Former Hoosier Kyle Schrwarber Named to National League All-Star Team Again

Kyle Schwarber, the best player in Indiana baseball history, is 32 years old now and still doing big things for the Philadelphia Phillies. He has 27 home runs already, and is among the league leaders in several batting categories.

Because of that, he was chosen as a National League All-Star on Sunday, the third time he's had the honor of hearing his name being called. He was also selected in 2021 and 2022.

He appreciates each one, but as he gets older, it means a little more. He and his wife Paige have two young boys — 3-year-old Kade and 1-year-old Asher — and they all get to enjoy all of this a little more too as they get bigger.

“That's going to be fun,” Schwarber said. “Get to go to the Home Run Derby and have both the boys out there and have them watch. I know Kade is going to be excited to be out there and seeing balls flying all over the place. So, I expect he's going to have a great time."

Schwarber was part of Indiana's 2013 College World Series team and a three-time All-American. He was the fourth overall pick by the Chicago Cubs in the 2014 MLB Draft and he spent his first six years in the big leagues with the Cubs, with a lot of postseason greatness on his resume, until both sides parted ways at the end of the 2020 season.

His career has taken off since then. He was an All-Star in 2021 with the Washington Nationals, and was traded to Boston later in the summer and had postseason success with them as well.

He signed a four-year, $79 million free agent contract with Philadelphia prio to the 2022 season, and was an All-Star with them in his first year. He had 29 homers at the break that year, a mark he still might eclipse this season.

The Phillies are 53-37 this season and are in first place in the National League East, 1.5 games ahead of the New York Mets. Schwarber has been their best offensive player all season. No one else in Philadelphia has more than 11 home runs this season, and he leads the team in RBIs (63), runs (63), on-base percentage (.383), slugging percentage (.541) and OPS (.924).

“It means a lot,'' Schwarber told reporters afer the game on Sunday. “You want to represent your organization and your team, and obviously, yourself. You're putting in work, and to be recognized for that, is pretty cool. It's definitely something that's not overlooked when you're named an All-Star and you get to the game and do all the cool things, it's fun.”

Schwarber isn't part of the Home Run Derby this year, but he's not ruling it out in the future. Next year's All-Star Game is in Philadelphia. This is the final year of his contract with the Phillies, though, so there's no certainty as to where Schwarber will be calling home in 2026.

"Maybe we'll see what happens next year,'' he said.