Phillies

It Doesn’t Matter Where Bryce Harper Bats in the Phillies Lineup if Kyle Schwarber Isn’t in it

By Nick Piccone

Published: May 22nd, 2026 · 11:43 AM EDT

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Bryce Harper went hitless in the series against the Cincinnati Reds, walking once, and his only RBI came on a sac fly in Wednesday’s finale.

Washed? Nah.

But it does raise a question since Kyle Schwarber missed the entire series, leaving interim manager Don Mattingly no other choice but to bat Harper second, which lasted for a whole two games before Adolis García batted second in the rubber match.

It doesn’t help that the Phillies faced some good pitching in Chase Burns and Andrew Abbott in the final two games, but the Phils didn’t even put fear into a bad Reds bullpen, and were one Bryson Stott swing away from getting swept.

Now, a talking point gaining steam – mostly because Mattingly slotted García at No. 2 on Wednesday, admitting he wanted to move Harper out of the two-hole – is that Harper should hit second in the lineup regardless. It feels like it’s just another avenue for people to criticize Harper when he doesn’t perform at an MVP level. He’s not above criticism at all, but I think we’ve seen enough at-bats from this team to understand that batting Harper second isn’t some magical fix that will cure the ailments that have plagued this lineup for years now. Do I think he should hit second? Yeah, probably. Do I think it’ll ultimately fix how the lineup operates? I don’t.   

Honestly, it won’t matter where he hits if Schwarber isn’t batting. Harper seems more comfortable with another big bat around him, and when Schwarber isn’t in there, it’s quite literally a batting carousel. I think the best lineup for this team is Schwarber first and Harper second, but with Trea Turner pretty much locked in at leadoff right now, that seems like a far-fetched idea.

The manager isn’t Rob Thomson anymore, so there is a little bit of hope that we’ll see some sort of sustainable change at some point. Of course, you’d rather have more Harper at-bats during a game. Seeing more pitches from a starting pitcher at the beginning of the game really has no bearing on seeing pitches for the first time from a reliever later in the same game.

I do think it’s Harper’s mindset that batting third would allow more opportunities for batters ahead of him to get on base so he can drive them in. I think that’s the crux of his personal argument to stay batting third. I just don’t think it’s reality in today’s game, though. It’s not going to matter who’s on base if Schwarber isn’t batting ahead of or behind him. Harper didn’t get a hit when batting second in the first two games of the Reds’ series, but we didn’t really start hearing noise until García was moved up ahead of him; that’s how egregiously crazy the decision was. But the bigger impact was Schwarber’s absence. And unless the Phillies somehow get another power hitter here, it’s going to stay that way.