Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott Have Flourished Since Phillies’ Infield Shakeup

Before the trade deadline, Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott were dark horse candidates to be playing different positions at best. The front office’s big move was bringing in Luis Arraez, who was hellbent on remaining at second base and has thoroughly earned that right. After honing in his defense with Ron Washington in San Francisco, he’s become someone who is in the conversation for a Gold Glove. With his bat being so important to the middle of the lineup, this would mean an interesting game of musical defense.

With Arraez at second, Stott moved to third, and Bohm moved over to first, with Bryce Harper moving back to right field. The big concerns were first with defense, with Stott’s arm and Bohm’s glove at first, but this was answered quickly and was nowhere near an issue, something Don Mattingly knew early on.

“I felt like that right away, and I know there was a lot of talk about it, but I felt right away that we were going to be probably better defensively,” Mattingly said. “And we’re a lot more versatile from what we can do during the course of the game.”

The new alignment debuted against the Nationals, and the Phillies have gone 12-5 since.

Not only have the Phillies at large played better, but Bohm and Stott are hitting very well, particularly Bohm, who has been one of the league’s hottest hitters since the trade deadline. Before the deadline, Bohm had an OPS of .647, and since the shift he has a .951 OPS, driving in 12 runs in the first in August, and he’s hit safely in all but three games since August started. He’s hitting .367 in his first 49 at-bats since taking over first base duties. The games that showcase Bohm’s resurgence were the last two games against the Twins, where he went 5-for-5 with three doubles on Aug. 15 and saved the best for last in that series, where his three-run home run and game-tying RBI propelled the comeback to salvage the series sweep.

“It’s a crazy game,” Bohm said. “Obviously, I would have liked to feel great all year long and do it in April, but it’s a crazy game. Just some random little thing can kind of click or whatever.”

Stott has made the harder positional shift, but this is far from a foreign position for him. He debuted in 2022 at third, but has only played two games there since that point until the shift. Two weeks into the new alignment, the transition back over to Stott at third looks to have been the right move for the Phillies infield. In his first 120 innings back over at the hot corner, he has a +3 defensive runs saved and two outs above average, numbers that exceed his defensive production at second base.

“I don’t think he’s skipped a beat once,” Phillies legend Larry Bowa, who has taken on the task of pregame defensive drills, said. “He can play anywhere. He’s a real good athlete.”

Stott’s improvement hasn’t only been on the defensive side; he’s swinging a hot bat as well. He’s reached base in 19 straight games, and has built on what has been an already strong season. His three-run home run on Aug. 15 against the Twins capped a seven-run inning and was the big blow of that strong inning, which propelled the Phils to a 9-1 win.

Moving Bohm and Stott to new positions let the Phillies keep Harper’s bat in right field and Arraez’s contact skills at second, all without benching anyone who’d earned a regular spot. The alternative would have meant sitting a productive hitter or forcing an awkward platoon. Instead, Bohm and Stott stayed flexible, and both have flourished. While some players get territorial about their place in the lineup or on the field, Stott has been the epitome of a team player when asked to move to third.

“I said OK,” Stott said. “I don’t care where I play, where I hit, anything like that. I just wanna play.”

Bohm’s move wasn’t nearly as difficult physically; he started 59 games at first base in 2023 and has played the position in each of the last few seasons, so the shorter throws and less lateral movement fit his 6-foot-4 frame pretty well. Stott had the tougher job, moving over to the left side of the infield after spending his first four years almost exclusively at second base. Yet his defense at third has held up surprisingly well even compared to guys who have played the position their entire careers.

Bohm and Stott have kept it going against the Marlins, giving the Phillies exactly the kind of production they need from the left side of the infield. Bohm came through with a two-out RBI single in Game 1, before going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs in Game 2, while also turning an unassisted double play. Stott added two RBIs Tuesday, including a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning, and continues to look comfortable at third base. When the Phillies needed big plays in this series, both have delivered.

With the Phils in the middle of a playoff race, their contributions will go a long way to determining whether the Phils are playing meaningful games in October or golfing.

The only question that remains for next season is whether the Phils run it back with this infield. Stott, who is for the 2026 season to avoid salary arbitration. He remains under team control and is eligible for arbitration one more time before hitting free agency in 2028, and Bohm, who will hit the market following this season, have certainly complicated this choice, but in the best possible way.

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