When it comes to slugger Kyle Schwarber, many Philadelphia Phillies and their fans know the massive impact he has on the team’s offense throughout his tenure with the ball club. Averaging close to 40 home runs and 100 RBIs per season to go along with 100-plus walks, Schwarber is a perfect example of an elite run producer.
As good as he has been, one of his previous main offensive weaknesses throughout his MLB playing time, aside from striking out a lot, had been his batting splits hitting against left-handed pitching. For his career, Schwarber has an OPS of almost 100 points less when facing lefties compared to righties. In addition, the 32-year-old veteran has hit one home run in almost every 19 at-bats against left-handers, compared to one for almost every 12 at-bats against right-handers. Finally, Schwarber has struck out almost five percent more against lefties than righties.
However, last season Schwarber appeared to have destroyed the kryptonite and figured things out against left-handed pitching. In 2024, the star designated hitter batted a solid .300 with an .898 OPS against southpaws, whereas he sported just a feeble .218 average and .824 OPS against righties. But for the 2025 MLB season, that discrepancy has been suddenly taken to a whole new level.
Kyle Schwarber’s mind-boggling batting splits make zero sense
Schwarber, with his hot start in 2025, has continued to feast on left-handed pitching this year, but has somehow struggled insanely even more so against right-handed pitching, which used to be his strength.
Heading into the Phillies' Sunday Night Baseball matchup (after finally snapping their five-game losing streak) with the Chicago Cubs, he was batting a stellar .343 with a 1.260 OPS against lefties, while recording a home run in almost every eight at-bats. At the same time, Schwarber had been hitting a dismal .197 with a .716 OPS, along with just one home run in almost every 20 at-bats against righties.
As a result, Schwarber mashing against lefties has become a more common occurrence than a rarity nowadays.
This sudden, even more exaggerated reversal in batting splits makes absolutely no sense. Has Schwarber overcompensated his hitting against right-handed pitching to ensure that he has success against left-handed pitching? It's always great to see players finally overcome their weaknesses and convert it into a strength, but all can be for naught if it requires the severe regression of something else to make it happen.
Nevertheless, Phillies fans will hope that Schwarber will eventually normalize closer to the mean when it comes to hitting against right-handers as the season progresses. Even if his stats against lefties falls a bit back down to earth, being able to regain his form against righties in the process would effectively make him a dual threat against any pitcher going forward.
If Schwarber can manage to pull it off, then Phillies fans can prepare for a huge season from the 32-year-old slugger, one that could vault the Phillies from being one of the best offenses in the league to the very best.