Phillies: 10 players to be thankful for this Thanksgiving
By Matt Rappa
9. Alec Bohm
Just as Aaron Nola has been an exception to the norm as far as Phillies pitching prospects excelling in the majors, Alec Bohm, so far, appears to be the same case as a position player.
Debuting in mid-August, Bohm had no trouble adjusting to big-league pitching, despite the few at-bats he had down at the team’s alternate training site in Lehigh Valley. He would end up finishing tied for second in the National League Rookie of the Year Award race, bested only by Milwaukee Brewers reliever Devin Williams, who went 4-1 with a 0.33 ERA and 0.630 WHIP across 22 relief appearances and 27 innings.
Bohm led rookies in several categories, as well as slashed an impressive .338/.400/.481 with 11 doubles, four home runs, 23 RBI, 16 walks, and just 36 strikeouts across 44 games and 180 plate appearances.
The Omaha, Nebraska, native is among the most promising Phillies players to look forward to watching in 2021.
8. Zack Wheeler
The Phillies have long needed a complement to Aaron Nola in the rotation, and six-year veteran right-hander Zack Wheeler did just that in his first year in red pinstripes. In fact, he probably exceeded expectations.
Through his first nine starts in 2020, Wheeler had gone undefeated, posting a 4-0 record, along with a 2.62 ERA and 38-to-9 strikeouts-to-walks ratio through 58 1/3 innings.
A freak fingernail injury likely caused Wheeler to falter slightly over his final two starts, both on the road against the Washington Nationals and Tampa Bay Rays; he went a combined 0-2 with a 4.26 ERA, allowing seven runs (six earned) and seven walks through 12 2/3 innings.
Wheeler would end the season in 12th place for the National League Cy Young Award, his first-ever finalist finish, after playing the 2013-14 and 2017-19 seasons with the New York Mets. The starting pitching-depleted Phillies will need Wheeler to have similar success in 2021.