Philly now has a 25% chance of walking away with the Home Run Derby crown.
The Phillies announced Friday that Kyle Schwarber will participate in the 2026 Home Run Derby on Monday night, joining teammate Bryce Harper, who announced his participation on Thursday.
It marks the first time two Phillies have been in the event together, and they are the first set of teammates to do the Derby together since Schwarber and Javy Baez did so as Cubs in 2018.
That happens to be the year that Schwarber and Harper were the finalists, with Harper winning representing the hometown Nationals.
“Having a rematch of ’18 would be pretty cool to see,” Schwarber said when asked about that. “I think it would be fun for everyone, not just Philly, but the game and for the people watching.”
“It should be fun,” Harper said. “Obviously, two teammates doing it at the same time.”
Schwarber, who leads MLB with 32 homers entering the weekend, decided to commit after entering the break in a good place physically, while Harper – who admitted he didn’t really want to do another after winning in 2018 – needed a little hometown prodding.
“Being able to kind of do it for the fans and doing it at home kind of took me to the point where I wanted to do it,” Harper said.
Schwarber will have Phillies assistant hitting coach Rafael Pena, who is his usual BP pitcher, throwing to him in the Derby, while Harper will have Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel, who was his BP pitcher for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, as his Derby hurler.
They will both be looking to become the first Phillie since Ryan Howard in 2006 to win the event.
