Phillies news and rumors 4/20: Good approach leads to big night for Alec Bohm

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Spencer Turnbull’s 6 1/3 no-hit innings was the story of the Phillies’ comfortable 7-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.

But the offense came to life early and gave Turnbull a comfortable lead to work with.

Yes, it’s the White Sox, but give the Phillies offense credit. Friday could have been a trap game.

The Phillies faced former first-round pick Garrett Crochet. Once a potential Phillies draft target, the left-hander Crochet debuted in the big leagues the same year he was drafted in 2020, was excellent as a reliever in 2021, had Tommy John surgery in 2022 and is now the most talented starter on a depleted Chicago team. He gave up five runs in his last start against the Reds, but held the Braves to one run over seven innings in his second start of the year. He’s tied with Tyler Glasnow for the most strikeouts in MLB at 34.

Crochet is a young guy with a mid-90s fastball, wacky arm angle and lethal slider. Arms like that have befuddled impatient Phillies hitters in the past.

But the Phillies had a good plan of attack against Crochet and executed it well. Both of Alec Bohm’s three-run home runs drove in Trea Turner and Bryce Harper. The third-inning at-bats from the Phillies’ 2-3 combo showed just how dangerous the Phillies lineup can be when their best hitters are locked in.

Turner started with two really good takes: one on a low cutter and the other on a low fastball that was very close to being a strike. He fouled off a fastball on the outside corner on 2-0, whiffed at a high cutter, took a close cutter on the outside corner, then lined another cutter inside down the left-field line for a double.

The next batter Harper took four straight pitches out of the zone. Following a seven-pitch popup from J.T. Realmuto, Bohm came up to bat with Crochet already at 61 pitches through 2 2/3 innings. After Crochet missed his target badly on the first two pitches, Bohm fouled off a cutter inside, swung at a fastball way up in the zone, then took a pitch inside to force the count to 3-2. Bohm then barreled up a low cutter and sent it into the left field seats for another three-run home run.

Bohm’s home runs were hit on the 24th and 28th pitches of the first and third innings. Not every swing decision was perfect, but the Phillies best hitters got ahead and waited for their pitch. They were also able to eliminate Crochet’s slider because he wasn’t commanding it well.

Too often last season, the Phillies would let pitchers who are not at their best off the hook by swinging early at pitches out of the zone, getting behind in counts and shortening the inning.

The best lineups in baseball make the opposing starter work. As Turnbull was on cruise control against a weaker lineup, Crochet was already nearing his limit.

Bohm said after the game that the Phillies have done “more focused” work in the batting cages before the game and the results are starting to show.

“I like how we’ve been preparing for the starters and the bullpen as well,” Bohm said. “I think we’ve had a pretty good plan going up against some of these starters and some of the things we’ve seen in the cage, done in the cage have been showing up on the field.”

The Phillies offense isn’t off to a great start. They are 12th in the National League in runs per game at 3.95. Harper and Bryson Stott are not off to great starts. Whit Merrifield’s home run in the fourth inning was only his fourth hit of the season and Nick Castellanos is still searching for his first extra-base hit.

But not everyone needs to be hot at once. This series, along with the three-game set against the Rockies, allows the Phillies a chance to reset and stack up wins that will come in handy later in the season. Friday wasn’t supposed to be a cakewalk, but it was thanks to a little bit of patience.

Must-read Phillies content

• Hear from Taijuan Walker and Rob Thomson on Walker’s eventual return to the rotation. Does Turnbull’s performance make the decision a little more difficult?
• Garrett Stubbs thinks the Phillies City Connect uniforms make them look like a sexy beer league softball team.
• Can Kyle Schwarber get to 400 or even 500 home runs after reaching 250? Tim Kelly ponders the question.
• Our own Bailey Digh wrote about Trea Turner’s improvement on both sides of the ball.
• Todd Zolecki, Jim Salisbury and Rubén Amaro Jr. have started a Phillies podcast. Check out the latest episode of “The Phillies Show” here.
• Some Phillies players sprinted out of the clubhouse last night to make it in time for Bad Bunny’s set at the Wells Fargo Center.

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