Phillies Place Alec Bohm On 10-Day IL Due To Fractured Rib

Third baseman Alec Bohm has been placed on the Phillies’ 10-day injured list due to a fractured left rib.  Utilityman Weston Wilson was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.

The injury dates back to last Saturday, when Bohm was hit by a pitch during the Phillies’ 5-4 loss to the Padres and had to make an early exit from the game.  Bohm didn’t play in Philadelphia’s final game before the All-Star break and then returned to the lineup in yesterday’s 6-5 loss to the Angels, with the idea that the time off during the break allowed him to recover.

Unfortunately, Bohm reaggravated his injury in the game, manager Rob Thomson told reporters (including Lochlahn March of the Philadelphia Inquirer).  Bohm didn’t receive any scans last week but it would appear as though new tests revealed the fracture, forcing an IL stint.  More will be probably be revealed about Bohm’s recovery timeline later today, but a fracture almost certainly means he’ll miss more than the minimum 10 days.

After a brutal opening month, Bohm righted the ship and has quietly been one of the more productive bats in the Phils’ lineup, hitting .309/.362/.455 with eight home runs in 257 trips to the plate since May 3.  As per his career norms, Bohm is making a good deal of hard contact and a lot of contact in general (16.2% strikeout rate), though he isn’t walking much and his slugging percentage is significantly down from the last two seasons.  The other story is Bohm’s continued improvement with the glove, as a player once known for being a defensive liability is in the midst of his second straight year of slightly above-average fielding at third base.

Boho also saw some time at first base when Bryce Harper was on the IL, with Edmundo Sosa and Otto Kemp filling in at third base.  With Bohm now out, the Phillies will likely turn to some combination of Sosa, Kemp, and Wilson at the hot corner, and Kemp will still remain part of the left field platoon with Max Kepler.

Depending on how long Bohm may be out, his injury situation could impact Philadelphia’s plans at the trade deadline.  The Phillies were already known to be looking for outfield help and potentially some more depth at second base since Bryson Stott hasn’t been hitting.  Adding a new outfielder could now conceivably push Kemp into more of a full-time infield role at either second or third base, or the Phils could seek more of a utilityman type that could be toggled around to multiple positions.  Since Bohm himself was linked to several trade rumors during the offseason, his injury might also erase any chance there was of a need-for-need trade, with the Phillies might have moved the controllable Bohm (who has one more arbitration year) for a more high-impact rental player.