\n\n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:”https://twitter.com”,”thumbnail_url”:null,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:550,”contentType”:”rich”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”Nori played at Schwarber’s house for about a week this winter.\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 of the totem pole. You were just at the top, but now you’re at the bottom. You’ve got to work your way up. So I’m going into it with that mindset. It’s a new chapter. I’ve got to work even harder now. Kyle tells me, ‘It’s a grind, but just 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 on Sunday night, an old friend texted him.\nIt was Kyle Schwarber.\n- Phillies ‘unanimous’ in decision to draft prep OF Nori at Nori’s Nori pick at Nori’s Nori Nori 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 message.
Nori and Schwarber have known each other since Schwarber’s freshman season at Indiana University in 2012. Nori, who had just finished his senior year at Northville High School in Michigan, was only seven or eight years old at the time. Nori’s grandfather, Fred, was the Hoosiers’ assistant baseball coach. He recruited Schwarber to play there.
Nori remembers playing with the future Phillies slugger on the warning track in Bloomington, Indiana.
“I have an oversized uniform on and everything,” Nori told MLB.com on Tuesday morning.
It’s funny to think that they’ll both 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 bring him to Clearwater, Fla. They see a top-of-the-lineup spark in the 5-foot-10, 190-pound center fielder. They see someone who can line drives from foul pole to foul pole. They see someone with an excellent approach at the plate. They see someone who knows how to get on base and cause havoc once he gets there.
“I’ve told every scout this year that he reminds me of Lenny Dykstra,” Northville baseball coach Dan Cimini said. “The first thing I said when he told me the Phillies took him was, ‘Oh my God, that’s crazy.’ I had shown him some videos of Lenny Dykstra. He laughed because these kids don’t remember [Dykstra]but he plays the game just like him.
“[Nori’s] a winner. He’s going to do everything he can to help his team win a championship. That’s the type of kid he is. He’s going to be in the weight room as much as he can. He’s going to be in the batting cage as much 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 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, having 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 with NBA stars like Anthony Edwards, Vince Carter, DeMarcus Cousins, Kyle Lowry and many more.
“It really shaped me, just being around it and knowing how hard you have to work to get where you want to be,” 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 lift up [in Minnesota]I get there at 6:30 and he’s already there. He’s already lifting. He’s the first person there. I’ve seen all the effort, all the sacrifice — it really rubs off on you.”
Cimini said Nori is always working on his craft. When he’s not hitting, he’s lifting. When he’s not lifting, he’s doing something else to improve his game.
It is a process that takes place all year round.
“I’m not really a ‘going out’ guy,” Nori said. “You could ask my friends, my girlfriend. If it’s not going to help me, I won’t do it. In practice, in my head, if you work when everyone else is working, you’ll be as good as them. You have to work when everyone else isn’t working.”
Nori played at Schwarber’s house for about a week this winter.
It was a priceless experience.
“It’s going to be a grind,” Nori said of his professional baseball career. “I think I’m back at the bottom of the totem pole. You were just at the top, and now you’re at the bottom. You’ve got to work your way up. So I’m going to go into it with that mindset. It’s a new chapter. I’ve got to work even harder now. Kyle tells me, ‘It’s a grind, but just keep playing. Keep playing your game.'”