ATLANTA – Alec Bohm descended the dugout steps to the Phillies’ clubhouse following batting practice on Thursday evening at Truist Park.
He did not want to talk.
The Phillies played the Braves in a couple hours, and Bohm had things to do. Like, getting going offensively. But Bohm is batting .160 with no home runs, three RBIs and a .356 OPS, following a 0-for-5 in the Phillies’ 4-2 loss to the Braves in 11 innings, which included a two-hour, 45-minute rain delay.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson thought it might help Bohm on Thursday if he dropped him in the lineup. So, he hit him seventh for the first time since July 28, 2023. Thomson hit Nick Castellanos fourth instead. Castellanos entered the game batting .308 with two homers, seven RBIs and a .911 OPS. But he went 0 for 5 with five strikeouts, becoming only the 12th Phillies player to strike out five times in a game.
“I’m just trying to take a little heat off Bohmer,” Thomson said.
Bohm again declined to comment after the game.
On Wednesday, Bohm struck out four times for just the second time in his career. He slammed his bat into the dirt after the first one. His frustration had been building, which was understandable. He has been stinging balls through 11 games, but he has little to show for it.
Case in point: He barreled a ball at 105.3 mph in the second inning on Thursday, but Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies caught the line drive to end the inning.
Bohm flipped his bat in the air as he jogged down the line.
Bohm later flew out to the warning track in right-center field in the ninth. That ball left his bat at 99.6 mph. Bohm entered the game with the highest average exit velocity (93.1 mph) and hard-hit rate (51.4) of his career. After the second-inning lineout, he had hit 13 balls this season at 100 mph or harder, which ranked 22nd in the Majors.
But only four were hits (.308).
To put that in perspective, the batting average on all balls hit 100 mph or harder since Statcast started tracking exit velocities in 2015 is .612.
“As long as he’s putting good at-bats together and hitting the ball hard, he’s going to be fine,” Thomson said. “He’s hit into a lot of tough luck, too, along the way. But he’s really played well defensively.”
Bohm has been under a magnifying glass, following his struggles late last season, which included a benching in Game 2 of the NLDS, and an offseason in which the Phillies tried to trade him.
It seems everybody thinks they can read his body language and mind better than anybody in the Phillies’ clubhouse.
“Everybody gets frustrated,” Thomson said. “He’s an emotional guy, just like [Bryce] Harper. But he’s not losing it as much or as harsh as he did last year.”
But Thomson has heard about the distant criticisms of Bohm. It explains a pointed comment he made on Wednesday night.
“I’m not going to pull the chute on him yet, despite what everybody says,” Thomson said.
Thomson fielded similar questions about Castellanos early last season. Castellanos batted .168 with a .428 OPS through the Phillies’ first 12 games, which is comparable to Bohm’s early slump.
Castellanos was batting .185 with a .485 OPS on May 5 and .199 with a .572 OPS on May 28.
But Thomson stuck with him, Castellanos got hot and he finished the season as one of the team’s best hitters down the stretch.
Maybe Bohm gets hot this weekend in St. Louis. In 16 career games at Busch Stadium, including the postseason, he is batting .346 with four doubles, three homers, nine RBIs and a 1.013 OPS.