In a season where power has been hard to come by for the Philadelphia Phillies, DH Kyle Schwarber has proven that he’s still one of the most consistent home run hitters in all of baseball. But he needs to be on the field to hit home runs.
Schwarber was a late scratch on Tuesday against the Washington Nationals with lower-back tightness. He was out of the starting lineup again on Wednesday, only making a pinch-hitting appearance in the ninth inning.
Now, Schwarber is optimistic that he’ll be able to get back into the lineup as early as Thursday. Nothing is guaranteed, though.
“We’ll see,” Schwarber said. “See how it comes in tomorrow. I was going to try to play today, just didn’t get to that point where it probably made sense. So try again tomorrow, see where we are at. If I’m in there, I’m in there.”
Interim Phillies manager Don Mattingly added to that. He explained that it comes down to whenever Schwarber feels good to go.
“I’m not letting him know he’s good to go, he’s kind of letting us know,” Mattingly said. “So we kind of knew he had that in the bag, just wanted to get in a spot where he’s going to get pitched to. It was a huge at-bat — 10-pitch walk, gives us the opportunity. That was great.”
Kyle Schwarber Pinch-Hit for the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday
GettyPhiladelphia Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber
While Kyle Schwarber didn’t feel good enough to be in the lineup on Wednesday, he did come into the game as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning. That wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t feel healthy enough to get in the game.
“Just kind of progressively felt like it was getting better and better,” Schwarber said. “I think they took the lead with the pinch-hit home run and that’s when I was like, ‘all right, let’s go ahead and get ready and see where we are at’. [I] got ready, went down to the cage, took some swings, and felt good enough just to give it a go there.”
At the time, the Phillies were trailing by a run when Schwarber came into the ninth inning with two outs. He’d draw a walk, immediately being taken out for a pinch runner. The next batter, Derek Hill, hit a go-ahead home run.
“They take a mound visit and you’re just trying to stay within yourself, stay in the zone, just trying to find a way on base,” Schwarber said. “Got 1-2, we work it to 3-2. That’s the count where it’s like ‘OK, where are we going to go from here?’ He makes a good pitch that way, fastball, I was able to foul it off. He hung a slider, just missed that one, pulled it foul. Threw another good slider and got to first base on the changeup and then D. Hill with [the homer].”
In the end, the Phillies won 5-4. It was the second game in a row they had a ninth-inning comeback against the Nationals to do so, too. This time, it was a win sparked by Schwarber’s pinch-hit at-bat.
“It’s never easy,” Schwarber said. “It’s like the hardest thing to do in the game, I think, is being a pinch-hitter and having to go up there and take an at-bat. Just from playing in the National League — the old-style game, knowing how hard that was and having a great appreciation for guys who were really good at it. That is a talent.”
What’s Coming Up for the Phillies?
GettyPhiladelphia Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber
Now sitting at 44-36 on the season, the Philadelphia Phillies are in second place in the NL East. That’s just 4.5 games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves, and it comes as the Braves have been scuffling lately, going 3-7 in their last 10 games, giving the Phillies a chance to make their move in the divisional race.
The Phillies will wrap up their schedule against the Nationals on Thursday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:45 p.m. EST. After that, they’ll head to New York to take on the last-place Mets.
Around the corner are the Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, and Detroit Tigers before the All-Star break. Of those teams, nobody is above .500 for the season. So, there is an opportunity to get very hot going into the break for the Phillies.
Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber on When He Hopes to Fully Return From Injury