Phillies Rumors

NL East Notes: Luzardo, Ortiz, Johnson, Nationals

By Mark Polishuk and Nick Deeds | May 11, 2024 at 3:30pm CDT

Jesus Luzardo was reinstated from the Marlins’ 15-day injured list today, with right-hander Eli Villalobos optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move. Luzardo struggled to a 6.58 ERA over his first five starts and 26 innings before a mild left flexor strain (initially diagnosed as elbow tightness) sent him to the IL, so the three-week layoff between starts can hopefully set as a refresh of a tough season to date for the 26-year-old. The returns of Luzardo and Braxton Garrett this weekend will help the injury-riddled Marlins rotation, though Edward Cabrera has now also gone down with a shoulder impingement.

Beyond the immediate help that Luzardo will bring to Miami’s pitching staff, today’s start figures to reignite the trade rumors that have swirled around the left-hander for months. If Luzardo recaptures his 2021-22 form, he would be a very hot commodity at the trade deadline, as he is arbitration-controlled through the 2026 season. The Luis Arraez trade has already signaled that the Marlins are in sell mode, but while the team pulled the trigger early on that deal, Luzardo’s suitors will want to see a larger sample size of healthy and productive starts before moving what would have to be a very substantial trade package to pry him away from Miami.

Some more from around the NL East…

Phillies reliever Luis Ortiz is set to restart his throwing program today after he was shut down due to right shoulder inflammation. “We don’t think it’s anything, but we’re just taking it easy on him,” Phils manager Rob Thomson told MLB.com and other media. A sprained ankle in his first game of the season sent Ortiz to the 15-day IL back on March 31, and he made Triple-A rehab appearances on both April 23 and 25 before his new shoulder issue popped up. Ortiz had a 3.32 ERA in 19 relief innings for Philadelphia last season, amidst many shuttles up and down from the majors and Triple-A.
Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that Pierce Johnson is “looking really good” as he works his way back from a bout of elbow inflammation. Johnson was placed on the 15-day IL a week ago, but is already doing some low-intensity mound work, and appears to be on pace to miss only the minimum 15 days. Johnson has emerged as a key piece of Atlanta’s bullpen after being acquired by the Rockies at the last trade deadline, and the Braves extended the right-hander on a two-year deal worth $14.25MM in guaranteed money back in October to keep Johnson off the free agent market.
Nationals fans received positive updates regarding a pair of injured young righties recently. As relayed by MLB.com’s Injury Tracker, manager Dave Martinez told reporters that both Josiah Gray and Cade Cavalli threw off a mound in their rehab processes yesterday. Gray hit the shelf with a flexor strain just two starts into his 2024 campaign and reportedly looked good in his 35-pitch bullpen session, throwing 32 of the pitches for strikes. Cavalli, meanwhile, threw 45 pitches in 2 2/3 simulated innings as he works his way back from last year’s Tommy John surgery. Gray appears to be closer to a return to action than Cavalli, who Martinez indicated is on track for a return sometime next month. Washington has relied on left-hander Mitchell Parker, who has posted a strong 2.67 ERA in five starts this season, to round out the club’s rotation in Gray’s absence.

Phillies Acquire Tyler Gilbert From Reds

By Darragh McDonald | May 7, 2024 at 5:40pm CDT

The Phillies have acquired left-hander Tyler Gilbert from the Reds, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic on X. Since Gelb uses the word “purchased,” it seems the Reds will receive cash considerations in return. The southpaw wasn’t on the Reds’ 40-man roster and therefore won’t need a roster spot with the Phillies.

Gilbert, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Reds in the offseason. He has made seven appearances, three of them starts, logging 11 2/3 innings. He has an awful earned run average of 13.11 so far, though that’s obviously a tiny sample and there are some other numbers that are more favorable.

The lefty has a massive .545 batting average on balls in play so far and 43.3% strand rate, both of which are unsustainably unlucky. His 20.6% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate are close to average and he hasn’t allowed a home run yet this year, so his FIP is actually 2.94 in his brief 2024 showing. Regardless, it seems the Reds are willing to move on take the cash while letting the Phils take a chance on him.

Gilbert has 91 2/3 innings of major league experience, working as a swingman with the Diamondbacks over the previous three seasons, famously throwing a no-hitter in his first career start. He currently sports a 4.32 ERA in his career, with a 17.1% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate. He was outrighted by the Snakes at the end of last year, which led to his minor league deal with the Reds.

The Phillies don’t really need starting depth in the short-term. Taijuan Walker recently returned from the injured list, which bumped Spencer Turnbull to the bullpen despite having a 1.67 ERA on the year. The rest of the rotation consists of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez. There’s also Max Castillo, who is on the 40-man roster and starting in Triple-A. Prospect Mick Abel isn’t yet on the roster but is also starting at the Triple-A level. Andrew Painter could be rehabbing at some point later this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in July of last year.

But pitching depth can often be thinned out in a hurry, which is why there’s the old saw that you can never have too much. It’s also possible that the Phils may envision Gilbert focusing more on relief work as a way to unlock another gear with him. If he cracks the roster at any point, he still has one option year remaining and less than two years of service time.

NL East Notes: Robles, Bohm, Murphy

By Nick Deeds | May 5, 2024 at 12:05pm CDT

Nationals center fielder Victor Robles has played just four games this season due to a hamstring strain he suffered in early April, and manager Dave Martinez told reporters (per MLB.com’s Injury Tracker) on Friday that he’s “running really well” in his rehab assignment, indicating he remains on track for a return at some point this month.

Perhaps more notably, Martinez indicated that Robles isn’t likely to take back the starting job in center field upon his return. 24-year-old youngster Jacob Young has made a strong impression as a regular in Robles’s absence, with a .311/.354/.378 slash line in 81 trips to the plate. That production is good for a 113 wRC+, and Young has also gone 12-for-13 on the basepaths. That type of offensive production would be hard for the club to part with, but its nonetheless surprising that the Nationals don’t plan to return Robles, a former consensus top-5 prospect in the sport who has patrolled the position for eight seasons, to his usual spot in the lineup.

With Young seemingly taking over as the regular center fielder long term, Martinez noted that Robles will still play center field on occasion but “could play some right field as well.” The club has relied on Eddie Rosario and Alex Call in right field as of late, with the veteran Rosario struggling badly to an eye-popping -10 wRC+ to this point in the season that indicates he’s been 110% worse than league average at the plate. Call has impressed with five hits and three walks in 21 trips to the plate this season, but that production has come across just seven games at the big league level.

More from around the NL East…

The Phillies suffered a major injury scare last night when third baseman Alec Bohm exited the club’s win over the Giants with right hip tightness. The move was labeled precautionary by manager Rob Thomson (as noted by Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer) in the aftermath of yesterday’s game and Bohm himself indicated to reporters (including Coffey) that he isn’t particularly concerned about the issue. That Bohm seemingly won’t require a trip to the injured list is surely a massive relief for Phillies fans, as the club lost Trea Turner to the shelf yesterday and he had been the club’s second best hitter behind Bohm this year. MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald recently took a look at Bohm’s hot start this season, during which he’s hit a whopping .364/.435/.579 in 138 trips to the plate.
Braves backstop Sean Murphy has been ramping up baseball activities as he rehabs an oblique injury that sidelined him during the first game of the season back in March. Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Murphy had already been ramping up his throwing from behind the plate and caught a few bullpen sessions but has now progressed to swinging the bat, starting with him hitting off a tee during the club’s road trip to Seattle last week. The return of Murphy would surely be a major boost to Atlanta, as the 29-year-old has emerged as one of the best catchers in the sport in recent seasons. That said, veteran Travis d’Arnaud has done exceptionally well in Murphy’s absence, slashing an incredible .269/.341/.564 with a whopping five home runs in just 88 trips to the plate this season.

Phillies Place Trea Turner On 10-Day Injured List

By Mark Polishuk | May 4, 2024 at 10:59pm CDT

1:43PM: The strain is a significant one, as Turner told The Athletic’s Matt Gelb and other reporters that he’ll miss a minimum of six weeks.

12:56PM: The Phillies announced that Trea Turner has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain. Infielder Kody Clemens was called up from Triple-A to take Turner’s place on the active roster.

The placement isn’t a surprise, as Turner’s injury forced him to make an early departure from yesterday’s 4-3 Phillies win over the Giants. In the fourth inning, Turner was on second base when Jordan Hicks threw a fourth ball to batter Bryce Harper, and the ball bounced off catcher Tom Murphy’s glove for a passed ball. Turner hustled down to third base and then all the way home to score on the play, but at a cost, as Edmundo Sosa took over at shortstop for Turner in the top of the fifth.

After getting off to an infamously slow start in 2023 (the first year of his 11-year, $300MM deal with Philadelphia), Turner has been far better in the early going of the 2024 campaign. The shortstop is hitting .343/.392/.460 with two home runs, 27 runs scored, and 10 steals in 11 attempts. A whopping .421 BABIP and a .379 wOBA that is far above his .330 xwOBA indicate that Turner has enjoyed some good fortune in posting his bottom-line numbers, even though Turner’s excellent speed has always led to strong BABIP results.

Turner has been one of the chief reasons why the Phillies have a league-high 22 wins. There’s no easy way for the Phils to replace that production, and the team can only hope Turner’s strain is minor enough that he can return quickly and fully recovered. Sosa will get most of the playing time at shortstop in Turner’s absence, with Clemens stepping into Sosa’s role as the team’s utilityman. Philadelphia could also possibly use Bryson Stott at shortstop and deploy Whit Merrifield more often at second base, though Merrifield is off to a slow start at the plate.

Ricardo Pinto Elects Free Agency

By Darragh McDonald | May 4, 2024 at 9:56pm CDT

TODAY: Pinto has elected free agency, the Phillies announced this evening. He’ll return to the open market with an eye toward finding a fresh deal elsewhere.

May 2: The Phillies announced that right-hander Ricardo Pinto has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A LeHigh Valley. This is his second career outright, meaning he has the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency, though it’s not yet clear if he’s chosen to do so.

Pinto, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Phils in the winter and was added to their roster a few days into the season. He made six appearances, tossing 10 2/3 innings, but allowed 13 earned runs in that time. He struck out eight batters and walked five.

He likely didn’t deserve to have results quite that bad. His 59.1% ground ball rate was quite strong while his .405 batting average on balls in play and 51.7% strand rate are both on the unlucky side. His 6.04 FIP and 4.19 SIERA each paint a nicer portrait than Pinto’s ERA. Regardless, he was bumped off the Phillies’ roster and none of the 29 other teams decided to take a chance on him. He previously pitched in the big leagues in 2017 and 2019 but those stints didn’t go well either, so he now has a career ERA of 9.07 in 42 2/3 career innings.

As mentioned, Pinto has the right to elect free agency but he’s listed on the roster of the IronPigs, which seems to suggest he’ll stick with the Phils as non-roster depth.

Phillies Considering Multiple Ways To Keep Spencer Turnbull In Rotation Mix

By Steve Adams | May 3, 2024 at 2:35pm CDT

Right-hander Spencer Turnbull has been a revelation in the Phillies’ rotation after filling in for the injured Taijuan Walker to begin the season. While Walker’s return from the injured list might have seemed like an obvious means of pushing Turnbull back into a long relief role earlier in the season, Turnbull has pitched so well that the Phils likely feel they can’t take him out of his current spot.

Indeed, manager Rob Thomson told the Phillies beat yesterday that the club will consider creative means of keeping Turnbull in the mix — be it piggybacking him with another starter or alternating between Sanchez and Turnbull in the fifth spot of the rotation depending on the opponent they’re facing (links via Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia and Todd Zolecki of MLB.com).

The Phillies’ rotation, as a whole, has been remarkable this season. Philadelphia starters rank first in the majors with 190 2/3 innings pitched, second with a 2.50 ERA, second with a 26% strikeout rate, tenth with a 7% walk rate and third with a 52% ground-ball rate. Their collective 3.28 FIP is also second-best in MLB, and Phillies starters lead the league with a 3.22 SIERA. By virtually any measure, they’ve been outstanding.

Righties Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola are both out to excellent starts. Wheeler, in particular, is sitting on a sub-2.00 ERA with his typical blend of plus strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates. Nola is sporting a 3.20 mark with a roughly average strikeout rate and a strong 7% walk rate. He’s been a bit homer-prone for what’s now a second straight season, but he’s generally pitched well in the first season of his new seven-year contract.

Left-hander Ranger Suarez has arguably been the team’s most effective starter. He touts a team-best 1.32 ERA through his first six turns on the mound. He’s logged 41 innings with a plus 27.8% strikeout rate and elite walk and ground-ball rates (3.5% and 60.8%, respectively). He won’t sustain a .189 BABIP and 92.9% strand rate, but the skill components of his performance have been terrific.

Fifth starter Cristopher Sanchez has been solid, recording a 3.68 ERA in 29 1/3 frames. His 22% strikeout rate is barely south of average, and while his 9.8% walk rate is on the high side, he’s helped mitigate some of those free passes with a massive 62.2% grounder rate. Righty Taijuan Walker just returned from the injured list and was hit hard in his first start, but he was a quality innings eater for the Phils last year (4.32 ERA in 31 starts) and is being paid $18MM this season to fill that role again.

Turnbull’s run-prevention thus far is right up there with Wheeler and Suarez. Through six starts, he’s pitched 32 1/3 innings of 1.67 ERA ball with an excellent 28.7% strikeout rate against a 7.9% walk rate that’s about a percentage point better than average. He’s not sitting at Suarez/Sanchez levels with his ground-ball rate, but his mark of 49.4% is still comfortably north of the 43% league average.

A piggyback situation with Sanchez or some kind of alternating fifth starter role could make particular sense for Turnbull, who missed the 2022 season recovering from Tommy John surgery and pitched only 57 innings between the big leagues and minors last year. At some point, his workload could become a factor, as his body simply hasn’t endured a full season of innings since the 2019 campaign, when he started 30 games for the Tigers and pitched 148 1/3 innings.

The more straightforward solution would be to go to a six-man rotation, but Thomson has suggested in the past that the team doesn’t consider that a likely arrangement. However they proceed, it seems Turnbull — who has already wildly outperformed his modest one-year, $2MM deal — will continue to factor prominently into the team’s pitching staff as he gears up for what seems likely to be a much more lucrative trip through free agency again next winter.

Phillies Select José Ruiz

By Darragh McDonald | May 3, 2024 at 1:15pm CDT

The Phillies announced that right-hander Yunior Marté has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation. Right-hander José Ruiz was selected to the roster in a corresponding move. The Phils already had a vacancy on the 40-man since they designated Ricardo Pinto for assignment earlier this week.

Ruiz, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Phillies in the offseason. He’s already tossed 11 innings for Triple-A Lehigh Valley with a 1.64 earned run average. He has struck out 31% of batters faced so far while walking just 7.1%.

That’s a small sample size, of course, but Ruiz also has some decent work on his major league track record. He tossed more than 60 innings for the White Sox in both 2021 and 2022, with a combined 3.80 ERA in that time. His 10.8% walk rate in that stretch was a tad high but he also punched out batters at a strong 24.4% clip.

Last year wasn’t as successful for the righty. He was lit up in his first four outings for the Sox, allowing nine earned runs, and got designated for assignment. He was flipped to the Diamondbacks and tossed 40 2/3 innings for that club with a middling 4.43 ERA. He was outrighted off their roster at the end of July and spent the last few months of the year at Triple-A Reno, posting a 4.10 ERA in 26 1/3 innings.

He reached free agency at the end of the year, which led to his minor league deal with the Phils. Since he’s been posting good results, he’ll get a chance to come back to the majors and fill in for Marté. Ruiz is out of options and therefore can’t be easily sent back down to the minors later in the year. But he has less than four years of MLB service time, meaning he could be retained beyond this season if he sticks on the roster all year long.

Phillies Designate Ricardo Pinto For Assignment

By Nick Deeds | April 28, 2024 at 12:45pm CDT

The Phillies announced that they’ve designated right-hander Ricardo Pinto for assignment this afternoon. The move opens up a spot on the active roster for right-hander Taijuan Walker, who the club activated from the 15-day injured list ahead of his start against the Padres in San Diego this afternoon.

Pinto, 30, signed with Philadelphia on a minor league deal back in February and got the call to the majors shortly after Opening Day. He’s struggled mightily in a multi-inning relief role int he majors this year, pitching to a 10.97 ERA with a 6.07 FIP in 10 2/3 innings of work across six appearances. He’s struck out just 13.6% of batters faced with the Phillies while walking 8.5%.

Given those brutal numbers, it’s hardly a surprise that the Phillies decided to pull the plug on Pinto, who first came up to the majors as rookie with the club back in 2017. Since then, he’s pitched in the Rays, White Sox, and Tigers organizations in addition to taking a sojourn overseas to pitch for the KBO’s SK Wyverns. While he’s posted a decent 4.43 ERA in 347 2/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level throughout his career, he’s never managed to pitch effectively in the big leagues as demonstrated by his career ERA of 9.07.

Looking ahead, the Phillies will have seven days to either work out a trade for Pinto or attempt to pass him through waivers. Should he clear waivers, the club would have the opportunity to assign him outright to the minor leagues, though Pinto would have the opportunity to reject that assignment in favor of free agency as a player who has previously been outrighted in his career.

Pinto’s departure from the roster makes room for the return of Walker, who has not yet made an appearance in the majors this season after starting the season on the IL due to a shoulder impingement. Walker is entering the second year of his four-year, $72MM contract with Philadelphia and enters the 2024 campaign on the heels of a decent 2023 season that saw him post a roughly league average 4.38 ERA with a 4.53 FIP in 172 2/3 innings of work. Both Walker and the Phillies are surely hoping that the right-hander will return to the form he showcased with the Mets in 2022, when he pitched to a solid 3.49 ERA (111 ERA+) with a 3.65 FIP in 29 starts.

In the meantime, the biggest question brought up by Walker’s return is what the club will do with righty Spencer Turnbull. Initially signed to act as a long reliever and swingman, the 31-year-old righty has been nothing short of dominant to this point in the season with a 1.33 ERA and 3.12 FIP in 27 innings of work across five starts. Per recent comments from club manager Rob Thomson, the club won’t decide what’s next for Turnbull until after Walker’s start tonight.

NL East Notes: Ozuna, Turnbull, Mets, Senga, Megill, Cavalli

By Mark Polishuk | April 27, 2024 at 10:55am CDT

“There’s no way you want to go explore somewhere else when you feel comfortable, when you’ve got your teammates and you’ve got your organization’s love. There’s no doubt in my decision. I don’t want to go anywhere else,” Marcell Ozuna told The Athletic’s David O’Brien about his desire to sign a contract extension with the Braves. Ozuna’s four-year, $65MM deal is up at season’s end, though the Braves hold a $16MM club option for 2025 that looks like a sure bet to be exercised give how well Ozuna is performing at the plate. Coming off a 40-homer campaign in 2023, Ozuna has stayed hot by hitting .344/.419/.677 over his first 105 plate appearances in 2024, leading the National League with nine homers.

The idea of Ozuna remaining in Atlanta over the long term would’ve seemed far-fetched a year ago. The veteran struggled badly over the first two seasons of his contract, and that two-year stint also included an arrest on a DUI charge, and a 20-game suspension under MLB’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. Since the Braves reportedly never considered parting ways with Ozuna in the wake of these issues or his lack of production on the field, it would stand to reason that the team would be open to some kind of longer-term commitment beyond just the club option year. Some obvious obstacles exist — Ozuna will be 35 in November 2025 and is essentially a DH-only player at this point in his career, plus Atlanta’s payroll is already at team-record heights in both pure dollars and in luxury tax value.

The Evolution Of Alec Bohm

By Darragh McDonald | April 26, 2024 at 7:47pm CDT

The Phillies are out to a strong 16-10 start here in 2024 and a portion of the credit has to go to third baseman Alec Bohm, who is out to a scorching-hot start at the plate.

The lanky corner infielder has taken 104 trips to the plate this year over 26 games and has a batting line of .333/.423/.556. That translates to a wRC+ of 170, indicating he’s been 70% better than the league average hitter so far this year. Among qualified hitters, that makes him the 12th best in the majors so far on the young season.

He probably can’t stay quite this hot over a longer stretch of time. His .386 batting average on balls in play this year is well above his career rate of .324 as well as the .290 league average. Since his exit velocity numbers are pretty similar to previous seasons, the BABIP will likely regress a bit going forward. However, he’s also made some gains in the plate discipline department that could perhaps be more sustainable, as they fit a pattern of growth that goes back a few years.

Bohm went through three minor league levels as a prospect in 2019, going from Low-A to High-A to Double-A. He walked in 10.6% of his plate appearances and only struck out 13.5% of the time. Prospect evaluators had praised his eye at the plate and those numbers tracked with that. He hit .305/.378/.518 that year across those minor league levels for a 161 wRC+.

In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Bohm shot onto the scene with a huge major league debut. He hit .338/.400/.481 for a 138 wRC+. His 20% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate weren’t quite as strong as in the minors the year prior, but that was fairly logical for a guy skipping Triple-A and getting to the big leagues for the first time.

But it seems the league adjusted the next year, as Bohm endured an awful sophomore slump in 2021. He took 417 trips to the plate that year and was punched out in 26.6% of them. His walk rate also fell to 7.4%. He only hit seven home runs on the year, leading to a paltry line of .247/.305/.342 and a 77 wRC+. He was optioned to the minors for a time, spending just over a month on the farm from late August to late September.

Since that awful season, however, Bohm has been gradually climbing in terms of his results and approach at the plate . In 2022, his walk rate dropped to 4.9% but he only struck out at a 17.4% clip, almost a ten-point drop from the prior season. His .280/.315/.398 batting line wasn’t amazing, leading to a 98 wRC+, but it was still progress relative to the prior year.

Last season, he continued down that path by dropping his strikeout rate even further to 15.4%, with his walk rate ticking up slightly to 6.9%. He also set a new career high with 20 home runs, leading to a .274/.327/.437 slash and 105 wRC+.

As mentioned up top, Bohm has a huge slash line this year, which is at least partly fueled by his strong BABIP. But he’s also drawn walks at a massive 13.5% clip, almost double where he was at last year. He’s swinging at just 27.8% of pitches outside the zone so far this year, whereas he chased at a 33.4% rate in prior seasons. Even when he does chase, his 79% contact rate on pitches outside the zone is far higher than the 71.2% rate he had coming into the year. On pitches in the zone, he’s making contact at a 93.6% rate, compared to his 86.7% rate coming into the year.

Looking at his swinging-strike rate, there is a direct downward trend from his sophomore slump year in 2021 to the present. It was 11.7% that year but dropped to 9.6% the year after, followed by 7.8% last year. He’s down to just 5.1% this year. Going forward, BABIP results will sway with luck as they often do. But the fact that he swings and misses less as time goes on suggests that he has been maturing in the areas he can control.

What’s also encouraging is that he’s been doing damage against both lefties and righties this year, whereas he had seemed to be leaning towards a short-side platoon role in previous years. He currently has a career 143 wRC+ against southpaws but just an 87 otherwise. As recently as last year, those figures were 142 against lefties and 92 against righties. So far this season, he’s at 205 and 149, still a big split but well above average regardless of who he has faced.

Defense is also important for Bohm, as he’s never been considered an especially strong third baseman, nor one who was destined to stay there for a long time. Going into 2020, the Baseball America scouting report on Bohm contained this passage: “Kris Bryant and Troy Glaus are the only players 6-foot-5 or taller to play more than 200 games at third base in MLB history. Bohm is unlikely to become the third.”

Well, Bohm has already gone past that 200-game threshold, having already played 388 contests at the hot corner. The results have not been great, however, as he has career tallies of -49 Defensive Runs Saved and -11 Outs Above Average.

Last year, the Phillies started playing Bohm at first base more with Rhys Hoskins injured, but Bryce Harper eventually took it over. Though Harper was previously an outfielder, he returned from Tommy John surgery as a designated hitter and then eventually moved into first base due to the lesser throwing demands at that position.

After the 2023 season, it was announced that Harper would stay at first base going forward and would not be returning to the outfield. Since Kyle Schwarber is effectively a full-time designated hitter now, Bohm is locked in at third.

It’s possible to see some evolution in his glovework at third as well, depending on which metric you trust. DRS has continued to be extremely pessimistic, with Bohm at -10 or worse in each of the previous three campaigns. He’s already at -3 DRS so far this year, not even a month into the season. But OAA is bit more hopeful, since Bohm bottomed out by that metric with a -9 in 2022, before getting to +1 last year. Though that was in a smaller sample size since he spent roughly half his time at first base, where OAA gave him a -6 on the year. He’s still at an even zero at third base so far in the early parts of 2024, meaning OAA considers him roughly average at the hot corner going back to the start of last year. Even if one buys into that more optimistic view, Bohm will likely have to move off third at some point.

Schwarber is a free agent after 2025, which could perhaps allow Bohm to share first base and designated hitter with Harper. On the other hand, Nick Castellanos is under contract through 2026 and is also considered a weak defender, so perhaps he becomes the DH when Schwarber’s contract is up. The club has had past interest in trading Castellanos and he’s currently hitting .177/.233/.198, so there’s definitely a chance he’s no longer with the team by 2026 (whether due to a trade or release).

Bohm is controlled via arbitration through the 2026 season and could perhaps be extended beyond that point if the club really believes in his bat. But it’s not a perfect roster fit even after Schwarber and Castellanos are gone. Harper’s contract goes all the way through 2031, and it seems he’ll stay a first baseman and designated hitter for the rest of his career. Having Harper and Bohm locked in at those two spots isn’t ideal roster construction, as clubs often like to have at least some ability to rotate their regular players through the DH spot for a bit of rest.

For now, Bohm will stick at third and the club will likely be happy to live with his defense as long as he’s good in the batter’s box. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said as much a few years ago. “His key is he has to hit. If he hits well enough, you’ll live with the defensive aspect of it,” said Dombrowski after Bohm’s rough 2021 campaign. With Bohm’s results so far this year, he’s making things easy on Dombrowski and the Phils, and will continue to do so if he can keep it up.

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