The Phillies appear to be taking the same approach in spring training as their hungry (for hot dogs?) fans are: World Series or bust.
In back-to-back seasons, the Phillies made deep and loud postseason runs but neither has yielded a third-ever world championship.
Philly currently carries +1500 odds to win the World Series in 2023, the sixth-best odds via FanDuel. They are second to win the NL East (+330) behind the Braves but are overwhelmingly favored to make the playoffs at -250.
Before the team hits the field against the Reds at the end of March to open their 2024 campaign, we're going to take a deep dive into each positional group.
Today it's Alec Bohm at the hot corner...
2022 started as a pursuit of job stability for Alec Bohm, and after he finally secured it, which bled into an unfathomable run to the NL pennant, the follow-up in 2023 became all about adding more power.
Last spring, Bohm reported to Clearwater with about 10 more pounds of muscle packed on and with a renewed focus on plate discipline and trying to really punish pitchers for their mistakes within a shortened offseason.
The results were spotty at points throughout the summer, but by the end of the 162-game schedule, Bohm had racked up 20 home runs, 31 doubles, 42 walks, and 97 runs batted in – all career highs by far – while accumulating a .765 OPS, which was only second to the .881 he put up through 44 games in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
All the while, his glove out in the field grew much steadier, which didn't suddenly make the Phillies a defensive vacuum, but definitely did help make for a more dependable setup once Bryce Harper stepped in as the first baseman and Johan Rojas arrived as the center fielder later into the summer.
Bohm's second go at October was a bit more mixed as his power didn't necessarily translate over, but in the NLCS, he did flash a stellar glove in the Phils' 10-0 blowout of Arizona in Game 2 and then tied it up emphatically early into Game 7 with his lone homer of the postseason to at least keep them in it until the end. It's just that everything else stalled out to leave them short.
So what now?
For the Phils, same as it's been since that miracle run in 2022: Get back to the World Series, and win it this time.
For Bohm? Well, his next step could be into All-Star consideration.
Let's compare Bohm to some of the top third basemen across the National League:
| Player, Team | Age | BA/OBP/SLG | HR / 2B | Ks / BB |
| Alec Bohm, PHI | 27 | .274/.327/.437 | 20 / 31 | 94 / 42 |
| *Austin Riley, ATL | 26 | .281/.345/.516 | 37 / 32 | 172 / 59 |
| *Nolan Arenado, STL | 32 | .266/.315/.459 | 26 / 26 | 101 / 41 |
| Manny Machado, SD | 31 | .258/.319/.462 | 30 / 21 | 109 / 50 |
| Max Muncy, LAD | 33 | .212/.333/.475 | 36 / 17 | 153 / 85 |
| Ke'Bryan Hayes, PIT | 27 | .271/.309/.453 | 15 / 31 | 104 / 28 |
*2023 All-Star
There's some discrepancy when it comes to pure power, for sure, but otherwise, Bohm is right there with the rest of them and could stand to garner a much bigger spotlight in 2024 as long as his upward trajectory from season to season continues.
As a show of that, here are Bohm's stats since he secured the starting third base job in 2022, along with his projections for 2024 via baseball-reference (though note that their models tend to err on the more conservative side):
| Season (Age) | PA | BA/OPB/SLG | HR / 2B / RBI | Ks / BB |
| 2022 (25) | 631 | .280/.315/.398 | 13 / 24 / 72 | 110 / 31 |
| 2023 (26) | 611 | .274/.327/.437 | 20 / 31 / 97 | 94 / 42 |
| *2024 (27) | 569 | .274/.324/.412 | 15 / 25 / 77 | 106 / 38 |
*2024 baseball-reference projections
Positional outlook
Bohm is under team control for three more years, and barring anything radical, he'll more than likely be the guy at third base leading up to his free agency in 2027.
Behind him immediately will be Edmundo Sosa on the bench, as the utilityman has been since he got here at the 2022 trade deadline and has been plenty solid in doing so whenever he has had to step in.
As far as the future, last summer's first-round draft pick Aidan Miller is in the pipeline, but considering he was only recently selected out of high school and is still just 19 years old, it's going to be a while as he makes his way up through the minor-league system.
There's plenty of promise there though. The right-handed bat out of Dunedin, Florida slashed a .414 batting average and a 1.011 OPS in rookie ball last season before stepping up to Single-A with the Clearwater Threshers, and is currently the third-ranked prospect in the Phillies' farm system.
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