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5 Observations as Phillies Show Their Best (and Worst) in Opening Day Win

April 9, 2022
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Big bats, bad gloves, a vintage Aaron Nola effort in more ways than one, and a questionable decision by Joe Girardi came together like a scene from Captain Planet to create a game featuring the best and worst of what is expected to be a roller coaster of a baseball team. It was the complete 2022 Phillies experience, and it all unfolded in their very first game.

Let’s jump right into five observations from the Phillies’ 9-5 Opening Day win over the Athletics.

Schwarber Shows Why He’s at the Top

Kyle Schwarber’s .374 on-base percentage a season ago is more than enough justification to hit him atop this Phillies lineup, but in case there was any doubt, he showed why he’s there in his first two at-bats.

During his first plate appearance, Schwarber spit on a tough 2-2 splitter from A’s starting pitcher Frankie Montas. He then blasted the seventh pitch of the at-bat, a 97.3 mph sinker, over the right field fence. The party was on right from the start.

The sequence showed exactly why he’s so dangerous. An opposing pitcher basically has two options with Schwarber:

  1. give in, run this risk of what you see above
  2. play around, put him on, and deal with a parade of dangerous hitters who can — and often will — bring him around

In the first inning, Montas began with option one. He immediately regretted his decision.

In the third inning, he tried the second option, only to walk Schwarber on six pitches. Two batters later, Schwarber was across the plate following a J.T. Realmuto single and Bryce Harper RBI double.

A Telling Sequence

Kickstarted by Schwarber, the third-inning rally that netted four runs was interesting on multiple levels, so here’s some quick hitters:

  1. It was great piece of hitting by Realmuto to stroke the ball through the right side, allowing Schwarber to move from first to the third with one out. The power of this lineup is obvious, but if it combines blunt force with savvy hitting and quality approaches, good night.
  2. Harper’s RBI double was nice and all, but it probably should have been a run-scoring single.

 

I love the hustle, and on a lesser team with a thinner lineup, I’d say roll the dice, Bryce. Push the envelope. Force the defense to make a play, even when the ball beats you by three strides and requires only a routine tag. With this lineup, however, he no longer needs to take such a reckless approach.

3.  Case in point, after Nick Castellanos struck out with runners at second and third, Rhys Hoskins delivered a huge two-out, two-run single that provided the Phillies with some breathing room, which, of course, they would need. The depth of this lineup is real. The hype about it is real. This group will be a flat-out grind for opposing pitchers this season.

But Wait, There’s More

The Phillies plated nine runs on 11 hits, five of which went for extra bases. The first eight Phillies hitters recorded at least one hit. Only Matt Vierling, who added a sac fly, was held without one.

Rookie Bryson Stott also had a multi-hit effort in his first career start.

The offense helped build a 5-0 lead. Later, it provided plenty of breathing room after Aaron Nola and the defense teamed up for a hideous seventh-inning effort that almost spoiled it. From start to finish, it was a relentless offensive effort.

The Defense. Christ.

If a game can qualify as a microcosm for the complete 2022 Phillies experience, then it must include poor defense. And we saw plenty of it during a seemingly never-ending top half of the seventh. Holding a 6-4 lead, the Phillies flirted with a full collapse when Hoskins and Stott teamed up to commit a pair of errors. Stott also laid out for a tough-but-playable ball that kicked off his glove for an infield single. Here’s Stott’s error:

In between the mishaps, it appeared Oakland’s Stephen Vogt rolled into an inning-ending double play, but Jean Segura and Stott couldn’t turn it in time. Luckily for the Phillies, relievers Jeurys Familia and Brad Hand recorded roughly six outs to preserve the lead.

Vintage Nola…Both Ways

For six innings, Nola looked like the dominant pitcher who consistently confounded opposing hitters every season prior to last year. He needed just 65 pitches to complete six innings. He struck out seven, walked none and yielded just one hit — a fourth-inning solo shot off the bat of Chad Pinder.

But in the seventh, Nola was quickly tagged by a pair of hits. Holding a five-run lead, and with Nola at just 68 pitches, Girardi allowed his guy to face Seth Brown with two runners in scoring position. The results weren’t great!

I get placing some blame on Girardi in this spot. Nola was a bit fat in the zone to the first two batters, sure. But he was at 68 pitches. With a five-run lead.

You’d like to think following six stress-free innings that Nola would have a bit more in the tank and bear down. It didn’t happen. Instead of a lights-out performance that should have generated plenty of confidence moving forward, Nola ended his day with a result that felt awfully familiar to what he saw far too often last season — lots of good, some bad, plenty of questions.

There’s plenty for Nola to build on following a promising first outing, but he needs to do it from start to finish.

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