Bohm town | Sports Daily Newsletter

Not so long ago, Alec Bohm’s future with the Phillies was far from a sure thing. Bohm’s 2021 season was a nightmare. Joe Girardi benched him in favor of Ronald Torreyes (who?). Bohm spent some time in triple A, then committed three errors in a game in April 2022 and famously uttered, “I hate this [expletive] place.”

Now he’s starting his first All-Star Game and preparing to compete tonight in the Home Run Derby. How’s that for a turnaround? And how did it happen?

For starters, Rob Thomson replaced Girardi and committed to sticking with Bohm at third base. Bohm continued to mature and work under the tough training of infield coach Bobby Dickerson. With a patient approach at the plate, he began to pay off on the investment by the Phillies, who drafted him third overall in 2018.

Now he’s among baseball’s best hitters with runners in scoring position. Scott Lauber chronicles the rise of Bohm.

— Jim Swan, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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Saquon Barkley joined the Eagles after a public split with the Giants, as contract disagreements have spilled out onto HBO’s Hard Knocks. When EJ Smith caught up with Barkley at his alma mater Whitehall High School, the running back sounded motivated by the adversity he’d faced. “There’s this weird thing with running backs right now,” Barkley told Smith. “Is it a difficult position to play? Yes. Do you take wear and tear? Yes. But who are you or anyone else to tell me how long I can play the game? I call [BS].”

Speaking of contract issues, Haason Reddick was in his hometown of Camden hosting a youth football camp. He’s been traded by the Eagles to the Jets, and he hasn’t worked out for New York just yet while looking for a new deal. Devin Jackson caught up with Reddick.

The All-Star Game buzz is building for the Phillies, which is a good thing considering the way they closed the season’s first half. The Phillies allowed eight home runs in a blowout loss to the Oakland A’s, who took two of three games in the series.

On a more positive front, Cristopher Sánchez was added to the NL roster, giving the Phillies eight All-Stars.

Backup catcher Rafael Marchán had only eight homers in his minor league career. He has three already with the Phillies.

The Phillies are likely to be active at the trade deadline, of course. David Murphy considers what the release of veteran Whit Merrifield will mean when it comes to deadline day.

A young Phillies fan was in tears after his father dropped a home run ball. Then an usher came to the rescue.

With the 27th overall pick in the draft, the Phillies selected Dante Nori, an outfielder from Northville High School in Michigan.

Next: Alec Bohm competes in the All-Star Home Run Derby tonight at 8 (ESPN).

Jaron “Boots” Ennis defended his IBF welterweight title with a fifth-round stoppage of David Avanesyan at the Wells Fargo and began looking ahead.

What’s next for the undefeated fighter from Germantown? “I want the big names,” Ennis said. Could that mean a matchup with unbeaten Terence Crawford, who is regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world? That’s where things get complicated.

Keith Pompey writes that Keve Aluma keeps materializing out of nowhere for the 76ers’ summer league team. His best way of making an impression? He is shooting 73.3% through a combined four games in the Salt Lake City and NBA summer leagues.

Two-way forward David Jones is trying to show his value to the Sixers as a high-energy bench player in the summer league.

The late Gene Hart was the beloved voice of the Flyers for decades. Something you might not know: In the daytime, he was a high school teacher in South Jersey. Matt Breen tells the story of Hart’s “other job.”

Here’s a place to access your favorite Philadelphia teams’ statistics, schedules, and standings in real time.

July 15, 2007: The Phillies suffered a 10-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals that was the 10,000th in team history. That Phillies team went on to win the National League East title.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Scott Lauber, Alex Coffey, David Murphy, EJ Smith, Keith Pompey, Jeff Neiburg, Gabriela Carroll, Jonathan Tannenwald, Kerith Gabriel, Matt Breen, and Devin Jackson.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

Thanks for reading, Sports Daily fans. I’ll see you in Tuesday’s newsletter. — Jim