The Philadelphia Phillies are out of the early-season grace period, and one of their lineup anchors is in real trouble. Third baseman Alec Bohm has slumped to a .159 batting average through 126 at-bats with just one home run, and the team has begun publicly intervening on his at-bat-by-at-bat process.
Thursday brought the clearest signal yet. Interim manager Don Mattingly held Bohm out of the lineup entirely — a quiet day, no on-field work — before bringing him back Friday for an extended batting-practice session under Mattingly's direct supervision.
Mattingly, asked about the decision after Friday's session, kept the message about Bohm calm but unmistakably patient.
"We knew yesterday," Mattingly said. "I just didn't really want to say it. I wanted him to just do nothing yesterday, for the most part, and today get back into the groove and get some work in. He'll be good to go tomorrow."
The Phillies' early season has been a study in offensive frustration. Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are doing their work at the top of the lineup. The middle of the order — where Bohm is supposed to function — has been a black hole. The team's run-prevention has held up better than its run-scoring, but a contender with World Series ambitions cannot run for six months on the bats of two superstars.
Mattingly, who took over interim duties after the front office's late-April managerial change, has spent his first weeks on the job calibrating exactly how publicly to engage with the Bohm situation. So far the manager has chosen positivity. The work he is asking Bohm to do is private. The public statements are meant to reinforce, not pressure.
"He felt good about it," Mattingly said of the Friday batting-practice session. "The ball came off good. But it's not the first time, right? He's been out here working and trying to figure this thing out. He's going to be fine."
The mechanical issue, by Mattingly's reading, is timing. Bohm's bat has been late on inside fastballs and out front of breaking balls — a combination that produces weak contact regardless of pitch type. Confidence and process are intertwined; the slump has compounded as the at-bats have piled up without results.
Organisationally the Phillies have not signalled any intention to demote Bohm or platoon him out of the lineup. The investment in him as a long-term cornerstone is too large, and the alternatives in the system are not yet ready. The plan is to give Bohm the time and the support to work through this.
For the Phillies, the broader season equation depends on his return to form. The lineup needs the third baseman's right-handed presence to balance the lefty-heavy top of the order, and the defence needs him at the hot corner.
Mattingly has been around enough major-league slumps to know what they look like and how they end. "He's going to be fine," the interim manager said. The next ten days, with Saturday's lineup likely to feature Bohm again, will start to test whether that promise can hold.