Philadelphia Phillies Slugger Makes Case for Playing Defense More Often in 2025

One of the Philadelphia Phillies sluggers makes it clear he can be used in the field more this season.

Sep 21, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field / Lucas Boland-Imagn Images

Spring training is about trying different things and seeing what could possibly be used throughout the regular season, and for the Philadelphia Phillies, there will be a lot of experimenting going on.

Not only will the lineup see tweaks on almost a daily basis when it comes to the batting order to give manager Rob Thomson a better idea of how things should be slotted, but they are also giving infielder Edmundo Sosa reps in the outfield as a way to get him onto the field more often this year.

That resulted in him playing in left field on Thursday.

But that wasn't the only interesting thing to come out of the game against the New York Yankees.

With Bryce Harper out of the lineup following getting hit by a pitch despite everything coming back positive regarding the injury update, that allowed Thomson to put Kyle Schwarber at first base, a position he's played just 11 times in his career and none at all since joining the Phillies.

Everything is on the table in an exhibition game, but how about during the regular season?

Schwarber is making his case to be used in the field more often.

"I want to make sure that guys are getting off their feet. I want to keep guys healthy but also keep bats in the lineup. So if that's being in left field, if that's possibly being over at first base and give Harper a day off and keep his bat in the lineup and keep some other left-handed bats in the lineup, in the outfield, then so be it. I've just got to find a way to be versatile at what I do," he said per Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia.

That's admirable, but it also unsustainable for a prolonged period of time.

Schwarber is one of the worst defenders in baseball, having an Outs Above Average figure of -72, per Baseball Savant, and a -10.8 defensive bWAR.

For a game here and there, Philadelphia could certainly survive having the lefty slugger in the field on occasion, but based on what happened in 2023 when the outfield defense was so bad they had to call up Johan Rojas directly from Double-A, mentioning Schwarber and the field is enough to make anyone a bit squeamish.

However, if he is able to play first base to give Harper a day off or even rotate into left field every so often, that could allow Thomson to give more players reps at designated hitter to get them off their feet.

It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this, but Schwarber is making his case for more time in the field during the 2025 season.

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