Friday, March 07

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Kyle Schwarber remembers being the wide-eyed kid.

He remembers making his Cubs debut in 2015 and getting an unexpected text from Reds first baseman Joey Votto. Schwarber grew up a Reds fan. A common friend told Votto about Schwarber’s Cincinnati roots, so Votto texted him congratulations on making the big leagues.

Schwarber’s reaction: “What do I say?”

Phillies prospect Gabriel Rincones Jr. (No. 10 in the organization per MLB Pipeline) had a similar experience this spring, when Schwarber texted him. Rincones was talking to his mother on the phone, when he suddenly stopped talking. His mom wanted to know why.

“Hold on, mom,” he said. “I’m responding to Kyle Schwarber. I don’t want to say something stupid.”

“Stop messing with me. What are you actually doing?”

“I’m not lying to you.”

Rincones knew it was Schwarber because he called him “Uncle Rico,” a reference to the memorable "Napoleon Dynamite" character who bet his nephews that he could “throw a football over them mountains.”

Schwarber gave him the nickname after watching him take BP.

“The first time I saw him take BP, I was like, 'This guy is taking freaking massive hacks and hitting the [stuff] over the mountains,'” Schwarber said. “But I texted him because I threw a lot of stuff at him one day. I said, ‘Hey, man, you did a great job. If you need anything clarified, just let me know and I’ll clarify it.’”

Rincones has come a long way. Born in Florida, he moved to Venezuela to Scotland to Venezuela and back to Florida as a kid. He went years without seeing his parents as he pursued baseball.

Rincones shared his “mysteriously wonderful journey” on the day the Phillies selected him with the 93rd overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.

Less than three years later, Rincones is standing next to Schwarber in the outfield, talking about hitting while hitting Grapefruit League pitching. Rincones is batting .250 with three home runs, seven RBIs and a 1.181 OPS this spring.

Rincones needs more seasoning -- he mentioned how he has struggled against left-handed pitching -- so he will open the season in the Minor Leagues. But at the very least, Rincones has made a strong first impression in his first big league camp.

“I’d be stupid to not soak up as much as I can from [hitting coach Kevin Long] and Schwarber, who’s been nice enough to work with me,” Rincones said. “I mean, from the first day that I’ve worked with K-Long, and then the day after that working with Schwarber, it was exactly what I felt like I needed in my swing to feel stable. I’m using the ground.”

Rincones mentioned “using the ground” a few times as he spoke about his hitting.

“It’s similar to throwing a punch,” he said. “If I push you at my hardest, and you get in your strongest stable position, whether that be upright or really wide, that’s your strongest, most stable position. It’s more to it than that obviously.”

But it has helped.

And it has been fun to learn about it from people he admires.

Rincones looked around the clubhouse and said he could say something good about every player he’s interacted with. He mentioned Ranger Suárez, Jesús Luzardo, Aaron Nola, Max Kepler.

Rincones went on.

“I couldn’t make this up,” he said about the experience. “I’m very grateful that they see me. They say hi to me. People that you would normally watch on TV and you’d say, ‘Man, that’d be sick if I could be friends with them,’ it feels good to hear them say good morning. But I’m really just trying to keep my head down. I have a lot of confidence, but I have a long way to go. Even when I get to their level, I still want to stay and feel like I do right now.”

In the meantime, Uncle Rico will keep using the ground.

“The power is real,” Schwarber said.

Jimmy Rollins is in Clearwater through the weekend as a guest instructor. Rollins is the franchise leader in several offensive categories. This is NOT one of them:

A. Hits
B. At-bats
C. Doubles
D. Stolen bases

• Rollins is in camp through the weekend as a guest instructor. The Phillies’ legend talked about the 2025 Phillies’ chances of winning the World Series, Trea Turner possibly hitting leadoff and his own Hall of Fame chances.

• Suárez said he wants to be a Phillie forever, but he will become a free agent following the season and he is almost certainly going to test the market.

Phillies owner Ruly Carpenter announced on March 6, 1981, that he would sell the team. Carpenter, whose family had owned the team since 1947, had become disenchanted with rising player salaries.

“I just don’t think you can continue to operate this business paying players this kind of money,” he said.

The Phillies finished the 1980 season with the second-highest payroll in baseball with their players averaging $221,274.

D. Stolen bases

Ed Delahanty had 508 stolen bases in his Phillies career (1890-95). Rollins (2000-14) is second with 453.

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