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Mar 29, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott (5) hits a double during the second inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

Phillies Lack Development Of Homegrown Position Players

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports | By Ben Rosen | Last updated Apr 9, 2026 6:17 PM ET

The Philadelphia Phillies lack the development of homegrown position players at the plate. Overall the team is currently in the midst of a 20 inning scoreless streak. This has led manager Rob Thomson to say that he will change the lineup for their April 10 game. Through 12 games the Phillies have a .220/.307/.351 line with 11 home runs and 42 RBI. Furthermore the Phillies have a 89 wRC+ and a .264 BABIP this season. The Phillies rank in the bottom 10 of the league in SLG, wRC+ and BABIP entering play on April 9. To add to that the Phillies rank 25th in offensive fWAR. The Phillies do have a 0.44 BB/K rate which ranks 15th in the league entering play on April 9. The top three in the lineup should remain.

The players who need to be moved down in the batting order the most are Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott. Flipping Bohm from fourth to sixth with Adolis García moving to fourth would be beneficial. They should also move Stott from fifth to seventh in the order with Brandon Marsh taking over the fifth spot. Bohm has a .186/.271/.279 line with one home run and eight RBI as well as a 61 wRC+ this season across 11 games. Meanwhile García has a .250/.306/.432 line with two home runs and four RBI as well as a 106 wRC+ in 12 games. Stott has a .167/.211/.194 line with no home runs and two RBI as well as a 16 wRC+ in 10 games. Marsh has a .275/.302/.425 line with one home run and six RBI as well as a 101 wRC+ in 11 games.

Phillies Lack Offensive Development From Homegrown Players

The Main Contributor

Bohm has been trending downward offensively. For Bohm an injury riddled 2025 season saw his OBP, SLG, OPS. wRC+ and BB/K rate decline relative to a career best 2024 season. In the five seasons where Bohm has played in at least 100 games he has not had an .800 OPS or better as well as never having a 115 wRC+ or better. This is not good for a player who the Phillies are counting on to be their cleanup hitter. This is also the second year in a row Bohm has been slow out of the gate to start the regular season. Bohm currently has a career best 0.80 BB/K rate. That is the only thing going well though. To add Bohm has a career worst 0.0% barrel rate down 6.2% from last season and a career worst 31.6% HardHit rate down 14.8% from last season.

An Additional Culprit

Stott is an excellent defender. This makes it easier to justify keeping Stott in the organization than Bohm. With that being said Stott does not have any season with a .750 OPS or better as well as no seasons with a 105 wRC+ or better. One thing going well for Stott this season is a career best 10.3% barrel rate up 5.2% from last season and a 48.3% HardHit rate up 18.8% from last season. However Stott is pulling the ball at a 41.4% rate which is an 8.8% increase from last season. Stott is hitting the ball to the opposite field at a career worst 10.3% rate which is an 18.7% decrease from last season. As a team the Phillies have a 37.8% pull rate. Furthermore they have a 25.4% opposite field hit rate. Bringing back hitting coach Kevin Long was a mistake by the Phillies.

A Potential Change To The Trend

Bohm and Stott have not developed into capable four and five hitters on a World Series caliber team. However, there is hope with a different Phillies player. The Phillies put pressure on Justin Crawford with their lack of offseason moves. With that being said Crawford is off to a great start. Crawford has a .306/.342/.361 line with no home runs and one RBI in 11 games. To add to that Crawford has a 101 wRC+ and a .393 BABIP this year. Crawford has a 0.25 BB/K rate. In addition to that this season Crawford has a 25.0% pull rate and is hitting the ball to the opposite field at a 32.1% rate. While Crawford still needs to drive the ball a little more he is on the right track. Crawford also has a higher swing rate than Bohm and Stott. This problem has hurt the Phillies.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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