Alec Bohm eliminated in Home Run Derby semifinals

ARLINGTON — Michael Jordan had his secret stuff. All Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm wanted was some “wooder.”

With 1:41 remaining within the semifinal of Monday evening’s T-Cellular Residence Run Derby, Bohm known as for a timeout after depositing simply three homers into the Globe Life Subject stands. He wanted 11 taters to match Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández.

Of the franchise-record eight Phillies to be named to the Midsummer Traditional, first baseman Bryce Harper, shortstop Trea Turner, left-handers Cristopher Sánchez and Matt Strahm and right-hander Jeff Hoffman greeted their teammate for a pep discuss … and a jug of water labeled in a Philadelphia accent.

“It’s going to be enjoyable to look over and see all the blokes supporting me and doing no matter,” Bohm stated earlier within the day. “Their children having enjoyable and all that stuff. So yeah, it’s going to be a superb time.”

The underdog Bohm went on a roll, going deep in eight of his subsequent 13 hits, and reached 14 on his second-to-last swing to drive a swing-off. Hernández homered on two of three pitches, whereas Bohm may solely counter with one and was eradicated. Hernández went on to seize the crown, besting Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. in dramatic style.

“I actually do not feel any strain, possibly I’ll as soon as we get nearer to it,” Bohm stated beforehand. “I do not really feel a lot strain. For me, it is simply type of going out and hitting. I feel it may be enjoyable greater than something, proper? However possibly I am going to really feel slightly little bit of strain after I rise up there.”

If Bohm felt any nerves, he didn’t present it. Main off the Derby as a result of he had the fewest first-half homers (11) among the many eight contributors, Bohm shortly turned himself right into a reliable contender with 21 taters — tied for many within the first spherical with Guardians third baseman José Ramírez. Bohm went deep on three consecutive swings 3 times within the spherical, together with a stretch of six in a row.

With new Derby guidelines, there was no seeding for the primary spherical. As an alternative, all eight contributors have been requested to hit as many homers as attainable of their allotted time (three minutes), with a most of 40 pitches thrown. Sluggers then acquired a bonus interval that went till three outs, with each hit both a house run or an out. A homer of at the least 425 ft within the bonus interval unlocked a fourth out. The highest 4 sluggers superior to the semifinals, the place the seeding was decided by the variety of homers hit in Spherical 1.

To get that far, Bohm knew he wanted to execute a pull-happy, line-drive method — fairly the other of his fame for going to the other subject. All 36 of his homers went to left subject on Monday. He doubtless perfected that with Manhattan School assistant coach Scott Wingo, who was Bohm’s coach in 2016 throughout his freshman 12 months at Wichita State. The pair earlier teamed up that summer season when Bohm received the Coastal Plain League residence run derby. The duo settled for third place this time round.

Here’s a breakdown of Bohm’s homers:
High distance: 445 ft
Common distance: 405 ft
Homers of 425+ ft: Seven
High exit velocity: 105 mph
Common exit velocity: 94.7 mph

“So far as technique, I feel simply going to swing at all the things, and I am going to attempt to hit them proper over the left-field fence,” stated Bohm, who homered to right-center subject on the Rangers’ ballpark on Opening Day 2023. “Not attempt to mess around with the center of the sphere an excessive amount of. Attempt to use the quick half, see what number of I can get.”

It was a formidable displaying from Bohm, whose single-season career-high is 20 homers in 2023. He is hit 55 over elements of 5 seasons. On the MLB-best Phillies, he’s tied with Turner with the fourth-most lengthy balls. Main the pack was arguably his greatest cheerleader in Harper, who received the 2018 Residence Run Derby.

“I hope he enjoys it, I feel that is the largest factor, simply making an attempt to get pleasure from it,” Harper stated earlier within the day. “Go on the market. I hope he surprises some individuals. I feel he would not most likely have the most effective odds I would imagined, simply because there’s a whole lot of guys in there which have a whole lot of homers and stuff, however I am trying ahead to seeing him do it tonight.”