Kyle Schwarber’s personal swing-off continued Friday night. Schwarber homered on his first swing of the second half after going 3 for 3 in the All-Star Game swing-off this past Tuesday, giving him a home run on four straight swings. The home run was his 31st of the season. Schwarber went 1 for 3 with the homer and a walk in the Angels’ 6-5 win over the Phillies (game recap).
Now 32, Schwarber is one of several core Phillies players scheduled to hit free agency after this season, along with catcher J.T. Realmuto and lefty Ranger Suárez. As owner John Middleton said Friday, keeping Schwarber beyond 2025 is a priority. Here’s what Middleton told reporters, including the Associated Press:
“We love him. We want to keep him,” Phillies manager partner John Middleton said ahead of Friday’s series-opening game against the Los Angeles Angels.
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“We need no motivation whatsoever when it comes to Kyle Schwarber,” Middleton said. “He’s great. We thought he was great when we signed him years ago. We thought he was great consistently through the years. There’s nothing Kyle does that surprises us. No matter how great he is, we expect that from Kyle. He’s a great person in the dugout. He’s a great person in the clubhouse.”
Middleton added that the two sides had extension talks in spring training, but they were tabled because Schwarber wanted to focus on getting ready for the season. “I know there’s going to be interest on their side there coming up at the end of the year,” he said about Schwarber wanting to work out a new deal to remain with Philadelphia long-term.
This is the final season of the four-year, $80 million contract Schwarber signed in March 2022, soon after the lockout ended. He hit at least 38 homers in each of his first three years with the Phillies and is well on his way to doing it again this season. Schwarber’s 162 home runs since 2022 are the third most in baseball behind Aaron Judge (192) and Shohei Ohtani (164).
There is no doubting the power and Schwarber’s ability to rise to the occasion in big games. The question moving forward is how much and for how long the Phillies want to commit to a player who is a full-time DH. Bryce Harper is an above-average first baseman now, but like most players, he figures to spend more time at DH as he gets further into his 30s.
Schwarber will turn 33 in March. This past offseason, the Astros gave Christian Walker a three-year deal worth $60 million when he was going into his age-34 season, and Walker is a terrific defensive first baseman. Teoscar Hernández just signed a three-year contract worth $66 million with the Dodgers, going into his age-32 season. That was after a strong postseason.
Hernández, Walker, and Schwarber’s current contracts suggest that the top DH market remains in the $20 million per year range. Power pays and few players have as much power as Schwarber. The question is years. Based on Hernández and Walker, Schwarber can push for three guaranteed years. Does his history with Philadelphia mean a fourth year is on the table?
The Phillies have an older core and there are only so many years left in Harper’s, Trea Turner’s, and Zack Wheeler’s primes. There is an urgency to get over the hump and win a World Series soon. Does keeping Schwarber improve their odds? I think yes, absolutely, though POBO Dave Dombrowski wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t at least consider alternatives.
According to the betting experts at BetMGM, the Phillies have the fourth best odds (+850) to win the World Series this season, behind the Yankees (+750), Tigers (+650) and Dodgers (+230).
Friday’s loss dropped the Phillies to 55-42 on the season. They are a half-game up on the Mets in the NL East and 2 ½ games behind the Dodgers for the NL’s No. 2 seed, which would give them a Wild Card Series bye.
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