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Phillies planning to change Kyle Schwarber's role in coming season
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- Phillies planning to change Kyle Schwarber's role in coming season
Phillies planning to change Kyle Schwarber's role in coming season originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Philadelphia Phillies are fully in preparation mode for the upcoming season, after what was quite the rocky campaign. But all in all, Philadelphia's president of Baseball Operations, Dave Dombrowski, didn't mince words when talking about his thoughts on the season during a press conference on Thursday.
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"We're not happy with the season we had," stated Dombrowski. "When we go into a year nowadays, we're in a position where we're expecting, and we want to win a World Series. We're hopeful to be still playing now, so we're not happy with that."
Given this level of disappointment, there would be some level of change that is expected to hit the club, and some of that has already happened, as the Phillies let go of hitting coach Kevin Long and infield coach Bobby Dickerson.
The Phillies' Kyle Schwarber shift
But it appears that the team will be flirting and experimenting with another change in the season to come, as they'll be trying their star slugger Kyle Schwarber at first base, according to the Phillies' executive.
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"Schwarbs is very open to playing more first base," Dombrowski stated. "So what we'll end up doing is, we've never really done this before in the past, in the beginning of Spring Training, Schwarbs will take some- he'll work at first base."
Schwarber's first base pedigree?
Getting thrown in at first base isn't something that Schwarber is too entirely used to throughout his career, as he's been utilized elsewhere in the diamond at the Major League level. During his time with the Chicago Cubs , while he was used sparingly at first base, he was more used in the outfield, which is where he was put during his split season with the Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals , apart from a ten-game stretch at the corner spot.
But during his time with Philadelphia, Schwarber has been their signature designated hitter. With only eight games being spent at first base, in which he recorded three double-plays as well as an error.
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Given this shift, Dombrowski elaborated that the move won't be significant in the number of games that he'll play there, with his guess being close to 30 games, while reiterating that the shift is coming as a way of freshening up more of the veteran players.
"Our estimated number is 30 games, and then at that time put Harp at DH, so it's to keep those guys fresher as they age..." explained Dombrowski.
His time at the corner will add yet another layer of production to Schwarber's game, as his offensive numbers didn't exactly slow down last season, slashing .232/.354/.503 with an MLB-leading 45 home runs.
