Meet Alec Bohm, the Phillies’ first-round pick

With the third-overall pick in 2018 first-year player MLB draft, the Philadelphia Phillies selected Alec Bohm.

We have long been predicting that Bohm would be selected by the Phillies, and that has now come to fruition. It’s now time to learn more about the newest Phillies prospect.

Biography

Alec Bohm is from Omaha, Nebraska and was born on Aug.3, 1996. Bohm attended Roncalli Catholic High School in Omaha, hitting .533 as a senior. Bohm played his collegiate ball at Wichita State. He hit .303 with six home runs as a freshman, .305 with 11 home runs as a sophomore, and his breakout year that ended up getting him drafted third-overall was this season, when he hit .339 with 16 homers. Bohm is 6’5″, weighing 240 pounds, and his position in college was third base.

Upside

It’s still unclear where Bohm will eventually end up defensively, as he had a .899 fielding percentage during his junior year at Wichita at the hot corner. The Phillies do believe Bohm can not only stay at third but also play other positions, including left and right field. Some think that at 6’5″ he’s too tall for third base and will have to move to first.

Offense is Bohm’s calling card and he has tons of upside. Bohm is the perfect combination of power, average and plate discipline. He walked 11 more times than he struck out this past season. From a power standpoint, Bohm should hit 30-plus long balls in his prime all while hitting for a respectable average, making him a candidate to be the Phillies clean-up hitter for years to come.  MLB.com has compared Bohm to Nick Castellanos of the Detroit Tigers, and that seems to be a pretty good comparison considering Castellanos hit .272 with 26 home runs last season, his age-25 season.

Regardless of where he ends of defensively, Bohm’s bat should be what helps him fly through the minors and into the Phillies starting lineup. With him being a college player, we should see him sooner rather than later in the majors if all goes well with his development.