Ahead of free agency, Kyle Schwarber is having more than a career year
Kyle Schwarber isn’t just having a career year or one of the best walk years in recent memory. He’s having a once-in-a-blue-moon season.
Hitting .245/.372/.571, Schwarber has already set a career-high with 53 home runs, 128 RBIs and 4.9 wins above replacement, according to Baseball Reference. His 154 OPS+ would be a career best. So would his .571 slugging percentage. One more stolen base — he has 10 — and he’d set a career-high there, too.
The 32-year-old, set to hit the free-agent market later this year, has also scored 106 runs and drawn 104 walks.
All extremely impressive totals.
But taking a step back to look at the bigger picture shows Schwarber’s 2025 campaign as much more than extremely impressive. It highlights its rarity. Both in Phillies franchise history and baseball history.
As a franchise, the Phillies have been around since 1883. In their 142-year existence, only one player has ever surpassed 50 home runs, 125 RBIs, 100 runs and 100 walks in the same season. Ryan Howard accomplished those totals in 2006, his MVP season.
Many great players have played for the Phillies. But only Howard and Schwarber have had this type of season.
Take more steps back, and it’s even more astounding what Schwarber’s doing. Only 14 other players have ever had at least 50 homers, 125 RBIs, 100 runs and 100 walks in the same season. Only six others have been left-handed hitters like the Phillies designated hitter.
Altogether, before Schwarber’s, there were 21 of these types of seasons in baseball history; 16 have come since 1931, the year the Baseball Writers Association of America started voting for MVP. Of those 16 seasons, seven were deemed MVP-worthy by the BBWAA, meaning those “MVP! MVP! MVP!” chants heard during the second half at Citizens Bank Park when Schwarber’s been up to bat are justifiable.
For his accomplishments so far this year, Schwarber isn’t only on a Phillies short list. He’s also on a baseball short list.
While being on those short lists, Schwarber is also at the top of one.
Schwarber’s 53rd home run came in Monday’s 6-5 win over the Dodgers. It was against left-handed opener Anthony Banda. The long ball was Schwarber’s 22nd against a southpaw this season, tied for the most ever in a season by a lefty hitter (Matt Olson, 2023).
Such strong performance against left-handed pitching also makes Schwarber’s 2025 so unique. He’s been better against lefties (.978 OPS) than righties (.921). Left-on-left crime isn’t usual. Since 2021, lefty hitters have posted a .664 OPS versus lefty pitchers in the majors.
One reason for Schwarber’s success is how well he’s connected with fastballs.
Schwarber’s always been a good fastball hitter. But this year, he’s been on another level against the hard stuff. Schwarber is hitting .310 with a .722 slugging percentage against fastballs. The only other year in his career that resembles those marks was 2021, when he hit .307 and slugged .660 against fastballs.
Of course, 2021 was the season that made Schwarber an attractive free agent ahead of the 2022 season; he eventually signed with the Phillies for four years and close to $80 million.
Schwarber will be an even more coveted free agent this time around. He’s a clubhouse leader, proven winner and certified slugger. He was going to get paid this winter no matter what. But putting together this type of campaign — one in rarified air — assures a large payday is ahead for Schwarber.