Phillies are showing restraint in the strike zone, and Rob Thomson likes it

ATLANTA — Ten games into the season, Phillies manager Rob Thomson doesn’t put a lot of stock in trends surrounding his team just yet.

But there are certain things he’s noticed that he thinks are encouraging. For one, the way the Phillies have been “controlling the zone.”

“I hate saying ‘chase’ now,” Thomson said Wednesday. “It’s like a swear word to me. I’d rather talk about controlling the [strike] zone, because it’s just a negative.”

However he wants to phrase it, the Phillies’ plate discipline is one of the best in baseball so far this year. Their chase rate of 25% is the lowest in MLB. Compare that to their 30.3% marker in the 2024 regular season, which ranked sixth-highest in MLB, or the 31.8% rate in the playoffs that directly resulted in a premature exit in the National League Division Series.

The work they put in in the cage in spring training has helped with these early results, but Thomson thinks the biggest reason behind the turnaround is the memory of how last season ended.

“Just acknowledging the fact that we were swinging at too many pitches,” Thomson said. “And not passing the baton, and not letting somebody else get it done if that pitcher is not going to pitch to you. … I think knowing that that’s happened, and knowing that that’s a big deal, has helped quite a bit.”

It’s still premature to declare the Phillies offense completely reformed, but Thomson hopes this early performance can provide a baseline for the Phillies when they inevitably chase a few sliders low and away again.

“We’re going to have times where we get out of the zone. Everybody does,” Thomson said. “But once we do, once we go through that trend, hopefully we get back to where we’re at now.”

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Another positive trend so far: Kyle Schwarber’s domination of left-handed pitchers. In 19 plate appearances, Schwarber is hitting .533 and slugging 1.333 against lefties. There’s enough data to support that his effectiveness isn’t a fluke, though, as Schwarber maintained a .300 split last season vs. lefties.

“I think I’m just trying to stay in the zone, and I feel like I’m taking good swings and getting good results,” Schwarber said last week. “I think it’s just one of those things where if you get good results, great, but I think it’s just more about the process of it, where you know you feel like you’re swinging at good pitches and doing that, because sometimes the hits just aren’t going to come.”

Schwarber is off to an even better start this year, including a 3-for-3 game Tuesday against reigning NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale. Schwarber hit a 116.7 mph homer — the hardest homer Sale has ever allowed to a left-hander — and a 105.1 mph triple. He finished a double shy of the cycle.

Schwarber entered Wednesday with a 67.7% hard-hit rate, and an average exit velocity of 98.1 mph.

“He’s been really good. He just stays within himself and doesn’t try to do too much,” Thomson said. “And when you do that, big things happen.”

One surprising split from his start to the season, though, is Schwarber’s .182 average against right-handers in 26 plate appearances.

He’ll have plenty of opportunities this week to try and see if that power against lefties will transfer to righties. The Phillies face a stretch of right-handers until Sunday, when St. Louis lefty Matthew Liberatore is scheduled to start the series finale.

Weston Wilson (oblique strain, left side) went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts in his first rehab game with the Clearwater Threshers on Tuesday. He played five innings in left field. … Jesús Luzardo (2-0, 1.50 ERA) is scheduled to start the series finale against Braves right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach (1-0 0.00) on Thursday.