Apr 21, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies third base Alec Bohm (28) and first base Bryce Harper (3) celebrate win against the Chicago White Sox at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports Eric Hartline
CLEARWATER — There were times this offseason where it seemed like Alec Bohm might not be with the Phillies when Spring Training began. But he is, and he reflected on the uncertainty of the winter when he met with the media for the first time in 2025 Thursday afternoon.
Bohm's name was seemingly mentioned once a day in credible trade rumors back in November and December, but the 28-year-old says that he elected not to pay attention to the outside noise.
"Yeah, I mean, it's nothing I can control so I didn't really pay too much attention to it," Bohm said. "It's part of what we do. As much as everybody was asking me stuff, I was pretty checked out of it all. It's just part of what we do."
And when Bohm says that everybody was asking him about the swirling rumors, he means everybody. He said it felt like a different person would ask him about his future every day when he went to his gym in Houston.
Manager Rob Thomson has explained publicly on multiple occasions now that he reached out to Bohm and made clear that while the Phillies owed it to themselves to hear out anyone who called on the third baseman, they were not actively shopping him.
Bohm says that the conversation with Thomson helped him to put his head down and start to get ready for the 2025 season.
"Yeah, that was good just to kind of ease my mind for sure instead of just wondering a little bit," Bohm said. "That was good to kind of ease things and go forward, get ready for this year."
Still, there was a feeling around mid-December from multiple credible sources — including Ken Rosenthal of Foul Territory — that Bohm might have played his final game with the Phillies.
Did Bohm ever get to the point where he thought it was more likely he'd be on a new team in 2025 than returning for a sixth season with the Phillies?
"I never thought so per se, but sure there were points where [I was like] 'I guess I don’t know what’s gonna happen.' I didn’t really read into it too much. I didn’t really try to find the answer," Bohm said. "Whatever was gonna happen was gonna happen. I never felt like I was per se gonna be traded or anything like that."
Bohm got off to a scalding-hot start last season, and rode a first half where he doubled 33 times, drove in 70 runs and posted an .830 OPS to his first All-Star Game appearance. And it wasn't like he was the last guy on the roster — he started at third base for the National League.
Dave Dombrowski on Alec Bohm:
"He was the starting third baseman for the National League All-Star team last year, so we like him a lot. He knows we like him a lot." pic.twitter.com/pVTYl230bq
But Bohm posted just a .681 OPS after the All-Star Break, and wasn't in the starting lineup in Game 2 of the NLDS as Thomson inserted Edmundo Sosa in search of a spark.
So how does Bohm look back at what — as has often been the case in his MLB career — was a whirlwind of a season?
“For me, I’ve tried to kind of forget all the negatives and just keep building on the positives," Bohm said. "I felt like I made a lot more great steps last year and made improvements in a lot of areas. I think that I continue to make improvements in those areas and some other areas and just keep building on what I’ve done each year here and keep trying to get better and better each year.”
To a degree, some of his second-half struggles can be attributed to a left hand strain that landed him on the injured list in early September. By the time the postseason rolled around, Bohm downplayed any lingering affects that injury might still be having on him.
But Thomson said Wednesday that he believed the injury may have affected Bohm more than he was letting on at the time. Without making excuses, Bohm did offer a different outlook on his hand than he had during last postseason.
“When I started hitting again in the offseason, I realized that it hurt worse than I thought it had hurt," Bohm admitted. "But I was out there playing, so I feel like if I’m out there playing, it’s not like I can’t do anything. But at the same time, I’m sure a stronger left hand would have helped somewhere maybe. But it is what it is. Everybody’s banged up, we played 162 games, guys are banged up. It is what it is.”
Bohm was later asked about some of the troubles he's had controlling his emotions in his career. He acknowledged "I’ve been known to do some wrong things at the wrong time."
He was also asked if there's something to be said for holding off on your emotions until you are up the tunnel and out of the view of cameras.
“I think it’s going to be hard to find a way to care less," Bohm replied. "So, grow up a little, I guess. I don’t know, be smarter.”
To his credit, Bohm has driven in 97 runs in each of the past two seasons. He's objectively made vast defensive improvements in his career. There's definitely stuff to like about Bohm. In that sense, does he feel underappreciated?
“If I were to be really focused on all that stuff, I guess I could but I’m not out there reading rankings lists and doing all that stuff," Bohm said. "It’s not what I’m focused on. I feel like I’m appreciated by everybody in here, so whatever circulates around, I’m not too concerned about.”
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