Phillies Notes: Harper’s Frustrating Game, Schwarber’s June and the Road Forward

Phillies Notes: Harper’s Frustrating Game, Schwarber’s June and the Road Forward originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia

Phillies manager Rob Thomson addressed a minor mix-up involving Bryce Harper before Friday night’s game against the Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park.

In his third at-bat of Wednesday’s 6-1 victory over the Giants at Oracle Park, Harper hit a grounder to second baseman Thairo Estrada, whose throw to first got Wilmer Flores off the base. It is possible that Harper could have arrived safely if he had run along the line. But he didn’t.

Because it was Harper, and because sports radio made a point of it, the incident became part of the pregame conversation two days later.

“On the first shot of the day, he didn’t change anything. He just felt something in his knee,” Thomson said. “He’s fine. But I talked to him and said, ‘Make sure you can finish this game.’ He’s probably tending to some energy at the same time.

“He’s a guy who, at times, gets frustrated and doesn’t lose his courage. And there are times when he runs 110 percent when he probably shouldn’t. There’s probably a very good way somewhere. A lot of it is driven by emotion. It’s who he is. That’s part of what makes it great.”

So there you have it.

SCHWARBER STUFF: Leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber is a career .216/.726 hitter against left-handed pitching compared to .232/868 against righties.

Entering play on Friday night, however, the divisions are dramatically different. Against leftists: 0.341/980. Against RHPs: .180/.666. And this is not based on a small sample. He had almost as many hits against LHPs (85) as righties (122).

“One of his goals this season was to reduce strikeouts,” Thomson said. “So he has to keep the ball, he has to use the other field. Consequently, I think it helps him immediately.”

– Just one thing: Schwarber led the NL with 200 and 215 strikeouts in each of the last two seasons. He is now on pace to whiff 207 times this year.

— But did this success come at the expense of power? At the start of the game he had 11 Schwarbombs, which put him on pace for 31 for the season after leading the league with 46 in 2022.

But wait: Schwarber isn’t called Mr. June for nothing. Traditionally, this is when it heats up. Last season he made 13 long balls until May. . .and ended the year with 47.

ON DECK: Cardinals RHP Sonny Gray (7-2, 2.60) will face LHP Ranger Suarez (9-1, 1.75) on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. and RHP Lance Lynn (2-3, 3.45) vs. -2, 5.51) in the series finale Sunday at 7:10 p.m.

Anyone who has noticed that, so far, the Phillies’ schedule hasn’t been the most difficult, can expect the Brewers to arrive at Citizens Bank Park on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Milwaukee currently has the best record of any team they have played to date, including the Braves.

This series is also expected to mark the first time popular former Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins has played for CBP since the 2022 World Series. He missed all of last season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament during spring training and then signed with the Brewers as a free agent. Hoskins, who was on the IL with a strained hamstring, was activated on Friday and started against the White Sox.

After Wednesday’s game, the Phillies will head to London, where they will face the Mets on Saturday and Sunday. “There will be a lot of days off, which is a good thing right now for our rotation because we’ve invested so much in them,” said Rob Thomson. “They logged a lot of innings. So at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if we continued to rotate. Some guys will have six days off, some guys will have seven. Which, at this point, might be good for them.”