On January 1, I was just spending time on my phone and saw a post on Twitter, well, I still call it Twitter, instead of X. I saw there was a lucky bad product available. In a lucky bag, a random autograph card was included. Well, it might not be an ideal product to purchase because you really don’t know what autograph card you will receive.
However, it’s the first day of the year. Perhaps, I can just give it a try. Hence, I decided to buy some lucky bags. When I opened a lucky bag, I found an interesting card.
It’s a Kyle Schwarber autograph card. And it’s a rookie card. While seeing this card, I began to think about Schwarber’s career in the majors.
Schwarber was selected by the Cubs in the first round of the 2014 draft. In June 2015, he made it into the big leagues. Schwarber played 69 games in 2015 and slashed .246/.355/.487 with 16 home runs and 43 RBI. However, because of injury, he only played 2 games in 2016 and didn’t collect any hits. Nonetheless, he played 5 games in the World Series and collected 7 hits.
In 2017, Schwarber crushed 30 home runs, but he finished the season with an OPS below .800. Furthermore, in 2018 and 2019, he finished each season with an OPS over .800. In particular, he blasted 38 home runs in 2019 and had an .870 OPS. Nonetheless, in 2020, he hit just .188/.308/.393 with 11 home runs and 24 RBI over 59 games. And he was non-tendered by the Cubs after the 2020 season.
In January 2021, he inked a 1-year deal with the Nationals. Schwarber played 72 games for the Nationals, but in July 2021, he was traded to the Red Sox. In total, in 2021, he smashed 32 home runs and owned an OPS of .928. In March 2022, Schwarber agreed to a 4-year deal with the Phillies. In 2022 and 2023, he finished each season with an OPS over .800 and blasted 40+ home runs.
Looking at Schwarber’s career stats, it’s worth mentioning that he did crush more home runs from 2021 to 2023 than he did in the Cubs uniform. Furthermore, his OPS was higher over the last 3 seasons than his OPS during his days with the Cubs. So, does his career get much better after leaving the Cubs?
Meanwhile, we have to take a closer look at the home run leaders from 2021 to 2023. Only 5 players blasted at least 120 home runs over the last 3 seasons. On the leaderboard, we can see the MVP winners such as Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. Hence, it’s certain that Schwarber has become a home run hitter over the last 3 seasons. His batting average doesn’t look good, in particular, his batting average was only .197 last season, but he knows how to crush baseball and can finish a season with an OPS over .800. In the 2024 season, it will be his third season with the Phillies and it will be very interesting to see if Schwarber will hit as he always does. Will he crush 40+ home runs this season again?
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