3. Alec Bohm will have a batting average of .300 or higher.
One of the more pleasant surprises of the 2020 season was rookie Alec Bohm, who hit a double in his first major league at-bat and a home run in his 10th game. The third baseman finished the year with four home runs, 23 RBI, and a .338/.400/.481 slash line in 44 games.
The small sample size likely helped his batting average, but his impressive performance should be good enough for the everyday starter role at the hot corner and was good enough for second-place in Rookie of the Year voting.
Hitting above .300 in a full 162-game season is not easy to accomplish, but there’s reason to believe Bohm has what it takes. Looking at his college and minor league stats, a high batting average is the trend. He hit above .300 in all three seasons with Wichita State, 22 games with regular-A Lakewood, and 40 games with high-A Clearwater. Bohm hit .269 with AA Reading in 2019 and has a .293 batting average in two minor league seasons overall. In his last five years across all levels, his batting average is .315.
In addition to his track record, the small MLB sample size means that opposing pitchers and defenses aren’t familiar with him yet. Even with scouting and analytics, this should play into Bohm’s favor this coming season.
Bohm hit .392 in his last 20 games of the 2020 season, with at least one hit in 33 of 44 outings overall. Perhaps that trend will continue into a .300 or higher season in 2021.