Schwarber Has The Best OPS Leading Off Games In Phillies History
Kyle Schwarber leading off has been a point of contention for Phillies fans this year. he certainly does not look or play like the typical leadoff hitter. Usually, it would be someone like Jimmy Rollins, who filled that role for the Phillies for over a decade. Schwarber is way more similar to what your typical cleanup hitter would look like. And since the Phillies have the typical leadoff hitter on the team in Trea Turner, it is even more confounding for many Phillies fans. The weird part is, it is working. The Phillies have one of the best records in the league since they moved him to leadoff hitter. And not just that, but Kyle Schwarber is having the best season by a Phillies player ever leading off a game.
That is not hyperbole. Jayson Stark joined The Best Show Ever this week, and he shared the stat. Kyle Schwarber’s OPS leading off the game is 1.041. And he said that before Kyle Schwarber hit another leadoff HR in Wednesday’s game. His 10th leadoff HR of the season, a Phillies record. If that OPS holds up, it will be another franchise record. Just ahead of Jimmy Rollins who had an OPS of 1.036 leading off games in his MVP season. No other players in franchise history are within 100 points of those two. But he is also hitting .192. And he can’t be having a good season with a batting average that low… right?
Well, Jayson Stark got into that as well. And he pointed out that while the BA is awful, a lot of the other stats show he is actually having a very good season.
“There has never been a leadoff hitter like this guy in the history of baseball. That is not all bad. He is hitting .192, but his OPS is still still 21% above league average. He has a chance to lead the league in walks, despite hitting .192. That is another thing that has never happened. Have you noticed he is leading the team in RBIs while hitting .192? Nobody has ever led any team in RBIs while hitting .192.”
It is a very weird season for him. You can’t deny that batting average is bad. And his play in the field is worse. But he is good at every other aspect of the game. His on-base percentage is now over .340 and rising. He walks more than anyone in the sport besides Juan Soto. He is one of the best power hitters in the game.
Jayson Stark continued on, speaking about the weirdness of how it somehow works, and gave some insight into why Rob Thomson has stuck with it.
“When I look at Kyle Schwarber, he sort of sums up the whole team. It is not always pretty, it definitely is not perfect. But somehow it works. The team feeds off of him in a lot of ways. I think Rob Thomson’s philosophy is it is working, nothing is broken, why would I want to fix it.”
Now is he actually the best leadoff hitter in Phillis history just because of the OPS? No. I would say Jimmy Rollins’s MVP Campaign at the very least was still better. But it does show that Schwarber is very good leadoff hitter. A historically good one, even if it is unorthodox.
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What The Phillies Would Look Like If They Only Had Local Players
Catcher- Cam Gallagher- - Lancaster, PA
(Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)
As you can see, we are not off to a good start. Gallagher, from Lancaster, PA, was the best local catcher I could find. Gallagher has been a backup in the league for a while now. Last year he played in Cleveland and caught 56 games. His on-base percentage was under .200. He is decent behind the plate though. Not exactly the most inspiring of starts to building a roster. But he is at least an MLB player. Our other option was bringing 43-year-old Eric Kratz out of retirement.
If we were building an All-Time roster they could have had Mike Piazza, who is from Norristown, or Roy Campanella, who is from Germantown. But if we are building a roster of players who could still play today, the options are very slim.
1B- Christian Walker- Norristown, PA
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
It is not all bleak for this version of the Phillies. Walker is one of the best 1st basemen in the league. Both at the plate, where he has 69 HRs over the past two seasons, and with the glove, where he won the past two Gold Gloves. Walker is a great bat to build your lineup around. Having him batting 4 or 3rd is a good start. And given some of the other guys they will have at the top of this lineup, they may actually score some runs. They just won’t get any help from the back half of their lineup.
2B- Jake Alu- Hamilton, NJ
(Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
A lot of people probably don’t know who Jake Alu is. But to be fair, last year was his first season, and he was on a Nationals team no one wanted to watch play. So why would people know his name yet?
His rookie season didn’t go great, but he had very little help around him. Alu looked like a solid player while down in the minors. He could turn into one in the Majors. But if he is your best option to play 2B, you have an issue. I tried to find a 2nd baseman better, or any middle infielder better. But I could not find one. So the Phillies wind up banking on Alu to grow into something.
SS- Joey Wendle- Wilmington, DE
(Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
Okay, Wendle is solid. Not a star by any means. But given what the Phillies are working with, they will take it. Last year he was bad, but he is a .260 career hitter and has decent speed. The Phillies could do a lot worse. That much is clear from some of the other spots in their team in this hypothetical. In an ideal world, Wendle is more of a backup. But the Phillies have to take what they can get.
3B- Phil Gosselin- Bryn Mawr, PA
(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
The Phillies hero returns. Gosselin spent a couple of seasons here and was Joe Girardi’s favorite player in 2020. And there were some real bright spots, including a 2-HR game. It led to Joe Girardi overusing him, as he loved to do with bench players. But if you got sick just watching him play vs every lefty, get ready to see him as an everyday player. Sadly he was the best active player I could find from the area who can play 3rd base.
OF- Chas McCormick- Westchester, PA
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Finally, another good player. We saw the Westchester native rob the hopes and dreams of Phillies fans in the World Series. His catch was one of the best you will ever see in the World Series. Too bad it hurt his hometown team. Then he went on to have a very solid season in 2023. 22 HRs, 19 steals, and an OPS of .842. Not to mention a solid glove in the Outfield.
OF- Mike Trout- Vineland, NJ
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
We finally come to the best player we have from the area. Trout’s career has taken a bit of a left turn with all the injuries he has suffered. But even with that, he is still among the league’s best players. And at one point he was without a doubt the best player in the league. Were Trout a Phillies player, he would be in that Chase Utley category of not being able to do any wrong in the eyes of fans. He is a guy Phillies fans have coveted for years. And it would maybe be the only good thing that would come out of this hypothetical.
OF- Travis Jankowski, Lancaster, PA
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
And we are back to mediocrity. Like Gosselin, Jankowski was once a beloved role player for the Phillies. Well for a bit, until it became clear that he was not all that good and was eventually released. He had a couple of big moments here and continues to be a role player bouncing from team to team. And were he just a 4th or 5th OF, you could deal with him. But in this case, he is one of your starting Outfielders. Not great.
DH- Paul Goldschmidt- Wilmington, DE
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Paul Goldschmidt did not grow up a Phillies fan. But he was born in Wilmington Delaware. So he is a local even if he doesn’t like our Baseball team. And he is easily one of the best baseball players we have a claim to. Even at 35, he is still putting up numbers. He has a very good chance to pass 400 HRS. And that goes with his 4 gold gloves, his MVP, 7 All-Star Appearances, and 5 Silver Sluggers. Were he still in his prime, he would be the first baseman. But at this point, Walker has the better glove. So Goldy becomes a very good DH.
SP- Zac Gallen- Somerdale, NJ
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Well at the very least you have a great Ace. Gallen was a Cy Young Semi-Finalist. He struggled a bit more in the playoffs, especially against the Phillies. But still, he is one of the top pitchers in the MLB right now. He had a 3.47 ERA last year and a 2.54 ERA in 2022. No one would complain about him being your Ace. Unfortunately, the rest of the pitching staff is not quite so great.
SP- Charlie Morton- Flemington, NJ
(Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
Charlie was on the border between being more of a New York local or Philly local. But his hometown of Flemington NJ was just a tiny bit closer to Philly than to NYC, so he becomes the Phillies second starter behind Gallen. The 40-year-old has been a solid starter in the MLB for a while. Even last year he finished with an ERA under 4. Not exactly the ideal 2nd starter. But given the talent Pool the Philadelphia area has, we will take it.
SP- Ross Stripling- Blue Bell, PA
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
In 2022 Ross Stripling was great, finishing with a 3.01 ERA while pitching in the AL East. Since then, and in most years before that, he was nowhere near that good. He turned that into a deal with the Giants, and his ERA ballooned to 5.36. Stripling was great in his first 4 seasons with the Dodgers. In each of those 4 seasons, his ERA was under 4. But in 3 of the 4 seasons since, his ERA was over 4, including 2 where it was over 5. Not ideal.
SP-Rick Porcello- Moorestown, NJ
(Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
Porcello is out of the league. But in this hypothetical league where you can only use local players, he would probably still be around. Porcello put together a solid career. But in his ERA eclipsed 5.0 in each of his final seasons. The Phillies would be desperate though. There are not many great pitchers from our area to select from. So welcome back to the MLB Porcello.
SP- Jesse Biddle- Philadelphia, PA
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Now we are really scrapping the bottom of the barrel. It is one thing to bring Rick Porcello, who was at one point a solid starter, out of retirement. It is another thing to take a guy who was never very good to begin with out of retirement. But he was the 5th best starter from our area I could find, who could feasibly still pitch. So here we are. Gallen, Morton, Stripling, Porcello, and Biddle is your rotation. The top 3 would not be the worst top 3 of a rotation in the league.
Closer- Chad Kuhl- Newark, DE
(Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Well, maybe their bullpen can make up for the starters? Not likely. The bullpen they would put together would make those Gabe Kapler bullpens from a few years ago look great. Chad Kuhl was the best guy I could find that Philly would have a claim to. Chad Kuhl. If you are wondering who that is, you are not alone. Kuhl had an ERA over 8, and a WHIP just below 2 this season. And he is the best guy I could find. The other options would all be guys from the Minor Leagues mostly.
