CINCINNATI _ They longed for this day. Not just after seven long weeks in Florida, but following months of a winter vacation that forced every Phillies starting player to wonder. The prospects are coming. This, the franchise's 135th season, is a gap year.
It started with a called strike Monday at 4:10 p.m. Then, three minutes later, Cesar Hernandez smacked the eighth pitch of the season to the red seats in right field at Great American Ballpark. The season, for the first time since 1938, started with a Phillies home run.
And the rebuilding Phillies, matched against the rebuilding Reds, never relinquished control.
This 4-3 Opening-Day win was powered by newcomers and relievers but punctuated by two middle infielders who seek to prove their value to a team that is grooming their replacements.
Hernandez and Freddy Galvis, the two diminutive Venezuelan infielders, homered. They paired to complete two inning-ending double plays in the first three innings. Galvis doubled to center in the sixth. He scored an insurance run on Jeremy Hellickson's triple.
The Phillies did not waver until the final out, when Scooter Gennett's two-run homer cut the lead to one. But the smoke from the fireworks had not even cleared by the time Jeanmar Gomez sealed the 27th out.
The offense _ bottom feeders in every major category last season _ rapped seven extra-base hits by six hitters. The Phillies coerced Cincinnati starter Scott Feldman to throw 27 pitches in a patient first inning. Feldman required 64 pitches to record his first nine outs.
It looked nothing of the feeble unit from a season ago. That, as much as a nine-inning sample can mean, is progress.
Hernandez, the unlikeliest of sluggers, started the surge. He did not hit his first home run last season until June 4, in the Phillies' 56th game. The Phillies coaches have pushed Hernandez to attempt at least one bunt single every game because of his exceptional speed.
He fell behind 0-2 to Feldman. He fouled back three Feldman fastballs. He worked the count full. The eighth pitch, a 91-mph fastball low and inside, intersected with Hernandez's swing path. The ball traveled 377 feet.
First baseman Tommy Joseph greeted Hernandez at the dugout steps with a double high five. He removed Hernandez's helmet from his head, and the rest of the dugout mobbed him to celebrate. Not since Heinie Mueller against the Brooklyn Dodgers at the Baker Bowl on April 19, 1938, had a Phillies season began with a home run. Mueller was 5-foot-6 and later joined the army after the Pearl Harbor bombings.
Hernandez is 26 and confident after a career season. This spring, Scott Kingery and Jesmuel Valentin impressed Phillies officials in big-league camp with their natural instincts and composure. The two prospects are at Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, respectively, and both profile as potential everyday players in the majors. They will put pressure on Hernandez.
Galvis is aware that shortstop is earmarked for J.P. Crawford, the Phillies' top prospect, who could reach the majors in 2017 with adjustments applied at triple A. He is one of the more intriguing characters this season, a shortstop with a tremendous glove and power potential but flawed until he improves his low on-base percentage.
The summer will be the truest test. For one day, the current Phillies began their cases to stay.
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