High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The Evolution Of All-Star MVP (And Potential Free Agent-To-Be) Kyle Schwarber | 'Baseball Isn't Boring'

Episode Date: July 16, 2025

From 'Baseball Isn't Boring' (subscribe here): Our instincts were keen with Bradfo sitting down with the eventual All-Star Game MVP of the contest before he hit his three straight homers in the swing-off. That, of course, would be Kyle Schwarber. The Phillies slugger chats with Bradfo about how far he has come, and how he has viewed contract years in the past and how he is looking at this one. There are also conversations with two other guys who have lived the contract year life - Pete Alonso and Robbie Ray. It is some great discussion about a very timely topic. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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No frills delivers. Get groceries delivered to your door from No Frills with PC Express. Shop online and get $15 in PC optimum points on your first five orders. Shop now at NoFrails.ca. That was sick! Easy! That was sick! That was my last batter guys. That was sweet. Yeah, how hard was that one? 91?

It was an out. It was an out. Alright, I'm going cheese again. Okay. Oh yeah. That's hard! I mean you and Paul Skeens are pretty much the same guy. Right down the middle.

I'm so glad he didn't swing. Okay, I'm going curveball here. Okay. Oh, that was short. What do you want? Smolte, what do you want? Cutter in, slider in. I don't throw a cutter, Smolte. He doesn't throw a cutter. He doesn't throw a cutter. Son of a... I'm going to make a math. That was short. How about this splitty? Break out this. Six, suck it big dumper. I mean, is there any doubt at all, is there any doubt at all what is the best all-star game? It's not even a question, it's not even close.

Not even close. We were reminded of that again. Baseball rules. Yep, baseball rules in a lot of ways, including having the best all-star game. What you just heard was Clayton Kershaw being mic'd up as he was pitching, which was something. And when we were watching it, we're like, this is awesome,

this is great, this is the best, and then it just kept getting better. You had one of the, maybe the best moments, I think, I've ever seen in an all-star game, and that was the Hank Aaron tribute at Truist Field. And let me just tell you, when it comes to game presentation, when it comes to things that you see

when you go to a baseball game, major league baseball game, there's the Atlanta Braves and everybody else. Their game presentation is next level, and obviously a big part of this was MLB, but the Hank Aaron tribute was just incredible. It was an absolute spectacle. It was something that you'll never forget. It's sort of along the lines of the 1999,

in case you remember that, when Ted Williams was brought out into the field and all the all-stars surrounded him, same sort of deal. Once again, the Hank Aaron tribute, one of the most memorable moments you're ever going to see in an all-star game. At least I'm never going to see it in an all-star game. And then to top it all off, you have the culmination of the game, which is the swing- instead of going to extra innings. Yes collective bargaining actually Led to something good this time around instead of doing extra innings

we had sort of a home run derby type deal and the National League wins if Thanks really to the bat because of the bat of the guy that we're going to have on the podcast right now and that's Kyle Schorber. Kyle Schorber goes deep in all three of his swings, three for three, wins the National League MVP for the game and punctuates what has been a great and absolute fantastic few days here in Atlanta.

I've been so privileged to be part of it, to be witness to it. It really, really, they did a great job. A great job. Congratulations. I mean, we pick apart all these things which are wrong with how MLB does things. Game presentation, rules, regulations, whatever it is.

I go on rants about all those years where the World Series actually meant the home field advantage for the team, which was the most ludicrous thing I've ever saw. I mean, think about that. Let's take a pause. Think about that. That the World Series home field advantage

would have been dictated by who hit the home runs at the end of this game. That was stupid. But it wasn't stupid to do it and just to say this is how we're going to end this game. This is how we're going to walk off in the sunset, walk into the next level of the baseball season just by having this. This is the jumping off point. This is just the good time.

And one of the things also before we get to Kyle and before we get to the podcast, one of the things that I also noticed, this wasn't an unbelievably star-studded event. You walk into those clubhouses, there are a lot of guys, well, the average baseball fan like really really But what it was it was an opportunity to see some of these guys that you might not get a chance to see and also from the players perspective

It's jetting it getting a chance to see these guys in Iraq is pretty cool It was all the way to the end with the celebration of Kyle Schwab er, and I should note Kyle Schwaber. And I should note, Kyle Schwaber, I sit down and talk to him, and we're gonna hear about the evolution of Kyle Schwaber, and going through a contract year. But Kyle Schwaber, right before I talked to him, he was exhausted. He was such a good guy, man,

and he took the time to talk to me, and I really appreciate it. But he was like, oh man, man, like he took the time to talk to me and I really appreciate it, but he was like, oh man, you know, I am so tired. This guy doing the red carpet thing, carrying his kid, the heat, the suit, all of it. He was just exhausted, exhausted. I said, oh well, maybe you can be that guy who plays and then leaves on a private jet in the fifth and sixth inning. exhausted. I said, oh well, you know, maybe you can be that guy who

plays and then leaves on a private jet in the fifth and sixth inning. So you know, I'm coming in later in the game. That's really not an option. And sure enough, what happens? Nobody left. Nobody left. And you know why, how I know nobody left? Because you see the celebration at the end of the game. left because you see the celebration at the end of the game and and this is going also going to dictate that nobody does leave in these games nobody hits their private jet in the fifth inning because nobody wants to miss what happened at the end of this game the swing off nah because there was a good time it was a memorable time all right well speaking of memorable times it's a memorable time for Kyle Schubert,

not only because he won the National League MVP, but because he's in another contract year and also because he's having a really, really good year. 923 OPS, 30 home runs. I mean, his time in Philadelphia, it's been really, really good. And he's a guy who, when he gets to free agency coming up, listen, he's only right now 32 years old.

And he's, as I said, maybe the best year of his career. But it is a contract year. So what is that dynamic like? There's no better person to ask about it. He went through it, as we said, four years ago, and now he's going to be going through it again. We'll see if he re-signs with the Phillies, I don't know. But it's a great, great conversation.

And then after Kyle, I continue that line of questioning, that line of conversation with a couple other guys who have gone through it. Pete Alonso of the New York Mets and Robbie Ray of the San Francisco Giants, two guys who know it's what when it comes to living life in a contract here. I think it's a fun conversation, an interesting conversation, an educational conversation, an insightful conversation, an entertaining conversation, all of it. I'm just so jacked up off of just having witnessed just what we witnessed.

And having all these interviews and having all these talks and having all these discussions and using it all just to storm into the next wave of the baseball season. It's not crunching time, yep, that's right. After a brief respite for the next couple days, here we go. But in the meantime, let's soak this in. In the meantime, soak in this interview.

Kyle Schwerberg, followed by Pete Alonso, followed by Robbie Ray. There's no human being on the planet I'd rather be talking to right now. And I'm just gonna sort of. Hit pause on whatever you're listening to and hit play on your next adventure. Stay three nights this summer at Best Western

and get $50 off a future stay. Life's the trip. Make the most of it at Best Western. Visit bestwestern.com for complete terms and conditions. First of all, excellent job in the red carpet, Kyle. Oh, thank you. Yeah, that was hot. It was hot, sweaty, carrying a kid around. It was an experience, but it was fun. When you're an aspiring young baseball player, like we see the video of Cal Rowley,

it's like, hey, I'm Cal Schorber. am going to someday walk the red car for carrying a kid around It's not probably like on the on the bingo card right? It's not on the bingo card No, I you know I think the the young aspiring players say I'm gonna be in the home render every one day I'm gonna be an all-star game one day are you're playing a World Series not you know carrying a kid around in a hundred feels like a hundred degree heat sweating bullets, but It was it was fun. It was it was a great time you know I love having my boys there and my wife and degree heat, sweating bullets, but it was fun. It was a great time. I love having my boys there and my wife,

and seeing my boys' faces when they're just walking down, seeing everyone, and seeing how shy, then he gets happy and all that stuff. It was great. The evolution of you, by the way, am I right? It is, it is. It really is. It's funny, the things that you think back to when you were

a younger guy, you look around the room, you see some of these young dudes in here, and you think back to when you were a younger guy you look around the room You see some of these young dudes in here and you think about you know What's going through their minds versus what's going through my mind right now versus? I'm like my power is thinking some things that they were thinking now that you're a dad though and You know life continues to go on and that Things just don't really matter as much anymore that you know It's more about you know your family and obviously trying to do your job do your best ability but then it's I just find it's easier to turn the page a little bit

easier. Different landing spots let's talk about how you change right? Chicago obviously you're a young man you're still a young man I mean it's not a but but Chicago like what is your mind like are you just like let's go let's play let's play the great game of of baseball yeah you know when coming up in the Chicago that was like came up with a lot of really good players you know it was kind of like it made it a little bit easier coming from like the college scene where it felt like you know the double 18 was like a bunch of you know guys grinders college students that were ready to have fun

play and then you come up into the big leagues and we were young too. We had Chris, we had Javi, we had Addis and all these guys that were younger but we also had kind of like that veteran core of dudes who were able to kind of keep everything in track and in place. That was the thing that kind of keep everything in track and in place, right? That was the thing that kind of stuck with me. And then, you know, you keep, you know, you're learning, you're playing, you're trying to figure out the big leagues and you have a good group of guys around you, but, you know, then you win a World Series, you keep making playoffs, and then all of a sudden he'd get non-tendered,

and then you find yourself up somewhere else, and all he could really think about was kind of go back to that experience of listening to those guys about this, really caring about winning, and let me do some pretty good places. Would it be fair, as you said, non-tendered, and you sort of, you go to a new team,

and then you land for the couple months in Boston, but not to be fair, like you said, non-tender, and you sort of go to a new team, and then you land for a couple months in Boston. But not to be cliché, but when you landed there, were you like, okay, now it's my opportunity to draw on the experiences I had in Chicago and all that? Yeah, I feel like, so being in Washington, it was kind of also, it was the thing of, all right, I want to reestablish myself. I knew that the 60 games wasn't the representation of me. And I knew there was a better plan there, but I also needed some good guidance as well on things that I wanted to address. And I luckily got that in Washington and I got the opportunity to just go out there and play every day which was needed. And then you get traded to Boston, you find your way on a first place team at the time

and you've been in those situations before and then you're walking into a clubhouse that was such a tight-knit group there. They just made it seem like a seamless transition for me. I was kind of going to be eyes wide open and then it felt like it took like three days for me to really just get accustomed to them and then we were able to just kind of sit back, relax and not worry about all the who's this, who's that, what kind of people they are versus more about just focusing on trying to win baseball games and talk about different experiences. Those are the times that you were able to draw back on in Chicago when you played some high stress games.

And then you have, you're going to the free agency, that's one thing you probably aren't even, probably there's a similarity this year, right? Where when you're in the middle of something, you don't think about contract you're right you're just thinking about Playing and I mean that was the first time you did that I don't know if you even entered your mind because there was so much stuff going on. Yeah There really wasn't much thought it was more like how the heck are we gonna get the World Series and we were really close Obviously ran into Houston and they went on to win the World Series that we were really close. Obviously ran into Houston and they went on to win the World Series that year but you know felt like we were really close

in that series and then all sudden season's over with you know like okay you're saying your buys and things like that and you're like man I'm a free agent and you don't really think about it and you're trying to figure out where you gotta be and you know that was a you know at that time that was a place that was really attractive and you know having this relationship with those guys were great and then the lockout happens and then all of a sudden you come out and nothing was really kind of going anywhere there and then like it does happen like it was great because it's like you have your list of teams that you feel like that you know are

gonna possibly want your services and then but you kind of make the wish list of okay like this is the top ones and then all of a sudden Philly comes out and that was like right at the top of the list you know as soon as we got that deal done I was so excited. It was just like, it's going to be a great fit. I felt like it. Then get into that clubhouse and meet those guys and feel like that was a group that we really have a chance to go out and try to do some special things.

The last thing is how is it now as you live this life going potentially into freebies, how do you feel different? or do you feel different? I don't. I mean, I just feel like you experiencing a quote unquote true free agency and knowing kind of what happens throughout that time is going to be a little bit more I think settling and then know kind of the ins and outs of it. But also too there's a lot of unknowns. So hopefully we'll see what happens here with Philly and hopefully if there's something

to be struck there's something to be struck, but if not then it's going to be fun. But I'm more focused this year on trying to win a World Series and we've got such a good group over there. We're in first place and year on trying to win a World Series. And we got such a good group over there. We're in first place and we know that there's a lot more. All right. Thank you. Thank you, man. Appreciate it.

One of my favorite guys to talk to Kyle Schorber. All right. Well, another guy who knows what's what when it comes to living life and contract years as Pete Alonso, we all know what he went through last year. Didn't end up having the best year, although it was really, really good, 34 home runs, 788 OPS, 162 games. And yet, still, we were waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting

to see where he was going to sign. Sure enough, he signs back with the Mets, and boy, the Mets, they were the big winners here. Right now he's a 908 OPS, 21 homers, 280 batting average. He signs this deal, a two year deal for $54 million, but he hasn't opt out after this year. So we'll see.

And opt out, which he's probably gonna take, I would imagine that. I don't know. He gets paid 24 million next year, so we'll see. And opt out, which he's probably gonna take, I would imagine that, I don't know. He gets paid 24 million next year, he's getting paid 30 million this year. But again, another great example of a guy going through contract year, went through it last year, and really technically maybe he's going through this year as well.

All right, here you go, here's Pete Alonzo. There's guys who haven't gone through contract years before, and it's a weird world right? What advice would you give them because everyone treats it different? I mean what advice would you give? Oh just just play the game. Focus on playing the game hard every single day and prepare and and do your normal work. I mean I think I mean contract years are yeah business wise they're different but every year is the same to me because every year I want to be able to play well.

That's not because of contracts. I want to play the best year because I'm out there competing and I want to be the best player I can be to help my team win a championship. So for me those circumstances will always be the same and if you just focus on playing well to help the team things will take care of themselves. You've seen guys, everyone handles it different. Before you even experienced it, did you see guys, okay this guy handled it that way, this guy handled it this way, or did you just took it as it came? For me, everyone has different experiences.

I've talked to guys in the past, but to be honest, everyone handles it the same. If you just focus on playing the game, play your game, stay within yourself and not necessarily try and force things. The game will come to you and you'll be able to capitalize because if you work hard, stay consistent in the work, things will show up in the game. Last thing is, you've been on good mess teams, including last year, where you've come out of the All-Star break. How does this one feel compared to other ones? Even like how it feels different? No I mean we're on the precipice of something special here I mean we're in a really good spot and we kind of we have to like stay stay consistent and stay diligent because I mean the National League there's a ton

of great baseball teams so I mean yes we're obviously happy for sure but that doesn't necessarily guarantee anything later on in the season. I mean, we're going to be playing some really important games and some baseball coming down the stretch. So we just want to stay on it. Stay on it, stay in the pocket and keep working hard every day and taking care of the little things.

Thank you. Appreciate it. For sure. Another player who has lived the ups and downs multiple times of a contract year is Robbie Ray. Robbie Ray who's sitting right now with the Giants in the five-year, $115 million deal that takes him all the way through the 2027 season, but it wasn't always that way. He had to go through the contract year life by signing a one year deal, resurface himself with, yes, a Cy Young,

and then boom, he gets the deal. But it's as he's gonna hear, it's not an easy road. It's not an easy thing to experience that for the first time. All right, so I hope everybody has enjoyed this podcast, enjoyed these interviews, conversations, debate, discourse, entertainment, whatever it is. I hope everybody has.

At BB isn't boring, at BB isn't boring. We're storming on into the second half. Whatever you want to call it, we'll call it the second half. But with this conversation, with this topic, I thought was a pretty good one. So thank you to Kyle Schorber, thank you to Pete Alonso, thank you to Robbie Ray, and thank you to producer Evan for doing such a great job,

like helping me, guide me through all the chaos that is the All-Star Festivities. All right, here you go, here's Robbie Ray. So I'm just doing, talking to guys about the, when you get into the second half of a year, winning compared to looking at your future, whether it's the agency or whatever, it's a weird dynamic. Everybody handles it differently. Having gone through it, what advice would you give guys who are sort of living that

life? Yeah, I mean, I think it's just staying focused and going about your prep work each and every day like you normally would. I think everything, you know, if you stay focused on what you can control, you know, some things you can't control like free agency and, you know, what's going to happen after the year's over. I think what you can't control is what you do in a clubhousehouse what you do out on the field. Those are the things that you can control and I think everything else kind of falls into place after that. Is that easier said than done?

I mean, like I said, every guy treats it differently. You've probably seen from a distance even coming up, guys, oh, he's in a contract here, whatever. Yeah, I mean, so is it easier said than done? Yeah, I think my first, in 2020, in spring training, that was my contract year. And going through that first time, you do have those moments during the season where things might necessarily be going the way

you want them to go, and it's easy to kind of look up and be like, man, am I doing something wrong or what can I do to make this right? And I kind of did go through that my first time. I ended up signing a one-year deal back with Toronto, betting on myself and paying off winning the signing of that year. But that year, I had been through it the year prior, so with signing the one year deal back with Toronto, I kind of understood what I was gonna go through again. I had, when those feelings started to creep in,

I knew how to handle it. So, it is tough, because we're human, and we wanna be able to provide for our families. What do you think Cy Young has probably made it a whole lot easier? Yeah, for sure. That was a very special year for me. But yeah, I think it helped that I had gone through it a year prior.

I had those struggles to be able to understand what that feeling was going to feel like. It's a cliche, this might be a cliche, but also winning. Like winning because you're wrapped up in winning. You're wrapped up. If you're on a bad team and you're sort of looking to get to the end line, you're thinking oh this is my main goal to do well. But winning probably is a good distraction I guess. For sure.

When the team's having success and you're winning and everybody around you is for the team and everybody is team oriented, it's a lot easier for sure. Well I appreciate it.