The Phillies designated hitter hit his 17th home run of the season in a 7-4 win over the Colorado Rockies. That home run came against a left-handed reliever. If that story sounds familiar, it’s because it is.
Of his 17 home runs, seven have come against left-handed relief pitchers. Against southpaws, Schwarber has a 1.250 OPS. His OPS against righties is .815. Maybe there is no right answer here.
When accounting for his success against lefties last year and the tear he is on this year, it may be time for opposing managers to start adjusting their plan of attack against Schwarber. It could mean fewer left-handed relievers being deployed to face the middle of the Phillies lineup. It could also mean fewer strikes to Schwarber — and more pitches to hit for those around him. Bryce Harper still leads the league in percentage of pitches seen outside of the strike zone at 58.2% entering today. Schwarber is at 50.4% — and you wonder if that number will creep up in the coming weeks.
Schwarber, even if the league does make an adjustment, has shown that he can keep up. His adjustments, and what he has accomplished so far at the plate, is one of the best stories of the Phillies’ season so far.
Not far behind is Jesús Luzardo. This wasn’t his most efficient outing, but he was able to finish six innings with only one run allowed. His 10 strikeouts are one shy of a season high. Through 10 starts as a Phillie, Luzardo has a 1.95 ERA. Luzardo, Aaron Harang (2015) and Roy Oswalt (2010) are the only three Phillies starting pitchers since 1969 to have an ERA under two in their first 10 starts with the club.
Few could have imagined Luzardo being as good as he has been this early. It will be interesting to see how the Phillies manage his innings. He could eclipse last year’s innings total of 66 2/3 innings in his next outing. There will likely come a time where the Phillies have to press pause on his season, whether it’s a missed start or two or an injured list stint. But the goal is to get this version of Luzardo to October.
With a Mets loss to the Red Sox in Boston, the Phillies (30-18) now have a 1.5 game lead in the National League East. The Phillies have won five straight, and are on pace to win 101 games.
