Kyle Schwarber says he’ll ‘be there to help along the way’ for Phillies first-round pick Dante Nori

PITTSBURGH — Kyle Schwarber spent the All-Star break in Philadelphia, lying low with his family, but last Sunday, he made sure to tune into the MLB draft. His family friend Dante Nori was among the players expected to go in the first round.

Schwarber texted him good luck. Not long after, the Phillies selected Nori, a high school outfielder, with the 27th overall pick. The Phillies DH was ecstatic.

“I was excited,” he said. “I’ve obviously known him for a long time, and obviously know his family, and then he happened to get picked by the Phillies, which I think is pretty funny. I sent him a text right when I saw the news come up.”

Schwarber met Nori when he was 7, through his grandfather, Fred. Fred Nori grew up in Schwarber’s hometown of Middletown, Ohio, and recruited him to play baseball at Indiana. Nori coached Schwarber while he was there and has worked with him in the batting cages every winter since.

» READ MORE: First-round pick Dante Nori has known Kyle Schwarber since he was 7 years old. Now, they’re teammates.

“He’s kind of like the local baseball legend,” Schwarber said. “He’s done so many nice things for me, helped me out in my career, to get to where I am. So it’s cool to see Dante starting his career.”

Dante began accompanying his grandfather to his hitting sessions with Schwarber, and will now have an opportunity to work with him even more.

“It’s cool,” Schwarber said of Dante. “One, I’ve been around him a lot, and you see the work he’s put in. It’s cool seeing him mature, and get his opportunity now. And it’s going to be cool to see what he does with it. What he takes with it. And I’ll be there to help along the way, whatever he needs help with, but at the end of the day this is going to be his career.

“Now, in the offseason, he’s going to be able to come down and work more, and hopefully keep developing. Hopefully one day we’ll see him in a Phillies uniform, chasing some balls down.”

Schwarber said he helped Nori with his approach more than anything else. He says Nori already has a good routine, which should help the 19-year-old in the next chapter of his career.

» READ MORE: The Phillies want a platoon partner for Brandon Marsh. Here are six trade candidates who could fill the need.

“We had him in the cages this past offseason, and he was doing exactly what I was doing,” Schwarber said. “Setting up the fastball machine to what I would set it up to, set up the breaking ball machine the way I do it. And he was doing it with — I wouldn’t say with ease, but obviously we’re doing it to challenge ourselves, and he was able to go in there and compete against it. Which is a really good sign.”

Ranger Suárez, who was experiencing back spasms and did not go to the All Star Game, said he threw on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. He said he feels good — or in his words, “as [healthy] as a kid.” He threw out to 120 feet on Friday and threw from flat ground as well.

Zack Wheeler, who is also experiencing some back tightness, also threw out to 120 feet, but did not throw from flat ground. Thomson didn’t specify when they would pitch next week in Minnesota, but said he should have more information on Saturday.

J.T. Realmuto (right knee pain) spent the All Star break at the Phillies’ facility in Clearwater, Fla.

“He came through with flying colors,” Thomson said of Realmuto. “Today is more of a pull back day, more of a recovery day.”

Taijuan Walker (right index finger inflammation) threw a bullpen on Wednesday. He was supposed to accompany the team to Pittsburgh but his flight was delayed because of the global Microsoft outage.

» READ MORE: Phillies will open 2025 season in Washington; first home game against the Rockies

“Well, with all of the stuff being down today, he was supposed to fly in last night,” Thomson said. “And the flight was canceled. And the only thing we could get him on today was something that would get him in after game time, tonight.

“He’s scheduled to do an up-down tomorrow. Because he didn’t throw today, we’ll just have to reevaluate him. He might still do it.”

Cristopher Sánchez is scheduled to pitch Saturday, and Tyler Phillips going on Sunday. It had been unclear how the Phillies would line up this weekend, because it hinged on how much Sánchez threw during the All Star Game. But Sánchez threw only two pitches — getting two outs — in Tuesday’s Midsummer Classic.