ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Schwarber is staying with the Philadelphia Phillies, agreeing Tuesday to a $150 million, five-year contract.
Schwarber set career bests this year with a National League-leading 56 homers and a major league-high 132 RBIs along with a .240 batting average and .928 OPS. He scored a career-high 111 runs as he led the club to its second straight NL East title.
Schwarber’s 23 homers against left-handed pitching set a major league record for a lefty batter, surpassing 22 by Stan Musial in 1949 and Matt Olson in 2021.
“The body’s gotten better over time,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said earlier Tuesday. “He’s in the best shape of his life right now, and I don’t think that that’s going to change. He’s so intelligent. He sees the game a little bit different than a lot of other guys, and he works at it, watches a lot of film.
“I think there’s a really good chance that he’s going to maintain this level. I mean, this was an unbelievable year for him. So I don’t think we can expect this every year, but I still think he’s going to be a high-level performer,” Thomson added.
Schwarber won this year’s All-Star Game for the NL with three homers in a tiebreaking swing-off, and he finished second in NL MVP voting behind Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani.
The 32-year-old Schwarber rejected a $22,025,000 qualifying offer from Philadelphia in November.
“There’s very few people in my career that I’ve had when you look at him and say that is a genuine leader of your team that brings everything together,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “The way they work, the way they play, the way they handle themselves day in and day out, the way they treat their teammates, the way they bring you together. And he’s one of those guys.”
Dombrowski and the Phillies also are focused on retaining others among their players who became free agents, a group that includes catcher J.T. Realmuto, left-hander Ranger Suárez and outfielder Harrison Bader.
Schwarber grew up in southwest Ohio before playing his college ball at Indiana. He was selected by the Chicago Cubs with the No. 4 pick in the 2014 amateur draft.