DETROIT — Twelve days ago, Alec Bohm did not play. He was in the Fenway Park dugout when bench coach Mike Calitri tapped Bohm on the shoulder. The Phillies were trailing and Calitri wanted to know if Bohm had been moving around or taking some swings. No, Bohm told him, he hadn’t done much.
The deficit grew, and Bohm knew he wouldn’t be used that night. So, he went underground to the cage to see Rafael Pena, a Phillies assistant hitting coach, during the later innings. Pena turned on the machine.
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“I didn’t even put batting gloves on,” Bohm said.
He took light swings. He was lunging at too many pitches. They talked about how he had to keep his back hip from swaying. His slump had lasted almost a month. If Bohm is to take the next step in his career, he must find ways to adjust quicker. He was calm that night in Boston. He admitted he would have been angrier during previous slumps. The cleanup hitter on the best team in baseball has adopted a certain peace at the plate.
“Obviously,” he said, “I didn’t forget how to hit.”
He has 20 hits in 42 at-bats since that night off. He collected four in Monday night’s 8-1 romp over the Detroit Tigers, including a first-inning homer that set the tone because five minutes into the game the Phillies had four runs. No one in baseball has had more hits since June 14. He is hitting .313/.366/.507 this season.
Alec Bohm makes it 4-0 @Phillies just 4 batters into the game. 💪
Is he your NL All-Star 3B? https://t.co/AOTyLAg5Kr pic.twitter.com/rviahxCZLU
— MLB (@MLB) June 24, 2024
Everyone has noticed. On Monday afternoon, Major League Baseball released its latest All-Star Game voting update. The players with the most votes were Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Bryce Harper … and Bohm.
He’s going to start at third base for the National League in the All-Star Game in three weeks.
“It’s awesome to see the support from not only our fan base but all around the country,” Bohm said. “Just baseball fans in general. It’s pretty cool to see that respect. Those are names of guys that I have looked up to. Being in the same conversation as them is pretty cool. It’s pretty humbling.”
Bohm had tallied 1,960,231 votes in Monday’s voting reveal. He had 1.4 million more votes than the next NL third baseman, Manny Machado.
“Every year you’ll have someone who gets in because of fan voting and someone deserving kind of gets snipped,” Phillies reliever Matt Strahm said. “But it’s good to see they’re getting that one right by a lot. It’s sick. His whole career story.”
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“It’s sick, man,” Phillies starter Aaron Nola said. “It’s pretty sick. How far he’s come, I mean, everybody knows what happened in ’22. What he’s done to improve at third base, I believe it’s helping his hitting. It’s been awesome to watch.”
“It’s sick,” said Harper, who will almost certainly be on the same NL infield with Bohm. “I think it would be pretty cool.”
The last Phillies third baseman to start the All-Star Game was Scott Rolen in 2002. Bohm has benefited from down years by traditional cornerstones like Machado, Nolan Arenado and Austin Riley. But he’s earned the recognition. It is the latest milepost in his ascent.
The Phillies demoted Bohm to Triple A in August 2021. And, in April 2022, they were not certain he could remain at third base. He rose from a public embarrassment and, by the end of that season, he could say he started at third base in a World Series. He reached 20 homers last season for the first time.
This season, in the first seven weeks, he was one of the most productive hitters in baseball. But, when he sat on June 13, his season OPS dipped under .800 for the first time since April 17. He had 20 hits in his previous 96 at-bats; a month of hitting .208/.240/.344 had generated visible frustration.
He pulled himself out of it.
“For sure,” Bohm said. “But even, still, I could handle it better. For sure. There’s times where people can obviously see that I’m not doing as well as I think I should be doing. I can be better about that.”
His manager is impressed.
“It’s maturity,” Rob Thomson said. “Knowing that he’s going to come out of it. Knowing that you’re going to have times like that. When you experience coming out of it, it gives you confidence while you’re going through it that you’re going to come out of it.”
So, all it takes is an innocuous cage session on a night off. Bohm had identified the problem; it was a matter of getting that feel back. It is easier said than done. He’s let promising seasons spiral into just decent ones before.
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This looks different.
“He’s having a great year,” Harper said. “He’s really coming into what he is as a player. And what we all knew he’d be. He has such a good swing to all fields. He never looks rattled or overwhelmed with the at-bat.”
Harper has often compared Bohm to Jayson Werth; it’s natural since both were tall with long hair, wore No. 28, and were late bloomers. “A mini J-Dub,” in Harper’s words. Harper has said if he could teach his son a swing, it’s Bohm’s.
“The older he gets and the better he gets — backside power, pull power, things like that,” Harper said. “It’s just a very impressive at-bat every time he gets up there.”
Those inside the Phillies clubhouse know it. They see the daily work Bohm does in the cage and on the infield. But a little national recognition means something.
Bohm has not allowed himself to think about where he’ll be three weeks from Tuesday.
“Obviously, I’m not dumb,” Bohm said. “But at the same time, I have a game tomorrow against the Tigers. So I’m not looking too far ahead in the future. But I definitely understand and I think it’s really cool. Keep it right here for now.”
The view from right here isn’t bad.
GO DEEPER
Phillies turn first 1-3-5 triple play in 95 years
(Top photo: G Fiume / Getty Images)