Phillies’ power-hitter search: Kyle Schwarber has pop, right price but questionable defense

It’s easy to see Schwarber fitting in with the Phillies, but how many other teams will be saying the same thing once the lockout ends?

by Scott Lauber

Published Feb. 9, 2022, 5:01 a.m. ET

Editor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series on middle-of-the-order hitters who will be available to the Phillies in free agency once the MLB lockout ends. Part one focused on Kris Bryant.

Kevin Long looked into the camera, pressed his index finger to his lips, and smiled devilishly. Not exactly a poker face. But then the secret was out well before the hitting coach gave an interview to MLB Network in November.

The Phillies, in their search for a run-producing slugger, were eyeing Kyle Schwarber.

It was true before the owners locked out the players on Dec. 2, and it will be true whenever Major League Baseball gets back to business. Schwarber, a top Phillies target, pretty much matches president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski’s broad description of what the team is looking for in likely its most expensive and highest-profile offseason addition.

Left-handed hitter with 25- to 30-homer power? Check.

Unattached to draft-pick compensation? Yessir.

Experience as a left fielder? Roger that.

Schwarber, who turns 29 next month, is also coming off the best of his seven seasons in the majors. He revived his career as a student of Long’s in Washington and clubbed 32 homers with a personal-high .928 on-base plus slugging for the Nationals and Boston Red Sox. Oh, and he has 128 postseason plate appearances, more than any current Phillie, including a 7-for-17 tear in the 2016 World Series for the hex-busting Chicago Cubs.

So, why didn’t the Phillies just sign Schwarber during the MLB-wide free-agent binge that took place in the days leading up to Dec. 2, when commissioner Rob Manfred enacted the lockout? Because Schwarber chose to stay on the market, perhaps believing that the likelihood of a universal designated hitter in the next collective bargaining agreement will boost the demand for him once the wheeling and dealing resume.

Maybe that will be the case. The Miami Marlins reportedly looked into Schwarber before trading for Joey Wendle and signing free agent Avisaíl García but could always rekindle their pursuit if they’re able to use him as a DH. The Red Sox also may have created at-bats in left field or at DH by trading away outfielder Hunter Renfroe on the eve of the lockout.

“We absolutely would love to have him back,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said in November at the general managers’ meetings. “The quality of his at-bats, it really stands out.”

But Schwarber still figures to sign for less than fellow outfielders Kris Bryant and Nick Castellanos, even though Castellanos is tied to draft-pick compensation. In that case, the Phillies could add Schwarber and still address needs in center field and the bullpen without surpassing the luxury-tax threshold, a limbo stick that ownership has approached but never touched.

(MLB is proposing a $214 million tax bar for 2022, a $4 million bump from last year; the players are seeking a larger increase, with their most recent proposal coming in at $245 million.)

Schwarber’s biggest drawback is his defense. A catcher in college at Indiana and in the minor leagues, he became a full-time outfielder after getting called up by the Cubs. He has a strong arm in left field but gets to fewer balls, according to defensive metrics. Last season, he saved five runs less than the average left fielder and recorded six fewer outs above average.

The Phillies were among the worst defensive teams in baseball last season, especially on the left side of the field. Schwarber wouldn’t help matters. But they could try to mitigate his shortcomings in left field by acquiring a leather-flashing center fielder, a strategy that helps explain their interest in trading for three-time Gold Glove winner Kevin Kiermaier from the Tampa Bay Rays. The teams could revisit a potential deal after the lockout.

There’s little denying Schwarber’s impact at the plate. Since 2017, he’s tied for 14th in the majors in home runs (137). And he has never been better than the first half of last season in Washington with help from Long, hired by the Phillies in October to replace deposed hitting coach Joe Dillon.

Schwarber bottomed out in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, batting .188 and striking out in 29.5% of his plate appearances. With his salary due to rise in arbitration, the Cubs didn’t tender him a contract. He signed a one-year, $10 million deal with the Nationals in January 2021 and promptly asked if Long would meet with him.

A few days later, Long flew to Schwarber’s home near Tampa for a few sessions in the batting cage.

To hear Long tell it, they worked on getting Schwarber back to the lower batting stance that he used in college and the minor leagues after agreeing that he’d become too upright over the years in Chicago. It enabled him to reach pitches at the bottom of the strike zone and stay behind the ball longer.

Beginning with a walk-off homer in the 10th inning April 30 against the Marlins, Schwarber hit 24 homers in 57 games and slugged .646. Nationals manager Davey Martinez even put Schwarber in the leadoff spot in June, and as Long told MLB Network, “guys [on the bench] didn’t want to miss the first pitch of the game because they thought he might go deep.” It took a hamstring injury to slow him down.

Once the Nationals fell out of contention in the NL East, they traded Schwarber to the Red Sox, who led him off in eight of 11 postseason games.

The Phillies are looking for a leadoff hitter, too. So, although Schwarber could join fellow lefty Bryce Harper in balancing the middle of an order that would also feature righty-swinging J.T. Realmuto and Rhys Hoskins, manager Joe Girardi might also consider putting him at the top.

“Leading off a game, he excelled because he was able to get fastballs and able to kind of set the tone for our offense,” Long said in October. “That, in my opinion, was a good move. We didn’t really change anything about Kyle’s approach. That was just a spot in the order where he was able to fit in a little bit better.”

It’s easy to see Schwarber fitting in with the Phillies. How many other teams will be saying the same thing once the lockout ends?