Kyle Schwarber trained with Ryan Howard for three years. Now, he’s chasing Howard’s Phillies home run record

Eleven years before they were linked as the only players in Phillies history to slug 50 homers in a season, Ryan Howard and Kyle Schwarber would hit together over the winter.

“I got to talk to him here and there,” Schwarber recalled Wednesday. “I had some conversations with him. It wasn’t much talking by me at the time. I was just kind of all ears, right? He was always super nice.”

Howard was established as a preeminent power hitter in the sport by 2014. He was in his mid-30s then, but had a six-year run from 2006 to 2011 in which he slugged .559 and averaged 43 homers and 132 RBIs, including his 58-homer MVP season for the Phillies in 2006.

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Schwarber was a baby-faced 21-year-old, the fourth pick in the draft out of college at Indiana and a rising prospect with the Cubs. Like Howard, he batted left-handed; like Howard, he hit moonshots.

They met around the batting cages at Saddlebrook Sports Performance, a training facility near Tampa, Fla., for elite pro and college athletes. Howard was trying to extend his career; Schwarber was just starting out.

“I think it was just me sitting there and just watching his swing and talking baseball,” Schwarber said. “That was the biggest thing. It wasn’t like I was after the secret sauce from him or anything like that. It was just sitting there, watching the work, and being like, ‘This is how a big leaguer does it.’”

The thing that stood out most to Schwarber: Every swing Howard took seemed to have a purpose.

“As you keep playing longer in this game, the work means way more than quantity,” Schwarber said. “I don’t need to go take 1,000 swings. I can be locked in for 30 to 50 swings and be ready to go. Those were the things that were important.”

Howard surpassed Mike Schmidt’s franchise record of 48 homers and reached No. 50 on Sept. 3, 2006, a famous three-homer game against Braves righty Tim Hudson. Even as opponents began to intentionally walk him late in the season with the Phillies in a wild-card race, Howard finished with six homers in his last 26 games and 58 in all.

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Schwarber got to 49 homers — and became the 21st player ever to hit four homers in a game — on Aug. 28 against the Braves. He went 10 games without homering until taking Mets reliever Justin Hagenman, a South Jersey native, deep in the seventh inning Tuesday night.

Howard and Schwarber trained together for three years at Saddlebrook. They played against each other in 2015 and 2016, with Schwarber often joking about being behind the plate for the Cubs on July 26, 2015, at Wrigley Field when Howard hit the 352nd of his 382 career homers.

They’ve gotten to know each other better since Schwarber signed with the Phillies in 2022. When Howard visited last month for the Phillies’ alumni weekend, he marveled at the Schwarber Show — three swings, three homers — in the first-ever swing-off at the All-Star Game.

“Schwarbs is nothing to sneeze at,” Howard said then. “I remember watching him as a young buck coming up. To see where he’s at today, I’m extremely happy for him.”

And now they’re the lone Phillies in the 34-member 50-homer club.

“He was just always such a pro,” Schwarber said. “Like the way he treated me without even knowing me, those are the things that stick with you. I always had a great impression of him.

“It’s pretty funny that that’s how it ended up, that he was working out in Tampa, we cross paths, and I ended up having some conversations with him. And here we are. It’s funny.”

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With the Phillies facing a right-handed starter (the Mets’ Clay Holmes), Bryson Stott started at shortstop for the first time since June 12, 2024. Newly recalled infielder Donovan Walton made his Phillies debut at second base. … Manager Rob Thomson stuck with center fielder Harrison Bader in the leadoff spot, even against a righty. Bader was riding a 28-for-64 roll. … Top prospect Andrew Painter tossed five scoreless, walk-free innings for triple-A Lehigh Valley on Wednesday. … Top shortstop prospect Aidan Miller will play in the Arizona Fall League, MLB announced. Other Phillies minor leaguers who will head to the Fall League: outfielder Dante Nori, infielder Carson DeMartini, and right-handers Eiberson Castellano, Jack Dallas, Jayden Estanista, Daniel Harper, and Tommy McCollum. … The series finale will start at 7:15 p.m. Thursday and be televised by Fox. … Jesús Luzardo (13-6, 4.01 ERA) is lined up to start Thursday night against Mets lefty David Peterson (9-5, 3.72).