The Phillies announced this week that Alec Bohm has begun a rehab assignment at Lehigh Valley. The Phillies third baseman has been on the injured list since July 19th with a fractured rib, but it appears he is on the cusp of rejoining the team. As is well known by now, Bohm started the season in a brutal slump, but a hot May and June where he hit a combined .312 with an .812 OPS pulled him out of it and allowed him to make his season numbers more respectable. But Bohm cooled off again in July, as he was hitting .257 with a .741 OPS through 10 games before going on the IL. He was especially cold leading up to his injury, as he was hitting just .208 in his last seven games.
Without Bohm, the Phillies offense has had its ups and downs. As of the start of last night’s game, the team sports a collective OPS of .768 that is eighth best in the Majors in the month of August. That is despite a prolonged cold spell from Nick Castellanos, who is hitting .200 with a .535 OPS over the span of Bohm’s absence, and Phillies third basemen hitting a collective .190 with an OPS of .678 in relief of Bohm.
Bohm had mostly occupied the spot in the order behind Bryce Harper, serving as right handed protection for both Harper and Kyle Schwarber once the latter started hitting second. In the time since Bohm’s injury, that job has been mostly left to the likes of Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto. We’ve already mentioned Castellanos’ struggles, but Realmuto has actually excelled in the time the team has missed Bohm. In 18 games played since July 19th, Realmuto is hitting .282 with a .743 OPS.
Bohm’s return should bring back some much needed production to third base, but the question of how the rest of the lineup will shake out remains to be seen. It’s likely that the other third base options, namely Otto Kemp, Weston Wilson, and to a lesser extent Edmundo Sosa, will see less playing time with Bohm’s return. Sosa has hit much better when playing second base (1.000 OPS vs. .496 at 3B), so he will likely slide back into a regular platoon role with Bryson Stott despite losing more overall playing time. That leaves Kemp and Wilson to likely be added into the Phillies outfield roulette alignment of platoons and riding the hot hand, if one isn’t sent down to make room for Bohm.
So, what should the Phillies lineup look like when Alec Bohm returns? Should he go back to batting behind Harper? Or should it continue to be Realmuto? Who would lose the most playing time between Wilson and Kemp? Should Sosa continue to see time at third despite his offensive struggles there? Where should Castellanos be moved to in the order?