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Alec Bohm Suggests Phillies Offensive Slump is Because Pitchers are Really Good Now

Matt Schultz

By Matt Schultz

Published:

Jul 19, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm (28) strikes out to end the fifth inning against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park.
Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

After the Phillies lost to the Mets 6-1 on Sunday – their second loss in three games to the division rival and fifth in their last 10 – Alec Bohm was asked why he thinks the Phils have struggled at the plate lately, and had this to say:

“A lot of it’s just got to do with how tough the pitching’s gotten in this league. I think… you can really run into teams with some tough bullpens and, some tough, just – they can match up well and just, like – I mean, seems like you can go through some games where you see just three guys throwing 100 and – from both sides and moving the ball around and, you know, sometimes you can wait those guys out and get some pitches in the middle and do something with them, and sometimes they end up just kinda dominating you and making pitches and, you know, it can be tough. But I think for the most part, obviously, some days more than not, we kinda do our best to grind the starters out of the game when they have their good stuff and try to see a few extra pitches and try to, you know, put good at bats on guys. But, you know, today it wasn’t really one of those days. “

First and foremost, I feel I need to start by saying: this guy sucks. He always has. And I’m just talking about his general vibe. I’m not even addressing his play yet (more on that later; the spoiler is that it also sucks). Purely as a presence on this team, he is not great, and it’s been that way for a while. It’s weird he’s even still a Phillie. He’s been doing his crybaby-victim-weirdo act for like three years now, slamming bats and throwing tantrums and just overall being an annoying spaz:

For vibes’ sake alone, it’s hard to believe he’s still around. At the very least he shouldn’t be allowed to talk to the media anymore. I think that’d be a good rule. Everything he says makes the fans more mad. Everyone agrees with me:

With that out of the way, allow me to finally address what Alec actually said in the clip: it’s dumb as hell. I mean, pitching has gotten extremely good in MLB. That’s true, of course. But using that as an excuse to explain why the Phillies’ offense has been slumping is obviously ridiculous loser shit. Every team has to hit against the same pitchers, and the Phillies are among the worst at it. In all of baseball, they’re ranked dead last (30th) in OBP (.303), 24th in OPS (.701), 23rd in batting average (.236), and 19th in runs per game (4.32). For the fourth-most expensive team in baseball with World Series aspirations, that is very, very bad.

And maybe more alarmingly, the bats have been significantly worse than they were last year. 

From last season to this season, the Phillies’ hitting numbers have dropped across the board: Batting average went from .258 to .236. OBP went from .328 to .303. Slugging percentage went from .431 to .398. OPS went from .759 to .701. Runs per game dropped from 4.80 to 4.32. Walk rate is down from 8.6% to 7.9%. Strikeout rate has risen from 21.7% to 23.7%.

And Bohm embodies the problem: After his solid 2025 to this year, his batting average dropped from .287 to .219, his OBP fell from .331 to .279, his slugging percentage slid from .409 to .361, and his OPS plummeted from .741 to .640. 

But even worse than his colossal fall-off is knowing that after each strikeout, flyout, and GIDP, Bohm is going back to the dugout and thinking to himself, “Well, that didn’t go how I wanted. But luckily, it’s not my fault. The pitchers are just too good now. Better than last year, even. I’m glad to know I have nothing to work on. Everything I am currently doing is right and fine. Hats off to that pitcher. Well done. Now I’m going to slam my bat on the ground like a clown and make no adjustments to my game.”

So brutal. I don’t know why the Phillies offense is worse than last year’s, but at least we can all look forward to the day Alec Bohm isn’t around to try explaining it to us. 

Matt Schultz
Matt Schultz

Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…) email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com

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