Where Does Schwarber Rank Among Phillies' Mets Killers?

The Philadelphia Phillies have faced the New York Mets 997 times in their franchise's history. Who has been the Phillies' best player in those matchups?

© Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

In the early 2000s, the Philadelphia Phillies' and New York Mets' rivalry blossomed into what it is today. There's been more than a few bench clearing incidents between the two clubs since the Mets' founding in 1962.

Bound more than anything by their general mediocrity, the Mets have a franchise .481 winning percentage. The Phillies are no better, as the first professional sports team to 10,000 franchise losses, their lifetime winning percentage is .472.

Nevertheless, having played each other for 61 seasons as of 2022, some players will naturally have better results in their 997 meetings. 

After a series in which he went 4-8 with three walks and three homers, Kyle Schwarber should end up near the top of that list.

Though most of his meetings with the Mets were with the Chicago Cubs or Washington Nationals, he'll play 55 games against the Mets with the Phillies over the remaining life of his contract—that is if he stays healthy.

For his career facing New York, Schwarber has slashed .320/.409/.746 with 16 home runs in 142 plate appearances. Extrapolated to a 162-game season, that home run rate would total 72 homers.

It seems like that performance would be hard for any Phillie to exceed, but remember, one of the features of the Mets' Citi Field is actually named after a Philadelphia player.

Between two games on June 9-10, 2009, Chase Utley hit three home runs in the bulge by the right field foul pole. "Utley's corner" was the term then coined by Mets' broadcaster Gary Cohen just days later.

While Utley is known for a myriad of game-changing plays against the Mets, his career numbers against the Mets with the Phillies are only slightly better his career totals. He slashed .281/.377/.520 with 35 home runs in 764 plate appearances.

Old-time Phillies like Jay Johnstone, Richie Hebner, Tony Gonzalez, Jeff Stone, Don Demeter and Dick Allen all have better number than Utley facing the Mets, but they all played during a time when there was no rivalry between the two clubs.

Only two modern Phillies have better numbers than Utley. The first of which is Scott Rolen. He slashed .313/.422/.540 against New York. But after Rolen requested a trade during the Phillies' build-up in the early 2000s, Phillies fans hold similar animosity for Rolen as they do towards the Mets.

In a minimum of 100 plate appearances, only one Phillie has an OPS over 1.000 facing New York. That slugger's name: Jean Segura.

Since joining the Phillies in 2019, Segura has annihilated the Mets time and time again, slashing .360/.399/.652 in 173 plate appearances with 10 home runs. In a 162-game sample size for his career, Segura averages 13 home runs.

Extrapolated to 162 games against the Mets, Segura would average 40 home runs over a full season. Yet he's still not as productive as Kyle Schwarber.

It seems almost impossible that Schwarber could continue his torrid pace against New York, but his career BABIP against the club is .333, not unsustainable.

If Schwarber can continue the pace that he's set for himself, the Phillies could have a new all-time Mets-killer.

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