Schwarber lends lineup value to Phils by brushing up on first-base skills

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Zack Wheeler offered a friendly warning on Thursday afternoon to Phillies first baseman Kyle Schwarber.

“I just told him I wasn’t getting over there today,” the pitcher said about covering first base. “So, he had it all.”

“He didn’t need anything,” Schwarber said. “He looked unreal.”

It was a light-hearted moment preceding a noteworthy development in the Phillies’ 7-7 tie with the Yankees in a Grapefruit League game at BayCare Ballpark. Schwarber, 31, is learning to play first base again as the Phils look for ways to keep their veterans healthy and productive over the course of the season.

If there is an opportunity to give Bryce Harper a break at first base one day, perhaps Schwarber plays there.

“It’s only good. Right?” Schwarber said. “It’s good for me. I can do something else throughout camp. And if Harper does need a day off his feet, we can get him off his feet and keep left-handed bats [in the lineup], if we’re facing a righty one day. We’re able to do that. I think it’s only good to have that.”

Phillies manager Rob Thomson called Schwarber before Spring Training with the idea. First, Thomson said he wanted Schwarber to continue to work in left field because it would allow everyday players to occasionally DH, while keeping their bats in the lineup.

Second, the skipper wanted Schwarber to try first.

Schwarber said OK. Then, he called Phillies director of clubhouse services Phil Sheridan to order a first baseman’s mitt.

Schwarber has played nearly twice as many innings in the regular season at catcher (144) than first base (75). He played all 75 innings at first base with the 2021 Red Sox, not including nine postseason games. Schwarber committed two errors in the ‘21 playoffs. In Game 3 of the American League Division Series, he airmailed an underhanded toss to Red Sox pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, who was covering first base.

Schwarber made the same play look routine the next inning, which he followed with a self-deprecating fist pump.

“I just made fun of myself,” Schwarber said. “I hadn’t played first base since high school, pretty much. Obviously, you embrace the challenge. You wanted to do it. You wanted to help them out anyway you could.”

But everything is better now because he is working and learning in the forgiving environment of Spring Training.

“You can screw up all you want,” Schwarber said. “It doesn’t matter. It’s more about learning. If you screw up late [in the season] -- we were making a postseason push in Boston -- it means way more than a Spring Training game does.”

Schwarber played five innings at first base on Thursday. He did not have a ground ball hit to him, but there will be other opportunities. Thomson said he would like to play Schwarber a couple more times there this spring.

It could be good. Schwarber is entering the final year of a four-year, $79 million contract. His calling card is being an on-base and home run machine. But perhaps showing versatility in left field and first base will allow the Phillies and everybody else to look at him in a different light.

“If things work out here, that would be awesome,” Schwarber said. “But if it doesn’t, it’s always nice to have that in your back pocket. Even though I play DH mostly for this team, there’s still a part of me that always wants to be in the field. You miss that aspect of the game sometimes. But if I can get guys off their feet, I want to get guys off their feet.”

So, Schwarber will continue to work this spring with infield coach Bobby Dickerson.

“He hates the word ‘fielding.’ He likes the word ‘catch,’” Schwarber said about Dickerson. “I made the first mistake the first day. I said, ‘Field.’ He almost bit my head off. Being able to use that terminology. It makes sense. It just clicked a little easier. Still a long way to go. But I want to play some games over here because if it is going to happen during the season, you don’t want to feel like you’re losing much.”

So, what did Wheeler think about Schwarber’s work at first base?

“Solid,” he said. “Nice throws across the infield.”