Phillies’ Darick Hall basking in glow of hitting three homers for his first MLB hits

Darick Hall still hasn’t made much of a dent in the list of unanswered text messages in his phone.

And he’s about to get a few more.

Hall made his major league debut Wednesday night — and batted cleanup, no less — after getting called up by the Phillies. The next night, he got his first two hits — both home runs — and lived out a lifelong dream at Citizens Bank Park. He hit another homer in the sixth inning Friday night, becoming the first Phillies player since Ed Sanicki in 1949 to homer for his first three major league hits.

“I called my wife [Thursday] in the middle of the day, and I’m like, ‘I feel like we haven’t talked for two days,’ because so much stuff’s been going on,” Hall said before Friday night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals. “Both of our phones are blowing up.”

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In lieu of hiring a personal assistant, and to keep from never actually putting down his phone, Hall said he’s responding mostly to family and close friends. There will be time to catch up with everyone else later.

It has been a whirlwind couple of days. Hall, who turns 27 next month, became the first Phillies player in 83 years, since LeGrant Scott in 1939, to bat fourth in his major league debut. No player had done so for any team since Kris Bryant for the 2015 Chicago Cubs.

Although he didn’t shake his nerves until the first homer, Hall said batting in the middle of the order actually made him feel more comfortable. Left-handed power has been his signature throughout his career, since he hit 20 homers in 62 games for Dallas Baptist University in 2016. He hit 29, 26, and 20 homers from 2017-19 and was leading the triple-A International League with 20 homers this season.

“I think there’s some familiarity there, right? To me, I’ve always hit in the middle of the lineup,” said Hall, who is expected to play primarily as the designated hitter when the Phillies face right-handed starters. “Obviously here it’s a little bit different level, but it’s the same goal. It’s the same thing I’ve done throughout the minor leagues. If I do what I do, I will help the team. That’s all I think I can ask of myself and they can ask from me.”

After going 0-for-4 with one strikeout in his first game, Hall took Atlanta Braves reliever Jesús Cruz deep in the fourth inning Thursday night. His second homer came against Mike Ford, a first baseman who pitched for the Braves in the eighth inning of the Phillies’ 14-4 rout.

“The first one, really it felt like the monkey’s off my back,” Hall said. “It felt good. The second one was cool. I was really relaxed and felt like I could do my thing. The nerves really went down. A lot of people were like, ‘Take everything in instead of worrying about anything.’”

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Hall traded a few bats to retrieve the ball from his first home run. He also got a few baseballs from his first game, and the Phillies are planning to present him with the lineup card. So there will be plenty of mementos to share with all the people who have been texting him this week.

“[Thursday] might’ve been even more than the first day, honestly,” Hall said. “It’s been crazy. I’ve been trying to get to as many as I can in a day.”

In a pregame ceremony, the Phillies paid tribute to retiring Albert Pujols, who is back with the Cardinals for his final season. Ryan Howard, a St. Louis native, and Rhys Hoskins presented Pujols with the “STL” sign from the out-of-town scoreboard. Howard personalized a message on the sign.

Pujols, 42, entered the weekend with 14 home runs in 81 games against the Phillies, including 10 homers in 31 games at Citizens Bank Park. Miguel Cabrera, Oliver Perez, and Pujols are the last three active players to have played at Veterans Stadium.

With lefty Bailey Falter getting called up to start Friday night in place of injured Zach Eflin, the Phillies opened a roster spot by designating outfielder Óscar Mercado for assignment. Mercado struck out in his only at-bat for the Phillies after being claimed off waivers from Cleveland earlier in the week. ... Matt Vierling made his second career start at third base in place of Alec Bohm, who got a breather after 16 consecutive starts. ... Center field prospect Johan Rojas went 1-for-3 with a stolen base in his first game after getting moved up to double-A Reading. ... The Phillies won’t play Monday, their first scheduled day off on the Fourth of July since 1916. ... Kyle Gibson (4-3, 4.48 ERA) will start Saturday against Cardinals left-hander Matthew Liberatore (2-1, 4.00).

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