The Philadelphia Phillies have now played 100 games in the 2022 campaign and are right about where I personally thought they would be at. A few games over .500 and fighting for a wild card spot. How they got here wasn’t exactly what I expected, though. After the offseason signings where they bolstered the lineup, it looked like they would be a team bashing their way to 9-6 victories because the pitching would struggle mightily. Instead, the pitching has carried this team while the offense continues to find its way. Kyle Schwarber is leading the National League in home runs, which has helped generate runs, but many of them have been solo shots. The real anchor to the team keeping its head above water has been Alec Bohm.

Bohm has had an incredible month of July and it hasn’t been talked enough about. Actually, it’s been a near historic month that has put his name next to some Phillies legends. Defensively, Bohm has improved from where he was earlier in the season and is still a work in progress there, but the way he has been swinging the bat has allowed for forgiveness. This is all that more impressive when you mix in the fact that he feared that he had broken his finger at the beginning of the month while sliding into second base and missed a few games with a dislocation.

Since June 21st, Bohm has been hitting .433, has a hit in all but three of his last 21 games. As it stands right now, it’s the highest batting average in the month, edging out the Braves’ Austin Riley. No Phillies player has led a month in batting average since Bobby Abreu in 2005. He has grounded into only one double play during that span which comes off a stretch where he didn’t hit in 24 games and grounded into the twin killer 8 times. His OPS is over 1.000 and has raised his numbers enough statically to put in in the “average” category for players at his position. He was ranked dead last earlier in the season.

Alec Bohm has had six consecutive multi-hit games which as only been done twice since the World Series winning year, once by Chase Utley that season, and once by Caesar Hernandez in 2019. His month of July also contains the highest batting average since Pat Burrell in 2007. Bohm has driven in 13 runs, has scored 12 times. He has credited his success by not trying to do too much. He is concentrating more on making contact and putting the ball in the play rather than trying to hit it out of the ballpark. He has hit only two home runs during this streak, but has only struck out 10 times.

Traditionally, you’d like to see more power out of your hot corner, but it’s difficult to nitpick at this point. Being highly consistent, getting on base to give your teammates an opportunity to drive you in can arguably be more valuable than a guy who hits a homerun every five games. Clearly manage Rob Thompson has agreed as Bohm has climbed up the lineup from the 7th spot to the 3 hole since the series against the Pirates began. Hopefully his hot month will carry over into August to help keep the Phillies in the race. This has been a very nice surprise considering you are still missing Bryce Harper and Nick Castellenos continues to struggle. With J.T. Realmuto starting to heat up, he and Bohm setting up the middle of the lineup may be just what the Phillies need to make their 15th postseason appearance.