Nothing is official yet, but the Philadelphia Phillies are inching close to retaining their superstar slugger.

According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the reigning All Star Game MVP, Kyle Schwarber is expected to stay in Philadelphia.

Rosenthal reported, “The expectation is that designated hitter Kyle Schwarber will remain with the Philadelphia Phillies. A four-year deal at $30-million plus per season seems realistic, in part, because his leadership adds to his value. But there is no obvious free-agent precedent for Schwarber, who will be 33 at the start of next season.”

In baseball it’s less of a risk to sign players to big-time contracts when they’re well into their 30s. Schwarber has shown zero signs of slowing down, crushing 53 home runs and a league-leading 128 RBIs.

Schwarber has been in a never-ending hunt for the home run king crown with Cal Raleigh, who he continues to go toe-to-toe with. Raleigh, who plays for the Seattle Mariners, currently has 54 dingers, after pulling ahead of Schwarber with his first homer in six games.

The magnitude of Schwarber sticking around is massive for the Phillies. Citizens Bank Park is a relatively hitter-friendly park, and staying in town only makes sense for both parties. 

However, the one black eye on Schwarber’s game is that he can tend to be inconsistent. In his four years in Philadelphia, he hit .218, .197, .248, and this season with a .244 average.

While his power is jaw-dropping, his game resembles more like Adam Dunn, who is often not recognized as one of the better power hitters in recent memory, but because he was so home run dependent, he fell under the radar.

Over the past two seasons, Schwarber has shown that he doesn’t need to be home run dependent, and that it can just come naturally. 

He’s currently hitting at a career best .943 OPS, and his on-base percentage is the second best of his career, and not by a lot.

This is a situation that the Phillies are rather accustomed to, signing a left-handed power hitter in the latter half of his career to a lucrative contract. 

In Rosenthal’s article, he mentioned that in 2002, Hall of Fame first baseman Jim Thome hit free agency after hitting a career high 52 home runs with the then-Cleveland Indians, The Phillies took a chance on Thome, even if there were concerns that he may never get to that point and he overperformed his six-year, $85 million contract, by leading the league with 47 home runs.

Until the pen hits paper, any Schwarber contract news is purely speculative. But from those who are in the know, it’s a strong chance he stays put.