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Phillies historically awful start leads to insider’s Kyle Schwarber suggestion
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The Philadelphia Phillies are coming off a huge walk-off win against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. Despite the win there, the stars in the Phillies ' lineup have not gotten off to a consistent start. Bryce Harper did hit a home run, and Kyle Schwarber has two of them, but they have not been getting on base much outside of those homers.
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Philly is hitting .220 as a team. Their top four hitters, Trea Turner , Kyle Schwarber , Bryce Harper, and Alec Bohm , are batting .149 with a .557 OPS. That is not good enough. According to an MLB Insider for NBC Sports Philadelphia, "that's the lowest combined average from the one-through-four spots through the first six games in club history, worse than the 1939 Phillies."
The insider believes that Schwarber should move back to the leadoff spot to give them a spark at the top of the order.
"That would not be new territory for the Phillies' slugger. From 2022-24, Schwarber put together three straight seasons with 34 or more home runs, then tallied 104 runs batted in across 2024, all while hitting leadoff. Only two players have ever driven in more runs as a leadoff hitter in a single season. Jimmy Rollins is the only other Phillie to collect more than 80 RBIs. That year, Schwarber broke the all-time single-season record for the most leadoff home runs with 15."
This would lead to far fewer RBI's for the slugger, but he still racked up a career-high 132 last season when he wasn't in the leadoff spot. He had 104 in back-to-back in 2023 and 2024.
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This move could help the Phillies get back into a groove. Rookie Justin Crawford and then Edmundo Sosa are improved hitters at the bottom of the lineup compared to the last few seasons.
Related: Phillies superstar Bryce Harper on crushing first home run of 2026, breaking early slump
Related: Phillies' Bryce Harper gets real on struggles after first HR of season
