TAMPA -- Alec Bohm said he hasn’t changed anything.
He hasn’t changed his routine or tried a different bat or a different stance, or anything else that might change his mojo.
“I tend to just hit and just keep hitting until I figure it out,” Bohm said following Tuesday night’s 8-4 victory over the Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “It’s just a really big 'feel' thing. I think when you kind of base your confidence off results, it’s really hard to lose that feel. I think, for me, I just show up every day and just hit, hit, hit and keep hitting.”
Bohm hit an opposite-field two-run home run in the second inning to give the Phils a 3-0 lead. It was his first home run since Sept. 20. He singled to center in the eighth, giving him consecutive multihit games.
“You get to this point of the season without playing very well, it feels good to start producing a little bit,” Bohm said.
Bohm is batting .327 with three doubles, one homer, six RBIs and an .832 OPS in 14 games since April 19. He has raised his season OPS 73 points over the past three games to .586.
“I feel like I’ve been doing all the right things,” Bohm said. “Obviously, it’s really easy to get caught up just looking at the scoreboard and saying, ‘Oh, he’s having a bad year.’ The numbers are the numbers, and they don’t necessarily define who we are each day. I feel like I’ve been having good at-bats and hitting the ball hard and doing all the things I’m supposed to be doing. I think it’s all coming together.”
Bohm hit third on Opening Day. Phillies manager Rob Thomson liked him hitting between Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber because Bohm had been a run-producing machine for much of the past two seasons, plus it allowed Thomson to separate his two left-handed power hitters with a right-handed bat.
The lineup changed as Bohm struggled. He slashed .150/.164/.167 in 14 games through April 13. He hasn’t hit higher than sixth since April 10.
He hit eighth on Tuesday. Thomson will need to see more to return Bohm to the middle of the lineup, but days like Tuesday can help.
“He’s barreling balls,” Thomson said. “And now, the barrels are landing. Early in the season, the barrels weren’t landing.”
Bohm finished April batting .221 with four doubles, one triple, eight RBIs and a .526 OPS. It will take time to climb out of that hole, but it can happen:
- Nick Castellanos batted .193 with a .521 OPS through April 2024. He batted .268 with a .793 OPS the rest of the way.
- Chase Utley batted .114 with a .398 OPS through April 2015. He batted .257 with a .704 OPS from May 1 until the Phillies traded him to the Dodgers in mid-August.
- Raul Ibañez batted .161 with a .466 OPS through April 2011. He batted .261 with a .755 OPS the rest of the way.
- Ron Gant batted .132 with a .504 OPS through April 1999. He batted .279 with an .838 OPS the rest of the way.
“That’s the game nowadays,” said Bohm, when asked about hitting homers. “Everybody wants home runs and all that stuff. I feel like when I go up trying to do that stuff, I never end up doing it. That’s not when I’m at my best. When I kind of stick within myself, what happened today is what can happen for me. I’m not going to go up there searching for home runs.”
Bohm’s homer in the second followed Kyle Schwarber’s MLB-leading 12th homer to give the Phils a 1-0 lead. Castellanos smashed an opposite-field three-run homer in the eighth to make it 7-2.
It was plenty for Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, who allowed four hits and two runs in seven innings. He struck out nine. He struck out eight on four-seam fastballs, his most strikeouts on four-seamers since he got eight on May 27, 2023. He struck out a career-high nine on four-seamers on June 4, 2022.
“I knew it was flying tonight, and I knew I was locating it for the most part,” Wheeler said.
Bohm sent Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen’s 3-1 cutter flying for his homer. The pitch was off the plate, and Bohm went the other way with it. It wasn’t a bad pitch.
Bohm held his index finger and thumb close together when discussing it after the game.
“It’s a really hard game, and this much is a lot in this game,” he said.