Kyle Schwarber catches ceremonial pitches ahead of the game in Cincinnati: ‘It’s always fun’

CINCINNATI — Before the Phillies faced the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday evening, Kyle Schwarber was behind the plate to catch two ceremonial first pitches.

It’s not every day that the home team involves an opposing player in its pregame festivities. But Schwarber grew up in Middletown, Ohio, less than an hour drive from the Reds’ Great American Ball Park.

The pitches were delivered by his father, Greg, and his youth baseball coach, Ron Groh. Both were being honored by the Reds for their positive impact on local youngsters with Middie Way Youth Baseball & Softball.

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“It’s always fun,” Schwarber said Monday. “Coming here from early 2015 on, 2020, had some fun times here, good games. It’s just always felt comfortable. And obviously, growing up here watching games was always cool.”

Schwarber has been popular during the Phillies’ trip to his home state, with a loud cheering section of family and friends at each game. He gave them something to celebrate when he bashed a 404-foot homer to right field on Monday, his 42nd of the year, in the Phillies’ 4-1 victory.

It temporarily gave him the lead in the National League home run race, until the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani tied him a few hours later with a homer against the Angels.

“It’s always nice when you have family and friends in the stands and feel like they came to the game for a good reason, you don’t do something stupid out there,” Schwarber said. “They travel pretty good whenever we come into town.”

Free agency awaits Schwarber at the end of this season. He has repeatedly said that he wants to wait until the end of the season to get a deal done, to not be a distraction. But the Phillies have already publicly expressed a desire to re-sign the veteran slugger.

“We love him,” owner John Middleton said in July. “We want to keep him.”

It’s possible that the Reds could be in the race, too. Schwarber previously said it would be “awesome” to play for his childhood team on All-Star media day.

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Nick Castellanos is also familiar with the confines of Great American Ball Park, having spent two seasons with the Reds, in 2020 and 2021. But he entered Tuesday still searching for his first hit on the road trip.

Castellanos is in a 0-for-20 slump, going hitless in his last four games. He sat out on Aug. 7 against the Rangers for a planned day off.

His struggles have extended even beyond just this trip, with a .197 batting average and .328 slugging percentage since July 1.

“It’s just one of those times where he’s off balance a little bit,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s catching everything out front. Just needs to stay back and let the ball travel, try not to do too much.”

When one of his players goes through a prolonged slump, Thomson will often move him down in the batting order to take some heat off him. Bryson Stott went from leadoff to ninth amid his struggles in July.

But that isn’t something Thomson has considered doing with Castellanos, who was in the cleanup spot Tuesday with catcher J.T. Realmuto getting a day off.

“Not yet, no,” Thomson said. “Because you never know what Nick will do. He might hit two home runs [Tuesday]. It’s just who he is.”

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Aaron Nola (rib) made a rehab start for triple-A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday. He was targeted for 85 pitches. Alec Bohm (rib) started at third base Tuesday with Lehigh Valley and will be designated hitter on Wednesday. Daniel Robert (blister) started a rehab assignment. … Cristopher Sánchez (11-3, 2.36 ERA) is scheduled to start Wednesday’s series finale against Reds right-hander Hunter Greene (4-3, 2.72). Greene will make his first start since June 4 after being sidelined with a strained right groin.