The Washington Nationals added Kyle Schwarber over the offseason due to his dinger-mashing ability, and the outfielder showed off his prodigious power in walk-off fashion on Friday night.
The Nats and Arizona Diamondbacks were scoreless with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, when Schwarber launched a 463-foot home run for the win. It’s his first home run since joining the Nats.
463 FEET for the #walkoff! 😱 pic.twitter.com/miwoF27akO
— MLB (@MLB) April 17, 2021
KYLE SCHWARBER WALK-OFF HOME RUN SZN
463 FT (!)
111.9 MPH pic.twitter.com/U5GK18Q6MA— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 17, 2021
That’s a glorious dinger. It’s also the first walk-off homer to end a scoreless game since Daniel Palka did so for the Chicago White Sox in August of 2018.
Kyle Schwarber: first walkoff HR to end a scoreless game since Daniel Palka 8/10/2018
— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) April 17, 2021
So, it’s a very cool way for Schwarber to get his Nats career going, after signing a one-year, $10 million deal with Washington over the offseason.
Schwarber hit 121 regular-season home runs over six years with the Chicago Cubs, to go with a franchise record six postseason home runs (and a .981 postseason OPS). He also made a storybook-esque comeback from a torn ACL in April of 2016 to being a huge contributor in the World Series for the 2016 world champion Cubs. And now he’s added another unforgettable moment to his career.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at Awful Announcing and The Comeback.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@awfulannouncing.com.