NEW YORK — Alec Bohm swung at a lot of ill-advised pitches in the National League Division Series. Because he’s so skilled, he put most of them in play, usually for weak contact.
When the National League Division Series ended for the Phillies Wednesday night, and reporters in the visiting clubhouse wound up, Bohm took another swing. This one made contact with nothing but air.
“I think that just gets noticed because when I swing at the first pitch, I usually put it in play and hit it,” Bohm opined at the end of a series in which he went 1-for-13. “I don’t foul it off. I don’t swing and miss. So the at-bat ends right there, and I don’t get a hit and (it’s), ‘Oh, he’s swinging at the first pitch. He needs to see pitches.’ But I’m up there, I’m an aggressive hitter.
“I’m not going to change who I am. That’s how I’ve been my whole career. That’s what’s got me here. And if they throw the ball over the plate, I’m ready to hit it. And I’m not going to think too much about all that other stuff.”
Bohm’s note of defiance to end the season was out of step with the rest of a Phillies clubhouse after a 4-1 loss in Game 4 to the New York Mets. It was also discordant with his microscopic impact in the series, even with the asterisk that he was the victim of a missed call on what should’ve been a double down the line in the eighth inning of Game 4.
Of the many offseason ciphers facing the Phillies, Bohm’s is near the top. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 draft is 28, not young by baseball standards but pushing down the age curve in the clubhouse. He’s under organizational control through 2027. He was an All-Star for the first half of the season and an albatross in the postseason.
He wasn’t alone in the latter category, though he found his way into the spotlight. A couple of misplays in the field in Game 3, one of which should’ve been scored an error, didn’t ingratiate him with a frustrated fanbase. He saw 19 pitches in his first 10 plate appearances, which seemed a problem to everyone but Bohm, even though it resulted in a solitary base hit.
Bohm’s .280 average and 97 RBIs in the regular season aren’t easily discarded. But if he is the player he’s always going to be – and he sure sounds intent on that – then that may change his value proposition within a Phillies core group that can hear the clock ticking.
What the Phillies must detangle in the offseason is what effect a late-season hand injury had. Bohm missed the first two weeks of September, then was never quite the same, with nine hits in his last 16 games, four in a single outing on Sept. 20 against the Mets. Even before that, he hit .278 with two homers and 19 RBIs in 37 games from the All-Star Break to the end of August.
“I’m not going to make excuses,” Bohm said. “I don’t feel like (the hand injury) did, but obviously I wasn’t the same guy when I came back. But is it the hand? I don’t know. I don’t feel like it is, but I definitely want to get back to where I was before that, swinging the bat. There’s no excuse for me, really. I don’t think that was really the reason why. I wish I knew, otherwise I wouldn’t have struggled the way that I did.”
Home run derby performance aside, Bohm is never going to be a slugger, which is fine. He’s settled into a set identity that fits in the Phillies’ scheme – around 20 home runs and 40 doubles, .280 average, threatening 100 RBIs in the middle of a loaded order. But a few adjustments here and there could take Bohm from very good to great. And if Bohm is dead set against them, that factors into what comes next.
Bohm was self-critical in his chat with media, acknowledging his disappointment that he, “definitely wasn’t my best self” against the Mets. But as to uncertainty next season, Bohm was equally clear.
“No,” he said. “I know where I’ll be next year.”
Contact Matt De George at [email protected]
