Phillies: Ranking the 10 worst contracts in the NL East right now
7) Worst contracts in the NL East: Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies
Kyle Schwarber signed a four-year deal worth $79 million entering the 2022 season. His first year in Philadelphia went about as well as the Phillies could've hoped. He led the NL with 46 home runs, was an all-star took home a Silver Slugger, and even received some MVP votes. Then, of course, he came up big in the postseason as well. This season hasn't quite been the same.
Schwarber is still hitting for power as he has 33 this season which is good for fourth in the NL and tied for fifth in the majors, and he's driven in 80 runs while hitting primarily out of the leadoff spot. Schwarber is also drawing walks, as he's second in the majors with 94 of those. The issue with Schwarber is just about everything else.
He's slashing .183/.327/.434 with those 33 round trippers and 80 RBI. Batting average isn't quite as valued as it used to be, but you don't want someone making $20 million annually hitting under .200. Schwarber rarely gets hits, and he leads the NL with 163 strikeouts. Overall, he's been a tick above average this season, recording a 106 OPS+.
The Bryce Harper injury forced Schwarber into left field for most of last season and this season, and the Phillies are seeing why he was signed to be a DH. He's been worth a whopping -17 DRS this season and is in the first percentile in outs above average. He's quite easily the worst defensive outfielder in the game.
Schwarber being a big negative in the field while being barely above average at the dish has him worth -0.1 fWAR for this season. While I don't believe he's been a negative-value player personally, he hasn't been worth the $20 million he's making. He has another two years when he will make $20 million in each of those. Lots of good moments have come from this Schwarber contract already, but the longer it goes, the worse it looks. Hopefully he has a big postseason, because ultimately, that's all that matters for this group.