April 29, 2024
Orlando Ramirez/USA Today Sports
Alec Bohm has been doing a whole lot of celebrating for the Phillies in 2024 with big hit after big hit.
If you're emotionally drained from the Sixers and ready for basketball season to be fully over, it's the perfect time to shift your focus to the streaking Phillies, who just swept the Padres out in San Diego. As I frequently do here at PhillyVoice, here are five thoughts I have about this team right in the middle of a major run...
I entered 2024 as a bit of an Alec Bohm skeptic. He brought clutch hits as a rookie in 2020 while having his share of both highs and lows the next three seasons. He's blowing away what even the most fervent Bohm supporters would've thought so far this season, not just playing like one of the best players on the Phillies, but one of the best players in the entire sport.
Look at Bohm's stats and their rank among National League players:
| Stat | Number | Rank |
| Batting Average | .365 | 3rd |
| On-Base Percentage | .441 | 2nd |
| Slugging Percentage | .615 | 4th |
| OPS | 1.056 | 3rd |
| Doubles | 12 | 2nd |
| Total Bases | 64 | 4th |
| RBI | 26 | 2nd |
| bWAR | 1.4 | t-7th |
Going into the season, the Phillies really only needed Bohm to be their fifth-best hitter after the old-ish guard All-Star crew of Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto. Even while some of those players have had 2024 success, Bohm is lapping the field.
Setting aside those gaudy figures, there is one situation that I find most important for Bohm: He is hitting .448 with runners in scoring position. With RISP and two outs, his batting average jumps to .529. Those are not typos! That's why he's on pace for Manny Ramirez-level RBI numbers.
He should be viewed as an All-Star lock even if he can't keep up this torrid, MVP-level place. It's certainly fine if he can't. Everything appears to be rounding into place for the 27-year-old and if he simply settles in as one of the best third basemen in the league rather than one of the best hitters full stop, that's a massive win for a Phillies lineup that is predicated on being slump proof.
2024 has been a rough go for Bryson Stott, but perhaps a matchup with San Diego is exactly what he needed. A two-home run game in what's typically a pitcher-friendly ballpark should be huge for Stott's confidence.
Stott broke Sunday's game open with a two-run shot to deep right-center:
Go Stotty Go#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/0FP3l4xCr0
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 28, 2024
In the fourth inning with the Phils down 3-2, Stott had the Phillies retake the lead with another two-run homer:
O.M.B. (Oh My Bryson)#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/NKBblF2Vxi
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 28, 2024
He's only played in 26 games, but Stott's OPS so far this year is 83 points lower than it was in 2023. Not great, but in a lineup where he'll never relied upon to be The Guy or even one of the top six or seven dudes offensively, timely moments like this will be key.
Ranger Suárez, man. He leads the National League with a 1.32 ERA and all of baseball in WHIP. This specific statement isn't meant as shade to Aaron Nola, but calling Suárez the best No. 3 pitcher in the sport may be unfair to him. He might be the best No. 2.
Going into the postseason with a 1-2 of Wheeler and the always level-headed Suárez paired with this lineup is World Series worthy.
It felt like a foregone conclusion that Atlanta would run away with the NL East once more with the Phillies being relegated to Wild Card contention. That sat well with Philadelphia. It's a method that worked the last two seasons with the Fightins taking care of business against the Braves in the postseason in turn. The Braves have been a well-oiled machine. The Phillies are a bunch of mashers built for October baseball. As long as the Phils got to the dance this fall, things would be okay.
The Phils, at 19-10, however, are just 1.5 games back from Atlanta in the National League East standings. It's early, sure, but a stretch run that features a battle for the division title, which the Phillies have not won in 13 years, would add a hell of a lot of excitement to a season where the expectations should be pennant-or-bust otherwise.
I remember a world where Mike Trout was destined to be a Phillie, "one of us" coming home to save Philadelphia's baseball team. After inking a mega-extension with the Angels, that never came to fruition. It appears that Trout preferred the anonymity of Southern California compared to being a miracle worker in South Philly, but it's okay. If he wanted to run from the grind, that's his loss. Bryce Harper became that guy for the Phils anyway.
Trout is having yet another monster season as the Halos begin a three-game set with the Phillies on Monday night, but something will forever seem off with Trout's legacy as a player given his decision to remain with a bottom-feeder franchise in Los Angeles.
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