PHILADELPHIA — Looking for any kind of jolt for a slumping offense, the Philadelphia Phillies benched All-Star third baseman Alec Bohm for Game 2 of the National League Division Series.
Bohm is healthy but in a funk after an 0-for-4 outing in a 6-2 Game 1 loss to the New York Mets in which he slammed his helmet in frustration after another empty at-bat.
Edmundo Sosa is starting at third base Sunday against Mets starter Luis Severino.
“I wanted to get some energy in the lineup with Sosa, he’s kind of our energy guy,” manager Rob Thomson said before Game 2. “Bohm’s not swinging the bat particularly well, but he’s not the only one. He’s frustrated. But I just wanted to get Sosa in there.”
Bohm hit .280 this season with 15 homers, 97 RBIs and 44 doubles but faded down the stretch. He ended the regular season in a 2-for-27 slump and — in a very small sample size — is 0-for-3 lifetime against Severino.
He is a .222 career postseason hitter (24-for-108) with two home runs and 14 RBIs in 31 games.
Sosa hit .257 with seven homers and 31 RBIs in 90 games this season.
“He goes out there, and he runs around,” Thomson said. “And I think he energizes other people as well, and that’s what we need.”
The Phillies need more than an energy boost.
They need the high-priced lineup to start hitting. All-Star shortstop Trea Turner has been Philadelphia’s worst postseason offender. He is 0-for-16 in the playoffs dating to Game 5 of last season’s NL Championship Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Right fielder Nick Castellanos went 1-for-4 with a single in his last at-bat in Game 1, ending a postseason hitless streak that started in Game 2 of last season’s NLCS.
The Phillies’ meek effort in the plate in Game 1 against the Mets saw them waste a splendid start from ace Zack Wheeler. Wheeler tossed one-hit ball over seven shutout innings that went for naught after the bullpen imploded in the eighth inning.
Second baseman Bryson Stott was bumped to fifth in the order while Sosa bats eighth.
Thomson said there wasn’t more to the move beyond replacing one scuffling hitter.
“As far as a wake-up call, no, not really,” Thomson said. “I think these guys are well aware of what needs to be done. I don’t think they need a wake-up call, for sure.”
