BY GEORGE DICKIE
For baseball fans, spring doesn't begin until the crack of the
bat can be heard in major league ballparks throughout Florida
and Arizona, signifying that another season has arrived.
For the Philadelphia Phillies, the 2023 season comes
with expectations. In 2022, the 87-win Phillies rode a late
season surge through the playoffs to the World Series, despite
finishing third in the National League East. Now all eyes are
on them to see if they can pull it off again.
At the center of those expectations has to be Kyle
Schwarber. The burly left fielder with the vicious lefty home
run cut was a force to behold last year, his first in the City of
Brotherly Love, slamming a league-leading 46 homers and
driving in 94 runs largely from the leadoff spot. Of course,
he batted only .218 and struck out an even 200 times but
he more than made up for that with his power and his 86
walks, which upped his on-base percentage to .323 and his
OPS to .827. And he even
managed to steal 10 bases
in 11 attempts.
If the Phils are to hope
to repeat as NL champs,
they'll need similar output
from Schwarber to get
them past the Atlanta
Braves and New York
Mets in the East. He and
the Phillies can be seen in
action against the Boston
Red Sox Thursday, March
2, in a preseason game
airing from Fort Myers, Fla.
Phillies look for Schwarber
to muscle up again in 2023
• FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 27 - MARCH 5, 2023 •
Ginger Gonzaga and
Steve Howey star in
"True Lies," premiering
Wednesday on CBS
and Paramount+.
YOUR WEEKLY GUIDE TO TV ENTERTAINMENT
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