You never get a second chance to make a first impression, so Kyle Schwarber made sure to capitalize on his first at-bat in front of his new home fans in Philly.
Schwarber was the Phils’ leadoff hitter on Friday, and on a 3-2 count in the first plate appearance of the game, he took a 97 MPH sinker near the knees and crushed a leadoff dinger to right-center:
StatCast says it went 426 feet and had an exit velocity of 106.9 MPH, and the stats say it was Schwarber’s second career Opening Day HR, 14th career leadoff homer, and the first homer by a Phillie in their first at-bat since Andrew McCutchen did the deed on Opening Day 2019.
Oh, and it made WIP’s broadcast team of Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen seem prescient, as earlier in the at-bat, they mentioned how manager Joe Girardi likes Schwarber leading off because he walks a lot and “will also put you up 1-0 a lot.”
And, years from now, Phils historians will remember that Schwarber, as the DH, homered in the first designated hitter at-bat of the official universal DH era…a much better result already than Jay Bruce’s 0-for-4 as the DH in the 2020 opener.
Schwarber hit 32 homers in 113 games between Washington and Boston last season, and the leadoff dinger was his 154th overall in now 665 career games.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN