97.5 The Fanatic Phillies Notebook: Schwarber On-Base Streak, Contract Questions

The Philadelphia Phillies have distanced themselves from the wrong end of an ugly sweep at the hands of the New York Mets in April with four straight series victories.

They finally finished off another sweep of their own against the Tampa Bay Rays while impending free agent Kyle Schwarber extended an on-base streak that’s inching toward the record books.

The tension mounted immediately when a group of stars whose only remaining goal is to win a World Series took the diamond in 2025.  

The Phillies didn’t impress their demanding fan base in the opening weeks of the season, but they’ve stabilized some areas of weakness enough to earn an 8-3-1 record in 12 series this season.

Their most impressive series victory came in a three-game sweep at the spring training home of an AL East team (while facing another AL East team).

A team with legitimate momentum crushed the Rays in a 2008 World Series rematch with the type of conviction that tempts the most notoriously passionate fan base in sports to think about the Fall Classic in May.

Although the Phillies have maintained respectable positioning in the NL East, a lineup of sluggers hasn’t fully adjusted to a tweaked offensive approach enough to break out for a power surge. The bats carried them to victory in the series opener, however.

Schwarber hit the first long ball of the night, and Alec Bohm finally broke his home run drought with a two-run opposite field blast in the second inning. Nick Castellanos broke the game open with a three-run homer in the eighth to extend Philadelphia’s lead to five runs in an eventual 8-4 victory.

The runs came in a different way in the second win of the series. The Phillies extended a 1-0 lead to 6-0 in the fourth inning with excellent situational hitting and no home runs.

Johan Rojas executed a safety squeeze to bring J.T. Realmuto home from third. Bryson Stott and Trea Turner hit opposite field singles that flawlessly took advantage of the available infield holes.

Bryce Harper provided the only extra-base hit with a one-out double that drove in two more. The impressive inning mirrored the station-to-station offense that put six runs on the board in the fourth inning at Wrigley Field the day after a tough shutout loss.

Are the free swinging Phillies finally meeting the goal their manager set on April 2?

The Phillies won the first two games of their previous two series but failed to close either sweep. The odd pattern looked like it would continue in the series finale when Yandy Diaz took Tanner Banks deep in the eighth to put the Rays up 5-1.

However, Bryson Stott’s three-run home run sparked a spirited rally in the most thrilling game of the young 2025 season. Rob Thomson emptied the bench with three pinch runners, and the Phillies executed with a victory in extra innings.

Phillies fans from nearby Clearwater flooded the seats with red and scattered E-A-G-L-E-S chants throughout a satisfying week in Tampa.

Kyle Schwarber singled to put the eventual tying run on base in the ninth inning of the series finale. He’s reached safely in every game this season as part of a 43-game on-base streak that extends back to September 23, 2024.

He’s over halfway to Ted Williams, who astonishingly set an MLB record by reaching base safely in 84 consecutive games in 1949.

Although Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak in 1941 dominates the folklore, the Yankee Clipper also extended his own on-base streak to 74 after his first hitless performance. Williams broke the record eight years later on his way to a .482 career on-base percentage, the highest in major league history.

Schwarber might not catch Teddy Ballgame, but he’s in striking distance of Mike Schmidt’s 56-game franchise record streak that extended from 1981 into 1982.

The 32-year-old has stormed out of the gates in the final year of the $79 million contract he signed with the Phillies entering the 2022 season. He’s tied with Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh for the MLB home run lead with 12, and he sits sixth with a .977 OPS.

Schwarber leads the Phillies in home runs, RBI, runs scored, on-base percentage, OPS, and total bases.  

He could land an exorbitant contract this winter (or sooner) if he continues the production.

Jayson Stark told 97.5 The Fanatic that Schwarber has gone against the grain with his willingness to negotiate a contract extension during the season.

A player who’s hit more home runs than any MLB hitter besides Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani since he joined the Phillies won’t come cheap.

The Phillies can’t envision a future without Schwarber, but they also need to recognize the difficulty of a future without J.T. Realmuto.

The durable 34-year-old catcher will also reach free agency after the 2025 season. The Phillies have no obvious internal replacement behind the plate while 18-year-old prospect Eduardo Tait develops in the minors. 

Retaining both Schwarber and Realmuto would cost the Phillies a high price. It might also exclude them from pursuing Kyle Tucker or another big addition to shake up a close-knit core.

What if the Phillies don’t win the World Series in 2025? Will Dave Dombrowski spend most of his allowance retaining two players to a roster that’s seen minimal turnover after repeated heartbreaking playoff exits? Would the rest of the roster remain in place?

The Phillies have questions to answer, and they’re much deeper than the conventional wisdom of re-signing good players with history at Citizens Bank Park.

97.5 The Fanatic will broadcast its first Phillies game of the 2025 season on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball against the Cleveland Guardians.

Boog Sciambi and Doug Glanville broadcasted from Citizens Bank Park when the Phillies faced the Atlanta Braves on Labor Day Weekend in 2024. The Fanatic followed up the Phillies debut with Red October broadcasts.

The first pitch from Progressive Field is scheduled for 7pm. Sciambi and Glanville will return to Citizens Bank Park for a broadcast of the Phillies and the Mets on June 22.

The Phillies head to the Midwest for a three-game weekend set against the Guardians.

All numbers as of the beginning of play on May 9. All advanced stats courtesy of StatCast, Baseball Reference, and FanGraphs.