It is Thursday or, should I say, Third Base Day at Fantasy Alarm. Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Player Spotlight series where every Thursday, I will break down a third baseman that's relevant to the fantasy world – whether in a good or even bad way. This could be a player that is tearing up the league, a player that is on the downside of his career, or even a player that you should jump on before he becomes a popular waiver wire pick. 

 

 

Today we are looking at Alec Bohm, a player that has already seen more ups and downs in two seasons than most see in five. Should Bohm be on your fantasy baseball roster? Let’s take a look.

 

 

Alec Bohm was the third overall pick of the 2018 June Amateur Draft. The Phillies, meanwhile, have been looking for a long-term solution at third base since they traded Scott Rolen to St. Louis in July of 2002. Bohm was a well-known power hitter at Wichita State and furthered his reputation by tearing up the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2017. Bohm was in the big leagues within two years after making the jump from Double-A, where he hit 14 home runs in 270 plate appearances in 2019. Bohm slashed .338/.400/.481 with a .881 OPS the next season and finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, behind Brewers reliever Devin Williams. The Phillies seemed set at the hot corner for years to come. 

Look at Bohm’s 2020 Statcast percentile rankings (not too shabby for a rookie):

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Well, things did not go exactly as planned and Bohm was one of the biggest disappointments of the 2021 fantasy baseball season. In 115 games, he had a slash line of .247/.305/.342 with just a .647 OPS. His .285 wOBA was in the bottom 8% of the league and he was striking out 27% of the time. One positive to the season was Bohm’s 49.5% hard contact rate – but most of those balls ended up on the ground.

Here are Bohm’s 2021 Statcast Percentile rankings:

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Enter 2022, and it has already been an interesting season for Bohm.  He struggled out of the gate in Spring Training, hitting only .222, and started the year on the bench behind rookie Bryson Stott. Then came the infamous three-error game, which led to him saying “I ***** hate this place!” He owned the quote, apologized, and Bohm and the Phillies fans have moved on to bigger and better things. 

Since then, Bohm is crushing it offensively. His plate skills are back on track with a strikeout rate of only 13.5% plus an 11.5% walk rate to go along with a slash of .333/.385/.452 and .837 OPS. 

Bohm is also currently in the Top 5% of the league in exit velocity (93.3), XBA (.354) and XwOBA (.428) and in the top 10% in XSLG (.605) and hard-hit rate (53.8%). This looks like the Alec Bohm from 2020 when he was more than just a good hitter, but also a clutch hitter. Bohm has a career batting average of .280, but he is a .329 hitter (48-for-146) with runners in scoring position.

So, now let us look at Bohm’s 2022 Statcast Percentile rankings. Do you notice all the red? That's a good thing:

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Bryson Stott, the Phillies' No. 1 prospect and 44th in all of baseball, was recently optioned to AAA-Lehigh Valley and manager Joe Girardi has given Bohm a vote of confidence that he will be the everyday third baseman. This bodes well for a player that is only 43% owned in Yahoo leagues and 23% owned in ESPN leagues. If Bohm is available in your league, he is well worth the pick-up. 

 

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