Phillies' Young Star Puts Defensive Blunders in Rear View

The Philadelphia Phillies are getting a ton of attention for what their offense has done through their first eight games of the MLB Playoffs, but one of their young stars has completely turned his defense around.

Hitting and pitching have garnered all the attention for the Philadelphia Phillies through the first eight games of their playoff journey.

And with good reason.

The offensive lineup is putting on a hitting clinic and their pitching staff has shutdown every opposing team that they've faced.

But there's three aspects to the game of baseball and the defense of the Phillies can't be overlooked either.

There might have been no greater improvement from season-to-season on this team than what their young star Alec Bohm has accomplished.

It feels like ages ago that he committed three errors and was caught saying he hated Philadelphia when the crowd let him hear about it.

To Bohm's credit, he owned up to what he said, which might have caused the Phillies' fans to give him a second chance.

He's taken that new life and run with it.

"He has really played well defensively lately and for a while now," manager Rob Thomson said.

His defensive prowess was on display in Game 2 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, making diving stops, attacking ground balls with his backhand and throwing out runners from his knee.

Bohm's teammates have taken notice as well.

"He’s made some plays that I don’t know if a lot of people make, because he’s so tall and his reach is long," second baseman Bryson Stott said. "He’s been good over there. To stop momentum before it even happens has been huge."

It's unlikely he'll ever be considered a top defensive third baseman or ever win a Gold Glove award, but he's been effective enough to keep himself in the lineup and on the field.

That comes from the repeated repetitions that he's put in during the offseason and Spring Training.

"The difference is just confidence and trust in all the work," Bohm said.