A ‘very confident’ Alec Bohm hits second homer of the spring, continues to impress Phillies

CLEARWATER, Fla. —

Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm hit his second home run of the spring on Saturday, an opposite field shot that came off his bat at 104.9 mph and traveled 382 feet in a 4-3 victory over the Pirates. Bohm said a few days ago that he didn’t make any offensive adjustments this offseason, and isn’t intentionally trying to lift the ball.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson believes it could be the product of the muscle that Bohm added in the offseason (the third baseman estimates he added 10-15 pounds) and more reps.

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“He’s great,” Thomson said of Bohm. “He’s added strength, he’s started to pull the ball on balls he should pull, and then you see today when he hits the opposite field home run, we don’t want him to lose that. Because that’s who he is. He’s playing very good defense. Very confident. He’s a different guy than he was at this time last year. He really is.

“[It’s just] strength and just reps, just reps over his lifetime. He’s just starting to get a feel and see the ball a little bit earlier and get the head out. He’s probably gained some bat speed because of the strength that he’s added. But he’s really playing well.”

Utility man Edmundo Sosa made his first start in center field after playing just one-third of an inning at the position in his career, in 2021 with the Cardinals. Thomson said Sosa’s defensive performance on Saturday went about how he expected it to go.

“[It was] typical, for me, typical infielder moving to center field,” Thomson said of Sosa. “First game — and you’re probably going to see it for a bit — as soon as the ball is hit in the air, he goes back. It’s just natural. And he’s just got to get to the point where he instinctually just hangs out because he’s always going back on balls when he’s playing in the infield, and he goes back tremendously. So, he’s got to trust himself, and he will. He’s athletic and he can run.

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“The best route he had was the ball in the first inning, and he almost ran that ball down. That would have been a hell of a catch. The one ball where he slid, he broke back and if he doesn’t he probably catches it head high. And the one that fell, he broke back and he probably would have had a chance to catch that one, too. But that’s normal for an infielder moving to the outfield.”

Thomson said Sosa just needs reps, because he has the instincts — he just needs to trust them.

“As soon as he sees the ball up, [he just needs to] trust that he can go back and get it,” Thomson said. “Just hold your ground for that split second and read.”

Thomson said the Phillies don’t have an update on left-handed pitcher Gregory Soto yet, who is still in the Dominican Republic as he deals with visa issues. Soto is still working out at the Phillies’ complex in the Dominican Republic...Sunday is the last day in Phillies camp for Garrett Stubbs, J.T. Realmuto, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber before they depart for the WBC. Ranger Suárez, Jose Alvarado and Taijuan Walker will leave for the tournament on different days this week. When their respective teams are eliminated in the tournament, the players will return to Phillies camp.