Numbers Behind Phillies Slugger Kyle Schwarber’s Incredible Month

Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber is 32 years old. He'll be in his age 33 season next year.

But there's a reason why many insiders believe the Phillies will make a concerted push to keep their leadoff hitter on the roster in free agency this offseason.

All one must do is look at Schwarber's incredible month of May to see his true value to a lineup that relies on power and his ability to get on base as a non-traditional leadoff man.

Phillies Slugger Kyle Schwarber’s Incredible May

As a designated hitter he’s able to play nearly every day. In May he played in 28 games and slashed .288/.403/.644 with a 1.047 OPS. He was the only Phillies regular with an OPS over 1.000 in May. In fact, no one was with 125 points of his OPS in May.

He led the Phillies with 10 home runs and 20 RBI in May. He also struck out 31 times. But, in typical Schwarber fashion, he also drew 19 walks. Both marks led the team. In fact, no other Phillies hitter had at least 10 walks in May.

This is what Philadelphia gets with Schwarber — a prodigious slugger who, despite striking out a lot, also has a penchant for offsetting that by drawing a lot of walks.

This season is no exception. Through 59 games he’s slashed 266/.398/.584 with a team-leading 950 OPS. He already has 19 home runs and 44 RBI, with 43 walks against 61 strikeouts.

He’s on pace for the kind of seasons the Phillies are used to getting from him since he arrived before the 2022 season.

In each of his first three seasons with the Phillies, he’s slammed at least 38 home runs and driven in at least 94 RBI. In 2022 and 2023 he had 46 home runs and 47 home runs, respectively. In 2023 and 2024 he’s had 104 RBI in each season.

The difference lately has been the slash line. His slash this season is putting him on course for his best season since 2021 in Boston, when he slashed .291/.435/.522 in just 41 games.

In his first two seasons with the Phillies his batting average hovered around .200 for most of each season. But he drew 85 walks in 2022, 126 walks in 2023 and 106 walks last season.

Schwarber will be a free agent after the season. He could approach a nine-figure deal, whether he remains in Philly or not.

But, if the Phillies are smart, they’ll keep him around. May was a great example of his value to this team.