WASHINGTON -- Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber returned to the starting lineup for Thursday's series finale against the Nationals. He was not penciled in as a starter for back-to-back games, though he was available off the bench on Wednesday as a pinch-hitter if necessary.
And it sure was necessary. The designated hitter, who had been a late scratch on Tuesday ahead of Philly's comeback win over the Nationals, worked a 10-pitch walk with two outs in the ninth inning on Wednesday to set up Derek Hill for some heroics of his own: a game-winning pinch-hit two-run homer to cap the Phils' 5-4 win.
"They take a mound visit and you're just trying to stay within yourself, stay in the zone, just trying to find a way on base,” Schwarber said of his matchup against Nationals reliever Orlando Ribalta. “Got 1-2, we work it to 3-2. That's the count where it's like 'OK, where are we going to go from here?' He makes a good pitch that way, fastball, I was able to foul it off. He hung a slider, just missed that one, pulled it foul. Threw another good slider and got to first base on the changeup and then D. Hill with [the homer].”
Interim manager Don Mattingly was told by head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit that Schwarber was given the go ahead midway through the game.
“I'm not letting him know he's good to go, he's kind of letting us know,” Mattingly said. “So we kind of knew he had that in the bag, just wanted to get in a spot where he's going to get pitched to. It was a huge at-bat -- 10-pitch walk, gives us the opportunity. That was great.”
Schwarber said he felt good enough to enter the game by the seventh inning.
"Just kind of progressively felt like it was getting better and better. I think they took the lead with the pinch-hit home run and that's when I was like, 'all right, let's go ahead and get ready and see where we are at'. [I] got ready, went down to the cage, took some swings, and felt good enough just to give it a go there."
Schwarber admitted entering the game as a pinch-hitter is maybe the toughest job he has as a hitter.
"It's never easy,” Schwarber said. “It's like the hardest thing to do in the game, I think, is being a pinch-hitter and having to go up there and take an at-bat. Just from playing in the National League -- the old-style game, knowing how hard that was and having a great appreciation for guys who were really good at it. That is a talent."
Schwarber has hit a Major League-leading 29 homers, hitting four in a two-game span Saturday and Sunday. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the series-opening 4-1 loss on Monday night.
Schwarber has been a fixture in the lineup this season, having played in 75 of the Phillies first 78 games. He has a track record of durability, appearing in all 162 games last season and playing at least 150 games in four straight seasons from 2022-2025.