CLEARWATER, Fla. — Kyle Schwarber was scheduled to talk with a Japanese television crew after batting practice on Feb. 22, just as the men’s hockey gold medal game at the Olympics went into overtime.
How’s that for rotten timing?
So, Schwarber did the interview from the Phillies’ dugout, where he could keep one eye on the game on the new 3,200-square foot video board in right field at BayCare Ballpark. And when Jack Hughes scored the golden goal for the Americans, well, Schwarber stopped in mid-answer and reacted as you might expect.
“I was like, ‘Shoot! Yes!’” Schwarber said later.
Schwarber conceded that he doesn’t watch much hockey in the offseason at home in Ohio. But he was transfixed by the Olympics, which featured NHL players and elevated the profile of the sport among even casual fans.
Over the next two weeks, Schwarber will play in the closest thing baseball has to an Olympic competition. He will join Phillies teammates Bryce Harper and reliever Brad Keller at the World Baseball Classic on the most talented U.S. roster ever assembled.
Before he reported to Team USA, Schwarber made a return appearance on Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to discuss the WBC, the Phillies’ upcoming season, and more.
Here are a few excerpts from the conversation. Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Phillies Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Q: I’ll start by congratulating you on a new baby, a new contract, a run to the national championship for Indiana football — during which you were the honorary captain of the Peach Bowl. Did anyone have a better offseason than you?
A: It was a great offseason. … It all started with the contract and re-signing here in Philadelphia. And obviously that’s a stressful time, just with all the unknowns. But I’m happy that we were able to find the deal for everyone. And I’m happy that this is where we wanted to be. And we got that all said and done. Then [our] baby girl came in on the 14th [of December] … Then Peach Bowl, captain, [Indiana] gave me the call for that. And that was like, I’m just going to stand there and not do anything and don’t get in the way. And it was a great experience. And then, obviously, a national championship, too. It was amazing. And then getting to represent your country for Team USA, and again, in the World Baseball Classic. It’s just been such a great offseason, and just looking forward to what this year has in store for everyone.
Q: You’ve been fortunate to make the playoffs every year of your career, except for one. When you’re with a team that has that expectation, do you ever have to remind yourself, or maybe remind your teammates to enjoy the ride?
A: You’re talking my language. You’re hitting the sweet spot. The beautiful thing about our game is that nothing’s ever given. And I always say my worst fear is packing up on, say, Sept. 30. It’s after Game 162, and you’re packing things up to go home. I’ve done it once and it’s just not fun, and I don’t want to do that ever again. I want to still feel like I’m giving everything I can to winning. That’s why I came back here. There’s a lot of other different reasons, but there’s also the reason that this team and our ownership and everything like that, front office, coaching staff, we’re all pushing for that same goal. And that is obviously, one, making the postseason, and two, holding up that trophy at the end of the year. Those are goals, right?
But there are the steps along the way. There is that, like we say, the quote-unquote, the journey, right? The whole process to it. There’s goals to that. It’s winning the division. If you don’t win the division, we’re finding our way into the postseason trying to weather any kind of storm that could come in a year. Because that’s the thing, is that every year presents a new challenge, and it’s never the same circumstances. …
Q: One narrative in Philadelphia is that the Phillies are “running it back,” so to speak. You can agree or disagree with that. But I wonder, internally, how do you avoid the staleness that might set in from just being together as a core for so many years? And does the addition of some young guys like Justin Crawford, Andrew Painter, and eventually Aidan Miller help keep things fresh?
A: I don’t think it’s really ever going to be stale, just for the fact of … we have fun. We poke fun at each other all the time. It’s never like we’re walking in the clubhouse and we’re dreading walking in. That’s not the environment we have … If you go ask pretty much everyone in the clubhouse who’s been there for a while, I guarantee you that everyone’s looking forward to walking into the clubhouse doors and going, ‘What are we going to hear today? What are we going to talk about today? What’s the fun going to be poked at?’ … That’s kind of the environment that we have, and we enjoy that. … It was funny, we were talking about it the other day in the clubhouse, we just missed sitting down in the chairs and just talking B.S. to each other and laughing at each other. It is what it is. It’s never going to get stale. It’s not like we’re hypersensitive to that by any means.
And I think the youth stuff, you need that in teams. I think that’s very valuable to teams. … We were all the young guy somewhere else. [Aaron Nola] was the young guy here. We were all those young guys who came up and you’re trying to make your mark, and you need that on your team. Because there’s the whole [contractual] control part, but also just for these guys to be able to take their next steps and to keep submitting their name here in Philadelphia. That’s what we need. And we need them to not feel like they’re going to have to get very accustomed to the big league locker room. That’s why we’re trying to always be intermingling with everyone in our clubhouse in spring training.
You see it every year — injuries happen, and someone’s coming up, and you need them, whenever that person walks through the door, we need them to be them. They need to be the best versions of themselves. They’re getting called up for a reason, or they’re going to break [camp] with us for a reason. They’re good. They’re really good players. And I need them. Everyone needs them to be really good players.
… It’s fun getting to watch [Justin] Crawford take at-bats in camp. You get to see [Aidan] Miller here in the clubhouse, and you see [Andrew] Painter throwing his lives [bullpen sessions] and seeing how that’s been coming along. Excited to see how the two years after Tommy John [surgery] happens for him. He’s just got to go out there and get his feet wet again and compete. And now he’s making adjustments to get back to a couple different things, which I think is going to be exciting because he’s got the stuff. Crawford’s got the stuff. I’m excited to see what Miller is going to get to have. It’s fun to see these kids come up, and you want them to have instant success right away. And also realize, too, that we have still a lot of really good young players that are on our team still who have been playing here for a while.
Q: Why do you think the interest in participating in the WBC was so high this time? It’s been difficult for Team USA in the past, especially on the pitching side, to recruit the best players. Did you get a sense that guys who maybe said no in the past were more eager to do it this time?
A: It’s a great question, because I only know me personally that when I got that call back 2023 it was an instant yes. And I know that there’s been a lot of buzz around the pitchers that we have got committed to play for [Team] USA. I know that there’s probably way more details than just someone wanting to say, ‘Yes, I’m in.’ I think that’s been written about and talked about. But also, too, I’m sure there’s even more things. But I think it’s a great team. Another stacked lineup. The lineup that we had out there in 2023 was an amazing lineup full of studs, MVPs, All-Stars, everything. And this lineup that we’re going to have, obviously, MVPs, All-Stars, and I think the cool thing is that there’s kind of a little bit more youth on it, too. We’re starting to see some of these younger faces that could really have those chances to be the future MVPs, or future perennial All-Stars, are going to be on this team as well. So I’m just excited about it.
When you look at it, from top to bottom, it’s such a deep roster, and I don’t know how you’re going to construct the lineup and how you’re going to decide who’s coming out of the bullpen and things like that. Or who’s starting what game. But I just know that I’m excited to get out there, get with these guys, and I’m excited to watch, I’m excited to see how guys prepare, hear the conversations, talk different things and baseball stuff, and try to take in some knowledge. This is what this is about, too. It’s obviously a great opportunity for all of us to go out there and compete and compete for our country, but also a great opportunity to be around a lot of great players and hear their experiences and hear how they prepare and other things too. So it’s going to be a great time.
