PHILADELPHIA — The last time Kyle Schwarber failed to reach base safely in a regular-season game was Sept. 22, 2024.
That was 47 games ago, a streak that has put the 32-year-old into rarefied air in club history.
Even more rare, manager Rob Thomson knows, is for a hitter at Schwarber’s age to seem to be improving even on the far side of 30.
“Yes, even since he’s been here, especially last year, when he kind of changed his approach and thought more about left center field,” Thomson said Monday when asked if the slugger is somehow still getting better. “He’s really been solid.”
Schwarber returns home off the emphatic note of two home runs and three RBIs to account for all the offense in Sunday night’s 3-0 win over the Guardians, capping a 5-1 road trip for the Phillies. The dingers move him to 298 career, 145 as a member of the Phillies and even with Aaron Judge of the Yankees for the most in Major League Baseball in 2025 at 14.
But it’s only a portion of what Schwarber is providing on a nightly basis, with his .998 OPS. And the biggest symbol of that is the on-base streak, which is fourth in franchise history. Mike Schmidt holds the record at 56 games, in 1981-82. Chuck Klein reached in 49 consecutive in 1930, while Bobby Abreau had a 48-game streak in 2000-01.
“For me, one of the cool things is just seeing who he is tying or passing each day,” teammate Trea Turner said. “I think the names that go by are obviously really good and puts you in that category of some greatness. I think that’s for me the cool thing.”
Schwarber extended the streak to 47 games Monday night against the St. Louis Cardinals, with a single to lead off the bottom of the sixth.
It’s worth considering where Schwarber was before getting to the Phillies.
He looked like one of the most promising power-hitting prospects in baseball, a trajectory slowed only slightly by a torn ACL in April 2016 from which he returned to hit .412 in the World Series for the Cubs, including three hits in Game 7 to deliver the franchise’s long-awaited World Series title.
He hit 38 homers in 2019, but then was curiously non-tendered by the Cubs after a difficult — and, in retrospect, clearly nonrepresentative — 2020 in which he hit .188.
He resuscitated his career by hitting .266 with 32 homers with Washington and Boston in 2021, then signing the four-year deal with the Phillies.
While he’s struck out no fewer than 197 times in his three full seasons with the Phillies, he’s also walked at least 100 times in each of the last two seasons.
“He’s a complete hitter, to me,” Thomson said. “Uses the field, takes what they give him, really. If they want to pitch around, if they want to nibble, he’ll take his walks, he’ll take his base hits. And if you pitch to him, and you make bad pitches, he’s going to do damage. He hits righties, he hits lefties. He uses the entire field. He’s a complete hitter, to me.”
All of that has implications for what the Phillies will do at season’s end, when Schwarber’s four-year, $79 million contract expires. He’s been a cornerstone of the Phillies clubhouse in his recent area of relevance. He’ll turn 33 in March, and all the talk about him getting better with age will be translated into bargaining chips in free agency.
In the meantime, they’ll ride the wave of it.
“You get older, you get smarter,” Turner said. “I think sometimes when you’re younger, you might have a little more energy in this and that, but you kind of just don’t know how to channel it. I think his routine has gotten better over time. His preparation has gotten better.”
• • •
Andrew Painter will pitch on Thursday for Lehigh Valley. The goal is to get him to the neighborhood of five innings and 75 pitches.
He made his Triple-A debut on Friday with three innings, one hit, three walks and five strikeouts over 60 pitches.
“All the reports were good,” Thomson said. “(He) threw strikes, the strike percentage was good — I know he had three walks in a row right at the end of his outing — but a lot of swings and misses on his breaking balls, and he came out of it healthy. So that was good.”
The Phillies have said they’ll take things slow with Painter, their top prospect and one of the top prospects in baseball, after his Tommy John surgery last year. The goal is to build him up to 90/95 pitches, which will likely be his max this year, before a big league return.
• • •
NOTES >> Jose Ruiz (neck spasm) will pitch Wednesday for Lehigh Valley in Syracuse then again Friday for the Iron Pigs. … Max Kepler has hit .231 against lefties this season, including a two-run double off Joey Cantillo on Saturday in Cleveland. But Thomson went with righties Monday against Matthew Liberatore, with Weston Wilson in left and Edmundo Sosa at second. Sosa is hitting .348 in eight starts against left-handed starters. … Since what everyone involved hopes was rock bottom April 19 against Miami, Jordan Romano has allowed just two runs (one earned) in his last 6.2 innings, including five straight scoreless outings. “He’s just attacking the zone,” said Thomson, who took blame for his early usage of Romano as contributing to his struggles. “I think the slider is really good right now. He’s throwing strikes.” … Sonny Gray (4-1, 3.50 ERA) and Jesus Luzardo (3-0, 2.11) square off Tuesday night at 6:45. The getaway day pits Erick Fedde (3-3, 3.86) against Aaron Nola (1-6, 4.89).
Source: Berkshire mont