Kyle Schwarber, the Philadelphia Phillies’ designated hitter on a five-year, $150 million deal, left Chicago seven months before Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Chicago Cubs’ center fielder, arrived. They never shared a Cubs clubhouse, yet one Team USA conversation helped build a bond that has both tied atop MLB with 45 homers.

In a clip shared by the MLB Players Association on X, Crow-Armstrong admitted, “The one I love the most is the home runs, just because I’m tied with Schwarber. He’s obviously meant so much to this city and still does.”

The admission carries a full-circle feel. Schwarber, now earning $150 million over five years with the Phillies, left Chicago after 2020, and Crow-Armstrong arrived in 2021 to match his 45 homers five years later as the Cubs’ next left-handed star.

Schwarber returned the compliment in the same MLBPA video, saying, “This kid is an animal. He’s got so much talent and ability, and it’s so cool to see him have the year that he had.”

The numbers back it up. Crow-Armstrong became the seventh member of the 40-40 club with 45 homers and 41 steals, and he passed former Cubs outfielder Billy Williams for the single-season franchise homer record by a left-handed hitter.

The production belongs to Crow-Armstrong, but Schwarber’s influence began away from Chicago with Team USA, where he recalled in the MLBPA clip, “I got the time to really sit down and talk with him at Team USA. It’s not like I did anything. I just shared my experiences.”

Schwarber downplays his role, but the numbers tell a different story. Crow-Armstrong cut his chase rate from 41.7 to 34.2 in the same season he sat with a veteran who drew 105 walks.

It showed on the diamond too. At the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Schwarber’s 427-foot two-run shot against Great Britain on March 7 scored Crow-Armstrong in the fifth inning, broke a 1-1 tie and sparked a 9-1 Team USA win.

Team USA still fell 3-2 to Venezuela in the March 17 final despite Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper’s game-tying two-run homer in the eighth, with Crow-Armstrong driving in six runs and Schwarber three across the tournament.

But the bond’s foundation was laid years earlier. In the winter, Schwarber left after 2020. In July 2021, Chicago sent then-shortstop Javier Báez to the New York Mets for Crow-Armstrong, a 19-year-old prospect who reached Wrigley Field by September 2023.

Schwarber’s best Chicago power season produced 38 homers in 2019. Crow-Armstrong topped that with 45, and his unanimous MVP vote gave the Cubs their first NL MVP since third baseman Kris Bryant in 2016.

Schwarber’s story took a different path from there. The Phillies re-signed him to a five-year, $150 million deal in December 2025 after a 56-homer, 132-RBI season, and he answered with 45 homers and 105 walks.

Schwarber’s 38-homer floor every Phillies season raises the bar. Crow-Armstrong must sustain 45, not just hit it once.

Crow-Armstrong proved he can adjust. After a midseason swing tweak, his slash line jumped from .237/.325/.388 to .302/.397/.668, and his walk rate nearly tripled from 4.5 to 11.4 percent.

His glove carried equal weight. Crow-Armstrong added a second Gold Glove, the Platinum Glove, and the Hank Aaron Award, the first player to win the last two in one season, and his 9.8 Baseball Reference WAR led MLB.

Both sit at 45 homers heading into 2027, and Crow-Armstrong has made clear he wants to keep chasing the Phillies slugger whose advice stuck with him after a season that rewrote Cubs left-handed power records.

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