The Phillies have decided to promote top prospect Alec Bohm, per Meghan Montemurro of The Athletic (via Twitter). Bohm was already in the team’s 60-man player pool but will require a 40-man roster spot. He follows fellow blue-chipper Spencer Howard in getting his first shot at the bigs.
Bohm, 24, was the third overall pick of the 2018 draft. To this point he has made good on that lofty selection status. Bohm slugged his way up to Double-A last year, where he slashed .269/.344/.500 with 14 long balls and a 38:28 K/BB ratio over 270 plate appearances.
There wasn’t much doubt as to Bohm’s readiness for the majors heading into 2020. He finished up his ’19 effort with a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League and came into camp hoping to force his way into the immediate MLB plans.
While it was never likely the Phils would start Bohm’s service clock on Opening Day, he was obviously a part of the club’s plans for the present campaign. With the team lagging in the standings out of the gates, and little time to dally, it’s time to see if he can make the final step in his development and turn into a productive major leaguer.
Just how the Phils will line up with Bohm on the roster remains to be seen. He may not play everyday out of the chutes; unlike a typical season, he won’t be missing development opportunities in a minor-league campaign. But with Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery scuffling at the plate, and a fair bit of positional flexibility available to work with, the team could give Bohm room to run as a regular at the hot corner and let others battle for the lesser remaining chances.
About time. No production from the infield outside of Didi. Assume he’ll play everyday at 3B/DH. Plays 3rd v RH, Segura plays 2B, Kingery goes to the bench. V LHs Bohm DH’s, Bruce goes to the bench.
Offense is off to a slow start but give hoskins some credit, he may not be batting his weight but he still has a .404 obp
Those 3 GIDP’s and K last night really were a highlight!
Let’s go!!!
Wow, I’m for it. Let’s see what he’s got!
Won’t make a damn bit of difference with the bullpen they have.
If I could do one thing for the rest of my life, it would be to dally.
Hello Dally.
You could be the Dally Lama.
Big hitter, the Lama…
Can’t wait to see the Shocker in action!
Who?
Just some scrub with a 146 wRC+ at AA last year and ranked the best 3rd base prospects by just about every major publication.
The fact that you aren’t even familiar with Bohm’s name says more about your baseball IQ than it does Bohm’s notoriety.
lowbasebaseballIQ1
I do hope this just isnt rushed so as to mix things up. If he was looking ready in LHV i cant complain though.
He is 24 years old and has hit in the minors. Not like he is blocking anybody. Segura stinks. Bohm will hit.
except he hasnt played above AA yet and wasnt exactly lighting the world on fire there. not saying he certainly isnt ready, but you cant just assume he’s going to be a huge upgrade right off the bat.
We are 5-8 and we stink. The idea is to get him ready for 2021. Segura stinks and he isn’t a 3rd baseman. It’s time to let him play
It’s hard to get worse than .100 Kingery
A 146 wRC+ isn’t lighting the world on fire? Not to mention he had almost a 1:1 K:BB ratio and had the unfortunate BABIP which means he was hitting better than his stats say
Dark side, Nebraska: it’s exciting to see young stud prospects make their debuts but you just never know exactly how minor league success will translate to MLB. Case in point, fellow 2017 draft picks Evan White of Seattle and Jo Adell of LAA- both are struggling badly, EW leads MLB in KO’s and JA is hitting .186 If White wasn’t given a contract extension and didn’t play GG caliber defense he’d be demoted by now, he looks awful.
Then there’s Kyle Lewis who has really only played one full minor league season fully recovered from his 2 knee surgeries after his horrific knee injury 30 games into his professional career yet he’s at 0.9bWAR after just 19g this year. Hopefully Alec Bohm is more like the latter- I love seeing young prospects flourish in the ML’s.
Yes, but there are certain stats that can inform you on whether or not a player is ready for the MLB. Bohm checks off all those boxes. K:BB rates, barrell%, etc.
White and Lewis are weird scenarios. Neither of them are currently producing how they will for the rest of their careers. Lewis has had the luckiest 150 ABs to start a career in MLB history. When you look at his batted ball profile and K:BB rates you see a guy that is closer to Randal Grichuk than Mike Trout.
With White you have a guy who has great exit velos. Great barrell%, very high hard hit rates. He just is whiffing so much, which is nothing like his minor league number suggest. So you do have a point with White, that MiLB success doesn’t equate to MLB success, but given all of White’s peripherals, I think he will wind up a better hitter than Lewis.
Bohm might have checked off a lot of boxes- as I’m sure Jo Adell did but until he faces live pitching from Scherzer, DeGrom, Sonny Gray, Bauer or a Dinelson Lamet no-one really knows how he’ll do. It’s what I love most about MLB- the unpredictable magic of a new season. Teams and players surprise you, they come out of nowhere, they exceed their projected ceilings while others scuffle a whole year. I’d love to come back to this thread in 10 years time, we can talk about how Bohm handled NL pitching or if Evan White became a better hitter than KLew.
I hate the Phillies, but at this very moment, I feel happy for y’all. It’s always nice to see a new prospect come up, and it couldn’t be a better player right now. I love the way Bohm plays, and I hope I get the same experience when Jung comes up for Texas.
Smart move. Now trade JT for some young pitching. Let the young guys play.
they’re not moving JT unless they get something of serious value in return. you know how much of an outcry there will be if he’s traded instead of resigned, even if he comes back in free agency.
Unless they can pull a Chapman circa 2016, no chance. And with the way Klentak has been talking in the media, they sound like they’re going to low-ball him in the off-season.
If a contender is willing to part with a top 50 prospect + a top 100 prospect, then go for it. Considering Arietta and Robertson are gone after 2020 and Cutch after 2021, they have the $$ to spend. Somebody needs to explain to Middleton that 1 year going over the luxury tax is not the problem. Repeat offenders are where you get in trouble.
@John Kimble no reason they can’t pull a Chapman. And even if they aren’t able to get a top 50 + a top 100 prospect for him, they should still be able to beat the draft pick they’ll get by not trading him.
and I dont doubt they can or that they will give him a good offer, but the “sign JT” screams in this city are so loud that if they trade him and he doesnt come back, Harper and the fan base wolnt be too happy.
@DarkSide830 not trading him and then him not coming back would have the same effect. And the fans will forget about the FO trading him in seconds if they bring him back.
If Ruben was still here, Realmuto would of been signed already.
Sure to a 7/$180M please don’t give him to much praise
@DarkSide830 not trading him and then him leaving in free agency would have the same effect as trading him, if not worse.
And why would Phillies fans be mad if they trade him then bring him back? That’s arguably the best thing they could do at this point.
the fans will be angry if he gets to free agency regardless, despite it being very clear he wants to test the market. the mood around town is that Middleton is risking JT’s departure to save a few cents. i wouldnt be angry with that situation, but JT’s become such a symbol of this team’s faulty functionality that him even testing the market will cause some fans to riot.
@DarkSide830 If you know he’s going to test the market then you are easily better off taking what you can get instead of the draft pick (or nothing if he does sign).
And yes, it is faulty functionality to assume that a player will sign a cheap extension just because you traded for him. But they already did that. And part of being a good GM (or PBO) is being able to make objective, non-sentimental decisions that might not be popular with the casual fan. Andrew Friedman did it when he traded Matt Kemp. Derek Jeter did it when he traded Giancarlo Stanton. Mike Hazen did it when he traded Paul Goldschmidt. Chaim Bloom did it when he traded Mookie Betts. Look at how good those trades look for their teams now.
I wish Middleton fired Klentak to get Chaim Bloom before he went to take the boston job.
Wow, they have a good catcher, sure having that and one good pitcher will get them to the world series. Smart fans shouldn’t mind if they trade JT, he’s not the final piece by a long shot.
It’s funny how historically bad the Phillies bullpen is. That’s not hyperbole. Look at their numbers. They are breaking records. The other day the bullpen coughed up the lead and gave up 4 runs…their ERA actually went down. It’s horrendous and hilarious. There has never been a bullpen this bad.
Calling up Bohm is all well and good, but I really don’t have a problem with the offense. Hoskins walks a ton. That helps set the table for Harper and Realmuto who are crushing it. Kingerey is lost. Maybe Bohm can help there, but really the bullpen is a huge problem.
Klentak doesn’t have Gillick’s eye for cheap bullpen help. Gillick had a way of finding guys off the scrap heap as a cheap arm, not throwing 8 figure contracts at old vets. I’m honestly shocked he didn’t sign Kimbrel too.
i feel they’re riding so close to the cap that adding anyone making more then the league minimum could put them over. (which makes picking up Guerra of all people the most puzzling thing) i could see them making these moves after the deadline brings a clearer picture of team finances for the rest of the year.
@VonPurple – The Red Sox bullpen is quickly catching up to Philly as one of the worst in the league. Tragic things happening in Boston right now with this team.
I hope he doesn’t give up too many Bohms.
No he just hits them
Hopefully his debut goes better than Howard’s did.
Howard did fine. I don’t blame him for that lost. He didn’t get rocked and there were some real nice pitches in there. He’ll be real good in a few years. Obviously not there yet.
lots of well placed hits. half dropped in next to the foul line or were rocketed back to the infield. i think with a bit of luck Howard would have had a much better outing.
Hoping he plays Segura out of the starting lineup. Are there any teams desperate enough for infield help to give up a bullpen arm for Segura?
….and Damon Jones enters the chat……
Now that we have 3B settled, can we sign Roberto Ramos to play 1B and end this Hoskins nightmare?
.420 obp you’re nightmares are quite bearable