👋 Good morning! Man, it’s nice to see the ball fly out of the ballpark.

Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Righteous Felon Craft Jerky.

This Chester County based company has the perfect snack that satisfies your hunger and provides the right amount of protein to fulfill your body’s daily needs, and they have been doing it for over a decade. if you are the kind of person who wants a deal and snacks delivered right to your doorstep, you can order online using discount code PHLY20 for 20% off. Righteous Felon has all kinds of cool variety packs and bundles on the site.

As always, you reach me at [email protected]

Woo baby.

And as MVP chants were ringing throughout The Bank, WOO BABY!

What a special year that Kyle Schwarber is having. Who knew that a player’s prime could be in his Age 32 season?

Some of this comes down to the obvious stuff, namely his incredible bat speed and superhuman strength. As Tyler pointed out on yesterday’s Phillies show here, Schwarber’s average exit velocity is 94.9 miles per hour. That is the average of how fast the ball comes off his bat when it is put in play. The last two nights, Scwarbs has hit three homers with exit velos of 108.7, 110.9 and a measly 100. Like a Rory McIlroy driver, the ball just sounds different off his bat. If a pitcher jams Schwarber, they should get a prize.

But I cannot stress how impressive Schwarber’s development as a hitter has been over the past few years. This is clearly a guy who thinks the game at a high level. Just a few years ago, it was hard work defending Schwarber in the leadoff spot. Do not get me wrong, I still did it because he saw pitches, worked walks, and the big one, the Phillies won a bunch of games with him there. But the guy hit just .191 two years ago.

(I wonder if Bryce Harper rehabbing from Tommy John is an underrated part of this late-career improvement. As the designated hitter, Schwarber now spends all of that time in the cage in between at-bats. He clearly makes good use of it.)

Now, Schwarber is a complete hitter. The man is batting .258, to raise that on-base percentage all the way to .382. He mixes in more singles, while cutting down on the strikeouts ever so slightly. And as Cade Povich found out last night (and Tyler Holton the night before), Schwarber mashes lefties to the point that there is no issue batting him and Bryce Harper back-to-back. Rob Thomson traditionally likes to split up the righties and lefties, but with Schwarber, it does not matter.

Don’t look now, but Schwarber (.975) is creeping up to Shohei Ohtani (.982) in OPS. Yeah, yeah, Shohei has the whole “he also pitches!” advantage when it comes to MVP voting, but hey, that has only amounted to 15 innings so far this season. Pete Crow-Armstrong seems to be the WAR darling this year, and yeah, he has the whole “plays the field and runs the bases at a high level” going for him.

But strictly as a hitter, Schwarber is right there with Ohtani for the best in the National League. John Middleton?

Jakorian! Fun little late-night trade deserves a fun little late-night pod with Bo and Fran here.

Some assorted thoughts:

Christian Parker on Quinyon: The Birds are probably only gonna have Christian Parker around for one more season, as the 33-year-old defensive backs coach is a prime candidate to get a defensive coordinator job somewhere else.

One of the reasons Parker should get a DC job? The presence of Quinyon Mitchell, who by all accounts is killing it at camp and should build on his incredible rookie season. Parker expanded on that below.

Also, pretty darn cool to see Jason Kelce working with the young offensive linemen. If the Eagles wanted to feel themselves like Pat Riley and the Miami Heat, they could trademark #EaglesCulture and write self-aggrandizing messages on The Linc turf.

Seriously, don’t do that. But good for Kelce.

No. 3: That is where the Nits rank in the preseason coaches' poll, behind Texas and Ohio State and ahead of Georgia and Notre Dame. James Franklin and high expectations, huh? I guess we’ll see! Schedule looks pretty manageable, Oregon at home and at Ohio State are the two big ones.

Phillies 13, Baltimore 3: Gonna need a shot and a beer after that one, Dolores. Things keep getting worse for the O’s, with former Baltimore prospect Seth Johnson mowing ‘em down to end the game.

The bats woke up, perhaps too much even. I could hear the entire Delaware Valley yelling “Save some for tomorrow!” when Edmundo Sosa and Wes Wilson went back-to-back in the eighth inning.

Besides Kyle Schwarber, the biggest swing of the night belonged to Harrison Bader. Not too shabby for your first hit as a Phillie.

Can we just drive Max Kepler to the airport (“Terminal!” as my friend Sheil Kapadia yells) and play Bader every day?

And finally, an update on the Luzardo Coaster…

I believe the Eagles will practice today, and if so, it is my favorite day of locker-room access: How is it gonna feel… to hit someone wearing a different jersey? And then Phils-Orioles Game 2 (6:45 p.m., NBC Sports Philly).

Your tentative Tuesday schedule at ​PHLY​:

Let's make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
PHLY SPORTS