\n\n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:”https://twitter.com”,”thumbnail_url”:null,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:550,”contentType”:”rich”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”Nori spent about a week this winter hitting with Schwarber at his house.\n\nIt was an invaluable experience.\n\n“It’s going to be a grind,” Nori said of his professional baseball career. “In my mind, I’m back at the bottom. You were right at the top, but now you’re at the bottom. You have to work your way up. So I’m going into it with that mindset. It’s a new chapter. I have to work even harder now. Kyle tells me, ‘It’s a grind, but keep playing.’” Keep playing your game.’””,”type”:”text”}),”relativeSiteUrl”:”/news/dante-nori-kyle-schwarber-phillies-connection”,”contentType”:”news”,”subHeadline”:null,”summary”:”PHILADELPHIA — Shortly after the Phillies selected Dante Nori with the 27th overall pick in the 2024 draft Sunday night, an old friend texted.\nIt was Kyle Schwarber.\n- Phillies ‘unanimous’ in decision to take prep OF Nori at 27th\nNori and Schwarber know each other since”,”tagline({\”formatString\”:\”none\”})”:null,”tags”:({“__typename”:”InternalTag”,”slug”:”storytype-article”,”title”:”Article”,”type”:”article”},{“__typename”:”ContributorTag”,”slug”:”todd-zolecki”,”title”:”Todd Zolecki”,”type”:”contributor”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-807276″,”title”:”Dante Nori”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:807276″},”type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-143″,”title”:”Philadelphia Phillies”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:143″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”apple-news”,”title”:”Apple News”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”mlb-draft”,”title”:”MLB Draft”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”mlb-top-prospects”,”title”:”MLB Top Prospects”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-656941″,”title”:”Kyle Schwarber”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:656941″},”type”:”player”}),,”type”:”story”,”thumbnail”:”https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/{formatInstructions}/mlb/xvxhrrzadlfuvy7kluuf”,”title”:”Phillies first-round pick Dante Nori goes way back with Kyle Schwarber”}},”Team:143″:{“__typename”:”Team”,”id”:143},”Person:807276″:{“__typename”:”Person”,”id”:807276},”Person:656941″:{“__typename”:”Person”,”id”:656941}}} window.adobeAnalytics = {“reportingSuiteId”:”mlbglobal08,mlbcom08″,”linkInternalFilters”:”mlb”} window.globalState = {“tracking_title”:”Major League Baseball”,”lang”:”en”} window.appId = ” /*–>*/
July 15, 2024
PHILADELPHIA — Shortly after the Phillies selected Dante Nori with the 27th overall pick in the 2024 draft on Sunday night, an old friend sent him a text message.
Nori and Schwarber have known each other since Schwarber’s freshman year at Indiana University in 2012. Nori, who had just finished his senior year at Northville High School in Michigan, was just seven or eight years old at the time. Nori’s grandfather, Fred, was an assistant baseball coach for the Hoosiers and was the one who recruited Schwarber to play for the Hoosiers.
Nori remembers playing catch with the future Phillies slugger on the warning track in Bloomington, Indiana.
“I have an oversized uniform and everything I need on me,” Nori told MLB.com Tuesday morning.
It’s fun to think that both players will be in the same organization in the coming weeks. Nori, 19, is expected to sign with Philadelphia and forgo his college commitment to Mississippi State. The Phillies are excited to have him in Clearwater, Fla. They see a 5-foot-10, 190-pound center fielder as a blue-chip. They see someone who can hit line drives from foul pole to foul pole. They see someone with a great approach to batting. They see someone who knows how to get on base and wreak havoc once he’s there.
“I told every scout this year that he reminded me of Lenny Dykstra,” Northville baseball coach Dan Cimini said. “The first thing I said when he told me the Phillies had drafted him was, ‘Oh my God, that’s the craziest thing.’ I showed him some videos of Lenny Dykstra. He was laughing because these kids don’t remember (Dykstra), but he plays the game like him.”
“(Nori) is a winner. He’s going to do whatever he can to help his team win a championship. That’s the kind of guy he is. He’s going to spend as much time in the weight room as he can. He’s going to spend as much time in the batting cage as he can. He’s going to do everything he can to make sure his game is the best it can be for the Phillies and for himself.”
Nori, who helped Northville win its first state championship in the school’s 115-year history, knows what it takes to be an elite athlete because he’s been around them his entire life. Nori’s father, Micah, is a longtime NBA assistant coach who currently coaches the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Nori grew up knowing NBA stars like Anthony Edwards, Vince Carter, DeMarcus Cousins, Kyle Lowry and many more.
“Being there and knowing how hard you have to work to get to where you want to be has really shaped me,” said Nori, who was born in Canada in 2004. “I recently fell in love with Anthony Edwards. He’s a young kid. He’s taking the NBA by storm. But when I get in the ring (in Minnesota), I get there at 6:30 in the morning and he’s already there. He’s already in the ring. He’s the first one there. I’ve seen all the hard work, all the sacrifices – it really rubs off on you.”
Cimini said Nori is always working on his craft. If he’s not hitting, he’s lifting. If he’s not lifting, he’s doing something else to improve his game.
It is a process that lasts all year round.
“I’m not the type to go out,” Nori said. “You can ask my friends, my girlfriend. If that doesn’t help me, I don’t do it. In practice, in my mind, if you work when everyone else is working, you become as good as them. You have to work when everyone else is not working.”
Nori spent about a week this winter playing with Schwarber at his house.
It was an invaluable experience.
“It’s going to be a grind,” Nori said of his professional baseball career. “In my mind, I’m back at the bottom. I was right at the top, but now I’m at the bottom. I’ve got to improve. So that’s the mindset I’m going into it with. It’s a new chapter. I’ve got to work harder now. Kyle tells me, ‘It’s a grind, but keep playing. Keep playing your game.’”