The Phillies are entering 2025 with a team that looks a whole lot like the one they finished the year with in 2024, with Jordan Romano, Max Kepler, and Jesus Luzardo being the club’s only major additions. While the club’s core group of players has been very consistent throughout this run of playoff appearances over the last three seasons, this year could be the final one with that level of consistency as Ranger Suarez, J.T. Realmuto, and Kyle Schwarber are all staring down free agency come November. On the other hand, the Phillies faced similar situations with Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler in the recent past but managed to keep both players in the fold, re-signing Nola in free agency last winter and following that up by extending Wheeler last spring.
It seems possible that the club could employ a similar tactic with at least some of the core pieces set to depart after the current season. Realmuto and the Phillies reportedly have mutual interest in working out an extension, and now Schwarber had thrown his hat into the ring as well. According to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, Schwarber told reporters that he hasn’t heard of any extension talks between his camp and the Phillies but that he would have interest working something out to stay in Philadelphia. Gelb adds that Schwarber did not set any sort of deadline for extension talks to take place and suggests that the Phillies could “prioritize” getting a deal done with Schwarber out of their crop of pending free agents this spring.
That Schwarber may be the club’s priority to keep in the fold long-term is somewhat surprising given the smoke surrounding Realmuto, but it’s easy to see why the Phillies would want to keep Schwarber in the fold. Since arriving in Philadelphia prior to the 2022 season, Schwarber has emerged as one of the most reliable sluggers in the game. While his 29.4% strikeout rate is certainly higher than is desirable, he’s made up for it by walking at an incredible 15.3% clip and clobbering 131 home runs during his time as a Phillie. That’s good for third among all big leaguers over the past three seasons and just one long ball behind Shohei Ohtani for second place.
That sort of offensive production would be extremely difficult for the Phillies to replace, particularly if the club isn’t able to secure a superstar position player like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Kyle Tucker in next winter’s free agent class. Whether that’s enough incentive for Philadelphia to overlook Schwarber’s propensity for strikeouts and complete lack of defensive value and aggressively pursue and extension remains to be seen, but Gelb goes on to add that Schwarber is slated to work on improving his viability as a defensive option for the Phillies this spring. Schwarber came up as a catcher but wasn’t able to stick behind the plate and eventually moved to left field, but he was always an awkward defensive fit on the grass and played just five games in the field last year, spending the entire rest of the 2024 campaign at DH.
Now, Gelb reports that Schwarber is not only planning to play a bit more outfield in 2025 than he did last year, but that he’s also begun working with the club’s infield coach to learn first base. Schwarber has a little bit of experience at first over the course of his career, most of which came with the Red Sox back in 2021. In total, Schwarber has spent just 75 innings across 11 games at the position in his career. If he can make himself into a viable part-time option at the position, however, that could lessen the workload of fellow slugger Bryce Harper at the position while also potentially making him a more attractive free agent should the sides not work out an extension. Josh Naylor, Luis Arraez, and perhaps Pete Alonso are among the best first basemen aside from Guerrero set to be available in free agency next winter, and Schwarber offers a more robust offensive profile than any of them aside from Toronto’s superstar.
