Sep 14, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) reacts after hitting a home run against the Kansas City Royals in the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
PHILADELPHIA — For as magical as Kyle Schwarber's 2025 season was, the likely NL MVP runner-up ultimately finished with 56 home runs, two shy of Ryan Howard's single-season Phillies record of 58.
Schwarber went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and a walk in Sunday's regular-season finale, a 2-1 extra-inning win that saw Nick Castellanos deliver a walk-off sac fly to give the Phillies their 96th win of the season.
As it turned out, Schwarber's final homer run of the 2025 regular season came on Sept. 24 against the Miami Marlins:
MAKE IT 56!!!!! pic.twitter.com/cuIQyh7h8S
Still, for Schwarber to even get close to Howard was a remarkable accomplishment. His previous career-high in home runs was the 47 he hit in 2023. A year ago, Schwarber hit 38 home runs, a much more modest total by his standards. This was unquestionably the best season of his career. In the process, he became the second Phillie to ever hit 50 home runs in a season, a feat that had only been done by Howard in 2006. Mind you, this is a franchise that employed Mike Schmidt, Dick Allen and Jim Thome.
The highlight of Schwarber's season came on Aug. 28 vs. the Atlanta Braves, when he became the fourth player in Phillies history to hit four home runs in a game, joining Hall of Famers Ed Delahanty, Chuck Klein and Schmidt:
FOUR HOME RUNS FOR KYLE SCHWARBER 💣
pic.twitter.com/Q1G2VjYPgj
Even if Schwarber didn't tie or surpass the franchise home run record, his 56 home runs were still the most in the NL, and second to only Seattle Mariners' catcher Cal Raleigh's 60 in all of baseball. Schwarber led all of baseball with 132 RBIs this season.
Prior to Sunday's game — in which Schwarber was in the lineup for the 162nd time in as many games — Thomson was asked if he could imagine the team without the slugger, who will become a free agent after the season.
"Yeah, it's difficult [to imagine]," Thomson acknowledged. "Not only the talent, but what he brings to the room, what he brings to the community. Yeah, he's an all-around man in many respects. And I just love having him around. He's a great human being, and it's hard to think about this team without him."
For what it's worth, both managing partner John Middleton and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski have been consistent in stating their desires to re-sign Schwarber. Also, the prevailing perspective around the sport does seem to be that the Phillies will retain the three-time All-Star.
Before any of that happens, though, Schwarber will have the chance to climb up two other home run leaderboards. He's currently tied with Bryce Harper for the most postseason home runs in franchise history at 12. He's fourth among all hitters in MLB history with 21 playoff home runs, trailing only Manny Ramirez (29), Jose Altuve (27) and Bernie Williams (22).
