Leading off Kyle Schwarber could give Phillies' offense a boost originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
It’s early. Don’t get it twisted.
Still, the Phillies are hitting .220 as a club. Their top four hitters — Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm — are batting .149 with a .557 OPS.
That’s the lowest combined average from the one-through-four spots through the first six games in club history, worse than the 1939 Phillies.
That group will figure it out. It’s too star-studded not to, and it’s also April 2. But the slow start does invite a fair question about the top of the order, especially when the bottom has been more productive.
Rookie Justin Crawford, hitting ninth, has been locked in thus far. The 22-year-old is 7-for-17, batting .412 through the first week. His natural ability to slap the ball around the field, especially the other way, has stood out immediately.
He’s also difficult to defend. Texas and Washington both adjusted for him already, bringing the third baseman in and shading the right fielder toward right-center.
That matters because consistent production from the nine-hole is rare. Last season, the spot produced a .246 average for the Phillies. Crawford is a much better hitter than that.
So what does it mean?
The Phillies don’t need the double-leadoff setup between Crawford and Turner. If Crawford keeps reaching, there will be traffic on the bases when the lineup turns over.
A change can be made in the leadoff spot.
Kyle Schwarber to the leadoff spot.
HERE’S WHY
That would not be new territory for the Phillies’ slugger. From 2022-24, Schwarber put together three straight seasons with 34 or more home runs, then tallied 104 runs batted in across 2024, all while hitting leadoff.
Only two players ever have driven in more runs as a leadoff hitter in a single season. Jimmy Rollins is the only other Phillie to collect more than 80 RBIs.
That year, Schwarber broke the all-time single-season record for the most leadoff home runs with 15.
The argument against Schwarber batting first has always been simple: if he’s leading off, his homers won’t drive in many runs. But this year, the Phillies have Crawford. A tougher at-bat at the bottom changes that equation.
Schwarber has slugged to begin the season. He’s hit two homers already and laced an RBI double in Wednesday’s contest.
He’s also a great four-seam fastball hitter. He mashes sinkers and cutters too. Out of the spot where he’s already been phenomenal for the Phils, he’d likely see even more pitches to damage.
There is one question worth asking.
Would moving Schwarber back to leadoff create a lefty-lefty issue at the top and bottom of the order?
The easy answer is no.
Crawford hit .376 against lefties last season at Triple-A. Schwarber posted a .964 OPS against southpaws in 2025. He’s been historically good in same-sided matchups and launched 23 homers in 234 at-bats against lefties last year.
Neither of them are overwhelmed by that look. They thrive.
TO FOLLOW
Moving Turner to the two-hole, ahead of Harper, would be something different.
Although, when Turner last hit there regularly in 2024, he drove the ball out of the yard (21 HR), hit .295 and posted an .807 OPS.
The move also makes sense because Turner has long excelled with runners on base.
Last season, among National League hitters with runners on base (minimum 250 plate appearances), Turner ranked fourth in batting average at .321.
He won the NL batting title at .304 and constantly put the ball in play. He’s exactly the kind of hitter you want up with traffic on the bases. Schwarber creates more of that traffic at the top, especially with his innate ability to walk.
Despite the early struggles, Turner has squared the ball up over the last few games, even if he doesn’t have much to show for it yet. He’ll come around.
He’s still a leadoff-type hitter, mind you, but Crawford can provide some of that same table-setting once the lineup turns over two to three times a game.
And for Harper, Wednesday was a great sign.
It’s been a rough start. He hasn’t quite looked like himself, and his bat speed is down a tick from last season. But he got to trot around the bases and feel the energy of the home crowd. He crushed his first homer of the year off Nationals lefty Cionel Pérez.
The cleanup spot has been part of the conversation, too. Bohm has had some of the same bad luck as Turner in that he’s made good contact, without much to show outside of his Opening Day homer. Adolis García has since moved to fifth, and he could play himself into the clean-up spot as a more traditional power bat.
His hard-hit numbers have jumped off the page already, but the bigger early sign is that he’s making more contact. That has been the biggest knock on the Phillies’ new right fielder the last few seasons.
THE CHANGE
Again, it’s early. That has to stay front of mind, but this topic can remain prominent as the season moves along.
Even after Wednesday’s electrifying win, the Phillies could still use a jolt at the top.
They got one in Tuesday’s win, when the offense again looked like it was starting to scuffle. Schwarber put them on the board with a solo homer.
For so long, Schwarber injected energy into Citizens Bank Park from the leadoff spot. The same could be true again this year if Rob Thomson is willing to tweak a top three he hasn’t touched yet.
Thomson originally moved Schwarber out of the leadoff spot prior to last year to split up the lefties. This year, Schwarber at the top could actually help break up the lineup in a more natural way. Crawford and Schwarber can both hold their own if opponents counter with a southpaw.
The Phillies have that flexibility in 2026.
Now they head to Colorado and then San Francisco for a six-game road trip. The ball flies at Coors Field in Denver, and that could be the right place to test a new order and, more importantly, find another offensive spark.
