Bryce Harper had a feeling he was seeing something special this season when Kyle Schwarber hit his 300th career homer in May.
“It never ceases to amaze us,” Harper said. “The way he goes out there, and hits the ball that far. And just the way he does it, man, it’s impressive.”
Schwarber wound up going deep 56 times, landing two short of Ryan Howard’s Phillies record for home runs in a season. And many of the Schwarbombs were memorable indeed, including the night in August when he became the 21st major leaguer to hit four home runs in a game.
The Inquirer takes an interactive look at Schwarber’s most memorable blasts, and it’s definitely worth checking this out.
The Phillies are enjoying a first-round playoff bye as they wait for the winner of the Reds-Dodgers wild-card series, which starts with Game 1 tonight in Los Angeles. Scott Lauber takes a close look at both potential opponents. The Dodgers are as dangerous as ever and the Reds are skippered by our old friend Terry Francona.
— Jim Swan, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.
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Less than 24 hours after his star receiver posted a Scripture verse on social media, Nick Sirianni was asked if he was sure A.J. Brown wants to remain with the Eagles.
“Yeah, yeah,” Sirianni said. “Obviously A.J. is very important to this football team. … I question nothing about his desire to play great football, his desire of being a good teammate, his desire to be here.”
Brown caught two passes for 7 yards in the 31-25 win over the Buccaneers and did not talk to the media afterward. However, he posted words from the gospel of Mark 6:11: “If you’re not welcomed, not listened to, quietly withdraw. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way.”
Marcus Hayes wonders: Is this just A.J. being A.J., or does he really want out? This is the first time since his arrival in 2022 that Brown has implied that he might want to “be on his way,” as in, leave via trade. Or something.
This is likely to blow over as long as Brown gets his catches. In more pressing injury news, Ogbo Okoronkwo is believed to have suffered a torn triceps, leaving the Eagles ever thinner at edge rusher.
The Flyers will open their season next Thursday with a matchup against the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers. The Inquirer’s Jackie Spiegel sat down with general manager Danny Brière to chat about Matvei Michkov’s second season, the addition of Trevor Zegras, and his message to the fans about the goalies and the team. Here’s the Q&A.
After recovering from an elbow infection, Tyson Foerster rejoined his linemates from last season, Noah Cates and Bobby Brink, in the game Monday against the Bruins, Foerster’s first action of the preseason.
Nick Nurse likes his options for backup big men behind Joel Embiid, especially if the oft-injured Sixers center can remain relatively healthy. While the team keeps a close eye on Embiid’s minutes, it will turn to the likes of Andre Drummond, Adem Bona, and a few newcomers to step in at center. “It’s competitive,” the Sixers coach said of the fight for playing time behind Embiid.
Coach James Franklin says it’s important for No. 7 Penn State to quickly move on from its loss to Oregon. A Big Ten game Saturday against UCLA awaits.
“I get the anger and frustration, I really do,” Franklin said. “But if you’re not careful, that negativity can linger. We have had this issue in the past where one loss turns into two because you just have so much negativity that it’s hard to get the team moved on. … We are on to UCLA.”
After a bye week, Temple will host Texas-San Antonio, a team that has had its way with the Owls in the last few years.
Sports snapshot
🧠 Trivia time
Kyle Schwarber has hit 12 homers for the Phillies in the postseason, sharing the team’s career record with which other player? First with the correct answer here will be featured in the newsletter.
A) Bryce Harper
B) Jayson Werth
C) Chase Utley
D) Ryan Howard
What you’re saying about the running game
We asked: How can the Eagles fix their rushing attack? Among your responses:
Easy fix! First things first. You’ve got to fix the passing game. Once that is taken care of, the running game will open up. The defense can’t be in two places at the same time. For a winning Super Bowl team not being able to complete one single pass in the entire second half of a football game against a Tampa Bay team should tell you what needs fixing. … Teams make halftime adjustments but that was insane. Sorta like they knew exactly what play was being run. Just sayin’. My wife can’t take many more of these high anxiety finishes. — Ronald R.
I am not a football coach who can talk the X’s and O’s of what is wrong with the offensive line, but for most of yesterday it looked like Saquon was on his own. … In all four games it appeared that the defenses were stacked to stop Saquon, and Sirianni and Patullo and Hurts especially in this game were not taking advantage of that. Brown and Smith are two of the best and need to be used accordingly. Right now the offensive line of last year is just not the same, and neither is the play calling.— Everett S.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Scott Lauber, Lochlahn March, Sam Morris, Chris A. Williams, Jeff Neiburg, Marcus Hayes, Jackie Spiegel, Keith Pompey, Jonathan Tannenwald, Greg Finberg, and Ryan Mack.
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