Strong Stretch From Slugger Should Allow Phillies To Seek Upgrades Elsewhere

What position should the Philadelphia Phillies be seeking upgrades for?

May 19, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies bench coach Don Mattingly (8) walks to the mound to make a pitching change during the seventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies are continuing to play good baseball of late, and some players who struggled to start the year are finally starting to turn it around. 

It was undoubtedly a terrible start to the campaign for the Phillies. The team had the worst run differential in the league early on, which was a strong indication of their struggles. 

Now, while there is still a ways to go before they are where they want to be, they have been winning a lot of games and are in a comfortable spot over the .500 mark. While the team has been playing much better, they do still have some needs to address. 

The lineup has been talked about quite a bit with their struggles, and adding at least one slugger makes a lot of sense. Fortunately, one of the positions that they weren’t receiving production from earlier in the year, they have been receiving production from of late. 

Third baseman Alec Bohm is starting to turn his season around, coming off a strong month of May and continuing it in June. With him performing well, they should be able to seek upgrades elsewhere. 

Strong Stretch From Bohm Could Result in Phillies Pursuing Help Elsewhere

Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

To start the season, it seemed like a no-brainer for Philadelphia to try to upgrade at third base. The team was getting no offensive production from Bohm, and he seemed like a logical player to replace. 

However, despite the dreadful start, the team stuck with him, and that patience has been paying off now. In May, he was one of the better sluggers for the team, slashing .277/.333/.479 with five home runs and 11 RBI. So far in June, he has been able to keep that success going. This month, he has slashed .300/.344/.467 with one home run and seven RBI. 

With an OPS over .800 in May and June so far, Bohm has seemingly turned it around. This is great for the team, who undoubtedly needed someone to improve. The right-handed hitters for the team have really struggled, and that will be an area they seek improvement in. 

Now, with Bohm performing better, the team likely can focus their attention on the outfield struggles instead. The former All-Star has shown in the past that he can be a middle-of-the-order hitter for Philadelphia. However, inconsistencies have been an issue, and the Phillies will be hoping that he can sustain this success of late.