How Kyle Schwarber's changes vs. lefty pitchers transformed his game: ‘Be prepared to die'

New York Times

13-05-2025

PHILADELPHIA — A few years ago, Kyle Schwarber heard a story. He cannot remember who told it or who was involved. But he remembers one detail, the mantra that has guided his transformation into a complete hitter on the verge of another huge payday. It went like this: A left-handed hitter had success against Randy Johnson, one of the greatest lefty pitchers ever. A teammate asked this hitter how he did it.
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'You have to be prepared to die,' he said.
This story was embedded in Schwarber's head near the end of the 2023 season. By Game 162, when the Phillies knew they'd face the Miami Marlins in the Wild Card Series, Schwarber made a request. He wanted to wear a C-Flap helmet during the season's final game, anticipating he'd face Marlins lefty Jesús Luzardo, now a Phillies teammate, a few days later. He had to stay in there against Luzardo's power sinker that ran inside. He wore the new helmet for those two playoff games against Miami, struck out five times in eight at-bats, then ditched it for the rest of the postseason.
He wore it again to begin 2024. He added more padding to his right hand and left wrist only when he faced lefties. On the third day of that season, he heard he might not start against Atlanta Braves lefty Chris Sale. But he talked his way into the lineup, and on the second pitch he saw from Sale, launched a homer 382 feet to right field.
No lefty hitter in MLB has taken more plate appearances against lefty pitchers since the start of the 2024 season than Schwarber. It's up to 313 now. And, in that time, only two lefty hitters with at least 50 plate appearances have a higher OPS against lefty pitchers than Schwarber: Yordan Alvarez and Juan Soto. Schwarber is tied for the major-league lead in homers this season, and half of his 14 have come against lefties.
There is more to it than the C-Flap helmet. It's been a years-long process for Schwarber to evolve.
'He's got this knack,' Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long said, 'for willing himself to do things that other people think he can't do.'
Whenever Schwarber is in the cage with Long before a matchup against a tough lefty, Schwarber says the line. Be prepared to die. It must be a coincidence that few lefty hitters can match the success he's enjoyed since adding the face guard.
'I mean, the mind's a powerful thing, right?' Schwarber said. 'You tell yourself one thing, and the next thing you know, you're having success. But I feel there are a lot of different things, too, that went into that.'
The transformational day, in Schwarber's mind, was March 31, 2024. The time he faced Sale. He homered, then struck out and hit into a double play.
'But something just felt right,' Schwarber said. 'I couldn't even put my finger on what it was. 'Wow. That felt good?' I just kind of kept going with it. I do it every day. I did it every day in the previous years, doing my lefty stuff. But something just clicked.'
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Maybe. But this doesn't just happen, not a decade into an established player's career. Long has seen plenty of lefty hitters who could master lefty matchups. In the hitting coach's mind, it started in 2021 when both were with the Washington Nationals. Schwarber, after years as a platoon player with the Chicago Cubs, hit .268/.389/.398 against lefties that season with Washington and the Boston Red Sox. Schwarber, to that point in his career, was a .197 hitter versus lefties.
He is hitting .321/.446/.774 against them in 2025. It's .304/.415/.548 since the start of 2024.
'It's work,' Long said. 'It's willing yourself. It is understanding what a lefty is trying to do to you. Understanding the angles. Understanding what pitches do against lefties. He's got a really good grasp on it. He's shortened his swing since the time I met him to where he is now.'
It's one thing to shake the platoon label. It is another to become an elite left-on-left hitter. Teams continue to attack Schwarber with lefty relievers late in games; he's hit .276/.400/.526 against them since 2024. The Phillies are daring teams to summon a lefty to face Schwarber because he is batting behind Bryce Harper this season.
'You try to get to that point where you make it just a pitcher,' said Schwarber, who will be a free agent at season's end. 'You don't really view it as left-on-left or a right-handed pitcher, whatever it is. You just view yourself as hitting. You kind of want to take the stigma away from that.'
This was achievable, Schwarber said, because of the work with Long. He can make quicker adjustments during a game, a week, a month. The hitting coach simulates an extreme angle by placing a pitching machine off-center from home plate to recreate the arm angle. The machine fires fastballs, sliders and curveballs; Long places it closer to home plate to improve Schwarber's reaction time. He had to work within the angle. Align with the left arm. Change the field.
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'Here's how crazy this whole thing is,' Long said. 'So, two weeks ago, he's hitting under .200 against righties. And he's beside himself. He's like, 'How?' I said, 'You lost your feel for righties. You have to work just as hard on right-handed angles as you do lefties.' So what does he do?'
More work.
Schwabrer went 1-for-4 in Monday's lackluster 3-2 Phillies loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. He extended his on-base streak to 47 games with a bloop single to begin the sixth. He saw a 2-1 slider in the zone from lefty Matthew Liberatore and clipped enough of it. Schwarber later scored what was the tying run at the time.
'That's what he's been doing,' Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. 'He's taking what they give him.'
'It brings me great pleasure to watch somebody who's put that much time and energy into his craft,' Long said. 'There are so many things that he does that people don't even notice.'
Maybe Schwarber is just playing enough tricks on his mind. He thinks he can get to the two-seam fastballs that run in on his hands while still covering spin away. He lives by a mantra that, like any good baseball story, has unknown origins.
He's still alive.
'It's just like, funny, right?' Schwarber said. 'You think about that. You just have to be ready. You have this feeling. You're able to stay in there.'