Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) is embraced by his team after scoring a home run in the eighth inning of a MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati. Phillies won 4-1.
The Cincinnati Reds are acting like a team that's interested in pursuing Kyle Schwarber this offseason.
Why else would they do this?
Reds pulling out all the stops for Kyle Schwarber.
They just had Schwarber catch ceremonial first pitches thrown out by his dad and his youth baseball coach.
Schwarber, of course, grew up less than an hour from Great American Ball Park.
Perhaps we're reading too much into this, but do you ever remember an opposing player that hasn't previously played for the team catching a first pitch? Or the opposing team getting the player's father and youth baseball coach involved? Schwarber spent parts of six years with the division-rival Chicago Cubs, but the Reds are just now having him as part of the first pitch? It's hard to think the powers that be in the Reds organization weren't aware this was going on.
Per Spotrac, Cincinnati is currently 22nd in payroll at $118 million, as opposed to the Phillies, who are fourth at $288 million. The Reds — who often have players outperform their career norms at hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark — don't seem like a club you would expect to pursue a DH that's going to be entering his age-33 season and is likely to command at least four years and $100 million.
But the Reds may view it as a unique opportunity to pursue Schwarber, who is from Middletown, Ohio. And the idea of going home doesn't seem to be something Schwarber is opposed to.
"I’ve always said that at some point in your career, if you would ask the childhood Kyle what team you’d like to play for, it would be Cincinnati," Schwarber said to The Athletic's C. Trent Rosecrans Monday. "I think those are natural thoughts, that it would be appealing. But you never know what happens in free agency. Going through it a couple of times now, it’s an interesting scenario."
It should be noted that Schwarber was asked directly about the possibility of playing for the Reds, it's not something he volunteered. Additionally, Schwarber has talked repeatedly about how much he's enjoyed playing in Philadelphia. Phillies managing partner John Middleton and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski have also made clear they hope to retain Schwarber.
So why would Schwarber go along with the first pitch in an opposing stadium? He did grow up a Reds fans, and it's entirely possible that when he was asked about the possibility he just thought it would be cool. Also possible is that Schwarber is aware that he has the Phillies over a barrel right now and is furthering his leverage by leaning a bit into the possibility that he might want to go home. In fact, ESPN's Buster Olney wrote this last week:
"Kyle Schwarber might not win the National League MVP Award, given how difficult it is for DHs not named Shohei Ohtani to win the honor. Schwarber currently ranks eighth in the NL in WAR, behind multidimensional players like Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ohtani, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Kyle Tucker. But Schwarber is going to make big money in free agency in the fall, no matter where he lands. Some friends of his in the game wonder if he'd prefer to play closer to his Midwest roots."
Philadelphia, in the grand scheme of things, is not far away from his "Midwest roots," but it is definitely a different environment. If Schwarber is hoping to get back to that region of the country, the Reds certainly could be a fit. Imagine how many home runs Schwarber would hit — while adding a veteran leader on a younger team — if he played 81 games a year in Cincinnati. The Cubs are also in that region of the country, and should they lose Tucker in free agency, could pursue a reunion with Schwarber.
In the end, the bet here is that Schwarber will be back with the Phillies next year. But it is interesting to think about what the Phillies would do if a team like the Reds were to come in with a Godfather offer — like when the Washington Nationals signed Jayson Werth to a seven-year/$126 million deal prior to the 2011 season — for Schwarber. Would the Phillies still match it, and if the offers were equal would Schwarber pick staying with the Phillies over joining his hometown team? Time will tell.
