You look around the NL East, and both the Braves and Nationals have won World Series recently behind phenoms in Ronald Acuna Jr. and Juan Soto.
There’s also Vladimir Guerrero in Toronto and the much-anticipated debut of Bobby Witt Jr. in Kansas City.
And the Phillies have Alec Bohmkingerybrown.
That, of course, is Alec Bohm, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 draft, who came up with much fanfare in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, and hit .338 in 44 games.
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But instead of becoming the next young MLB star, Bohm seems more destined to become the latest Phillies phenom to disappoint, joining the likes of Scott Kingery, who’s in the minors and not even on the 40-man roster, and Domonic Brown from a decade ago.
Yet through six games this season, Bohm has more standing ovations (3) than home runs (0) or RBIs (1).
The source of the ovations, of course, was Bohm accepting responsibility for getting caught on camera Monday night mouthing the words, “I f—ing hate this place” after he received sarcastic cheers for making a routine play.
That came after Bohm committed three errors at third base in the first three innings.
But Bohm stood up and admitted saying it, adding that it came in a fit of frustration, that he loves the fans, and so on.
Bohm was rewarded the next night by receiving a standing ovation when he pinch hit in the eighth inning. He grounded out.
He got two more on Wednesday in the Phillies’ 9-6 loss to the Mets on Wednesday.
The first came when he ran for Jean Segura in the sixth inning after Segura was hit by a pitch and left the game. The second came when he batted in the seventh and hit a sacrifice fly, cutting the Phillies’ deficit to 8-5.
The ovations are all well and good, but the underlying issue is that Bohm hasn’t started a game since Monday, and who knows when he next will?
Even after Segura left the game, Bohm went to first base rather than third. Bryson Stott, another young Phillies phenom, went from third to second, while Johan Camargo went from first to third.
This, as much as anything, shows how little faith the Phillies have in Bohm.
Sure, Bohm’s fielding has always been an issue. But the National League allows a designated hitter this year. The problem is that the Phillies have three players who should be DHs in outfielders Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos, and first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who was given the day off Wednesday.
And J.T. Realmuto can certainly serve as a DH every now and then to give him a break from catching.
Why would Bohm DH over any of those players?
And why would he play third base over Stott, the Phillies’ first-round pick in 2019 (14th overall)?
Stott hit his way onto the big-league roster in spring training. He can also field his position.
There was evidence of both Wednesday.
The Phillies had Scherzer on the ropes in the first inning. The Mets’ $130 million ace walked the bases loaded with one out. And yet, Segura swung at the first pitch before striking out. Then Didi Gregorius grounded out to end the inning.
You only get so many chances against Scherzer, who threw 29 pitches in the first inning. That came back to haunt the Phillies after starter Aaron Nola imploded in the fourth inning, allowing a single, double, a walk and two hit batters.
It could have been much worse if not for Seranthony Dominguez, who induced an inning-ending double play on his first pitch to escape with the Phillies down 3-0.
The Phillies then had their second chance against Scherzer, starting the bottom half by getting two men on base. Scherzer struck out the next two batters, bringing up Stott.
Stott turned around a 97 mph fastball on a 2-2 count and lined it into center field for a run-scoring single. Just like that, the Phillies were within 3-1.
It was a big-time at-bat from a player who should get plenty of them – at the expense of Bohm.
It didn’t last long. Alonso continued his barrage against Phillies pitching with a three-run homer in the sixth off Connor Brogdon to give the Mets an 8-1 lead. That was Alonso’s third extra-base hit of the game, with 5 total RBIs.
Stott drove in the Phillies’ second run with a groundout, battling back from an 0-2 count to put the ball in play.
Sure, Phillies manager Joe Girardi has said it’s his job to find playing time for both Stott and Bohm, that they’re not giving up on Bohm, and so on.
But Girardi had a chance to put Bohm back at third Wednesday after Segura left, and decided to move Camargo and Stott around instead.
Hoskins will be back in the lineup Thursday when the Phillies open a four-game series in Miami against the Marlins. But if Segura is out, it’s likely that Stott will stay at second. Then it will be interesting to see if Camargo or Bohm play.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
But as Bohm struggled through 2021, he was sent down to the minors, then buried on the bench as journeyman Ronald Torreyes mostly finished out the season.
Now, Bohm is losing playing time to Stott and Camargo.
It was reminiscent of Kingery’s ill-fated journey to the major leagues. He was signed to a six-year, $24 million contract before playing his first major-league game in 2018. But Kingery never lived up to the expectations, and before long, his confidence was shot.
Maybe Bohm can recover.
But it’s clear that he’s going to have to earn his chances with Stott the latest phenom getting the chance to play every day. It’ll take more than mea culpas and standing ovations for Bohm to change that.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
