Take it from the stars: Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber is also an All-Star teammate

Schwarber's impact on his teammates goes beyond home runs. "He cares so much" about everyone else, says Ian Happ.

The Phillies' Kyle Schwarber takes batting practice a day before the All-Star Game in Los Angeles.Read moreJae C. Hong / AP

Published July 18, 2022, 6:51 p.m. ET

LOS ANGELES — Ian Happ used to think he got to the ballpark early every day. Being the first one there was a point of pride as he came up through the minor leagues with the Chicago Cubs.

Then he met Kyle Schwarber.

“Get my coffee, I’d Uber there, and I’d open the doors to the clubhouse on the road and see Schwarber with a coffee, watching video in his shorts and his flip-flops,” Happ said Monday on the eve of the 92nd All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium. “I’d say, ‘How long have you been here, man?’ He does that. He loves talking about facing the pitcher that day, loves being in the cage.”

In March, when the Phillies signed Schwarber to a four-year, $79 million contract, they valued his left-handed bat and cartoonish home-run power. But they also knew they were buying Schwarber’s personality. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said as much in the spring training news conference to introduce Schwarber when he made an unsolicited mention of what the 29-year-old would mean “from a teammate, makeup perspective.”

Schwarber has left an impression everywhere he has gone. From Chicago, where he helped lead the Cubs to a hex-busting World Series championship in 2016, to four months with the Washington Nationals last year to a two-month cameo with the Boston Red Sox in which he assimilated so well that fans began calling him “Kyle from Waltham,” stories of Schwarber’s influence in the clubhouse are almost as common as tales of his power.

“He’s awesome,” said Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Trea Turner, who played with Schwarber in Washington. “He’s hilarious, and he wants to win. When you have a guy that wants to win and is fun to be around each and every day, it makes it easier in such a long season to show up every day.”

To his former teammates, it’s no coincidence that Schwarber reached the playoffs in all but one of his first seven major league seasons. It helped, of course, that he played with talented Cubs teams that included Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Báez, Willson Contreras, Jon Lester, and Jake Arrieta. But Schwarber helped hold it all together like Super Glue.

Schwarber’s sway is particularly strong among young players. Happ, a first-time All-Star, was a 22-year-old rookie in 2017 when he took advantage of those early days at the ballpark to watch Schwarber’s pregame preparation. He would ask questions. Mostly, though, it was Schwarber who would make observations.

“During the game, man, he’s so invested in your at-bats,” Happ said. “He pays attention to the sequences that pitchers had on you. He talks through it with you. Screams at umpires when there’s a bad call. Screams for you when you hit a homer. That guy is such an unbelievable teammate because he cares so much.”

There are signs of that leadership with the Phillies. After home games, Schwarber often pulls up a chair for Bryson Stott, Matt Vierling, and any other young Phillies player who wants to sit and chat. He leads the team in a postgame toast after victories.

Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto tend to lead more by example. Schwarber leads with his charisma and the experience that comes with having played in 35 postseason games, including Game 7 of the World Series. Those qualities were lacking in the Phillies’ clubhouse before Schwarber arrived.

Consider his experience with the Red Sox. When he got traded to Boston one day before last year’s July 30 deadline, he couldn’t play because of a strained hamstring. His first game wasn’t until Aug. 13. But he didn’t wait to develop relationships with his new teammates. Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts recalled Schwarber working closely with young first baseman Bobby Dalbec, among other players.

“[Rafael] Devers would say, ‘What you going to do today?’ And he was like, ‘I’m going to hit homers today,’” Bogaerts said. “I’m like, ‘Man, this guy, he’s unbelievable. It was really fun having him on our team because he definitely carried us for a while. He picked it up. That big back that he has, he carried us.”

Schwarber has lifted up the Phillies, too. At the All-Star break, they are percentage points ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals for the final National League playoff spot. If they do end a decade-long playoff drought, folks will point to the June 3 managerial change. The Phillies are 27-14 under interim manager Rob Thomson after going 22-29 under Joe Girardi.

But Schwarber leads the majors with 19 homers since Memorial Day, including nine since Harper fractured his left thumb. He also stabilized the leadoff spot with a .385 on-base percentage in June and a .333 mark since May 29.

“It’s definitely not the perfect first half,” Schwarber said. “I guess I’m a traditionalist. I don’t like to be hitting .20-whatever it is [.208]. Yeah, the other numbers are there, the power, the RBIs, whatever. But there’s still more aspects to the game.

“But we’ve had a lot of things thrown at us throughout this year, and the way we’ve responded, it’s what good teams do. I’m very happy with where I’m at in Philly.”

So much so that Schwarber agreed to compete in Monday night’s Home Run Derby. After finishing as the runner-up to Harper in 2018, he called the event a “bucket-list item.” But the chance to represent the Phillies, in his first season with the club and with Harper unable to play in the All-Star Game, compelled him to do it again.

None of his former teammates at Dodger Stadium this week is surprised.

“Talk to him, and you’ll find out real quick why he’s such a great teammate,” Turner said. “He jokes around. He’s in the middle of everything. He’s friends with everybody. He kind of brings everybody together. It’s just who he is.”