Shane Victorino: Philadelphia will love ‘thumper’ and ‘go-getter’ Kyle Schwarber

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Shane Victorino was there for Ryan Howard’s 58th home run in 2006 and when David Ortiz sent Torii Hunter flipping over the outfield fence at Fenway Park in the 2013 playoffs. He watched Matt Stairs’ grip-and-rip swings in batting practice and was Mike Trout’s teammate for two months.

Who better, then, to rank Kyle Schwarber’s power-hitting chops in relation to other titans of the home run?

“Just raw power? Shoot, I put him up there with anyone,” Victorino said by phone Wednesday. “When Kyle wants to go up there and just try to hit the ball 500 feet, I mean, it’s bound to happen. He has that kind of thump. He’s up there, for sure. Yeah, 100%.”

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Victorino, the Phillies’ former Gold Glove outfielder, admits he “wasn’t all gung ho at first” when he heard the team reached a four-year, $79 million agreement with Schwarber because most people believe the 29-year-old slugger is best suited as a designated hitter.

But then Victorino thought back to 2016, when he spent spring training on a minor-league deal with the Chicago Cubs, and remembered being impressed by Schwarber’s work ethic, leadership, and of course, prodigious power.

“As I looked at it, I’m like, dude, he’s the kind of guy that would fit that energy, give you that thump, and get the stadium on its feet,” Victorino said. “This is one of those moves where you go, ‘I think he’s going to fit in.’ I think it’s a great fit.”

When Victorino met him, Schwarber was a few months removed from bashing five homers in nine playoff games as a rookie and developing a cult following in Chicago. “Schwarbombs,” his moon shots to the farthest reaches of ballparks, were all the rage.

Victorino observed Schwarber in the first few weeks of the Cubs’ camp and recalled a quiet, conscientious 22-year-old still adapting to a new position (left field) and striving to cement a spot in the lineup, even though his staying power wasn’t in doubt after he eclipsed Miguel Cabrera as the youngest player to hit five homers in one postseason.

It was hardly a surprise to Victorino that Schwarber came back from two torn ligaments in his left knee to help lead the Cubs to a hex-breaking World Series triumph in 2016. Or that he has gone to the playoffs in all but one of his seven major-league seasons. Or that he was the Phillies’ top target in the pursuit of a power hitter to put alongside Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, and Rhys Hoskins.

“He’s a freaking thumper,” Victorino said. “He’s a go-getter. The city’s going to like that thump and that excitement.”

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In 2016, Schwarber was learning to play the outfield after coming through the minors as a catcher. It wasn’t always pretty. But Victorino was impressed by Schwarber’s athleticism, which belied his lumberjack build.

“You could tell he was not an outfielder. He was not comfortable, just out of his element,” Victorino said. “But he was working to become a good outfielder. That’s what stood out to me about Kyle was the work ethic. I felt like he was actually a great athlete. And learning about him and asking guys about him, they said he was a great athlete.”

After being traded to the Boston Red Sox last July, Schwarber tapped into that athleticism again to play first base, another new position. He started nine postseason games at first and helped the Sox to within two wins of reaching the World Series.

They wanted him back, too, but lacked a positional fit.

“In such a short time, he became an incredible part of this team, very beloved in the region,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told reporters Wednesday. “And he’s a great fit for Philly.”

The Phillies signed Schwarber for his bat and his leadership, both of which stood out to Victorino in the spring of 2016. Victorino said Schwarber’s left-handed power reminds him of Stairs. It isn’t a crazy comparison.

Although Stairs is remembered mostly as a stocky pinch-hitter extraordinaire whose tie-breaking homer at Dodger Stadium in Game 4 of the 2008 National League Championship Series will forever be on the short list of most memorable swings in Phillies history, he finished his career with 265 homers. An MLB Scouting Bureau report before the 2014 draft projected a “Matt Stairs type role” for Schwarber.

“I’m not saying they’re the same, but when I look at Matt Stairs and that electrifying power, Kyle’s going to do that on an everyday scale,” Victorino said. “When Stairs came to the plate, people just wanted to see how far and how hard he was going to deliver on this ball. Kyle’s going to get it four times a night.”

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Schwarber also got more postseason plate appearances last year (49) than every Phillie player other than Harper and Didi Gregorius has in their career.

Take it from Victorino, a two-time World Series winner. Experience in October can’t be discounted.

“He’s a veteran; he’s a world champ,” Victorino said. “He knows how to lead and how to be in those scenarios when the [stuff’s] hitting the fan and how to navigate through it. The way he plays and the kind of guy he is, I think he’s going to fit in pretty well there.”