The Philadelphia Phillies got their guy in Alec Bohm in the 1st round of Monday night’s MLB Draft. He is a 21-year-old, 6’6” right-handed 3B out of Wichita State. MLB.com had him ranked number 7 on their top 200 list and gave him a 55 grade in power, hitting and overall. The Phillies were thought to have coveted him from earlier in the year and their wish came true.
With the No. 3 overall pick in the #MLBDraft, the @Phillies select 3B Alec Bohm from Wichita State. pic.twitter.com/LvjYKCi5bv
— MLB (@MLB) June 4, 2018
So far this year, Bohm has a slash line of .355/.474/.664 with 8 home runs in only 107 at bats. He has shown a great eye with only 10 strikeouts and 24 walks. This, coming off a junior season where his slash line was .305/.385/.519 with 16 home runs in 57 games, with 28 strikeouts and 39 walks.
Bohm has a good eye and great power as these numbers show. He is expected to either stay at third base or possibly move over to first base depending on how he progresses with his glove. All told, he’s an experienced, college-hitter with power and the potential to hit for a solid average and who can take a walk. If he does, indeed, move to first base, his bat will still play there.
Why this works?
The organization is filled with pitching prospects such as Sixto Sanchez, Adonis Medina, JoJo Romero, Franklyn Kilome, Ranger Suarez and others. The team is in need of offensive talent in their minor league system.
They have drafted hitters in three straight drafts but none have shown as much progress as they would have liked to see. Mickey Moniak, Cornelius Randolph and Adam Haseley have struggled to different degrees in their short minor league careers. Haseley has recently turned it on at the plate in Single-A but Moniak and Randolph are still seemingly overmatched at the plate this year. However, both are still very young for their leagues and both could still develop.
The other top position players are in the low minors such as Jhailyn Ortiz, Jose Gomez, Cole Stobbe, Jonathan Guzman, and Arquimedes Gamboa. My favorite prospects out of that bunch is Ortiz but he is still only 19-years-old with the others being around the same age. Bohm brings a big bat that can potentially skyrocket through the system. Being a college-hitter, that can help them in late 2019 or, more realistically 2020.
Current third baseman, Maikel Franco, has shown power during his career but has a career OBP under. 300. Franco’s salary will only increase once he is eligible for arbitration after next year. Would it be worth it for the Phillies to sign him if the other areas of his game don’t improve? Across the diamond, Carlos Santana’s contract is up after 2021. At that point he will be 35-years-old and unlikely to remain with the team. The Phillies could theoretically keep Rhys Hoskins in left-field and move Bohm over to first base to replace Santana. Either way, the team has options to get his bat in the lineup when he’s ready.
All in all, Alec Bohm falling to the third pick is potentially a great match for the player and the team.
Featured image of Alec Bohm – via MLB on Twitter
Tony Bps Spina is a lifelong baseball fan hailing from the City of Brotherly Love - Philadelphia! Tony has loved baseball since 1980 and has followed the Phillies through good and bad times. Tony is married with 3 kids and works for a financial institution but has enough free time to play in 20 fantasy baseball leagues with 75% of them being Dynasty Leagues. He lives a few blocks away from Citizens Bank Park and attends many Phillies games per year in addition to their minor league teams in Lehigh Valley and Reading. He can be reached on Twitter at @TonyBps1.
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Tony Bpshttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/phillies002/
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Tony Bpshttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/phillies002/
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Tony Bpshttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/phillies002/
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Tony Bpshttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/phillies002/
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