Kyle Schwarber Says the New Derby Format Is Way Easier on His Body

Kyle Schwarber is one of the most dangerous power hitters in baseball, and he’s about to test that in a Home Run Derby that looks different than anything fans have seen before. The Phillies slugger joined Bryce Harper in this year’s field, and the two are hoping to give Philadelphia something to scream about Monday night.

But what actually changed? MLB scrapped the timed rounds. Instead of swinging for two or three straight minutes, hitters now get a set number of swings. Twenty in the first round. Fifteen in the second and the finals. That’s it. If you swing, it counts. Foul balls don’t apply, but every real cut comes off the total.

Schwarber talked about the switch on The Pat McAfee Show and made it sound like a pretty big deal for the guys in the cage.

“I practiced one time out in Detroit. We were just in Detroit, and just did 15 and 20. Just trying to figure it out,” Schwarber said. “One, it’s more for probably the pitcher than it is for us. Just to kind of figure out where he’s going to stand, how hard you want him to throw, things like that, and for him to get used to throwing to a catcher because in BP, you know, we just throw into a turtle; they don’t ever have a catcher.”

That part matters. In normal batting practice, the pitcher throws into a screen — a “turtle” as players call it — so there’s no real target behind the plate. In the Derby, there’s a catcher. It’s open field behind home plate. That changes the whole rhythm for the guy feeding pitches.

“There’s always a backdrop there, so it’s going to be open field for him. No turtle, no nothing. So him practice, feel it out, but yeah, it’s going to be a different format. 20 swings, which I think is going to be a little bit, you know, easier on the bodies for us. Where, heck, swinging for two minutes, three minutes straight, it’s a lot.”

It is a lot. The old format turned the Derby into a sprint that felt more like an endurance test. Guys would blow up by the second round. Arms dead. Legs heavy. All that adrenaline and then a dead bat at the worst possible moment. Going to a fixed number of swings should mean fresher hitters deeper into the night.

Schwarber has never won the Derby. He’s been in it before, hit some massive shots, but never took home the trophy. With the format shift and the crowd at Globe Life Field likely heavy on Phillies fans given Harper and Schwarber both in the field, the setup is there for something memorable.

He swings left-handed. He hits balls that look like they’re shot out of a cannon. And now he doesn’t have to worry about the clock. Just the count.