This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
There is a familiarity about it, too.
“He’s got that short little finish,” teammate Rhys Hoskins said this week. “If you want to bring Philadelphia players up, you immediately think of Chase, right?”
Yeah, that’s it. Chase Utley.
“It’s similar, but it’s different in that Schwarber is a little more squatty,” Hoskins said. “But it’s so handsy and so fast. It’s just loose and loose and loose and then … it’s just so quick. I’ve been around plenty of guys with bat speed, but I don’t think there’s a heater on Earth that this guy can’t hit. It’s a controlled chaos with his hands, I think.”
It looks like Schwarber is holding and swinging a Wiffle Ball bat. The bat just seems light in his hands, especially when he wags it before the pitcher begins his delivery. Then the pitch comes and the swing begins.
Schwarber’s swing has been on full display over the past month. Entering Saturday, he has batted .270 with 17 home runs, 34 RBIs and a 1.065 OPS in 36 games since May 30. He entered Saturday’s game against the Cardinals with a National League-leading 27 home runs this season.
“I feel like hitting is an art,” teammate Matt Vierling said. “There’s no one way to do it. He’s got this hitch thing. He looks super relaxed. He just goes free and easy. Then … he’s through the zone. I think it’s strength and speed. It’s just reacting. That’s what I really like about it. It’s just relax, relax, a little movement, then he hammers it. Be relaxed and go.
“But I really like his mentality, too. I can tell if he gets out, he’s kind of like, ‘Forget it and move on.’ I really like that. The guy gets so many at-bats every day that he has to be like that. That’s pretty impressive. You can see how he carries on and keeps moving on. It’s what makes him such a good hitter.”