PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm tied for second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2020, but it’s safe to say the 24-year-old is struggling in his sophomore season.
In 52 games, Bohm is hitting .205 with a .244 on-base percentage and .305 slugging percentage. That’s a far cry from his .338 average, .400 on-base percentage, and .481 slugging percentage in 44 games of a shortened 2020 campaign.
Bohm has four home runs with 24 runs batted in 2021. Last year, he hit four out and drove in 23 runs. He also isn’t drawing as many walks — 11 so far this season compared to 16 in all of 2020.
He has hit into 12 double plays — one on Sunday, which is the most in Major League Baseball.
“It’s been extremely frustrating for him, and this is part of this game,” Phils manager Joe Girardi said after his club lost 6-2 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday — a game Bohm would likely prefer to forget.
“There’s a ton of failure in this game. I’ve seen Hall of Famers have bad halves, and you got to learn to deal with it and you got to learn to fight through it. His teammates obviously know that he’s frustrated. They’re trying to help him, probably sharing some of the experiences that they’ve went through, but no one’s ever gonna feel sorry for you in this game, and you just got to fight your way through it. These guys are trying to give him techniques.”
One of those teammates was injured shortstop Didi Gregorius, who was seen putting his arm around him after Bohm misjudged a foul pop-up in the bottom of the second inning Sunday, which led to a two-run frame for the Rays.
The Rays play in Tropicana Field, a dome that doesn’t have a retractable roof. Bohm overran Austin Meadows’ foul pop-up, which extended the at bat and eventually led to a walk. With two outs, Mike Zunino hit a home run off of Zach Eflin for a 2-0 lead.
“I think he was on a dead sprint, and this is a tough place to catch pop-ups if you’re not here a lot,” Girardi said, noting how the Phils don’t play in Tropicana Field often, let alone against the Rays, who are in the American League East.
“He just overran it probably because you’re in a shift and you’re so far away and he’s in a dead sprint. And it’s a play that he’s capable of making but he didn’t make it.”
Sophomore slumps are going to happen — the phrase exists in sports for a reason. Only time will tell if encouragement like Gregorius’ will help the talented young infielder break out of his funk and show the promise that he did in 2020.