Rhys Hoksins conducted an informal poll on the popularity of new Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber inside the clubhouse - Philadelphia.
"You guys like the new guy?" Hoskins said. "I like her."
So did Phillies fans on Opening Day. And his companions dig him too.
Schwarber slammed a homer from the front of the second deck in his first at-bat with the Phillies, flung a "1" finger toward his teammates and slammed his helmet for wild curtain calls as a sold-out crowd of 44,232 thrown into the air.
His 14th career leadoff could be a sign of slugging homer to come.
NL MVP Bryce Harper also knocked in a run and Aaron Nola scored a seven to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 9-5 win over the Oakland Athletics on Friday.
"It's a little early for the first inning screen," Schwarber said with a laugh. "But it was a real exciting moment."
Harper lobbied hard for the Phillies to sign Schwarber, and he awarded the outfielder a $79 million, four-year contract. Harper also made stump speeches — "four phone calls a day," according to their shared agent — to sign Nick Castellanos for the Phillies. Castellanos received a $100 million, five-year contract.
That's $179 million on the two sluggers that Harper pushed the front office to sign to improve the team after finishing 82-80 last season.
"I thought the lineup flowed really well, I thought it looked really cool," Harper said.
Schwarber got the offense rolling when he crushed a 427-foot homer to the right of AK starter Frankie Montas (0-1) on his seventh pitch of the game.
The fun in Philly was just getting started.
Schwarber's one-out walk in the third innings ignited a four-run blast. Harper is heard shouting "MVP! MVP!" Mantras followed him from the first day's introduction to his final bat. He showed why he earned that award last season with a hit from the left, which he extended into a double. He was called out on the throw but remained at second base during the play's review. Every replay on the big screen cheered the crowd as Harper slid safely under the tag of second baseman Tony Kemp. The play was reversed and Harper scored on a two-RBI single from Hawkins. Didi Gregorius' single up the middle made it 5-0.
Such an innings was on Phillips' mind when he tried to end the post-2011 drought of the season. Schwarber, who added an RBI single in the eighth to lead 9-5, won a World Series with the Chicago Cubs and has played six of his seven seasons in the Majors after the season.
Nola, the 2018 All-Star, who went 9-9 last season with an ERA of 4.63, started his fifth straight opening day. Chad Pinder hits a single homer in the fourth. Three-run shot from Seth Brown in Nola (1-0) chasing seventh. The A made it 6–5 but Brad Hand finished seventh with Jade Lowry taking second and third place runners.
"He did very well in that part of the lineup and looked like he was kicking the ball up a bit and they paid for it," said Phillips manager Joe Girardi.
Castellanos added an RBI double in the seventh to take a 7-5 lead. While playing table tennis in the clubhouse, Castellanos was holding a beer in one hand as Jay-Z walked around the room. He endeared himself to his new fans as they stuck around after the final out and walked up to him through autographed baseball netting.
Several Phillies wore T-shirts with a quote from Castellanos to their news conference after signing with the team: "I don't have a college degree, I hit baseball."
No degree. But a straight A for the Phillies in Game 1.
"I think it describes a lot of personalities in this clubhouse, man," Castellanos said. "We're a group of kids who get to play baseball."
Moniac out
The Phillies held off Mickey Moniac with a broken right hand on Day 10 of IL. He was injured in his final bat of spring training on Wednesday and could miss six weeks.
Og fanatic
The Philly Fnatic parachuted onto the field for the first time since 1993.
The Phillies in the offseason settled a legal dispute with the creator of Fnatic, which allowed baseball's most beloved native of the Galapagos Islands to return to its natural green, furry, bulbous-belly state.
Fnatic wasn't the only part of the Phillies that needed a facelift. The home run Liberty Bell had been on the fritz the previous few seasons, but was repaired in time for the opening day. Phillies executive vice president David Buck said 26,000 LED lights were added to the bell and a new hydraulic system was installed to move the bell when the Phillies went deep.
Stott honors
Bryson Stott made his major league debut for the Phillies as a starting third baseman. Stott, the 14th overall pick in the 2019 amateur draft, finished sixth for his first hit. His first career double and in the eighth RBI made it 8-5. He dedicated his call-up — and wears the number 5 — in honor of his childhood best friend, who died of cancer six years earlier. Stott called Cooper Ricciardi's mother on Thursday and said she was in tears over the news.
Familiar debut
It was a defeat in his debut for first-year Oakland manager Mark Coates. Kotse was promoted from third base coach to manager and was replaced by Bob Melvin. Kotse said that his first big league game in a 17-year career was in 1998 in Philadelphia.
"The last seven years, (you) grind through coaching to get to this point," he said. “You know, the reward for all of this, the moment will be quick. It will be over and then the grind will begin.”
Next
Oakland LHP sends Cole Irwin to the mound in the second game of a three-match series against Phillips RHP Kyle Gibson in the afternoon.