot in the order for the time being.

It will remain to be seen if Bohm can work his way back up the lineup, let alone return to the best version of himself. For now, all he wants to do is keep showing up and trying to hit his way out of this slump.

“I’m just going to keep walking to the box,” Bohm said. “I prepare the same every day. I’m prepared. I’m working. It’s not a lack of effort, it’s not a lack of work, not a lack of preparation. It is what it is.”

As Schwarber reminded him on Tuesday, Bohm has overcome failures and adversity in the past, so he’s going to “try to spin it a positive way and be a better player for it.” That’s a bit easier to do with the support of his fellow Phillies.

“There’s also a lineup full of guys that saw me and others in this same position last year,” Bohm said. “So I do feel like there’s definitely a trust and a confidence from more than just a few people around me.”