PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies’ radio broadcast has dubbed him Automatic Alec. And while nothing in baseball is more automatic than a long season rendering a nickname inaccurate as if by spite, Alec Bohm seems to be able to swat away jinxes at the moment, too.
What Bohm is doing at the plate, in the middle of the MLB-best Phillies’ order, has been remarkable. What he’s done with runners in scoring position is verging on even more historic territory. Hence that automaticity of it: When Bohm is up with a runner on, he seems to get that man home just about every time.
The numbers are, of course, more modest. But Bohm entered play against Texas Wednesday night with a .412 average and a 1.182 OPS with runners in scoring position. His average ranks fourth in baseball among qualified hitters, his OPS sixth (Bryce Harper is first in that category, at a stately 1.377).
But Bohm is first in the key metric of getting the job done: His 37 RBIs lead the bigs. More, the success that has solidified him as the four-hole hitter tells a multi-year story about the third baseman’s growth.
Bohm made his name as a fast-tracked rookie in 2020 with RISP, batting .452 with a 1.043 OPS in 52 plate appearances. That rate, in the COVID-shortened campaign, would not be sustainable. But his dip in 2021, which sent him briefly to Triple A, coincided with a return to earth for his clutch stats. He hit .260 with RISP and .255 with the bases empty.
So by 2022, the question was which version of Bohm was closer to his long-term truth, the raging rookie campaign or the sophomore scuffle? He answered clearly last year that it was the former. And in doing so, he’s worked to confirm himself as one of the league’s top clutch hitters.
In 2022, he slashed .282/.314/707 with RISP. Good, worthy of sticking in the bigs full-time, but not necessarily star stuff. That rose to .344 with RISP in 2023. And then this year’s monstrous leap. He has three homers with RISP in 63 plate appearances this season after seven the last two years combined in 328 PAs.
Add it all up and Bohm is a career .326 hitter with runners in scoring position. That’s third among active hitters, trailing Freddie Freeman (.335 in 2,103 PAs) and Mookie Betts (.332 in 1,258). Bohm’s production has come in just 555 PAs, but as a rule of thumb, being third to those guys in just about anything is a good place to be. Peruse FanGraphs’ leaders for average with RISP, which dates to 2002, and you’ll find mostly Hall of Famers, Hall of Famers-in-waiting and Hall of Famers effectively locked out for PED use (and, oddly, Mark Lorretta). Since you’re wondering, Harper is 78th on that list at .295.
So why the jump for Bohm?
“I think the preparation has just kind of been the next step that I feel like I’ve maybe gotten a little bit better at,” he said Sunday, after five RBIs, including a pair of sac flies. “I’m more prepared for the at-bats.”
“He makes contact,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He understands the strike zone and he uses the field. He’s got a flat stroke. So that contributes to his ability to make contact. When guys are out there, he puts the ball in play, and when you put the ball in play, good things happen.”
Sustaining a .400 average with runners in scoring position is rare. Luis Arraez did it last year at an otherworldly .434 clip. Before that you have to go back to Yuli Gurriel’s .402 in 2018. In between, the league leaders have been in the .390s, names like Freeman, Soto and LeMahieu. Bohm is bidding to break into that type of All-Star echelon.
As much as Thomson credits his flat swing, Bohm also attributes it to flattening his mindset. His Philadelphia journey reached an emotional apex in his, “I hate this place,” game in 2022. He’s made emotional regulation a priority, allowing the ups an downs of baseball to affect him less. It’s led to more freedom on the diamond, in the field and at the plate. Add it to his emphasis on preparation, a team-wide push for patience and his undeniable physical gifts, and you get a potentially special mix.
“If you’re going to play 162 games, there’s going to be good days and there’s going to be bad days,” Bohm said. “There’s definitely been times in the past where I’ve let the bad days lead to more bad days, or one bad play lead to a bad day, or things like that. …
“I’m just a little more calm, a little more prepared and I’m able to use the whole field a little bit better.”
It’s a change that has come in the clutch.
Contact Matthew De George at mdegeorge@delcotimes.com.
Source: Berkshire mont
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