Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber says he still gets Opening Day jitters.
"Oh absolutely," Schwarber said when asked if Opening Day still gets the juices flowing on Wednesday's 94WIP Midday Show. "You don't sleep well the night before because you got all the jitters. You know that Bank is going to be packed. You're excited to get back in front of your fan base. We're excited to start the year. It gives you that first sense of playoff because you're back and everyone is excited. And obviously we're going to be playing a great team, it's just a lot of fun...It's just like Christmas. Everyone looks forward to Christmas. Everyone looks forward to Opening Day."
The Phillies open the season on Thursday (Friday if it is rained out) at Citizens Bank Park against the six-time defending NL East champs the Atlanta Braves, a team the Phils have eliminated in the NLDS in the last two postseasons.
Expectations for the 2024 Phillies are to compete with the Braves for the NL East title and to, of course, win the World Series.
"I think expectations are a good thing," Schwarber told Joe Giglio and Hugh Douglas. "That means you're going out there trying to have success, you're trying to reach an end goal. We've been close the last few years. We've cracked that stigma of being in the playoffs, but now we want to make it to playoffs and we want to reach it to that position to where we're holding the trophy up at the end of the year."
Schwarber has teamed up with Yards Brewing this season.
"When Schwarbs goes Yard, you get a Yards! Available at participating locations below. Download the Yards app from the Apple App Store or Google Play today and start redeeming your rewards every time Kyle hits a Schwarbomb!"