I’m sorry to break the news to Philadelphia Phillies fans who were hoping for a new lineup for the upcoming season, but it seems manager Rob Thomson is okay with things continuing as they are. At least for the time being, Kyle Schwarber will be leading off once more.
According to Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, on Wednesday, Thomson met with the media at Citizen’s Bank Park and discussed a range of subjects. Thomson might have used the line “Same as it ever was” from Talking Heads when someone asked who would be the captain in 2024.
Thomson argues that in 2024, hitting Kyle Schwarber first should be the strategy.
Fans of the Phillies disagree on the subject of who should bat first for the team. There are others who follow the professional team of Schwarber and are enamored with the “Schwarbomb,” which is the lefty slugger’s skill of ambushing a fastball for a home run to start the game.
Last season, on June 2nd, Schwarber assumed the leadoff position and remained there for the remainder of the campaign. During those 104 games, he hit 34 of his 47 home runs while walking 86 times and striking out 215 times, which led the MLB.
Some fans, on the other hand, would want to see Trea Turner or Bryson Stott move up to leadoff in a more traditional table-setter configuration. What is Rob Thomson’s opinion on the matter of change at the top of the lineup?
With Trea Turner and Bryson Stott, we have a lot of alternatives there, Thomson said, according to Coffey. But at this point, I don’t believe anyone can contest the reality that we’ve won a lot of games and scored a lot of runs when Schwarber has batted first. Is it anything you would write about in a lineup writing book? Most likely not. For us, it functions well.
Don’t get your hopes up if you’re hoping for a change at the leadoff position this season. Though Thomson seems determined to stick with Schwarber in the one-hole, he did not totally rule out the possibility of a move when further questioned about it.
According to Coffey, Thomson replied, “Well, I haven’t said that Schwarber’s the leadoff guy because we have a lot of options and a lot happens during spring training.” It’s still accessible. But we’ve won a lot of games with Schwarber there, so if we end up going with him, it’s probably because I feel very good about where he’s at offensively.
Before the new season begins, the Phillies still have plenty of time to decide how they want to employ this squad. As the organization works through the upcoming weeks of free agency and roster building in preparation for spring training, it currently has more urgent issues.
It seems like Kyle Schwarber’s job to lose if the season started right now in the leadoff position.