Phillies scapegoats: 1 to fire, 1 to put on the hot seat, 1 to be patient with

Phillies scapegoat to fire: Kyle Schwarber

Kyle Schwarber has been all-time bad at the plate for Philadelphia this season. His OPS is .699, by far the lowest of his career. He has 13 home runs, but only 31 total hits in 194 at-bats. He registered seven home runs in May… but only 10 hits. An absurd ratio, but perfectly emblematic of Schwarber’s one-dimensional contributions to the Phils’ lineup.

The Phillies acquired Schwarber because he’s one of the best power hitters in the game. With (theoretically) efficient hitters ahead of him in the lineup, such as Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, and Nick Castellanos, the Phils installed Schwarber for the express purpose of cleaning up the bases with moonshots.

Problem is, moonshots can only carry you so far. Schwarber has been completely incapable of getting on base any other way. He’s a strikeout machine, with over twice as many K’s as hits on the season. His batting average of .166 is flat-out embarrassing for a player making $20 million per year.

Just last season, Schwarber was an All-Star, a Silver Slugger, and a top-20 MVP finalist. The Phillies know what he’s capable of, but it’s getting harder and harder to justify the investment and for a guy currently playing below replacement level. That’s not to say there’s an easy or obvious way to replace him, but Schwarber runs the risk of making himself unplayable if he can’t turn the season around fast.