Philadelphia Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber is tied with Aaron Judge for the Major League home run lead with 14 and he's had an interesting mantra to help him at the plate, particularly against left-handed pitchers.

“You have to be prepared to die,” said Schwarber, who bats left-handed.

Schwarber explained the approach to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, telling him it came from another lefty hitter who had success against one of the best left-handed pitchers of all-time, Randy Johnson.

“I mean, the mind’s a powerful thing, right?” Schwarber said. “You tell yourself one thing, and the next thing you know, you’re having success. But I feel there are a lot of different things, too, that went into that.”

Since the start of last season, Schwarber has faced more lefty pitchers than any other left-handed batter, and he has had considerable success. So far this year, he is hitting .321 against lefties with a 1.220 OPS. He's hit half of his home runs against lefties despite taking nearly twice as many at bats against righties.

It hasn't always been that way. Schwarber used to struggle mightily against lefties. In 2018 with the Chicago Cubs, Schwarber hit .224 with a .656 OPS against left-handed pitching. It was a career-best to that point as he entered the season hitting around .170 against southpaws.

Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long lauds Kyle Schwarber's approach

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The Phillies' Kevin Long has been an MLB hitting coach since 2007 and has had the job with Philadelphia since 2022. He knows Schwarber as a hitter as well as anyone.

“He’s got this knack,” Long said, “for willing himself to do things that other people think he can’t do.”

But it's more than just will. As long explained, it takes a certain baseball IQ for a lefty hitter to have so much success against left-handed pitching.

“It’s work,” Long said. “It’s willing yourself. It is understanding what a lefty is trying to do to you. Understanding the angles. Understanding what pitches do against lefties. He’s got a really good grasp on it. He’s shortened his swing since the time I met him to where he is now.”