PHILADELPHIA -- On a night when Kyle Schwarber did something he'd never before done with the Phillies, he also did something he's done, well, plenty with the Phillies.
Schwarber dusted off his first baseman's mitt to make his first start at first base since his days with the Red Sox in 2021. His bat, though, did not need any fine-tuning.
Schwarber teed off for his MLB-leading 25th home run of the season in the fourth inning of Tuesday night's game against the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. He became just the fourth Phillies player to reach the 25-homer mark within the club's first 73 games, joining Ryan Howard (2006), Jim Thome (2004) and Chuck Klein (1930).
Though Schwarber played one inning of mop-up duty at first base on May 7 against the A's, he did not see any action in that game. So when he fielded a throw from second baseman Bryson Stott for the second out of the first inning, it marked his first out at first base since Game 6 of the 2021 ALCS with the Red Sox.
Schwarber's cameo at first base allowed Bryce Harper -- the only Phillies player to play in all 73 games this season -- to get off his feet for a night as the club's designated hitter. Harper has started 68 of his 73 games at first base, while getting a handful of DH days. Alec Bohm and Felix Reyes started two games apiece in Harper's place at first earlier this season.
"He does work there occasionally -- we're not going to kill him anywhere -- but he handles himself all right out there," interim manager Don Mattingly said of Schwarber playing first. "We have to be able to do it some to be able to get Harp off his feet."
Schwarber has made occasional starts in the field over the past few years, but always in the outfield. He was the club's full-time left fielder in 2022 and started 103 games in left in '23 before shifting primarily to DH in '24. He started five games in left in '24, eight in '25 and two so far this season.
As for first base, Schwarber had made just 18 previous starts at first base (including the postseason) over his 12-year career -- all of which came for the 2021 Red Sox.
"These guys are baseball players, and they've been the best athletes on their teams from the time they were 8 years old, probably," Mattingly said. "So him going out there -- he's probably gonna have fun out there."
Schwarber wasn't the only Phillie doing something Tuesday that he had only done for a former team. With Trea Turner sidelined by a right wrist contusion, outfielder Brandon Marsh was penciled into the leadoff spot for the first time in more than four years. He last hit leadoff on June 12, 2022, for the Angels.
Like Schwarber, the change didn’t seem to slow down Marsh one bit. The outfielder continued his breakout season by working a leadoff walk and coming around to score in the first inning, then smashing a two-run homer in the second.
Marsh is the first Phillie other than Schwarber or Turner to hit leadoff this season. Turner began the year atop the lineup, but was bumped down to the No. 2 spot behind Schwarber on May 26 due to his season-long struggles.
But with Turner expected to return to the lineup for Wednesday's series finale, it's unlikely Marsh will stick in the leadoff spot.
"I haven't really thought much about that," Mattingly said when asked if Marsh could get more chances atop the order. "But today it felt right."