Phillies

Kyle Schwarber is One of the Best Free Agent Signings in Philly Sports History

By Luke Arcaini

Published: May 12th, 2025 · 9:48 AM EDT

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Kyle Schwarber is 32-years-old and a better baseball player than he was when he signed his 4-year, $79M contract with the Phillies before the 2022 season.

Sunday night was another Kyle Schwarber takeover, as the DH crushed two homers in Cleveland to power the Phillies to a 3-0 win on national television.

Schwarber is now slashing .269/.404/.593 through the first 40 games of the season with 14 homers, 32 RBIs, and a .997 OPS. He’s tied with Aaron Judge for the most home runs in all of baseball, on pace to finish the season with 56. Schwarber leads the Phillies in home runs, RBIs, walks, OBP, SLG, and OPS.

Kyle Schwarber came into his first season with the Phillies as a 28-year-old with 153 home runs in six seasons. After 505 regular season games with the Phillies, he sits two-homers away from 300.

Schwarber never had a season with 40 home runs before coming to Philadelphia. His career high was 38 in 2019. He hit 46 in 2022, 47 in 2023, and 38 in 2024. The older he gets, the better he’s getting.

There may not be a player in Philadelphia sports right now that’s more valuable to their team. Yes, he’s a workhorse on the field who is an unbelievable presence at the plate, but I’d argue his most valuable trait may be his leadership.

Bryson Stott spoke on Sunday Night Baseball’s mic’d up inning, talking all about Schwarber and his leadership on and off the field:

He’s a fantastic leader, fantastic person. He treats everyone with respect, he’s an amazing human

Brandon Marsh had an absolutely brutal start to his 2025 season, but has really turned it around since returning from his rehab assignment. Marsh is hitting .467/.500/.667 in the month of May with 7 hits, including 3 doubles, in 15 at-bats.

Marsh spoke following the series finale in Tampa Bay, saying that Schwarber was the biggest help in his process of getting out of his slump and getting back to his ways at the plate.

I don’t really know what else to say except to pay Kyle Schwarber. Whether it’s now, next week, next month, or in the offseason. Schwarber should not, and can not play for another organization the rest of his career. He’s too valuable to this team for Dave Dombrowski to even think about letting him walk.