CLEARWATER, Fla — The back-left corner of the Phillies’ clubhouse at BayCare Ballpark continues to fill out with veterans arriving for spring training. Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm have been at the complex most of the week and between Thursday and Saturday, Brandon Marsh, Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos and Edmundo Sosa showed up to unpack their baseball bags.
Castellanos and Schwarber had a nice, long hug after spending the winter apart. It’s Year 4 as Phillies for both of them, but while Castellanos has one more season under contract after 2025, this is it for Schwarber. His four-year, $79 million contract expires after the season.
Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and Ranger Suarez are three notable Phillies entering their walk years. Of the three, Schwarber is probably the likeliest to reach an extension beforehand, though nothing is guaranteed.
There is interest on his side, and the Phils obviously don’t want to see such an integral figure walk. Schwarber has hit 131 home runs in the regular season as a Phillie with 12 more in the playoffs. He led the National League in homers in 2022 and walks in 2024. His batting average rose by 51 points last season, the second-highest of his career at .248. And in addition to all of that, he’s important as a team leader, one of the guys who sets the welcoming tone the Phillies have created and who frequently steps up to answer questions when things aren’t going well.
“I have not heard what’s going to go on,” Schwarber said of his contract. “I know there’s interest on our side. We’ll see what happens throughout this camp, if they approach us and we get deeper and deeper into discussion.
“I’ve always enjoyed my time here … come in and sign a four-year deal and you feel like you settle in and get to know everyone and get to where you want to be. We’ve been close every single year. I think that’s been the joyous part for me is that this is a place that you walk in and you know that you have a chance to win. The whole organization and the whole city wants to win so that’s the thing as a player you want to experience because sometimes you can walk into a place and already be out of it by September. We’re always playing a lot of meaningful baseball in September.”
Sometimes players awaiting an extension set deadlines like the end of spring training before wanting to cut off talks and focus on the season. Would Schwarbwer negotiate during the year?
“I have no clue. I’ve never had this pop up before,” he said. “I’m always ears, I guess. But I’m obviously focused on what we’re trying to do. If this is it, this is it. You’re going to put your heart and soul into the team just like you do every year.”
This season could look different for Schwarber. He will likely see a bit more time in left field with the Phillies attempting to get Realmuto and Harper days as the designated hitter. And Schwarber may also have a new lineup spot in 2025 despite leading off in nearly 85% of his plate appearances as a Phillie.
He’s hit 37 leadoff home runs with the Phils and they’ve gone 28-9. But that’s also meant a higher percentage of Schwarber’s home runs have accounted for only one run. Of the 143 he’s hit, 97 have been solo shots, about 10% above the league average.
Manager Rob Thomson has identified Trea Turner as the player who would lead off if Schwarber moves down into more of a run-producing spot. Turner, Harper, Bohm, Schwarber, Castellanos seems like the probable 1-through-5.
“Wherever my name gets written, that’s where I’m going to hit. I’m player number 12,” Schwarber said. “I’m not a manager, I’m not a coach. I get paid to play baseball for these guys so wherever my name gets written, I’ll play. I just want to win the World Series and wherever we think our best lineup needs to go to continually win baseball games, that’s what I’ll do. I really don’t have a personal attachment to where I hit. I just want to go out there any try to win baseball games.”
He does have a personal attachment to this core. The Phillies don’t believe their window is closing because they have a lot of major-league talent, deep pockets and top prospects like Andrew Painter and Aidan Miller who should be able to help in the near future. But this specific group won’t remain intact forever. The sense of urgency to finish the job this year couldn’t be greater.
“The older you get, you just realize more how much, I guess, it hurts,” Schwarber said of the playoff near-misses. “The older that you get, the less time you have in the game. It’s just a fact that, I’m not 21 anymore or 22. I’m, you know, 32 now? Or I’m gonna be 32? Or 31? I don’t even know. Another trip around the sun. Age is a number. It’s how you feel.
“It’s always going to sting when you get knocked out in the playoffs. It’s stung for me every year that we have. But you just want to be able to really cherish what we have and put our effort and focus into where we want to go. We’ve done that every single year and we came up short on that at the end of the day. But a lot of really good things have come out of that as well. It’s a double-edged sword — there’s obviously the part where we haven’t gotten it done, but also too the experience side and that’s what makes guys better.”
