Phillies: Alec Bohm recalls ‘humbling’ rookie season

Alec Bohm on staying ready for the season and call to the majors

For Bohm, making his MLB debut on August 13 required months of patience — considering there was speculation he could make the team out of spring training in March. But then, the COVID-19 crisis hit and weeks of uncertainty as to whether professional baseball would even be played in 2020. Bohm describes those months early on in the pandemic “boring,” as he and his teammates just did not know what the future held for a season.

“It just felt like I was on the phone all the time [with friends], ‘We should find out on Monday what’s going on.’ Week after week passed by and nothing really changed,” Bohm said.

The Phillies corner infielder said he just had to find a way to do anything he could to stay ready, whether it be throwing a ball against a wall or something to keep his mind right and body ready. “It was definitely weird; it was the first summer really that I wasn’t playing baseball,” Bohm said. “It was a really strange time. We got through it and it was worth it in the end.”

Bohm describing his ability to play in 2020 as “well worth it” is an understatement. As Baseball America notes, Bohm led the majors with a .452 batting average with runners in scoring position; he also led all rookies in on-base percentage (.400), and ranked high in several other categories.

Regarding waiting for his promotion in late July and early August, Bohm said that he was at the Phillies alternate training site and thought, “Any day now, it could happen.” He continued that the Phillies did a good job in making sure everyone kept their energy up over at Lehigh Valley, albeit playing scrimmages and having overall “short, quick days.”

“They made it pretty clear that everybody here has a chance to go up and play at some point in the season,” Bohm said. “We made sure we were doing everything right and staying ready.”

Bohm would ultimately get that chance, replacing outfielder Adam Haseley on the big-league roster due to him being placed on the 10-day injured list with a left wrist sprain.

“They were a little banged up I think, called me up and I went from there,” Bohm added. “It was a crazy time; I just kind of took it one day at a time, because you really didn’t know what the next day was going to bring with everything going on and all of that.”

“It was a wild year, but looking back, it was a lot of fun.”

Alec Bohm on improving as a fielder at third and first base

Many have questioned Bohm’s defensive ability to play at the hot corner. While he started his big-league career at the position, he would end up starting in six of his last 13 games at first base due to the injured Rhys Hoskins.

No matter where he plays, Bohm said the most important thing for him to do is field countless reps. “Every day, whether it was at the alternate site or spring training, it was important for me to make sure I got something out of it every day when I was taking ground balls,” Bohm said. “You’re never really going out there going through the motions and just doing the work to get it over with; that was something that I think got me ready and prepared to play the position at the Major League level.”

As far as the hot corner, specifically, Bohm said the position is not an easy one to play, and, naturally, “you’re going to make errors over there.”

“I never really took anything lightly, whether it was a practice or scrimmage or anything like that,” Bohm continued. “I thought it was just really important that I did everything, rep after rep, just continuing every day to not get complacent.”

In 2020, Bohm had 94 fielding chances at third base (300 1/3 innings) and 59 at first base (51 innings). He committed four errors at the former position, and none at the latter.

Alec Bohm on looking ahead to the 2021 season

As of now, the Phillies are approaching the 2021 season as if it will be a full spring training slate and 162-game schedule.

“They haven’t really said anything otherwise,” Bohm said. “it’s just business as usual and to take care of your body — get strong and deal with all the little things over the offseason to get your body ready to play 162 games.”

Bohm added that one of the things he learned from his rookie season — “a small taste of just a couple of months up there” — is that “it’s a long year.” He said that he has a lot of work to do still, and that his priority this offseason is to focus on getting his legs strong.

“Over the course of a 162-game season, that will be the first thing to go,” Bohm said. “[I will] just take care of everything in the weight room and get back into some baseball stuff.

“Before I know it, spring training is going to be rolling around and we will get back to business.”

Alec Bohm on the Phillies’ division-rival Atlanta Braves

At the time of the interview, the Atlanta Braves were up just one game to none in the National League Championship Series, but then on Tuesday, they edged the Los Angeles Dodgers to secure a two-game advantage in the best-of-seven set.

Bohm described the Braves, who have yet to lose a game this postseason, as having a “tough lineup,” with “no easy outs” from top to bottom.

“I don’t think we even played them at full strength,” Bohm continued. “Ozzie Albies was out and Ronald Acuna Jr. was out a couple of times when we played them. They were never both in the lineup at the same time.”

Bohm added that the Braves are never out of the game, and that they can put up runs “quicker than anybody in the league.”

So far this postseason, the Braves have outscored their opponents 37 to 13; four of their seven victories so far have been shutouts. “They are good for sure,” Bohm continued. “I think they have a good chance to surprise some people and beat the Dodgers here.”