ATLANTA — Kyle Schwarber made a big impact on the very first pitch of the game on Saturday night against the Atlanta Braves.
However, his next move short-circuited any kind of early momentum he created for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Kyle Schwarber's base running blows up a chance for the Philadelphia Phillies
Taking the first pitch he saw from Atlanta starter Spencer Strider off the right-center wall, Schwarber coasted into second with a double and had plenty of Braves fans already thinking, "Oh no, here we go again" after the Phillies knocked Atlanta out of last season's playoffs.
However, with Trea Turner coming up next, Schwarber did the unthinkable, trying to advance to third on a ground ball hit to Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia. It wasn't close at third as Arcia threw out Schwarber, bringing the Truist Park crowd to its feet.
Almost as soon as Schwarber was tagged out at third, the social media reaction from Phillies fans began.
After Turner reached on the fielder's choice, Bryce Harper beat out an infield single to have Phillies fans wondering what if had Schwarber not tried to go. However, Philadelphia couldn't take advantage of their opportunities in the first, with Alec Bohm grounding into a double play to end the frame.
Schwarber's bat will certainly be something to watch in this series, but it's obvious that, even with a solid hit to begin the game, his feet undid all of the early good mojo.
Phillies fans hope that the words from Nick Castellanos (who is always known to have an impact on words) don't come true. Prior to the game he said, "When you have a guy like Strider and you also have talented hitters, it's just going to be who really executes their plan, you know. I don't know if that answers your question, but I think it's going to be whoever develops a game plan and executes it better."
Early on, it's not the Phillies executing well.
