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PHILADELPHIA — For 2½ rounds in the 2023 MLB playoffs, the Philadelphia Phillies‘ offense has been an unstoppable machine, scoring 46 runs in eight games.

But that wasn’t always the case.

After an inconsistent regular season, Phillies hitters got together shortly after securing a postseason bid and decided that the arrival of playoff baseball meant they would need to put together better at-bats. And a funny thing happened after they focused on making pitchers work more throughout October: The home runs started to come in bunches.

In two dominating victories over the Arizona Diamondbacks to start the NLCS, the long balls have come often — and early. First there was a three-home run onslaught in the first three innings of the series opener, then another trio of long balls in a 10-0 Game 2 blowout. It’s on the strength of that dominating offense that the Phillies leave for Arizona with a commanding 2-0 lead.

“The focus is there,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said Tuesday. “The intent is there. We’re not chasing as much as we did early in the season. We’re trying to cut down our swings and just put the ball in play. Then you turn around and we’re hitting home runs all over the field and these guys are doing a ton of damage.”

The results have been stunning. The Phillies have hit 19 home runs in their eight playoff games, 15 in their past four and six in the first two games of the NLCS, The plan laid out in hitters’ meetings going into the series was simple: Be ready to hit, and don’t let a good pitch go by you.

“Look for center cut and react to everything,” assistant hitting coach Jason Camilli said after Game 1. “That’s pretty much what the game plan was.”

According to ESPN Stats & Information, their plan has resulted in six home runs hit this postseason coming off the first pitch of an AB, four on the second, three on the third and four more on the fourth. The Phillies aren’t waiting around. And 12 of the 19 have come off fastballs or related hard pitches such as cutters and sinkers.

“Overall, they did an unbelievable job of executing the game plan,” Camilli said.

No one has taken to it more than the heart and soul of the Phillies, leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber, who belted his 49th and 50th home runs of 2023 in Game 2 off starter Merrill Kelly — one day after he opened Game 1 with a first-pitch blast off Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen that immediately set the tone at a rocking Citizens Bank Park.

Known by his teammates as Mr. 1-0 because of his propensity to give the Phillies a lead on the first at-bat of the game, Schwarber can ignite the dugout. His at-bats — like those of teammate Bryce Harper, who also went deep in the first inning of the series opener — have everyone in the Phillies dugout watching on the edge of their seat.

“It’s bonkers in there,” backup catcher Garrett Stubbs said. “Some of them look like missiles and some are colossal. He had both on Tuesday. We loved it.”

Schwarber has the reputation of a free swinger — and his 47 regular-season home runs did come with an MLB-high 215 strikeouts — but he says that all-or-nothing approach is not what the Phillies are all about.

“I think that’s something everyone is misconstruing,” Schwarber said. “We’re not just saying swing at everything. We’re trying to get good pitches to hit. That’s all we’re trying to do. We’re not going up there to wildly hack. … I’m looking for a pitch in a spot. If not, I’m going to work an at-bat. I’m not up there automatically swinging.”

Camilli calls it “selective-aggressive,” and the selective part of that equation has been obvious: The Phillies have dropped their chase rate — 26th in MLB during the regular season — five points, from 31% to 26%.

During the two consecutive early power surges that left two of the NL’s best pitchers reeling, the mantra for the Phillies was repeated throughout the clubhouse: Be ready to hit.

It’s not about getting ready in the batter’s box in the allotted time the pitch clock allows — it’s a mindset when you walk up to the plate. Pitchers like to throw early strikes. Hitters need to hit them. It’s as simple as that.

“Those guys that challenge you are fun,” shortstop Trea Turner said. “The best ones throw strikes. At this time of year, you’re going to get strikes. The best starting pitchers in the game have swing and miss stuff in the zone so we happened not to miss those pitches that they’ve left in the middle of the plate.”

Turner took a page out of Schwarber’s book in Game 2, hitting a first inning home run, beginning the eventual rout. Before the night began, he called the team’s hitting philosophy ”old school.”

“It’s less information in a good way,” he explained. “We have all the information. We have everything we need, but we’ve got a lineup of guys that just want to hit and play baseball. I think that’s refreshing as well. Sometimes you can get caught up a lot in the video or the numbers and different things, and I think throughout the season, we’ve kind of learned what we like and what we don’t like.”

“We’re talking in the dugout,” Stubbs said. “It’s the postseason. These guys know how to take playoff at-bats. I can’t believe how good the at-bats have been.”

It starts in the hitter’s meetings where it’s a ”communal” effort, according to Stubbs. Anyone can speak up, and the goal is to come up with a specific plan for the opposing pitcher, seeking out specific tendencies, like they did against Gallen in Game 1.

“The main thing that we talked about that translated into the game was when there’s runners on be ready to hit because he has that quick slide step,” third baseman Alec Bohm said. “And from what we saw from other teams facing him recently, they weren’t on the fastball. They were late.”

Talk about it, take it into the game, light up the scoreboard. It has worked so far for the Phillies, who won again Tuesday as Mr. 1-0 helped them to the 2-0 series lead.

“As a catcher, I know what the opposing pitcher and catcher are thinking about all day long before a game,” Realmuto said of Schwarber. “Even the night before. They’re worried about that first at-bat. They’re worried about the first pitch. They have anxiety.

“He’s ready to hit.”

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2025 MLB All-Star Game: Everything you need to know

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2025 MLB All-Star Game: Everything you need to know

For the first time since the turn of the century, MLB’s All-Star Game will be held in Atlanta — the first ever at Truist Park since its opening in 2017.

All-Star festivities begin July 11 and culminate in the Midsummer Classic on July 15, as the National League looks to gain just its second win since 2013 while the American League aims to extend its dominance.

Following the first phase of All-Star voting, we know the top overall vote-getters in each league — Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani — automatically earned the starting spot at their positions, outfield and designated hitter, respectively. Now, the starting lineups have been revealed, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers leading the way each with three starters, followed by the Chicago Cubs with two. Four players named as starters — Cal Raleigh, Jacob Wilson, Ryan O’Hearn and Pete Crow-Armstrong — are first-time All-Stars.

Stay tuned, as we’ll have everything you need to navigate All-Star Week — from event schedules and full rosters to All-Star Game analysis.

Vote for the All-Star starters: All-Star Ballot 2025

Latest news and analysis

How does MLB All-Star voting work?

2025 MLB All-Star roster predictions, biggest debates

Which slugger will win the HR Derby? Breaking down the field

All-Star schedule

(All times ET)

July 2: MLB All-Star starters reveal at 7 p.m. on ESPN

July 6: MLB All-Star full rosters announced at 5 p.m. on ESPN

July 11: HBCU Swingman Classic at 8 p.m. on MLB Network

July 13: MLB Draft at 6 p.m. on ESPN and MLB Network

July 14: MLB All-Star Celebrity Softball Game at 1 p.m. on MLB Network

July 14: MLB Home Run Derby at 8 p.m. on ESPN

July 15: All-Star Red Carpet Show at 2 p.m. on MLB Network

July 15: MLB All-Star Game at 7 p.m. on FOX

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Cards rest injured Contreras, Arenado vs. Pirates

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Cards rest injured Contreras, Arenado vs. Pirates

PITTSBURGH — First baseman Willson Contreras and third baseman Nolan Arenado are out of the St. Louis Cardinals’ lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Contreras sustained a left hand contusion during Tuesday night’s 1-0 loss to the Pirates when hit by a pitch from Paul Skenes. Arenado will miss a second straight game with a jammed right middle finger.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Wednesday that he is hopeful Contreras and Arenado can play Friday when St. Louis opens a three-game series against the National League Central-leading Cubs in Chicago.

The Cardinals entered play Wednesday in third place in the division, four games behind the Cubs. St. Louis has an off day on Thursday.

Contreras, a three-time All-Star, is hitting .248 with 11 home runs in 82 games. An eight-time All-Star, Arenado has a .247 batting average and 10 homers in 80 games.

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Guillorme is latest to IL for banged-up Astros

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Guillorme is latest to IL for banged-up Astros

DENVER — The Houston Astros placed infielder Luis Guillorme on the 10-day injured list with a strained right hamstring Wednesday, the latest position player sidelined for the American League West leaders.

The eight-year veteran Guillorme appeared in 12 games for the Astros, who put shortstop Jeremy Pena on the 10-day injured list with a broken rib earlier this week. Infielder Zack Short was promoted from Triple-A Sugar Land to fill in for Guillorme and added to the 40-man roster, and designated hitter Yordan Alvarez was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room.

Alvarez has already been out for two months with a broken right hand. He recently had a setback in his recovery, making his timetable to return to the lineup uncertain.

The Astros have put six position players on the injured list in the past two months and have a total of 14 players, including pitchers, sidelined by injuries.

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