Alec Bohm saves the season for the Phillies. Re-sign him.
The polarizing corner infielder homered in the 10th and extended the season. The Phillies should extend his tenure.
ATLANTA — Alec Bohm sat behind a microphone for perhaps the last time as a Phillie on Wednesday morning and reflected on his 6½ seasons in the majors as a Phillie, supporting rosters dotted with future Hall of Famers. He will be a free agent this winter, and his inconsistent play combined with his occasional truculence have led to assumptions that he will be moving on.
“It’s just been each year has kind of brought its own challenges, and obviously we’ve had a lot of success and a lot of fun,” Bohm said. “I think it’s just been, overall, a good experience, and now we’re getting to be those veteran players.”
Then, five hours later, Bohm hit the winning home run in the 10th inning of Game 2 of the wild-card series against the Braves. The Phillies took a 4-3 lead, which held up in the bottom of the inning as rookie Andrew Painter dealt three scoreless innings.
The hit was Bohm’s second of the game, his third of the playoffs, and, with an earlier walk, it marked the fourth time he’d reached base in nine plate appearances. He also drove in a run in Game 1.
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That’s what he does. He doesn’t hit many home runs, but, hitting behind Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Trea Turner, he has averaged just over 82 RBI the past five seasons.
“Seems like with Alec, everybody is always looking for more, for more,” manager Don Mattingly said before the game. “And he always ends up driving in around 90 runs, gets key hits.”
He has played among veterans his whole career, and he’s played like a veteran lately, to be sure. He’s a rare right-handed bat who plays first and third base and produces runs.
The question: If Bohm moves on, can the Phillies adequately replace him?
And, if so, how much will it cost … and how much will he cost?
Bohm is a homegrown first-round pick, drafted third overall in 2018. He turned 30 in August. He’s a productive everyday player.
Pay him.
He started off slowly this season, but there were mitigating circumstances. He was in a contract year. He was suing his parents for mismanaging his money (that has been settled).
However, since Aug. 2, Bohm is hitting .308 with an .818 OPS, and he’s been destroying lefties in particular.
“I don’t think there was a specific adjustment that I made,” Bohm said. “I kind of just start seeing the ball a little better and got more comfortable.”
Bohm looks comfortable. He has been as big a part of the Phillies’ late-season surge as anyone. He is entering his prime. There is no reason to end this relationship, now that it’s just heating up.
» READ MORE: Hayes: Alec Bohm, Philly’s latest scapegoat, nears the end of his run as a Phillie. Appreciate him.
It hasn’t always been a rosy relationship.
In 2022, the Phillies planned to either replace Bohm at third base or platoon him with Bryson Stott, but injuries squelched those plans. Still, as Bohm struggled early that season, he was caught on camera on the field saying, “I [bleeping] hate this place.”
He apologized. He learned. He got better at third. He moved to first base this year at the trade deadline when the Phillies acquired second baseman Luis Arraez, and there he has shined: He made two fine plays Wednesday.
It wasn’t all Bohm on Thursday.
Cristopher Sánchez delivered 6⅔ innings, allowed three runs, and threw a career-high 116 pitches, helping manager Mattingly avoid a beleaguered bullpen.
Painter, the fifth starter, made his playoff debut with three scoreless innings of relief — the eighth, ninth, and 10th — the first time he’s ever pitched in relief in those innings.
And, of course, there was Lightning and Thunder.
With their season in peril, Schwarber and Harper hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning and tied the game at 3. That took Sánchez off the hook.
They also absolved Harper and Bohm of defensive miscues in the seventh that gave the Braves two runs and a 3-1 lead.
More than anything, they forced extra innings in a must-win game whose loss not only would have given the Braves a 2-0 series sweep but, considering how disappointing the Phillies have been the past three postseasons, might have ended this era, and almost certainly would have ended interim manager Mattingly’s tenure.
And, likely, Bohm’s.
Maybe, after these heroics, that won’t be the case after all.
