Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber had the hardest-hit playoff home run in the Statcast era
Padres starter Yu Darvish never turned around, because he knew the pitch he had just thrown was headed over the wall at Petco Park.
Phillies left fielder Kyle Schwarber connected with the 87 mph cutter from Darvish as solidly as anyone possibly could. Like Darvish, everyone on the field and in the stands immediately knew it was a home run of Schwarber’s bat.
Yep, Schwarber hit a no-doubter Tuesday night in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
The ball traveled an astonishing 488 feet and landed in the second deck at Petco Park.
Phillies star Bryce Harper told reporters after the game: “Yeah, I thought (the ball) got pretty small pretty fast, right. I’ve never seen a ball go up in that section of Petco Park. Just very impressive. Just wow.”
MLB analyst Devan Fink noted the exit velocity of 119.7 mph made it the fifth-hardest hit ball of the Statcast era and the No. 1 hardest-hit ball ever in the playoffs since Statcast started in 2015.
Schwarber was asked by reporters if he knew the ball was the hardest he’d ever hit.
“Yeah, sure, by the way it went out,” Schwarber said. “Yeah, sure, that one was definitely a hard-hit baseball. Like I said, it’s good to be able to help contribute there and start feeling a little bit better.”
Darvish wasn’t feeling quite as good, but he did joke about wanting to get back at Schwarber, as the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported. The two were Cubs teammates from 2018-2020.
“He’s a friend of mine, and every time we meet, we greet each other and all that,” Darvish said through interpreter Shingo Horie, per Rosenthal. “But next time I meet him, I might have to punch him.”
