Apr 21, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm (28) reacts after striking out during the third inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
FLUSHING, N.Y. - Baseball is a funny sport sometimes.
There are always weird and crazy stats that don't make sense, or others that tell a different story than what you are watching with your eyes.
And then there's the curious case of Alec Bohm.
Bohm started the season with one of the worst slumps of his career. He was dead last at one point in all of baseball in OPS among qualified hitters.
Through his first 14 games, he was 9-for-60 (.150) with just one extra base hit (a double on Opening Day), one walk and 13 strikeouts. His league-low OPS was an unconscionable .331.
There were calls for him to be benched. Screams that the Phillies should have traded him in the offseason for a bag of balls. Suggestions that he wasn't mentally cut out to handle playing in Philadelphia any longer.
I get angry every time I see Alec Bohm swing a baseball bat
And while all that is par for the course foe an angsty fan base, it was bothering Bohm too. He was growing more and more frustrated. Things weren't working. At one point he said that the sport of baseball was trying to teach him a lesson.
And it was - don't change a thing.
See, during Bohm's brutal beginning, there were still several at bats where he was hitting the ball hard - just right at opposing players. He was having a little bit of bad luck.
But that doesn't mean it's easy to just shrug it off your shoulder. No, instead Bohm assumed he was doing something wrong and tried to change things up. It didn't work.
"It happens with everybody," manager Rob Thomson said. "You're barreling balls up and hitting line drives right at people. Then you start thinking about it. And then you start tweaking, adjusting when you just should stay right where you're at, because everything is fine. But that's human nature. Everyone does it."
The Phillies wanted Bohm to not tinker at all. Sure, they wanted him to show a little more patience - he was getting swing happy early in counts and attacking a lot of first pitches - but aside from that, the mechanics of his swing looked good and he just needed to get through it.
And for the last week-plus, he has.
Bohm is on an eight-game hitting streak entering Tuesday night's game against the Mets. In those eight games, Bohm is putting up more recognizable numbers.
Now that we've calmed down I would like to again point out that Alec Bohm is a mere 48 games away from Joe DiMaggio
He's 9-for-31 with three doubles and a triple and has only struck out four times. That's good enough for a slash line of .290/.333/.452 and an OPS of .785.
He's still got room to be even better, but it's a good start on the long climb out of that terrible first 14 games.
He's still batting below the Mendoza line for the season (.198). His on base percentage remains unsightly (.223) and his OPS, while climbing, is still quite subpar (.487).
He's also still batting at the bottom of the lineup. Despite his steady resurgence, the Phillies are not yet ready to put him back into a key production spot higher up.
But at the very least, Bohm back on the right track - and that's what the Phillies desperately need from him.
