1:45pm: The Phillies plan to play Clemens at first base against right-handed pitching and platoon him with Ellis for the time being, manager Rob Thomson said following the team’s formal announcement of the moves (link via Lauber). Bryce Harper hasn’t yet been cleared to throw to bases, so while he’s continuing workouts to acclimate to first base, he’s not an option yet. Sosa will get the majority of the reps at the hot corner while Bohm is shelved.
As for Bohm’s recovery, Thomson declined to offer a specific timetable, stating only that the Phillies “want to make sure it’s knocked out and it doesn’t come back, so however long that takes.” The Phillies designated outfielder Cal Stevenson for assignment to open roster space for Ellis.
9:21am: The Phillies will select the contract of infielder Drew Ellis from Triple-A Lehigh Valley and place fellow infielder Alec Bohm on the 10-day injured list, reports Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Yesterday, Bohm underwent an MRI on an ailing hamstring that has kept him out of the past few games. The Phillies have a full 40-man roster, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move in order to get Ellis to the big league level.
Following Rhys Hoskins’ season-ending ACL tear in spring training and Darick Hall’s thumb surgery in early April, Bohm has taken the lion’s share of playing time at first base for the injury-plagued Phillies (though he’s still logged plenty of action at the hot corner as well). Bohm has turned in a solid, if unspectacular .265/.321/.403 while grading out as a below-average defender at both infield corners. It’s not yet clear how much time he’ll be expected to miss, but in his stead, the Phils will likely turn to utilityman Kody Clemens at first base. The newly selected Ellis and utilitymen Edmundo Sosa and Josh Harrison figure to see time at third base.
Clemens, 27, came over from the Tigers in the Gregory Soto trade this offseason and has batted .268/.333/.479 with four homers in 78 plate appearances. He’s done so while striking out at a hefty 28.2% rate, so it could be tough for him to maintain that average, but he’s elevating the ball consistently (46.9% fly-ball rate, 24.5% line-drive rate) and making plenty of hard contact (90.1 mph average exit velocity), lending some credence to the power output.
It’s worth noting that Hall, who like Clemens bats left-handed, embarked on a minor league rehab assignment two days ago. He’s out to a 3-for-9 start with the Phillies’ High-A affiliate, and while the team likely wants him to get more than nine plate appearances after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his thumb, Hall could be a big league option in the very near future. The 27-year-old slugger showed an all-or-nothing skill set in 2022 when he made his big league debut and hit .250/.282/.522 with nine dingers in just 142 plate appearances.
Ellis, 27, has seen big league time with the D-backs and Mariners across the past two seasons but signed a minor league deal with the Phillies over the winter. He’s batted just .141/.270/.212 in a tiny sample of 100 MLB plate appearances, walking at a hearty 11% clip against a more concerning 34% strikeout rate. He’s posted huge numbers while splitting time evenly between the Phillies’ Double-A and Triple-A clubs in 2023, with a .269/.380/.628 slash and eight long balls in just 78 plate appearances.
Defensively, Ellis has primarily been a third baseman, though he’s gathered experience at other spots as well. In recent years, he’s seen playing time at first base (344 innings), second base (275 innings) and even a few brief appearances at shortstop (19 innings). Like Sosa and Harrison, he’s a right-handed hitter, so there’s no neat platoon possibility at the hot corner. However, he could serve as a righty complement to Clemens and/or Hall at first base while Bohm mends, and if he can carry over any of that power display to the Majors, he could earn some additional at-bats across the diamond.
Hall only hit 9 home runs in 142 at bats last year
Augh, thank you and apologies on the typo — 19 in that span would’ve been something, ha.
That is roughly 31 hr over 500 abs…pretty good
Ok
Maybe, the Orioles could trade Ramon Urias to the Phillies to help with the effort
The problem is, what can the Philies offer in return
Not much, particularly since they need to focus on SP.
I know he is not a great player or anything, but every hitter on the Phillies got worse because of Hoskins injury. It’s that cascading effect.
100%. Hoskins, even when slumping, sees a lot of pitches. One of the most impactful injuries to that lineup. Between Hoskins’ injury and Turner’s surprising slump, the Phillies situation appeaers dire, but if they get hot that third wildcard is within reach. Not an ideal situation though.
Surprisingly, considering how rough the last couple of months have been, the Phillies are only 3.5 games behind the Mets/Marlins for the last Wild Card spots.
And there’s not a huge gap between the last and first Wild Card spot, but the Phillies have been playing the worst kind of baseball. It’s unwatchable garbage. It’s hard to imagine them waking up and playing well, but that’s exactly what happened last year.
while it’s still early, the lastest Bloom injury could be the final nail in the coffin. Bloom while not spectacular has provided much needed offense. Now a team that has problems scoring runs now has to turn to Clemens and Harrison. Yikes!
Schwarber will have to go torrid just to get to the Mendoza line.
Well, guess that puts the final nail in the Scotty Jetpax coffin.
Kingery has been playing CF and SS. Not hitting consistently , but he’s not a 3B..
I wonder where he winds up next year?
Somewhere like Durham, Vegas, or Indianapolis.
Ooof. When it rains it pours. Need Turner, Schwarber etc to step up and lead here
I know it’s only June 1st but the end of the season can’t get here fast enough
Ellis? Really? Dude is like the worst hitter in the game.
Well he is slugging 628. Hard not to eventually get a call when you are doing that. Not the first time he’s killed minor league pitching tho. Hasn’t translated.
Jorge Bonifacio redux.
He’s had a couple decent minor league seasons w/ some pop. Probably just a AAAA in the end.
AAAA – is a player that crushes it in the minors and sucks in the majors?
Yes. MLB is littered with them. The fanbase gets all jacked up and then pfffft.
All still far better than me….just a letdown.
Is Alec Bohm starting to look more and more like a young Ronald McDonald to anyone?
As per update, they are handing the 3b job to Sosa…?
I know he might be the best of bad options, but his hitting is already getting wicked exposed and his D has not held up well there……
The WS loser curse is real this year.
I’m glad we got an exciting playoff run because the 1st half of last year was unwatchable as is the 1st half of this year. It’s shocking to me that a team with this much talent on paper looks exactly like the teams from the rebuilding years. I don’t really feel bad for billionaires, but the ownership group keeps making good decisions and the players just don’t play. Oh well. Long season. At this point, I’m just hoping for a stretch of decent play.
Maybe look into trading Nola and Schwarber or Castellanos although he is playing pretty good. Schwarber is dreadful to watch at times. They are not a good team and should be sellers at deadline
I get where you’re coming from, but considering what they did last year with a slightly worse record at this time of the season, your comment doesn’t make sense. The Phillies have a lineup of streaky hitters that will carry them at one point. It hasn’t come yet, but it will. Even though the Phillies just got swept, the pitching has looked good even in this Mets series. They could have easily won every game with just one big hit.
Do I think the Phillies will make an unlikely playoff run again? No. I do not, but to suggest they should just give up when they’re only 4 out of the Wild Card on June 1st is a bit premature.
Sorry Peter Gammons but this team is not even close to the one last year. Schwarber stinks. Trea Turner is supposed to be the best shortstop in the league and is awful. The rotation is terrible thanks Taijuan Walker and the 18 or 19 million you are stealing because you couldn’t pitch a day game. Ownership is a fanboy who wants to make a dream team to get his f’n trophy back. Rob Tompson is overmatched. I can go on and on
They are usually terrible in May and in fact, worse last year with a worse lineup, bullpen and arguably starting pitching. The Phillies will improve and be around .500. Will that be good enough for the 3rd Wild Card? Maybe. Maybe not. I’m not proclaiming them to be world beaters, but Turner is better than this. We all know that. Schwarber and Realmuto get streaky hot. Suarez looks to be getting it together. Walker has shown signs of improvement, but still meh. Plenty of reasons to think the Phillies will improve, but also plenty of reasons to doubt them.
I wish we’d see some leadership on the team, no one is stepping up.
I don’t think that’s it. Schwarber has consistently been called one of the best clubhouse leaders in baseball. They are all just pressing. Lots of slumps at the same time. Not fun.
I wish I had your optimism but this team has no juice. Incompetent and uninspired.
The Phillies are a total dumpster fire. There will be selling this year.
Why should fans care ?
Selling what? They definitely won’t be selling. They’re all in no matter how bad they started. They are win-now mode and their superstars are playing like garbage. There’s nothing you can you do when Wheeler, Nola, Schwarber, Turner and Realmuto are all terrible ar once. Logic dictates that some of these superstars will get out of their slump at one point, but I think it may be too late.
As of June 6th, who has more rbi`s Nick Maton or Trea Turner?