A big piece of the Phillies future is hitting well to start the 2019 season.
Phillies 2018 first round pick Alec Bohm has started the season strong out in Lakewood with a fantastic start to the season.
Through 17 games for the Phillies Single-A club, Bohm is hitting .367 with eight extra-base hits, nine RBI, and a 1.011 OPS. He added his second home run of the season Monday night in a 10-5 win over Rome with an opposite field shot.
It’s clear early that the former Wichita State Shockers third baseman is playing above his opponents early and could garner a promotion at some point during the 2019 season.
How about Alec Bohm taking the fastball up and away out to right field tonight for a tiebreaking 2-run homer for Lakewood pic.twitter.com/8u7JX84enk
— Mitch Rupert (@Mitch_Rupert) April 23, 2019
Bohm is currently ranked as the Phillies’ number one prospect after Sixto Sanchez was sent to Miami for J.T. Realmuto and the sixth-best third base prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
The Phillies have taken a college hitter with their last two first round picks (Bohm and Adam Haseley) with the hope that their advanced bats could move through the system quickly. Haseley has started the year slow in Reading (one level above Bohm) and the 22-year-old Bohm is making an early case to jump up to Advanced-A Clearwater, if not Reading at some point.
Clearwater has former top-30 prospect Jose Gomez struggling early for them through eight games.
Reading has non-prospects Luke Williams and Ali Castillo manning third base at the moment, and the 29-year-old Castillo is hitting .364 through 11 games. Nothing to sneeze at, but if Bohm continues to hit this well for another month the Phillies might feel that he’s ready for stiffer competition.
Bohm is projected to be the third baseman of the future, assuming Maikel Franco doesn’t finally have his breakout season. While Franco has hit well in a reduced role, he still hasn’t lived up to the potential many thrust upon him as the future of the franchise.
Perhaps that was unfair at the time and Franco simply is what he is at this point, but if Bohm continues to ascend through the organization the pressure will be put back on Franco to perform.