WASHINGTON — Alec Bohm’s 2024 season did not end so much as it faded away, a digression that culminated when he was benched during the Philadelphia Phillies’ defeat at the hands of the New York Mets in the National League Division Series.
And then the Phillies tried to disappear him altogether.
With a third base musical chairs engulfing baseball’s trade and free-agent markets, the Phillies shopped their 28-year-old homegrown product, dangling his name and listening to trade offers but ultimately holding onto the kid they drafted third overall in 2018.
Even if Bohm tried to tune out that noise, his more veteran teammates knew he could’ve been gone, that it could’ve easily been someone else standing in the batter’s box late Thursday afternoon, two outs in the top of the 10th inning of a back-and-forth Opening Day tussle against the Washington Nationals.
And Bohm proved his bosses wise to keep him.
He drove the first pitch he saw from lefty Colin Poche into the left field gap, one-hopping the left field wall to drive in the go-ahead runs in what became a 7-3 extra-innings conquest at Nationals Park.
That capped a 3 hour, 9 minute affair that started as a pitching masterpiece – starters MacKenzie Gore and Zack Wheeler combined to strike out 21 batters and allow five baserunners in their six innings – until the sun receded and the relievers came on.
The Phillies were just an out away from facing a tie game and the automatic runner at second in the bottom of the 10th before Bohm bailed them out.
It was a relief for a club aiming to defend its NL East title – the win, and that the guy who delivered it is still around.
“Obviously, they were real,” first baseman Bryce Harper, who shares an agent with Bohm, says of the trade rumors. “He had a possibility of going somewhere else. A lot of guys in here, man, including myself, we love that kid over there. He plays the game hard, understands what it takes.
He just needs to not put pressure on himself too much, just have fun, enjoy what he does. What a big at-bat for him right there.”
It was a glorious way for Bohm’s season to begin given how the last one ended.
He had a career first half, toting an .830 OPS into his first All-Star Game appearance, until a gradual slide snowballed into a lost second half. In his final 20 games, he batted just .169 with three extra-base hits in 80 plate appearances.
The vibes were nearly as bad: Bohm carried the slump into the NLDS, during which he went 1 for 13 and was benched by manager Rob Thomson for Game 2.
And then came the offseason, and the looming changes facing a Phillies club that’s made three consecutive postseason appearances but backslid each time: From pennant winner to NLCS loser to NLDS loser.
Catcher J.T. Realmuto and designated hitter Kyle Schwarber can be free agents after this season, with Bohm and outfielder Nick Castellanos to follow after 2026. The time had arrived to ponder a preemptive roster reconstruction.
“I’ve been through those also,” says Wheeler, who struck out eight over six innings. “Your name’s out there a good bit, you think you’re gone. He’s here with us. He’s our third baseman, he’s a really good hitter, he’s become a good fielder and I’m happy to have him.
“He’s a competitor. Just glad he’s with us.”
Bohm’s late-season abyss was a bummer for all involved, given his methodical climb from the occasional depths of his early career. A 2021 demotion inspired him to shore up his defense considerably, and he gradually added power and cut down on strikeouts, reaching the 20-homer mark with just 94 punchouts in 2023.
Meanwhile, the Phillies only continued to add around him, with Schwarber and Castellanos and Trea Turner joining the Harper-driven core to create this raucous playoff run since 2022.
It would’ve been tough if Bohm were asked to leave the party.
“It’s not very often you get to play three, four seasons in a row with the same group in professional sports like this,” Bohm said Thursday. “It’s nice to be back here, back where I’m comfortable and familiar.”
Thomson appreciates Bohm’s place on his journey.
“I think he’s in a really good headspace right now,” says Thomson. “He’s very confident, he’s controlling his emotions very well. He’s matured. He’s swinging the bat well.”
That wasn’t the case for the Phillies most of Thursday. Gore struck out 13 Phillies and they fanned 19 times overall – “Obviously, we don’t want to punch 19 times. That’s comical, right?” says Harper – before they broke through.
Harper and Schwarber hit first-pitch homers off Lucas Sims and Jose A. Ferrer in the sixth, with the only late-inning blip the two runs new reliever Jordan Romano squandered in the eighth inning, which he began with a walk and a hit batter.
So, they pressed on to extras, where the automatic runner and a walk to Harper were sandwiched around a strikeout and popout, leaving it to Bohm.
He got it done, just Game 1 of what the Phillies hope will be many more beyond the 162 currently on their schedule.
Not quite the last dance, but they can hear the music playing.
“It’s an opportunity to do it, possibly, with guys who might not be here next year, right?” says Harper. “Our main goal is to get in the postseason and make a long run.”
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