Why Kyle Schwarber, Phillies Are Perfect Marriage of Production, Personality

The Philadelphia Phillies got a bargain in getting designated hitter Kyle Schwarber to agree to return on Tuesday at the MLB winter meetings.

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Five years, $150 million for a 32-year-old designated hitter doesn’t make much sense, unless its Kyle Schwarber and the Philadelphia Phillies.

The deal between the pair isn’t official yet but was widely reported by local and national reporters on the second day of the MLB winter meetings. It was the Shwarb-bomb that many anticipated. He had plenty of suitors.

As The Athletic (subscription required) reported, the Baltimore Orioles offered him the same terms. The Cincinnati Reds, his hometown team, offered him $125 million over five years. Even the Pittsburgh Pirates got in on it, offering $120 million over four years.

He wasn’t lacking for attention. He even had two identical offers. But he chose Philly and Philly chose him. It’s easy to see why.

Kyle Schwarber’s Philadelphia Fit

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The deal will make him the second-highest paid Phillie next season, with only pitcher Zack Wheeler making more at $42 million. In some ways, Schwarber’s deal is a bargain for the Phillies, considering what he brings to the table.

The left-handed hitter has always been productive, whether it was in Chicago, Washington or Boston. From 2015-21, he slashed .237/.343/.493 with 153 home runs and 350 RBI. He hit 30 or more home runs three times but drove in more than 90 runs just one time. When he arrived in Philly on a four-year deal those would have been acceptable numbers.

In four years with the Phils the slash looks like this — .226/.349/.507. The batting average was down slightly, but his on-base percentage and slugging were up slightly. That pushed his OPS to .856 over four seasons.

But the run production was a level up from his previous stops. In four years with Philly, he hit 187 home runs and 434 RBI. He hit a National League-leading 56 in 2025. He hit more than 40 home runs in two other seasons. He drove in 100 or more RBI three straight years, including an MLB-leading 132 in 2025.

He struck out a lot, 809 times in four seasons. But he’s the rare slugger that can draw walks, too, with 426 in his time with Philly. He’s had three straight 100-walk seasons. He’s good enough to be a leadoff hitter, a clean-up hitter or a bottom-of-the-order hitter. It’s a rare quality.

The deal carries him from his age 33 to his age 37 seasons. It could be argued that he can keep this level of production up, especially if the Phillies keep him as a primary designed hitter.

But, more than that, Schwarber is the perfect soul for this Phillies clubhouse. He’s the perfect ambassador for this team with this city. When he hit four home runs in a game earlier this season, before that game he had agreed to appear on an episode of ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” which is set there. Their cameras filmed history. He could have bailed out. But he didn’t. He did his cameo, amid all the national attention of what he had done.

Philadelphia is the perfect for Schwarber and vice versa. It’s the perfect marriage, even at $30 million per year.