Alec Bohm returned to the Phillies on fire, just in time for Red October

Alec Bohm is back, and it looks like he never left. After a stint on the IL with shoulder inflammation, Bohm has returned to the Phillies’ lineup swinging like a guy who’s been waiting to unload on baseballs all month.

In Friday’s opener against Arizona, his very first at-bat turned into an eight-pitch, RBI double to right-center. He finished that night 2-for-5 with three RBIs.

Then on Saturday, he followed it up with a 2-for-4 showing that included a solo homer, his first since mid-August. Not bad for a guy who spent the last 10 days rehabbing a cranky shoulder.

Alec Bohm Solo HR vs D-Backs

The sweet sweet sound of a Bohm Run pic.twitter.com/UBYJqm7n41

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 21, 2025

The timing couldn’t be better.

The Phillies have been searching for stability in the middle of the order all season, especially in that cleanup spot, where the numbers are downright ugly.

Phillies cleanup hitters are hitting .238 on the year with a .721 OPS—20th in baseball—and their production is actually worse than the nine-hole in both average and OPS. That’s brutal.

Rob Thomson has rotated Castellanos, Realmuto, Schwarber, Bohm, Kepler, and even Brandon Marsh through the four-spot, but no one has truly stuck.

Alec Bohm, who hit cleanup over 100 times as an All-Star last season, may not immediately get plugged back into that role, but if he keeps this hot streak rolling, it’s only a matter of time before he’s bumped back up.

Even if he stays in the six-hole, though, a locked-in Bohm lengthens the lineup in a way that makes the Phillies dangerous heading into October. Think about it. When Bohm is seeing the ball well, he’s not just a gap-to-gap contact bat; he drives in runs and gives opposing pitchers nowhere to breathe.

It’s been a rollercoaster year for Alec Bohm

Trade rumors in the offseason, a brutal .150 start through April, a fractured rib in July, and now the shoulder flare-up. Every time he’s come back, he’s found his swing again. Right now, he looks locked in at the exact moment the Phillies need him most.

If Bohm can keep his shoulder right and swing like this down the stretch, Philly might finally solve their cleanup conundrum just in time for October baseball.

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