Philadelphia Phillies Still Have a Kyle Schwarber Conundrum

Philadelphia Phillies star Kyle Schwarber remains one of the best power hitters in all of baseball, as he just slugged 45 home runs for the fourth time in five seasons.

Schwarber owns a .506 slugging percentage since joining the Phillies in 2022, and he is a year removed from bashing 56 homers.

However, there is no denying that Schwarber did not quite look like himself during the second half of 2026.

After slashing .254/.367/.560 with 32 long balls and 59 RBI through the All-Star break, Schwarber slashed .199/.336/.416 with 13 dingers and 38 RBI afterward.

The 33-year-old was limited by a back injury in late June, and while Schwarber didn't complain about it the rest of the way, you get the feeling that it affected him over the final few months of the regular season.

Either that, or Schwarber was showing signs of decline. I supposed it could also be both.

Schwarber has been in the big leagues since 2015, so he does have quite a bit of mileage. He is basically exclusively a designated hitter at this point, so it's not like he's playing the field, but it's also possible he is losing some steam.

The former first-round pick batted just .172 with a .710 OPS in September when the Phillies needed him most, marking one of his worst stretches in quite some time.

Make no mistake: if Schwarber's second-half trend continues in 2027, Philadelphia will be in some very serious trouble.

Not only is the lefty slugger integral to everything the Phillies do offensively, but Philadelphia also handed him a five-year, $150 million contract last winter.

If Schwarber's decline has already begun one year into the deal, that isn't going to end well for the Phils.

Perhaps Schwarber just needs a full offseason to get himself healthy and back into form, but there is no question that the idea of Schwarber on a potential downturn is a scary thought. It's also something that cannot be entirely discounted.

It also should give the Phillies that much more incentive to add at least one other power bat (such as Seiya Suzuki or Randy Arozarena) this winter.

Schwarber has been so good for so long, and even with his subpar second half, he still managed to post an .857 OPS in 2026. That was actually his second-best mark in Philadelphia.

But his slide down the stretch was indubitably concerning. Hopefully, he is able to regain his stroke by next spring.