CLEARWATER, Fla. — For the first time since Bryce Harper joined the Phillies, he arrived at spring training without a free agent on a multiyear contract to greet. The Phillies added three players on one-year deals and another, Jesús Luzardo, in a trade. There are no surprises. Most inside this clubhouse know each other. They know the expectations.
This is the fourth year with much of the core intact. Everyone, Harper said, should carry some of the sting from the past few postseasons.
“It’s not the greatest thing to just flush. Right?” Harper said. “You got to remember what it feels like and understand what that feels like. Flush the things you can, but when you go out there and play, remember that feeling a little bit to get you to that next level.”
As everyone filters into this Phillies camp, there is a different dynamic. The national focus is on other clubs despite the Phillies having authored their best regular season in 13 years. But they have been eliminated a round sooner in each of the past two years.
Kyle Schwarber is in a contract year; he knows this group’s time together is fleeting. Last October’s exit stung in a new way. He did not watch the rest of the postseason like before.
“I used to be that guy that watched it all the time,” Schwarber said. “But the older you get, you just realize more how much it hurts, right? The older that you get, the less time you have in the game, right? It’s not science, right? It’s just a fact that, I’m not 21 anymore or 22. I’m, you know, 32 now? Or I’m gonna be 32? Or 31? I don’t even know.”
Schwarber turns 32 on March 5.
“Another trip around the sun,” Schwarber said. “Age is a number. It’s how you feel. But I think that’s kind of the thing where you look at it through a different lens — the more that you’ve gotten to play and the more times you’ve been there. Not everyone has an opportunity to have a team that can go win a World Series. That’s what we feel like we have in our clubhouse, a team that’s capable of doing that.”
It’ll start, in some combination, with Harper and Schwarber atop the lineup. The Phillies are leaning toward batting Trea Turner first, which could lead to Harper and Schwarber back-to-back in the two and three holes. Maybe the Phillies will separate the two lefty sluggers, but both hit lefties well in 2024. Schwarber will not bat any lower than fourth.
Harper said he hadn’t heard much about lineup construction. “I’m glad I’m not the manager,” he said. He did issue one edict: He does not want to bat first like other stars Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. have.
“Obviously, I’m a three-hole hitter or I have been,” Harper said. “But whenever they tell me to hit two or four, I’ve done that in the past. I want to win so I don’t care what that takes.”
Harper has hit second twice in the past four seasons. Is it any different than batting third?
“I like to see pitches before I hit so seeing what the guy’s going to do,” Harper said. “That’s why I loved hitting behind (Jayson Werth) when he was with the Nats. He saw a lot of pitches, so being able to see that, I like that. But at the end of the day, you only lead off or hit second once in a game.”
Schwarber’s contract
Kyle Schwarber is in the final season of his four-year, $79 million contract with the Phillies. (Elsa / Getty Images)
Schwarber said he has not heard about potential contract extension talks. He is a free agent after this season. He’s emerged as the undisputed leader inside the Phillies’ clubhouse and his .851 OPS ranked ninth among all lefty hitters in 2024.
“I know there’s interest on our side,” he said. “We’ll see what happens throughout this camp — if they approach us and we get deeper and deeper into discussions. I’ve always enjoyed my time here.”
Schwarber expects to play a little more outfield this season. And, this spring, he will work every other day with infield coach Bobby Dickerson on learning first base. It’s just something to have in his back pocket.
He did not set any sort of deadline for the extension talks. Of all the pending free agents, Schwarber is the one who the Phillies could prioritize this spring.
“We’ve been close every single year,” Schwarber said. “That’s been the joyous part for me. This is a place that you walk in and you know that you have a chance to win. The whole organization and the whole city wants to win so that’s the thing as a player you want to experience. Sometimes you can walk into a place and already be out of it by September.”
This and that
• No one might have added more offseason bulk than Cristopher Sánchez, who has attributed his sudden rise in command to having more strength that allows him to better repeat his mechanics. Sánchez, who had a baby boy named Cristopher Jr. right before the National League Division Series, also got married this offseason.
• It’s a good bet, Thomson said, that the Phillies will find a way to split the three lefties in their projected rotation. That could mean Sánchez slotting between Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola with Ranger Suárez and Jesús Luzardo as the No. 4 and No. 5 guys.
• The Phillies were rather serious when they said Edmundo Sosa would see more outfield time; a few hours after Sosa arrived in camp Saturday, he went through a one-on-one session in left field at BayCare Ballpark with Phillies first-base coach Paco Figueroa, who instructs the outfielders. Sosa has 5 1/3 career innings in the outfield and has never started a game there. He could offer a righty-hitting option there for Thomson.
• Joe Ross, signed to a $4 million deal as a swingman, will be treated this spring as a starter so he’s built to three or four innings. That way, he can provide some length in April. He could see higher-leverage situations as a one-inning reliever as the season progresses.
• Harper, on his newfound TikTok food influencer era: “Just some of my favorite things that I make. It’s just fun. I’m into health, obviously, and wellness and things that I put into my food. It’s a lot of my kids’ snacks and treats and stuff. And we make homemade. We don’t really go to grocery stores and do that. We try to make everything as homemade as we can as a family, and put that out there a little bit.
“It’s not really too many baseball fans. There’s a lot of different fans as well. So that’s been good, catching the eyes of not just baseball fans, but other people.”
(Top photo of Bryce Harper: Luke Hales / Getty Images)
