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Alec Bohm

Phillies Designate Edgar Garcia, Place Adam Haseley On Injured List

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The Phillies announced Thursday that right-hander Edgar Garcia has been designated for assignment, while center fielder Adam Haseley has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left wrist sprain. The moves pave the way for the promotion of top prospect Alec Bohm, whose first call to the big leagues was reported earlier in the day. He’s batting sixth for the Phils tonight and playing third base.

The loss of Haseley for at least the immediate future likely means Scott Kingery and Roman Quinn will share time in center field. Bohm, the No. 3 pick in the 2018 draft, should get a legitimate audition at the hot corner, which will mean Jean Segura seeing extra time at second base. Haseley had been out to a hot start in 10 games, slashing .333/.364/.429 in 22 trips to the plate. Since debuting in 2019, the 2017 first-rounder has posted a .272/.327/.399 slash while playing quality defense in the outfield. Kingery’s versatility helps to cushion the loss, but the Phils will obviously be hoping for an abbreviated absence for the promising 24-year-old.

Garcia, meanwhile, hasn’t pitched in the Majors this year. The 22-year-old made his big league debut with last year’s Phillies, compiling 39 innings but pitching to an ugly 5.77 earned run average. Walks were a huge flaw for Garcia, who whiffed 45 hitters in that time but also yielded 26 free passes (in addition to four wild pitches). He does have strong numbers in the upper minors and a minor league option remaining beyond 2020, so it’s possible another club could take a look at Garcia either in a small trade or as a waiver claim.

Phillies To Promote Alec Bohm

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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.

Bryce Harper Stumps For Spencer Howard To Make Rotation

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Philadelphia Phillies top third base prospect Alec Bohm understands the dynamics of service time manipulation, and he understands the business sense behind holding him back in the minors to start the year, per Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “That’s a smart business move,” Bohm said.

Bryce Harper isn’t quite as accommodating, speaking out recently about the possibility of Spencer Howard – another top Philly prospect –  not making the Opening Day roster, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. With intrasquad games such a heavy component of the ramp-up to Opening Day this season, Harper has seen Howard’s stuff up close and personal – and he’s impressed.

The Phillies rotation is set with Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Jake Arrieta slotted into the top spots with some competition for the final two roles. Still, there are plenty of capable veteran arms on hand, giving the Phils some plausible deniability when they decide that Howard needs more seasoning. Vince Velasquez, Zach Eflin, and Nick Pivetta all spent time in Philly’s rotation last season, and some combination of the three figure to get the early turns on the bump.

Howard, 24 in ten days, has a higher ceiling than those three, but he’s only pitched as high as Double-A – he made just 6 starts in Reading last year after starting the year in High-A. Given traditional development paths, it would be surprising for Howard to make the rotation from the jump – but that’s not to say he’s not capable.

As for Bohm, the 23-year-old is the long-term answer at third base for the Phillies. Like Howard, he made it as high as Double-A last season, hitting .269/.344/.500 across 270 plate appearances. His case for making the big league roster out of camp gained some traction over the winter, but all indications were – under normal circumstances – for Bohm to continue to develop in Triple-A at the start of 2020.

As in the rotation, the Phillies could certainly make room for Bohm if they so desired, but there’s more than enough veteran talent on-hand to make due. Jean Segura and Scott Kingery can split time between second and third, and veterans Josh Harrison and Neil Walker are also in camp as non-roster invitees. Jay Bruce slots in as the regular designated hitter – another veteran totally capable of handling a starting role, even if he might be better suited to the bench. In a vacuum, there’s room for Bohm, but it’s also not against baseball wisdom to give the vets a couple of weeks or more to prove they’re still capable of handling starter’s minutes.

With the shortened schedule, teams need only keep their top prospects off the major league roster for the first 6 games to secure an additional year of team control down the road. The issue, of course, has been hotly debated for years now, culminating in a grievance filed by Kris Bryant against the league. His grievance was unsuccessful. The issue persists year after year with players like Harper taking up the mantle to speak out for the rights of younger players. Service time manipulation of this sort will continue to be a hot button issue until it’s addressed – in some form or fashion – at the time of the next CBA negotiation in 2021.

Former No. 3 Pick’s Path To MLB Would Be Accelerated With Universal DH

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We’ve already sorted through the rest of the NL East (Braves, Nationals, Mets, Marlins) when looking at how the likely addition of a universal DH might impact the teams within. How might the Phillies react to the change? The Phils have a reasonably experienced lineup, with only presumptive center fielder Adam Haseley checking in at under a year of big league service time. The group was a middle-of-the-pack unit in the NL last year, ranking eighth in runs scored (774), tenth in wRC+ (91) and 11th in home runs (215).

Among in-house veterans, Jay Bruce leads the pack of DH candidates. Acquired last year shortly before Andrew McCutchen tore his ACL, Bruce continued to show off huge power but posted bottom-of-the-barrel OBP numbers: a .261 OBP and a career-low 5.7 percent walk rate. If his days an even passable OBP threat are behind him, perhaps he’s no longer suited for this role, but he’ll probably get some opportunities to bounce back. He’ll likely need a right-handed platoon partner. The Phils have no shortage of non-roster veterans who could factor into the mix, including Logan Forsythe, Josh Harrison and Neil Walker (although Walker is a much better left-handed hitter than he is right-handed).

The bigger question in Philly, though, is whether the advent of the NL DH and the likely expansion of rosters will push top prospect Alec Bohm to the big league level. Bohm hasn’t appeared above Double-A yet, but the former No. 3 overall draft pick clobbered High-A and Double-A pitching last year, hitting at a combined .305/.378/.518 clip in 540 plate appearances. Bohm walked in 10.6 percent of his plate appearances against a mere 13.5 percent strikeout rate. There’s no guarantee that any minor league games will be played in 2020, and he was widely expected to debut at some point in 2020 anyhow. Given Bohm’s status as a consensus top 60 prospect, the Phillies can’t be keen on him missing a year’s worth of games.

If Bohm holds his own in the Majors, the benefits to the Phillies are substantial. Jean Segura could move from third base to second base, freeing Scott Kingery up to embrace a super-utility role or simply allowing him to supplant Haseley as the everyday center fielder. Kingery rated well at virtually every position he played in 2019, and his bat is an upgrade over that of Haseley. With a DH spot added, there’s room for each of Bohm, Segura and Kingery to regularly factor into the lineup.

It’s true that Haseley’s glove graded out excellently last year, so perhaps the Phils would prefer to keep him in there as often as possible — particularly against righties. In that case, both Haseley and Kingery could log outfield reps on days when McCutchen is the DH, allowing his surgically repaired knee the occasional rest. Bohm could play third base on those days with Segura at second. At the very least, a productive debut from Bohm would give incoming skipper Joe Girardi the “good” types of problems/questions that every manager hopes to have.

There could be other options in the organization. Expanded rosters surely give Nick Williams a greater chance of making the club, though he’s rather buried on the outfield depth chart. The right-handed-hitting Kyle Garlick could see some increased opportunities, and while Nick Martini isn’t on the 40-man roster at present, he’s an OBP machine who would make for a nice bench bat or occasional DH versus righties. With Matt Szczur, Ronald Torreyes, Phil Gosselin, Mikie Mahtook and T.J. Rivera all in camp on minor league deals as well, the Phillies aren’t short on recognizable names. It’s doubtful any of that bunch would factor prominently into DH duties, but they give the Phillies plenty of options for a deepened bench.

Alec Bohm Hires Boras Corporation

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Phillies third base prospect Alec Bohm has changed representation and is now a client of the Boras Corporation, according to Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. The switch has been noted in MLBTR’s Agency Database.

The Phillies made a big investment in Bohm, formerly with Wichita State, when they selected him third overall in the 2018 draft. The move has paid off so far, at least at the minor league level, where Bohm has thrived. MLB.com’s 30th-ranked prospect, Bohm ran roughshod over Single-A and High-A ball pitching last season before earning a promotion to Double-A and also holding his own there. He took 270 trips to the plate and batted .269/.344/.500 (146 wRC+) with 14 home runs, a .231 isolated power number, and 38 strikeouts against 28 walks.

If a minor league season gets underway in 2020, Bohm should make his Triple-A debut with Lehigh Valley. And if he comes close to keeping up his current pace, it won’t be long before Bohm plays a role in Philly sometime soon. The Phillies are looking for an answer at third after Maikel Franco, now a member of the Royals, flamed out. Middle infielder Jean Segura and utility player Scott Kingery look like their top hot corner options right now, but the hope is that Bohm will take the reins in the near future.

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