BY ISAAC HOWSON, PROGRAMMING DIRECTOR

Alec Bohm is the worst third basemen among contending teams in Major League Baseball’s NL East.

Bohm, currently the starting third baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies, is going into his fourth season. Coming off a year where he batted .280 with 13 home runs, it appears that behind Austin Riley — an MVP candidate playing for the Atlanta Braves — Bohm would stand as the second-best third baseman in the division.

Bohm is coming off a year in which he put up a Wins Above Replacement of 1.3. WAR is used to determine how many wins a player is worth when compared to a replacement-level player at the same position.

Let’s compare Bohm’s WAR to the rest of the division.

Riley, as previously mentioned, put up a WAR of 3.6. Eduardo Escobar of the New York Mets put up a total of 1.9, and even Brian Anderson of the Miami Marlins put up a higher WAR with a total of 1.8. Bohm did beat out the Washington Nationals third baseman, Carter Kieboom, posting a WAR of 0.8. However, Washington, amidst a rebuild, isn’t looking for a third baseman to help them contend.

But WAR doesn’t paint the full picture about Alec Bohm. To get an idea of how poorly Bohm played last season, take a look at his advanced stats. (And I encourage you to follow the two links below so you can see for yourself.)

According to FanGraphs, Bohm only put together a wRC+ of 98, which is actually below the average of 100. That ranked him 103 out of 130 qualified hitters.

Then there’s his defense — which isn’t any better. Last season Bohm put up a whopping -17 defensive runs saved and followed that with a total of -9 outs above average. He’s not much better on the base path as he only put up a -0.5 BsR.

For perspective, consider New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson.

Many fans agree Donaldson had a terrible year at the plate last season.

But in 132 games he still posted a wRC+ of 97 — one less than Bohm’s 98. Donaldson also was much better from the field, putting up a defensive runs saved of 9 along with an outs above average of 6. He also put up a higher WAR of 1.6.

I’m not saying Donaldson is better than Bohm, or even as good. But players posting these kinds of numbers should be nowhere near MVP talks in their respective leagues.

However, Bohm currently sits at +10000 odds to win the MVP, according to some betting sites. Those aren’t great odds, but let’s look at some other players with similar ones: Brandon Nimmo, J.T. Realmuto and Max Scherzer.

Odd company to be in when you’re the worst starting third basemen among contending teams in the NL East.

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