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Phillies Take Alec Bohm In First Round of MLB Draft

Bob Wankel

By Bob Wankel

Published:

The Phillies selected Wichita State third baseman Alec Bohm with the third overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft this evening. Bohm’s 6’4, 240-pound frame is atypical for a third baseman, and there is some concern about his ability to stick at the position as he rises through the Phillies’ system. He committed 14 errors there this past season, but his elite offensive profile means his bat should still play well should he ultimately need to move across the infield to first base.

Who knows? Maybe his defense won’t even matter. Maybe the Phillies will just stick him out in left field when he arrives at the Major League level without any real development time or grooming.

Nah. They would never do that…

Bohm’s draft stock soared last summer with a dominant performance in the Cape Cod League before posting an impressive .339 average with 14 doubles and 16 home runs during his junior year with the Shockers. He is a disciplined hitter that can work counts, a trait that seemingly meshes with the organization’s preference to find hitters that can run deep counts and are willing to work walks. He had more walks (39) than he did strikeouts (28) in 2018.

Here’s MLB Network’s breakdown of his game:

I won’t sit here and act like I watched anything more than Bohm’s profile footage on MLB Network and some brief scouting profile videos over the last week or so. The idea of Bohm seems good, in theory, but teams often misfire on top picks, but Phillies’ amateur scouting director Johnny Almaraz definitely has high hopes for him:

As for me, I have no idea, so allow me to leave you with this rather simple take:

https://twitter.com/BWCrossingBroad/status/1003779998690443264

Bob Wankel
Bob Wankel

Bob Wankel covers the Phillies for Crossing Broad. He is also the Vice President of Sports Betting Content at SportRadar. On Twitter: @Bob_Wankel E-mail: b.wankel@sportradar.com

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