Among the Philadelphia Phillies’ loaded roster is one of Major League Baseball’s most improved players, a new report finds.
Philadelphia entered Tuesday at 77-54, good for the third-best record in all of baseball. Despite a lackluster period following the All-Star break, the Phillies have had an overall successful season and are considered one of the leading World Series contenders.
When unpacking Philadelphia’s greatness, it’s difficult to know what to pinpoint. The Phillies’ rotation was undoubtedly the league’s best during the first half, and their lineup has been scary, too. Philadelphia has received robust production from Bryce Harper (as expected of the perennial MVP candidate), but it’s also benefited from better-than-expected years from guys like Kyle Schwarber and Alec Bohm, the latter of whom was recently rated one of MLB’s ten most improved players.
Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter released a piece last week discussing the league’s ten most improved guys and ranked Bohm at No. 7 while noting Bohm’s under-discussed defensive improvements this season.
“There is little doubt (Bohm) has taken his game to another level this year,” Reuter said.
“The 28-year-old has still not developed into the 30-homer threat most expected him to be when the 6'5", 218-pound slugger was chosen No. 3 overall in the 2018 draft, but that hasn't stopped him from making a major impact at the plate.”
“He leads the majors with 43 doubles this season, and he has come through with clutch hits time and again, batting .317/.393/.567 over 145 plate appearances with runners in scoring position.”
“Bohm has also made significant strides defensively, posting roughly league-average defensive metrics (0 DRS, 2.7 UZR/150) after dragging down his overall value with an ugly minus-40 DRS over the previous three seasons.”
All players develop at different speeds, and it’s tough to know when a certain talent is about to break through. Bohm’s potential has always been obvious, and 2024 happened to be the time that his production caught up.
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