Counting down the Phillies' 5 hardest hits of the 2023 season
Here are the hardest hits by Phillies hitters in 2023. Can you guess who took the top spot?
One of the coolest things about the Statcast era in Major League Baseball is seeing the data from the on-field performances of the best baseball players in the world.
Hitting a baseball, especially one thrown at the high velocities MLB pitchers have these days, remains one of the more mystifying feats for the common fan. But MLB hitters can punish pitchers who make mistakes and absolutely tear the cover off the ball when they barrel one up.
Thanks to Statcast, we can countdown the hardest hits of the Philadelphia Phillies 2023 season and admire the vicious swings and majestic results.
Let's jump in, with a familiar face to lead things off.
No. 5: Kyle Schwarber, 113.9 mph
Our first entry comes from slugger Kyle Schwarber, who unleashed a line-drive Schwarbomb on Aug. 23 against Alex Cobb and the San Francisco Giants.
After retiring the Phillies DH in his first two at-bats, Cobb got ahead of Schwarber 0-2 to lead off the sixth inning but then left a 94.3 mph sinker middle-in, and Schwarber turned on it.
The hardest hit ball of the game, Schwarber's 386-foot home run left the bat at 113.9 mph and a 23-degree launch angle, and left Citizens Bank Park in a hurry.
The solo homer got the Phillies, who were trailing 4-0 at the time, on board. Unfortunately, they still lost the game 8-6 in extra innings.
No. 4: Kyle Schwarber, 114.1 mph
Schwarber, unsurprisingly, is also fourth on the list of the Phillies' hardest hits in 2023, for a Sept. 16 home run in St. Louis. The 114.1 mph three-run homer off Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas was even more of a line drive than his first entry on this list and left the yard in the blink of an eye.
After starting the game with a groundout and flyout, Schwarber came up in the top of the fifth with one out and Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas on base. He took a 2-2 sinker at the top of the zone and uncorked a bullet over the fence in the right field corner.
The 358-foot shot was Schwarber's 44th long ball of the season and put the Phillies up 4-1 in a game they would go on to win 6-1 over the hapless Cardinals. More importantly, John Kruk has to figure out how he's going to scale the Gateway Arch next time the Phillies are in St. Louis.
No. 3: Kyle Schwarber, 114.3 mph
Oh, look, it's Kyle Schwarber ... again.
This one is for his 114.3 mph moonshot during the first game of a doubleheader on Aug. 8 against the Washington Nationals. The 447-foot Schwarbomb was the Phillies DH's second home run of the game. Both came off Trevor Williams, who was probably glad he didn't have to see the lefty slugger a fourth time.
With two on and two out in the fourth, Schwarber unloaded on a 88.5 mph four-seamer out over the plate and deposited it into the second deck in right field of Citizens Bank Park.
Schwarber's 30th home run of the season broke a 3-3 tie and the Phillies would go on to win the game 8-4, before dropping the second game of the day 5-4.
No. 2: Kyle Schwarber, 114.4 mph
And one more time, it's Schwarber with his hardest hit of the 2023 season. This one, shockingly, wasn't a home run.
Leading off a July 6 contest against the Tampa Bay Rays at beautiful Tropicana Field, Schwarber laced a high 0-2 fastball from Rays starter Shawn Armstrong down the right field line at 114.4 mph, ending up on second base with a double.
The Phillies would go on to win the low scoring affair 3-1, with our boy Schwarber knocking in the winning run in the 11th inning on a 93.2 mph single.
No. 1: Bryce Harper, 115.7 mph
Finally, we come to the hardest hit by a Phillies player in 2023, and it's Bryce Harper with a 115.7 mph home run on Aug. 29.
Facing Los Angeles Angels starter Tyler Anderson to lead off the second inning, Harper got a 1-0 middle-middle 89.2 mph sinker and rocketed a solo home run 432 feet off the second-deck scoreboard in right field at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies' first run of the game tied the affair at 1-1, and they would eventually cruise to a 12-7 victory.
The homer was the 299th home run of Harper's career and ties for the 14th hardest hit ball in the majors in 2023.
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