One of the more troubling developments for the Philadelphia Phillies this season has been Alec Bohm’s deep hitting slump. The team’s third baseman is batting just .159 and was recently benched because of his poor performance.
For the series finale against the Athletics, Bohm was left out of the starting lineup, with utility infielder Edmundo Sosa typically part of a platoon with Bryson Stott getting the nod at third base.
On May 8, interim manager Don Mattingly gave an update on when Bohm might return, telling reporters including MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki that his third baseman would be back in the lineup the following day.
Alec Bohm’s 2026 Season Off to a Rough Start
The 2026 campaign has been difficult for Bohm both on and off the diamond. He recently filed a lawsuit against his parents over how his MLB earnings were managed. It’s unclear whether that legal dispute has become a distraction affecting his play.
Bohm began the season as Philadelphia’s cleanup hitter, occupying that spot in the order for the first ten games. But after managing just eight hits in his first 39 at-bats, he was moved down to the bottom of the lineup. Left fielder Brandon Marsh, who appears to be breaking out, has taken over Bohm’s old spot.
The change hasn’t helped much. Through 34 games, Bohm is slashing .159/.227/.206 with just one home run. His 21 wRC+ ranks as the second-lowest among qualified hitters on FanGraphs only Tampa Bay’s Cedric Mullins (17) is worse.
Bohm’s issues stem from poor contact quality. His 88.5 mph average exit velocity, 36.4% hard-hit rate, and 0.9% barrel rate are all on track to be career lows. Even for a hitter who typically averages 14 homers per 600 plate appearances, these metrics are strikingly bad.
Statcast’s expected numbers, which factor in batted-ball data, give Bohm a .216 expected batting average and .293 expected slugging percentage as of May 8 placing him in the 9th and 7th percentiles among hitters, respectively.
This slump comes at an especially bad time. The 29-year-old is slated to hit free agency after this season. From 2022 to 2025, Bohm posted a 105 wRC+ and 8.0 fWAR, ranking 14th and 13th among qualified MLB third basemen over that stretch. But his 2026 performance now threatens to diminish his earning power on the open market.
Bohm’s Slump Could Push Phillies Toward a Move
The Phillies stumbled to a 9-19 start. During a ten-game losing streak, the team fired manager Rob Thomson and named Don Mattingly as interim. Since Mattingly took over, Philadelphia has gone 8-2 and is climbing the NL East standings.
With the change in leadership, both Bohm and the Phillies face pressure to reverse course. The team entered the season expecting to compete for a division title. At some point, the front office may run out of patience waiting for Bohm to break out of his funk.
If that happens, the Phillies could cut ties with their third baseman and look to upgrade the position before the trade deadline. That gives Bohm roughly two months to show improvement. If he doesn’t, Philadelphia could turn to Sosa or make a deal to bolster the lineup.
The Phillies have already shown a willingness to absorb salary to move on from underperforming players, as they did with Taijuan Walker. After five dreadful starts, the team parted ways with Walker, eating the remaining 18milliononhiscontract morethanthe10.2 million Bohm is set to earn in 2026.
The clock is ticking on Bohm’s time in Philadelphia. The only question is whether his final game as a Phillie will come in July or October.
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