It used to be that your leadoff hitter was fast – probably your center fielder, but maybe a left fielder or second baseman. They could hit for high average or low average, but when it came down to it, they could get on base – they could work walks and bunt their way on and take big leads. Then they scurried around the bases and scored a lot of runs when the beefier, tobacco juice-stained sluggers came up in the three, four and five spots in the batting order. And that’s how baseball worked, or was supposed to work, for a very long time.

The game has changed. New trends arrived. Priorities shifted. Some players stopped wanting to run as much because it was a great way to chew through their tendons faster. They preferred to play a few more years than attempt to take the extra base. Swiping 50 bags a year can kill your knees and sliding headfirst can wreck your ribs, let alone the odd pinky injury that’ll sideline you for a couple of weeks. 

As the game evolved, the Phillies tried a few guys in the leadoff role over the last decade. Many of them were imperfect versions of that earlier definition; some weren’t so much “leading off” as just “batting first.” Some had one of the components of a leadoff hitter: Ben Revere was fast. César Hernández could get on base. Andrew McCutchen would throw on his Saturday Night Special jersey and charm his way to first. 

At some point, Kyle Schwarber showed up in Philadelphia. No one really remembers how. You’ll hear rumors about him being a free-agent signing by Dave Dombrowski before the 2022 season who received a four-year deal through 2025. But the truth is, one day we woke up and he was here, smashing home runs onto the porch in right-center at Citizens Bank Park. It was great.