{"id":121966,"date":"2026-02-24T09:07:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T09:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/121966\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T09:07:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T09:07:37","slug":"kyle-schwarber-homers-in-phillies-spring-home-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/121966\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Schwarber homers in Phillies spring home opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEARWATER, Fla. \u2014 It didn\u2019t take long \u2014 four pitches, to be exact \u2014 for Kyle Schwarber<\/a> to hit his first home run of 2026. <\/p>\n

He started his spring and the Phillies\u2019 home opener at BayCare Ballpark on a high note with a solo shot that cleared the right-field fence in the first inning Sunday. Schwarber\u2019s homer, off Pirates righty Braxton Ashcraft, clocked an exit velocity of 108.7 mph off the bat. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust trying to simplify, first at-bat, and just happened to get a good piece of it,\u201d Schwarber said. \u201cGood first day overall, but nice getting back in a little bit of competitive setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00bb READ MORE: Olympic hockey drama left Phillies spellbound. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper hope to join baseball\u2019s fun in the \u201928 Games.<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s 4-3 loss to the Pirates marked the spring debuts of Schwarber, Bryce Harper<\/a>, Alec Bohm<\/a>, Bryson Stott<\/a>, Brandon Marsh<\/a>, and J.T. Realmuto<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Manager Rob Thomson<\/a> said there is a plan, similar to last spring, for Schwarber to eventually get reps at first base and left field to keep his skills there sharp in case he\u2019s needed in the field. At the moment, though, the focus is on getting his bat ready for the World Baseball Classic, where he will represent Team USA. He was designated hitter Sunday and went 1-for-2 with a hit by pitch. <\/p>\n

With one game under his belt, Schwarber already has half as many homers as he did last spring, when he hit two home runs in 17 Grapefruit League games. He said he didn\u2019t start swinging any earlier this offseason with the WBC on the horizon, but instead mainly focused on getting his body in shape. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just found that just over the course of time that more quality things that I do don\u2019t really need as much time,\u201d Schwarber said. \u201cI feel like you want to get a good, solid foundation of working out and working, getting your body going more, before you just start going out there and swinging right away. So get that set, and then get the swinging in the offseason. But I don\u2019t try to overthink it too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortstop prospect Aidan Miller has not played in the Phillies\u2019 first two Grapefruit League games and will not travel to the East coast of Florida for their next two road games because of a sore back. Thomson said the Phillies are being \u201csuper cautious\u201d with Miller, and he is getting treatment to calm down the soreness. <\/p>\n

\u00bb READ MORE: Otto Kemp \u2018felt pretty comfortable\u2019 in left field in Phillies\u2019 spring opener<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cJust came in one day and it was sore,\u201d Thomson said. \u201cHe took live BP, he got hit by a pitch, but wasn\u2019t in the back, so I don\u2019t know whether he jarred it or did something trying to get out of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who stood out: Bohm laced a double to center field in the first inning. Realmuto and Stott also collected hits. <\/p>\n

\u201cBohmer looked good,\u201d Thomson said. \u201cStung the ball pretty good, and and Bohmer during all our BPs, he swung the bat really well. It\u2019s good to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Infield prospect Carson DeMartini homered in the sixth inning. <\/p>\n

On the mound: It was a bullpen game for the Phillies. Trevor Richards, Zach Pop, Kyle Backhus, Tim Mayza, and G\u00e9nesis Cabrera each pitched an inning, and each recorded at least one strikeout. <\/p>\n

Jonathan Hern\u00e1ndez pitched the sixth. After inducing two quick outs, he issued three straight walks to load the bases and was removed for minor league call-up Jack Dallas. Pirates prospect Esmerlyn Valdez then crushed a four-seam fastball for a grand slam. <\/p>\n

Backhus, a lefty sidearmer competing for a bullpen spot, retired the side in order in the third. He struck out Jesus Castillo on a sinker that touched 94.3 mph. In 2025, Backhus\u2019 sinker had an average velocity of 91.9 mph.<\/p>\n

Quotable: \u201cHe\u2019s been really impressive,\u201d Thomson said of Backhus. \u201cAll his bullpens, all the BPs he\u2019s thrown, and then, obviously, in the game today. The velocity is higher than it was last year. There\u2019s not many guys that throw from that slot, so it\u2019s tough to pick up. Slider\u2019s been really good. He\u2019s been really good on lefties. And he\u2019s working on a changeup that could get the right-handers off him. So he\u2019s been really impressive the whole camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

On deck: The Phillies hit the road to West Palm Beach, Fla., to take on the Washington Nationals on Monday (6:05 p.m., Phillies webcast and 94.1 WIP). Alan Rangel will start for the Phillies. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEARWATER, Fla. \u2014 It didn\u2019t take long \u2014 four pitches, to be exact \u2014 for Kyle Schwarber to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121967,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,57353],"class_list":{"0":"post-121966","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-pennsylvania","9":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","10":"tag-pennsylvania-news","11":"tag-phillies-spring-training-kyle-schwarber-home-run"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}