High-flying Phils powered by most unique leadoff man in memory

There have been other great leadoff hitters, of course. There was the great Rickey Henderson, who never hit 30 home runs in a season, but did just about everything else on his way to Cooperstown. We have seen big leadoff years from Jose Altuve in 2021 and Mookie Betts in '22 and Ronald Acuña Jr. in '23. We are seeing, in real time, what Francisco Lindor is doing for the Mets, in what still might turn out to be an MVP season for him in the end.

But there has never been a leadoff man in all of baseball history quite like The Schwarb, Kyle Schwarber -- who hits home runs, works walks, strikes out a ton and is built a little bit like Babe Ruth. That's why some people called him “Babe” when he was a kid with the Cubs.

In his own way, because of what he does at the plate and how much he means to a Phillies team convinced this is finally their year, he remains one of the most fascinating hitters in the game, one of the most important, one of the most intimidating for opposing pitchers. He's someone whose at-bats you simply don’t want to miss from the time he’s the first man up for the Phillies again. There is a reason why he’s become a folk hero in Philly, even on a team with Bryce Harper.

I asked Rob Thomson about Schwarber the other day, and this was his first response:

“Think Jason Giambi in his prime. Bases-on-balls and slugging.”

A year ago, Schwarber had one of the most fascinating statistical years for any hitter, and certainly for any leadoff hitter baseball has ever seen. For one thing, his batting average at the end of year was .197. He struck out 215 times. But he walked 126 times. So right there, you have 341 plate appearances where he didn’t put the ball into play. But he also hit 47 home runs, had 104 RBIs, scored 108 runs and ended up with an on-base percentage of .343.

This season he has raised his batting average all the way to .249 going into Saturday’s games. He has 33 home runs -- don’t count out him getting to 40 again -- and 92 RBIs. He has struck out 172 times, walked 96 times and has a .371 on-base percentage. There is absolutely no way the Phillies are where they are without him.

Thomson: “The difference between him and Giambi, for sure, is that he’s leading off. But I’m telling you, Schwarber controls the strike zone just like Jason did!”

So Schwarber remains as unique a player and hitter as anybody around. The Red Sox had him the last time they were a serious contender for the World Series three years ago, when they made it to the American League Championship Series before losing to the Astros in six games. Boston let him go, and the Phillies signed him as a free agent. And he has been a total star for them ever since. He is a total star again this season, and he's a more complete hitter -- despite his home runs being down -- as he has ever been.

On Wednesday against the Blue Jays, Schwarber hit his 13th leadoff home run of the season, tying the record set by Alfonso Soriano with the 2003 Yankees. It was the 44th leadoff home run of his career (Henderson is the all-time leader with 81). It was also the second straight game Schwarber had led off by going deep. On Tuesday, he had hit three homers, including the go-ahead shot. The Phillies had trailed 6-1 after the first inning and came all the way back to win, 10-9.

"The biggest thing was not trying to speed up," Schwarber said on Tuesday. "If I stay level-headed throughout -- don't let the moment get too big. Right?"

Right.

It seems he has been around such a long time, but the truth is that he didn’t make it to the big leagues with the Cubs until 2015. That was the year before the Cubs won it all, and Schwarber came back from ACL surgery in April to help them get the job done in October 2016. Now he is still just 31 years old, in his prime and not just the most productive hitter the Phillies have, but the one making life so much easier for Trea Turner and Harper behind him.

Kyle Schwarber hit another one on Friday night as the Phillies rang up the Marlins, 16-2, and once again found themselves with the best record in baseball. Two more hits, three more runs, three more RBIs. Maybe not MVP of the league, that will be Shohei Ohtani or Lindor. But MVP of the Phillies, without question. Leading off and doing things from that position only he can do.