Last week, Petco Park’s longest home run in history, he ran 488 feet in Game one of the NLC Series between the San Diego Padres. In Game 4, another (429 feet) went lost in the trees behind the center-field fence at Citizens Bank Park.
Overall, the Philadelphia Phillies slugger has hit 49 home runs this season, including a National L-leading 46 during the standard season and three so far in the postseason. It wouldn’t be surprising if he added to that number in his second World Series appearance, which begins Friday against the Houston Astros.
Schwarber, on the other hand, has always hit long home runs. And if he appears to be playing in the postseason all the time, that’s because he typically is. Schwarber has competed in five league championship series for three different teams in his eight-year career. But he brings something else to October that his Phillies teammates want you to know is more valuable than his bat: leadership.
“I liken him to Steph Curry,” rookie teammate Bryson Stott recently noted. “You never hear Steph Curry shouting at his teammates or showing anyone up on the floor, and they all follow his lead. He cheers you up when you’re down. I’m not sure what it is. He’s just a wonderful person who wants the best for everyone.
“He can also smash the ball like Steph can drain 3s.”
From his childhood in Ohio to his time at Indiana University to his four stints in the major leagues, Schwarber has made an impression. Those close to him claim he has a magical touch that extends to his teammates and his coaches.
“It’s tough to pinpoint what or how he does it, but when I felt nervous before a major game in my career, he would calm me down — I can’t say the same for any other player in my career. It’s usually the opposite; in a phone conversation this week, Tracy Smith, Schwarber’s college coach at Indiana, stated. He was the only player I could speak to that gave me confidence coming into that game, which I hate to admit because I was the coach.”
“He made me feel better.”
That indefinable characteristic was ingrained in Schwarber from birth.
“I think it was a combo of everything,” said Schwarber, from Middletown, a Cincinnati suburb. “Mom and Dad combined; they were blue-collar workers who worked as nurses and police officers, and they worked their buttocks out to make sure I could do baseball and travel, and my sister could ride her horses.”
“And then, in high school… Being on a winning football team and understanding how to win helped. Football requires you to work as a team. Baseball is different, but I want to bring the same approach to the game and this squad.”
But the route from Middletown to where Schwarber is now – a vital player of a Phillies team fighting for a World Series title – hasn’t been as easy as his postseason resume suggests.
Smith is the first to confess that his former great player wasn’t a big-profile talent out of high school, hitting.408 with 18 home runs in four years. He initially made an impression at Indiana, where he hit.342 and 40 home runs in three seasons. As a result, the Chicago Cubs selected him fourth overall in 2014.
Even back then, the Cubs’ brass thought they might be getting a unique talent in the clubhouse. Theo Epstein, team president, compared Schwarber’s personality to that of Dustin Pedroia, the idolized leader of his Boston Red Sox teams that won two World Series. According to his former manager, John Farrell, Pedroia was “the straw that shook the drink in Boston.” The Cubs had the same idea about Schwarber.
However, a devastating knee injury at the start of the 2016 season disrupted Schwarber’s development as a player. Despite this, he earned the respect of his teammates when he acknowledged working “harder than [he] had in [his] entire life” to return for the WS that season as an assigned hitter against Cleveland, despite not yet being cleared to play the field. He became a folk hero in Chicago after hitting.412 in four games as the squad won its first championship since 1908.
The Cubs shifted Schwarber to the leadoff place the following season, and he batted.171 in his first 64 games. He struck rock bottom when he was ousted to the minor leagues for two weeks. He batted first for the entirety of the season, batting.191 with a.312 on-base percentage.
“In 2017, I was an awful baseball player,” Schwarber admitted. “I mean, seriously horrible.”
Schwarber developed a critical quality that he would carry with him to other teams at this period in his life: self-deprecation. It may be the ideal character to have in a sport where the setback is a constant.
“He’ll have terrific one-liners,” Stott predicted. “If you’re suffering or anything, he’ll be on the dugout rail and say, ‘Hey, you’re great out there; I’m the worst in here.'”
It was in December 2019, not long after Schwarber’s problems batting first with the Cubs, and his father, Greg, was the first to propose a toast. He hemmed and hawed and sounded agitated to those in attendance before bringing the punch line: “Us Schwarbers aren’t very good at leading off.”
The crowd burst out laughing.
A few years later, then-Cubs pitcher Jon Lester was preparing to leave the team via free agency after the 2020 season. Lester was led out onto the field for what was presented to him as an emotional video tribute as the Cubs prepared for a playoff game.
Instead, it was a compilation of Schwarber’s left-field errors when Lester pitched. Under Sarah McLachlan’s “I Will Remember You,” Schwarber’s scathing commentary broke the house.
Most notably, while covering first base for the Red Sox in the ALDS last year, Schwarber made an error on a throw to pitcher Nathan Eovaldi. When he comfortably connected with Eovaldi for the out in the next inning, he received a standing ovation for his emotional celebration.
“I think I got pretty much everyone laughing,” Schwarber added. “I’ll be the first one to confess that I stink; if we can make a comedy out of it, you might make yourself laugh as well as someone else who isn’t having a good day.”
“I’ve never seen a guy with his mentality,” Phillie’s second baseman Jean Segura said. “He’s our leader, and the way he helps teammates, whether things are going well or poorly, he’s the same person.”
Schwarber, who is nearly a decade into his major league career, has also taken it upon himself to be a resource for inexperienced players. Many of his teammates in Philadelphia are playing in their first postseason, but this is Schwarber’s 15th playoff series.
“Every day, he’ll take the young players out and get them on the curveball machine,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He puts them at ease, makes them feel wanted, and assists them.
“I’ve never seen a guy with his mentality,” Phillie’s second baseman Jean Segura said. “He’s our leader, and the way he helps teammates, whether things are going well or poorly, he’s the same person.”
Schwarber, who is nearly a decade into his major league career, has also taken it upon himself to be a resource for inexperienced players. Many of his teammates in Philadelphia are playing in their first postseason, but this is Schwarber’s 15th playoff series.
“Every day, he’ll take the young players out and get them on the curveball machine,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He puts them at ease, makes them feel wanted, and assists them.
“This guy has his slumps, and while he’s in one, he’s still helping others, which is unique.”
Third baseman Alec Bohm, who has faced setbacks this season, has felt the impact of Schwarber’s touch.
“He’s the guy who will approach you while you’re struggling and say, ‘Hey, I’ve been there,'” Bohm explained. “It’s just who he is; he’s a winner.”
As the Phillies prepare for the World Series, they want it known that while home runs are fantastic, their teammate is much more than that. Schwarber has that touch, and while they may not always be able to explain it fully, they can feel it. And it’s one of the things fueling their incredible playoff run.
“You’ll never grasp it unless you’re truly in his physical presence,” Smith, his college coach, said.
J.T. Realmuto (Phillies) “As amazing as he is as a player, he’s so much better in the clubhouse,” Realmuto continued.
“Everyone gravitates toward him.”