Luke Gabrysh stood his ground in Section 144, proudly boasting a water-soaked cream Phillies alternate jersey as one of the brightest days to ever take place at Citizens Bank Park was overtaken with dark rain clouds.
The college sophomore at the local Saint Joseph’s University had scored two tickets to watch his childhood team take on the San Diego Padres in Game 5 of the 2022 National League Championship Series. With his girlfriend, Abby, by his side, Gabrysh looked on as Phillies superstar Bryce Harper stepped up to the plate, trailing by a run, with a man on first in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Down 1-2 in the count, Harper watched a changeup go by, then laced a line drive over the wall in left-center field — directly toward Gabrysh’s section. The lifelong Phillies fan was up close as the baseball landed one row ahead of him and four seats to his right. Harper led Philadelphia to a World Series appearance with the proverbial swing of his life, and the woman who retrieved the ball gave Gabrysh an opportunity to take a photo with the newly discovered artifact.
“That was probably my coolest moment,” Gabrysh said. “A picture with Harper’s, probably, the biggest home run of his career.”
It stood as his coolest moment until this week, when Gabrysh was selected by the Phillies in the 15th round of the Major League Baseball Draft on Tuesday. A right-handed pitcher for the St. Joe’s baseball team for the past three seasons, he was taken with the No. 462 overall pick. Two years after holding a piece of Phillies history in his right hand, he’ll be using it to pitch for the organization he idolized as a kid.
It’s a development he couldn’t have even imagined as he watched that remarkable 2022 playoff run unfold from the stands.
“Looking back on it, it’s insane thinking that I’ve been there, growing up going to that stadium,” he told Phillies Nation by phone. “I’ve been going there for over 10 years, so the fact that I’m in the organization and have a chance to go be there (as a player) is still insane.”
A native of Wilmington, Del., Gabrysh, 21, attended Concord High School before deciding to stay in the area for college. He spent his time as a reliever at St. Joe’s, posting a 6.10 ERA in 20 appearances this past season.
The son of parents Susan and Gary, Gabrysh was raised as a Philly sports fan with frequent 35-minute trips to the South Philadelphia Sports Complex throughout his childhood. His father had Eagles and Flyers season tickets when Gabrysh was a kid, and the family — with Luke and sister Lexi and their younger sisters Lucy and Lena making up two sets of twins — supported the Phillies as well.
“I have pictures of me at Phillies games from when I was a baby,” Gabrysh, whose favorite players growing up were Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, said. “It’s always been my team, just watching and rooting for them. They’ve had their ups and downs, but I’ve always been a Phillies fan through it all.”
Those trips to the ballpark continued throughout college as Gabrysh would head down from Hawk Hill to see the Phillies play after practice or on his days off. The tradition provided him with a front-row seat to see Harper help clinch the National League pennant. And every time Gabrysh sees a replay of that iconic homer, he can spot himself in the crowd as the ball clears the fence.
“If it was anywhere closer, I was jumping for it,” he laughed.
Gabrysh entered college with a lively arm, an athletic 6-foot-3 frame and a good deal of improvements to make. He pitched sparingly in his first two years, making 10 outings in each of those seasons and giving up a combined 34 earned runs in 27 1/3 total innings. St. Joe’s coach Fritz Hamburg wanted Gabrysh to throw more strikes and better understand how to utilize his arsenal. He was pleased to see the young righty “connect the dots gradually” as he turned himself into a draft prospect.
“We’re thrilled for him that he’s getting this opportunity,” Hamburg said. “Obviously, we’d love to have him back, but most importantly it’s our intent that we want guys to move on when they’re ready. And I think he’s close to that. Certainly, he still has a lot of room to grow and a lot of room to get better, but he’s a lot closer to being able to handle things now.”
Gabrysh had a better collegiate season as a junior in 2024, but his showing over the summer is what seriously put him on the radar for major-league organizations. He joined the Trenton Thunder of the MLB Draft League, and he dominated the competition as the team’s closer. He dialed in his combination of a mid-90s mph sinker and a sweeper to deceive hitters from his low three-quarters arm slot, pitching to a 1.42 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings.
The pitcher believes he probably wouldn’t have been drafted if not for his performance in Trenton. But he put it all together at the right time in order to hear his name get called.
“The draft is awesome,” Gabrysh said. “… I’m really enjoying it, but knowing that this isn’t it. This is just one step of the process, and it’s not done until I get to the big leagues and have a good career.”
There’s still some work to be done to finalize a deal with the Phillies, but Gabrysh anticipates heading to the team’s training complex in Clearwater in the next week. It’ll surely be a surreal moment to sign a professional contract with the club he’s always cheered on, but that situation could also be daunting for some athletes in his position. For Gabrysh, though, it’s a privilege and a challenge he should be able to handle.
“He’s one of those kids where I don’t think he really recognizes pressure,” Hamburg, a former Phillies minor leaguer from the area himself, said. “Some kids, they’re just out there having fun. He’s one of them. Obviously, yes, there is pressure from the standpoint that it is his hometown team, and putting on that uniform for the first time is going to be a thrill. But he’ll work through that. The pressure factor, he’s never shown that that’s been an issue.”
Joining the Phillies’ minor-league system, Gabrysh will need to build upon the progress he’s made so far to get where he wants to go. He’s hoping to take in some more big moments at Citizens Bank Park — next time from a bit of a different perspective.
“I’ve been to the Bank and been a Phillies fan my whole life,” he said. “And now that I have a chance to end up playing for the Phillies or, if not, even just being in the organization is something I can’t even fathom right now.”
