The Phillies placed corner infielder Alec Bohm on the IL with a left hamstring injury prior to Thursday's matinee. Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters that the injury is a mild strain, though they aren't sure if he'll be back once the minimum of 10 days expires (via Todd Zolecki).
Bohm, 26, is hitting .265/.321/.403 (99 OPS+) with nine doubles, six homers, 37 RBI and -0.2 WAR this season.
Infielder Drew Ellis has been recalled as a corresponding move and is expected to play first base against lefties. This transaction -- more than anything else -- helps put some emphasis on how much some of the big-name Phillies need to step up their game.
Though they started the year with major injuries (Bryce Harper, Ranger Suárez, Rhys Hoskins), the Phillies have still been one of the bigger disappointments in baseball at 25-30 following their pennant-winning 2022 season. Of course, it's only one game worse than they were last season through 55 games and the start of June was when they had their nine-game winning streak.
If something similar is in the cards, the offense that ranks 12th of 15 NL teams in runs scored needs to be better. J.T. Realmuto, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber in particular are areas where this could happen.
- Realmuto hit .276 with a 130 OPS+ last season. He's at .257 with a 99 OPS+ now. He had 22 homers and 84 RBI last season. He's at three and 17, respectively, right now, roughly 1/3 of the way through the season. In May, he hit .228/.311/.367.
- Turner was signed to an 11-year, $300 million deal in the offseason. He hit .298/.343/.466 (123 OPS+) last season after winning the batting title with a .328 average in 2021. He's hitting .236/.280/.371 (78 OPS+) entering Thursday.
- Schwarber led all players not named Judge with 46 home runs last season. His average was just .218, but the .323 OBP and .504 slugging were good for a 131 OPS+. The homers are there this year for Schwarber, again, as he has 13. He's only hitting a paltry .168, though, dragging down his OPS+ to 96. He hit just .115 in May. He was all or nothing, basically, with three singles, a double, seven home runs and 34 strikeouts in 87 at-bats.
There are others, of course, as Nick Castellanos' bounce-back season took a hit with a down May and Bryce Harper will likely show more power the more the season progresses in his return from Tommy John surgery. Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott were also down in May after huge Aprils.
Overall, the Phillies need a lot more from the offense in order to turn things around and it has to start with Realmuto, Turner and Schwarber being much better. We know they are capable. They've done it before. Now it's time to do it again.
