Don Mattingly's Commitment to Struggling Slugger is Surprising

The Philadelphia Phillies have been playing excellent of late and are storming back to the .500 mark. However, despite the success, not everything is perfect.

Since the firing of Rob Thomson, the Phillies have been red-hot, with just one loss under Don Mattingly. Even though not much has changed in terms of their lineup or pitching staff, Philadelphia is beating the teams that they are supposed to and making an impressive run right now.

During the strong stretch, the pitching staff has been really strong, with the starting rotation leading the way as expected. Zack Wheeler has seemingly not missed a beat since his return, and that has helped improve the unit overall.

Furthermore, the lineup that was really struggling to start the season has been better of late, scoring at a much higher clip. This was a unit that really struggled to start the year, and their ineffectiveness resulted in a bulk of the struggles.

Even though the unit has been better, not every player has been performing up to par. Starting third baseman and former All-Star Alec Bohm has been terrible to start the season, but the Phillies have shockingly still been playing him a majority of the time. Recently, Mattingly spoke about his commitment to the Bohm.

Commitment to Bohm Is Surprising

Alec Bohm went 1-for-3 with a walk on Tuesday night. He's batting .161 with a .440 OPS, which is 177th out of 178 qualified players.

Asked Tuesday when it might reach a point to try something else at third base, Don Mattingly said, "Whenever that is, it's not now. I've seen…
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) May 6, 2026

While Bohm has undoubtedly had success in the past, he has not been the same caliber of player since the second half of the 2024 season. In 2025, he slashed .287/.331/.409 with 11 home runs and 59 RBI in 130 games played. However, with a WAR of just 1.3, he wasn’t a significant contributor to the team.

This season, things have really come off the rails for him. In 35 games, he has slashed .159/.227/.206, with one home run and 15 RBI. At an important offensive position like third base, Bohm is not getting the job done, and Mattingly’s commitment to him is surprising.

However, while he might have commitment to Bohm, a move on Wednesday was an interesting one. With a left-hander starting, it was Bohm getting the start at third base, but Mattingly elected to pinch-hit for him in favor of Bryson Stott in the bottom of the seventh inning. That will certainly be something to monitor going forward, especially with Stott playing well of late.

Overall, while it is nice to see Mattingly sticking up for Bohm, the numbers don’t lie, and getting more playing time for Edmundo Sosa and Stott makes sense with his struggles.

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