Categories: Phillies Nuggets with Tim Kelly

Kyle Schwarber is one of the greatest signings in Phillies history

Kyle Schwarber is having a tremendous season for the Phillies. (Zac BonDurant/Icon Sportswire)

As Kyle Schwarber launched an opposite-field home run to lead off Wednesday evening’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, it was hard not to have the following thought: How dumb is it that the primary discussion that’s surrounded the slugger’s time with the Philadelphia Phillies has been about whether or not he should be the leadoff hitter?

Whether you think Schwarber is the ideal leadoff hitter or not, it’s clear that manager Rob Thomson and the Phillies do. It’s obvious Schwarber’s comfortable there, as he now has hit 11 leadoff home runs in two consecutive seasons. And if the Phillies made it to the World Series in 2022, the NLCS in 2023 and have baseball’s best record in 2024, how bad can Schwarber leading off really be?

In any event, the discussion has taken up far too much of the discourse surrounding Schwarber, who is only guaranteed to lead off once a game. Following Schwarber’s three-homer, seven-RBI performance against the Dodgers Wednesday evening, it’s time to reframe the conversation into one about how he — like Bryce Harper and Zack Wheeler — is one of the greatest signings in franchise history.

Since joining the Phillies on a four-year/$79 million contract prior to the 2022 season, Schwarber has hit 120 home runs. Only Aaron Judge — who’s in the midst of one of the greatest three-year power stretches in MLB history — has more home runs over that period.

Schwarber finished last season with 126 walks, the fifth-most in a single season in Phillies history. He already has 82 this season, and with Juan Soto now out of the National League, there’s a very real chance he holds onto his lead in bases on balls among senior circuit players.

For all the bellyaching there was about Schwarber hitting just .207 across his first two seasons with the Phillies, it seems worth pointing out that he’s hitting .261 this season. Schwarber is thinner in 2024, and has almost exclusively been a DH, two things that have likely helped his durability this year.

Obviously, the 2024 Phillies — and really, this era of the team — will be judged on how they do in October. History tells us Schwarber will hold up his end of the bargain. Schwarber has 11 home runs in two playoff runs with the Phillies, which is tied for the most career postseason home runs in club history with Harper and Jayson Werth.

When you factor in postseason runs with the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox before Schwarber arrived in Philly, Schwarber’s 20 career playoff home runs are fourth in MLB history, trailing only Manny Ramirez, Jose Altuve and Bernie Williams.

There’s also just the unavoidable reality that wherever Schwarber has gone, the team has won. He helped the Cubs to snap a 108-year World Series drought in 2016. The Phillies are all-but certain to play in the playoffs in 2024 for the third time in as many seasons with Schwarber. They had an 10-year drought prior to his arrival.

Schwarber brought a legitimacy to the clubhouse in 2022, which was a missing piece on a club with a ton of talent but not a lot of postseason experience. It’s been clear since Day 1 that he’s one of, if not the, most respected figures in the clubhouse. Particularly post-Rhys Hoskins, it’s often Schwarber who gives the state of the team addresses to the media after games, rain or shine. He has a good rapport with the media, but hasn’t said one controversial thing in three seasons in red pinstripes. All these things matter, even if they can be difficult to quantify.

None of this is to say Schwarber is a perfect player. He does strike out a ton. While he’s healthier and moving better this season, he isn’t particularly quick running the bases. He didn’t grade out well defensively between 2022 and 2023, when he was the primary left fielder for the Phillies. All of that is fair to point out.

But realize this: if you could have foreseen the production Schwarber was going to put up with the Phillies when he was a free agent, he likely would have received five or six seasons and well over $100 million. Both in terms of production and bang-for-your-buck, Schwarber is one of the greatest free-agent signings in Phillies history.