Kyle Schwarber, with a cold beverage in hand and bruise on his foot, came over to greet 22-year-old Johan Rojas at his locker. The young Phillies center fielder hit his first career home run against a position player throwing 48 mph. He caught one inside and accidentally drilled it into the seats.
Woops.
“They all count,” Schwarber said to Rojas in the clubhouse after the Phillies’ 13-2 win over the Twins.
It’s probably not the way he drew it up, but a home run is a home run.
“It felt good,” Rojas said through a team interpreter. “I never thought it would be off of a position player. But honestly, the most important thing is that we won the game.”
The pitcher, outfielder Jordan Luplow, looked at Rojas as he trotted to first base with his hands out in playful disgust.
Rojas smiled as he circled the bases and said something to Luplow with his hand over his chest. He didn’t mean to hit the ball that far.
“After I ran the bases, I looked at him and I said ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to do that,'” Rojas said.
Even though he was just trying to be polite, he has nothing to be sorry for. As Schwarber said, they all count. Rojas, who was not expected to be a major contributor this year, went from Double-A to starting center fielder for a team with World Series aspirations in less than a month.
Rojas does not have the ball yet, but he will soon after some negotiating. It’s the second time in three days a Phillies rookie has hit his first big league home run. Weston Wilson hit one in his first plate appearance during Michael Lorenzen’s no-hitter.
Prior to Rojas’ home run, the pitcher Luplow worked the crowd and imitated Craig Kimbrel’s peculiar setup.
Kimbrel said somebody in the bullpen pointed it out to him. He believes other position players have done something similar in the past, but it’s all in good fun.
“I was happy it worked out the way it did,” Kimbrel said.
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