At 25-18, the Phillies are firmly in second place in the NL East and well positioned to grab a Wild Card spot if they can't usurp the New York Mets by season's end.
The starting pitching trio of Zach Wheeler, Christopher Sánchez, and Jesús Luzardo deserves a lot of credit for the hot start, as does the top of the lineup, led by Bryson Stott, Bryce Harper, and Trea Turner.
However, it's their designated hitter who is shouldering the load of the offensive burden. Despite a propensity for striking out, Kyle Schwarber is only improving as he gets older.
Kyle Schwarber is among best MLB hitters in 2025
Since arriving in Philadelphia prior to 2022, Schwarber has 162-game averages of 47 home runs, 107 RBIs, 111 walks, and 208 strikeouts.
Those numbers don't tell the whole story, but they do a pretty god job of summarizing who Schwarber is: a prolific three-true-outcomes hitter.
Here in 2025, though, Schwarber has cut down drastically on his strikeouts, from 28.5% last season to 20.4% this season. However, his walk rate remains right in line with his recent average at 15.7%.
His slash line on the season (through 43 games) is .261/.393/.580, and his 15 home runs lead of all MLB (tied with Aaron Judge). His 167 wRC+ is by far the highest mark of his career and ranks seventh in baseball.
KYLE SCHWARBER
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) March 31, 2025
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Schwarber has always been a fastball-masher, but he's taken that to a new level in 2025. He's whiffing at the pitch less (21.4%) thanks to a timing alteration in his swing that stems from new hand placement before the pitch. That's allowing him to catch up to balls faster, which is why he's rocking a ridiculous .499 wOBA against heaters that is matched perfectly by a .499 xwOBA.
It also helps that, after years of shuffling around the lineup, including a lot of time spent being an all-or-nothing leadoff hitter, Schwarber has settled in nicely as the cleanup hitter in manager Rob Thompson's lineup. Having the protection of Nick Castellanos behind ensures he sees pitches to hit, while batting behind Harper and Turner leads to a lot of frequent traffic on the base paths during his at-bats.
It's also just worth appreciating how much of an old-school slugger Schwarber is. His 97th percentile hard-hit rate and bat speed are the marks of a player who has a "different sound" when he connects with a baseball, and thanks to a conscious change in his approach, his 94th percentile chase rate is ensuring that his contact is authoritative far more frequently.
It isn't normal for a 32-year-old DH with a career-long strikeout problem, but Schwarber is evolving into a far more complete hitter at this stage of his career. His status as the best hitter on the Phillies should no longer be questioned.