Phillies Veteran Slugging His Way Into National League MVP Discussion

When taking a look at the Philadelphia Phillies roster, this is a team that is going to have a lot of players in the running for accolades at the end of the year.

Littered with All-Stars, some season-long awards and spots on the All-MLB team could be within reach for a few players, as well.

The pitching staff is where people will look first, with accolade-worthy production coming from Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo. That is as good of a three-headed monster as any team has.

The team’s lineup, however, has left a little something to be desired with their overall production, especially when taking into account how much money they are being paid.

Leading the way and lapping his teammates when it comes to production at the plate is designated hitter Kyle Schwarber.

Is Phillies Slugger Kyle Schwarber a Legitimate MVP Candidate?

When taking a look at him as a player, it is tough to evaluate in some facets.

He doesn’t play the field much, evident by him not qualifying for the Fielding Run Value leaderboards but still being minus-3 per Baseball Savant. Schwarber is amongst the worst base runners in baseball with a Baserunning Run Value of minus-2, which is in the second percentile.

That puts immense pressure on him to perform at the plate, and he has answered the call.

Schwarber has an elite Batting Run Value of +18, which is in the 98th percentile. Despite still whiffing at a below-average rate, he has cut down drastically on his strikeouts and the rest of his Baseball Savant page is full of elite numbers.

He is in the top 7% of the MLB in average exit velocity, max exit velocity, xSLG, wOBA, xwOBA, xwOBACON, hard-hit percentage and walk percentage, producing at an elite level.

Schwarber has a .2681/.393/.580 slash line with a 173 OPS+. He has produced 1.7 bWAR, an incredibly impressive number since he isn’t making positive contributions anywhere but with his bat.

His 15 home runs are tied for the most in baseball and he is leading the Phillies with 33 RBI. He has added three stolen bases, three doubles and one triple to round out his impressive stat line.

There are some people who will view him being a designated hitter as a knock, but Shohei Ohtani just won the NL MVP Award in 2024 exclusively as a designated hitter.

What is keeping Schwarber from being in the mix in 2025, especially if he keeps up this level of incredible production at the heart of the Philadelphia batting order?

The price tag for the Phillies to bring Schwarber back just keeps going up with each passing day and productive at-bat.