Alec Bohm is Philadelphia’s Next Great Third Basemen.
Alec Bohm is one of the most polarizing prospects that the Philadelphia Phillies have seen in a long time. Bohm was more than a stud in minor league ball, slashing .293/.474/.842 during his time in the Phillies farm system. In 2020, he was ranked as the 32nd best prospect in all of baseball, and was deservedly named the Phillies #1 prospect. Bohm was called up to play against the Baltimore Orioles on August 13th, 2020 where he would finally make his MLB debut.
During this game, Bohm lined a ball into the outfield for a double, making the most of his first MLB at-bat by getting his first hit out of the way quickly. Later into the season on August 23rd, the young third baseman would scorch a baseball into the fountain in center field in Atlanta for his first home run in the major leagues. This would be only the start to a phenomenal rookie season for him, as he would finish batting .338/.481/.881.
While mustering up just 4 home runs during his first big league campaign, there are some more interesting stats about how he scored runs for the team and won the Phillies some ballgames. In the 2020 season, Alec Bohm had an unbelievable .452 (19-42) batting average with runners in scoring position, which was enough to lead the entire MLB. As a rookie, it’s mind boggling that he was able to be so clutch in situations, snagging 2 walk-offs as well.
Racking up a reputation as a contact hitting machine, Bohm seemingly is continuing this style of play during the 2021 season, quoting “I don’t need to get too big and get homers, it’s not my game”. For such a young player, at just 24 years of age, having this level of awareness and raw talent on a baseball field can, and will, go a very long way.
Now, clearly, Philadelphia has arguably the greatest third baseman in history with none other than Michael Jack Schmidt. In his illustrious major league career, Schmidt had a .267 career BA with 548 home runs and 1595 RBI’s. Now am I saying these are numbers Bohm will get to? No, but you can expect his batting average to be above Schmidt’s. At the end of the day, Bohm is going to be a top star in the league for a very long time and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, will be a Philadelphia Phillie for most of it.
While just 6 games into the 2020 season, Bohm is slashing .227/.280/.644 with one home run and 5 RBI’s. Something that I feel can be more important to look at however, is his improvement defensively. Bohm has yet to commit an error this season, compared to four he had during his rookie season. He’s had several impressive plays in the field, most notably his jumping catch on opening day to rob Marcell Ozuna of a sure base hit and RBI.
Alec Bohm is poised for a breakout season after a very impressive rookie campaign. His discipline at the plate compared to other major league players at his age is nothing short of elite. If Bohm continues to progress over the next several years with the Philadelphia Phillies, there’s no reason to believe that he won’t be the next great Phillies third basemen. The heart of the Phillies lineup with Hoskins, Harper, Realmuto, and Bohm is something that Phillies fans should be very exited about over the next few years.
The Phillies have the day off today and will be in Atlanta tomorrow night for a three game weekend series against the Braves.
Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY
