To this point in the season, we the fans have endured what can only be summed up in one word, inconsistency. A 10-14 start through the first 24 games isn’t exactly worthy of a television viewing audience now is it? Sure you have your silver linings. There has been some fantastic individual efforts by some of the stars of this team. The names you expect like Harper, Nola and Realmuto are doing there part to put this team in a position to contend this season. Though the present doesn’t exactly show cause for optimism, the future does. That future looks to be centered around Alec Bohm.
A Nebraska native, Bohm led the state in hitting in his senior year of high school. In 2016 he began his collegiate career at Wichita State and claimed first team freshman All American honors by hitting .303 with 6 home runs and 30 RBI’s. After a few stops in a couple of independent collegiate leagues, Bohm ended his college career as a first team All American his junior season with an eye popping batting line of .339/.436/.625 with 16 home runs and 54 RBI’s. Both led the American Athletic Conference that season.
Drafted by the Phillies with the third overall pick in 2018, Bohm wasted little time making a solid first impression as a professional. By season end his stock had rose significantly, and Baseball America ranked him as the 69th best prospect in the game. Clearly the potential was there and it shined through even brighter in his second year in the Phillies system. By the end of the 2019 campaign, Bohm established himself as not only the Phillies top prospect, but one of the best in the game by collectively hitting .309 with 21 home rubs and 80 RBI’s over 3 minor league stops.
“Alec Bohm is a tremendous offensive player,” Phillies amateur scouting director Johnny Almaraz told Matt Breen of the Philly Inquirer. “He is a middle-of-the-order bat, a big power-hitting third baseman who could be a .300 hitter and drive in 100-plus runs. We are thrilled to have selected him.”
Though he started the 2020 season on the backup club in Lehigh Valley, he would make his major league debut with the Phillies just ten days after his 24th birthday on August 13th. To this point, Alec Bohm is proving exactly why he was drafted where he was just two year prior. Though a small sample size of 10 games, the young third baseman has hit .344 with a home run and 4 RBI’s. He’s also walked more than he has struck out to this point and shows tremendous discipline at the plate.
“We really think he’s gonna hit,” manager Joe Girardi said during an in-game interview on the national broadcast. “He’s young and he’s a work in progress. He uses the whole field. He hits the ball extremely well to right-center and to left-center. We think he’s gonna be here a long time.”
The future is bright for the young first round selection. His talent has shined through at each level of his career and he has gotten off to a good start so far in his major league debut. Expectations certainly need to be tempered back of course, no one can expect the second coming of Mike Schmidt. A legit middle of the order type of bat that plays a premium defensive position is something difficult to come by, and even harder to have pan out. Though with each stop he has made throughout his baseball career, Alec Bohm is proving that we might wanna believe the hype.
Philadelphia Sports Chronicle 