Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm had a nightmare defensive performance on Monday night against the New York Mets. The good news for Bohm is that the Phillies were able to overcome the miscues with a 5-4 win, after trailing 4-0 in the eighth inning.
Bohm made an error in each of the first three innings, and all three errors were throws that were way off target, with the first throw particularly being nowhere close.
When Bohm successfully made a defensive play in the third inning, he got a sarcastic cheer from the fans in Philadelphia. Then it appeared that he said, “I f*cking hate this place.”
In his postgame session with the media, Bohm confirmed that he indeed said that, and he apologized:
“Look, emotions got the best of me, you know. I said it. Do I mean it? No. It’s a frustrating night for me, obviously. Made a few mistakes in the field. These people, these fans, they just want to win. I mean, you heard it when we came back. They’re great. I’m sorry to them. I don’t mean that. Emotions just got the best of me.”
Now, while Bohm’s defense was brutal, he was at least a big factor offensively for Philadelphia, going 1-for-1 with a double and two walks. His walk to lead off the bottom of the eighth started the Phillies’ five-run inning. So far this season, he hasn’t made an out in six plate appearances.
But his start to the season summarizes how things will frequently look for this Philadelphia team.
The Phillies’ defense was an MLB-worst unit last year, valued at -53 defensive runs saved (13 DRS worse than the No. 29 defense).
And the Phillies proceeded to add bat-first position players over the offseason that certainly won’t help the defensive issues (as we detailed here).
Bohm and this Philadelphia offense will need to keep putting up big numbers to make up for the defensive shortcomings.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.