Philadelphia Phillies: Kyle Schwarber makes a strong first impression

Welp, it didn’t take long for Kyle Schwarber to make a strong first impression with his new team.

After weeks and weeks of anticipation ratcheted up by a, shall we say, unconventional offseason, the Philadelphia Phillies finally took the field at Citizens Bank Park for their first of 162 contests, and the results, as they say, were too sweet. The Phillie Phanatic flew into the stadium in impressive fashion, Aaron Nola‘s stuff looked very good, and the ball even went boom when Schwarber, the team’s new $79 million man, turned his first at-bat in Phillies pinstripes into a homer perfectly placed in the right-field bleachers.

While things did get a bit too close for comfort down the stretch, as the Oakland Athletics put up four runs in the sixth inning to trim the lead down to one, the Phillies rallied down the stretch and scored at least one run in each of the final three innings to close out the contest 9-5, the most runs the team has scored since September 23rd, 2021.

And the best part? Kyle Schwarber took to Twitter to show his appreciation for the fans who helped make his Philadelphia Phillies debut one to remember.

Kyle Schwarber is rapidly becoming a Philadelphia Phillies fan favorite.

If there’s one thing Kyle Schwarber can do and do well, it’s hit the baseball.

The fourth overall selection in the 2014 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs, Schwarber has hit 154 home runs and 352 RBIs over his eight-year professional career; which, when you consider he’s only appeared in 664 games, is pretty darn impressive.

Originally splitting his time between catcher and the outfield, Schwarber transitioned to left field early in his run with the Cubs and has remained in the role ever since, except when afforded an opportunity to DH. While he isn’t an elite defensive player and might be DH-ing full-time on a team with a different composition, Schwarber’s power, especially at his preferred lead-off position, is top-notch and can set the tenor of a game before any of his teammates have a chance to put wood to leather.

That, my friends, is exactly what happened in his Philadelphia Phillies debut – on a 3-2 count, no less – and needless to say, it got the whole city pumped for the possibilities of playoff baseball, even if there are a whole lot more games – 161 to be exact – before that can actually happen.

After watching Aaron Nola retire the top of the Athletics’ order in order, Schwarber took the plate versus Frankie Montas and put him through the wringer. After passing on a 96 mph sinker on the first pitch of the game, Schwarber took two balls, swung on a slider, and then fouled out his fifth ball. Down 2-2, Montas threw a splitter that fell outside of the strike zone before laying at 97 mph sinker right where Schwarber wanted it and watched helplessly as it flew over the infield, over the head of right fielder Stephen Piscotty, and into the stands for some lucky fan to take home as a souvenir.

Certainly, this was the best kind of first impression for the former Washington National and his new fanbase, but what folks didn’t expect was for Schwarber to take to Twitter shortly thereafter to celebrate his first win in Phillies pinstripes and encourage fans to tune in tomorrow to watch him do it all over again.

Yeah, I don’t think you need to persuade fans too hard to watch another game; something tells me this Phillies team will draw very good ratings.

Will Kyle Schwarber hit a home run in all 162 games this season? No. Over his career, he’s averaged a homer once every four or so games, with RBIs coming more often at once every other game, but after hitting 25 or more home runs in five of his last seven seasons, it’s clear the Philadelphia Phillies have secured another bat capable of making the ball go boom, which perfectly fits the pathos of this particular team.