Alec Bohm gave the Phillies just enough of a pulse on Friday night to drag his season-long OPS back to .700, but that kind of late bump shouldn’t change the larger conversation in Philadelphia. The club has spent seven seasons learning what Bohm is, and the answer has been pretty plain: a player who never came close to matching the hype of being the third-overall pick.
Since making his debut in 2020, Bohm has played in 853 games for the Phillies and hit .274/.325/.412 with 85 home runs and 474 RBI. There have been a few bright spots along the way - a second-place finish in Rookie of the Year voting and an All-Star nod in 2024 - but the overall body of work has been underwhelming for a player drafted that high.
That frustration is part of why so many around the team have been waiting for his exit. Bohm is headed for free agency after this season, and the expectation for a long time has been that Philadelphia and Bohm will part ways. The Phillies even had designs on moving on from him last offseason before Bo Bichette changed the picture at the last moment.
Still, Phillies fans know better than to assume the front office will take the clean exit when it’s available. Dave Dombrowski has shown a strong appetite for continuity, even when the results argue for a reset.
Taijuan Walker is the clearest example. The club brought him in before the 2023 season to help stabilize the back end of the rotation, but he never really settled in.
After a mediocre first year in Philadelphia, he cratered to a 7.10 ERA in 2024, yet Dombrowski kept him around despite the noise calling for a release.
Walker’s 2025 season offered a small bounceback, but not enough to make him look like the pitcher he once was. Even so, Dombrowski handed him an Opening Day rotation spot, and Walker promptly torched five winnable games with a 9.13 ERA before being cut at the end of April. It was a move that came more than a year late.
That tendency to stick with what’s already in place hasn’t been limited to Walker. Orion Kerking and José Alvarado have continued to get high-leverage chances, and Nick Castellanos has remained an everyday player well past the point where his skills justified it.
So while Bohm’s free agency should be the moment the Phillies finally close the book, there’s reason to worry they won’t. It should be a simple separation, no drama attached. But with Dombrowski in charge, that’s not a guarantee.
And if Bohm is gone, the 2027 Phillies still need someone at third base. The free-agent market doesn’t offer much beyond Bo Bichette, if he opts out of his massive contract.
Philadelphia could also already have an answer in-house if it keeps trade-deadline pickup Luis Arraez. In that setup, the club could slide Bryson Stott over to the hot corner and move on from Bohm.
That’s the route Phillies fans should be hoping for. Otherwise, the uncertainty in the infield could leave enough room for Dombrowski to run it back with one of the most unpopular players of this era.
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Braves Still Hold The Edge After Phillies Forced A Desperate Response
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Even with that victory, Philadelphia still sits behind the Braves in the standings and knows the margin for error remains thin. The win mattered because it forced Atlanta to absorb the kind of loss that can tighten a division chase, but it also underscored how much ground the Phillies still have to make up if they want the race to turn in their favor. [Read more 🡒]