Other than the debut of top prospect Alec Bohm, Thursday was largely a gloomy day for the Phillies. The team was of course swept by an Orioles team that lost over 100 games last season. Granted, Baltimore is 10-7 on the season and have played well above expectations. To be swept by them is concerning, however. The sweep, combined with troubling similarities with last year’s team in regards to lack of pitching depth, is quickly painting a picture of a Phillies team spiraling out of control.
With that said, the long awaited debut of Alec Bohm provided a bright spot on an otherwise miserable day. Sporting a powder blue throwback uniform, Bohm ultimately went 1-for-4 at the plate. His lone hit on the day was a sharply hit double down the line at third. This happened as the fans outside the gate went wild with air horns, which is probably going to end up being the thing I remember the most about pandemic baseball. That or cardboard cutouts.
Anways, the former third overall pick then struck out his second time up before flying out to the warning track in his final two at-bats. He was driving the ball well and flew out to deep right/center in his final AB, which was encouraging.
The 19,776th player in MLB history was less busy in the field, though he did make a noteworthy play. In the first inning, the rookie snagged a hard hit ball at third before throwing to first to complete a fantastic double play. Other than that he saw very little action in the field, a routine ground ball being the only other look.
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In regards to playing time, Matt Klentak said that the team wants to see their top prospect playing everyday. “The plan is that he’s going to play regularly,” said Klentak. That’s been the case for a while now. If we’re going to call up a player like Alec, we want him to play every day. With Adam Haseley going on the IL today, that opens up some regular reps for us.”
If Alec Bohm is going to be playing everyday, this could spell less time for the struggling Scott Kingery. Kingery is batting just .100 through 40 at-bats. On a day where Bohm were to step in for Kingery, we will likely see more of what occurred tonight, with Segura sliding to second.
MLB.com grades Bohm as the best prospect in the Phillies system and the 31st best in all of baseball. The Phillies selected Bohm third overall in the 2018 draft out of Wichita State and few have questioned his bat. There are questions as to his long term future at third base, though the Phillies have yet to address that.
Either way, Phillies fans can look forward to watching Alec Bohm and Spencer Howard even if (haha) this season spirals out of control.