Power, Patience, and Proving Everyone Wrong: Schwarber’s MVP Case

Illustration by Peter Townsend

It's late August in Philadelphia, where the Phillies are battling the Atlanta Braves as they look to pull away further in the NL East and chase a second straight division title. At the center of the success for the 2025 Phillies is Kyle Schwarber, the slugger tied with Shohei Ohtani for the second-most home runs in baseball, and suddenly in the thick of the MVP race with the best player in the world. In his first at-bat, he crushes a no-doubt bomb to claim sole possession of second place on the leaderboard.

Two at-bats later, he does it again. In the fifth, another one as he launched a towering opposite-field homer, giving him 48 on the year (a new career high). By the seventh, Schwarber makes history, unloading his fourth of the night to become just the 21st player in MLB history with a four-homer game. His nine RBIs set a Phillies single-game record, punctuating a performance that puts him at the forefront of the MVP conversation.

With a little under a month left in the season, Schwarber sits one home run behind league leader Cal Raleigh and firmly in the conversation for National League MVP. What once seemed like a long shot has become undeniable. The Phillies' most feared hitter is making a real run at baseball's biggest individual award.

Schwarber is one of the most polarizing MVP candidates in baseball in recent memory, and that's exactly why his story is worth your attention. This isn't just a story about one player's rise; it's also a reflection of how we define value in baseball in 2025.

Forget what you thought about Schwarber. Once dismissed as an inconsistent lefty power bat with defensive limitations, he's evolved into something greater.

Not only does Schwarber's ability to hit the ball 450+ feet illustrate his value, but it's also his eye at the plate and his ability to get on base, making him one of the best examples of what modern baseball worships: power and patience. Let's break down how we got here.

The MVP Case

Schwarber's offensive impact in 2025 has been absurd. It's the kind of season that forces you to reexamine what "most valuable" really means. As of August 29, after his incredible four-homer night, he's slashing .248/.370/.586 with 49 home runs (second in MLB), 119 RBIs (most in MLB), and a .956 OPS that ranks third in the league. He's drawn 88 walks (fifth-most) and scored the fourth-most runs (94), providing relentless production in the heart of one of the National League's best lineups.

The advanced metrics tell the same story. Statcast has him with the fourth-highest average exit velocity (94.7 mph), fourth in balls hit over 95 miles per hour (210), and fourth in barrels per plate appearance (12.0%). To put it simply, he hits the shit out of the ball and makes things happen almost better than anyone else in the league.

But he also gets on base at an elite level.

Jeff Passan summed it up perfectly in a recent tweet: "Post-Moneyball, on-base percentage replaced batting average as a more reliable metric for helping produce runs." While batting averages and strikeout rates still matter, if that's your only barometer for a successful hitter, then you're missing the point.

Modern baseball revolves around on-base ability and power, and Schwarber is the perfect embodiment of both. He terrifies pitchers, extends innings, and changes games with one swing. It's no surprise he's the betting favorite for NL MVP runner-up, fueling the Phillies' first-place NL East push. For much of his career, traditional metrics undervalued him; however, baseball has since evolved. Now, it's about getting on base and scoring runs. That's precisely what makes Schwarber an integral part of Philly's lineup.

To truly appreciate how Schwarber reached this point, we need to look back at his journey here. A story of resilience, reinvention, and proving doubters wrong at every turn.

The Journey Here

Kyle Schwarber's career has been one of the most fascinating rides in recent years. Drafted fourth overall in 2014 out of Indiana University, Schwarber was a college catcher whose bat was too explosive to leave in the minors for long. The glove? That was always the issue. In a pre-universal DH world, there was no obvious place to hide a bat-first prospect without a clear defensive home. So, the Cubs, desperate to get his swing in the lineup, tried him at catcher but eventually settled on putting him in left field.

He wasted no time becoming a postseason force. In the Cubs' 2015 NLCS run, Schwarber hit five home runs in nine games, posting an outrageous 1.308 OPS and instantly earning a reputation for October heroics. But the true test came the following year. In April 2016, he tore his ACL in just his second game of the season, the kind of injury that usually erases an entire year. Instead, he returned, improbably, for the Cubs' World Series run. In five games against Cleveland, he slashed .412/.500/.471, including three base knocks in the epic Game 7 that ended Chicago's 108-year championship drought.

For the next few seasons, Schwarber remained a strong slugging threat for the Cubs. But after a down 2020 in the COVID-shortened 60-game season, Chicago made a tough decision: they non-tendered him. Without a DH in the NL, his defensive limitations made him an awkward fit, but letting go of that bat proved a massive mistake for Chicago, one they have never fully recovered from five years later.

Schwarber signed a one-year deal with the Nationals in 2021 and became an All-Star for the first time, launching 25 home runs in the first half of the season before being traded to the Boston Red Sox. There, he helped fuel them to an ALCS run, hitting three homers in 11 postseason games and continuing his clutch reputation.

That winter, the Phillies scooped him up, giving him a four-year $79 million contract. Since then, he's been the beating heart of their offensive production as a designated hitter. Schwarbs has given Philadelphia exactly what they paid for and more.

Every stop in Schwarber's journey has been defined by the same two truths: people doubt the value of what he does, and he keeps proving them wrong. And he and the Phillies continue to reap the benefits of their partnership in 2025.

The Big Picture

Schwarber is on pace to reach nearly 60 home runs this year and is tracking toward 500 for his career if he maintains this level of slugging. Since his MLB debut in June 2015, he ranks second in home runs (333), trailing only Aaron Judge (356). He's genuinely one of the best power hitters we've seen in modern baseball.

With his rare blend of power and patience, he's become the Phillies' go-to bat in the moments that matter most. Even if Ohtani remains the frontrunner, Schwarber's status as a top-two MVP candidate in the National League underscores how the sport's values have evolved and highlights how seamlessly his skills fit into the modern way of playing baseball.

All signs point to Schwarber returning to the Phillies on an estimated four-year deal worth around $100 million. Reports suggest mutual interest, and at that price, it would be a steal.

Throughout his career, Schwarber has shown resilience, adaptability, and an uncanny ability to prove doubters wrong. He turns 33 next March, but there's little reason to worry about his future, especially as he'll primarily be a designated hitter. His bat speed, exit velocity, barrel rate, expected slugging, and elite on-base skills should age well, and he'll remain a significant offensive threat for years to come.

Schwarber is an excellent example for anyone in any profession when it comes to adapting to challenges. He transitioned from a poor defensive catcher to a below-average outfielder, eventually becoming a DH only and one of the best hitters in the game. He's dealt with serious injury, teams rejecting him, and being traded midseason. These aren't challenges that your average person can handle or recover from, but Schwarber handled them as a true professional.

Closing Thoughts

So maybe Kyle Schwarber won't win a batting title in his career or take home MVP honors in 2025, so what? His story is exactly why we love sports, especially baseball. There isn't a pitcher who wants to face him; he can flip a game with one swing, and he perfectly embodies the Moneyball mantra: get on base, score runs, win games. At almost every turn of his MLB career, he's been the underdog, yet time and again, he's proven resilient.

We'll see how the rest of the season plays out, but a top-two MVP finish for Schwarber is remarkable. He probably won't overtake Ohtani… but maybe? Regardless, he has won over fans and shifted perceptions about who he is as a player, all while proving everyone who doubted him wrong. And in the end, that might be the most valuable achievement of all.