Schwarber's standout season earns him second in NL MVP race

PHILADELPHIA – Kyle Schwarber on Thursday night finished second for the NL MVP Award.

Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani won unanimously with 30 first-place votes and 420 points. Schwarber finished second with 260 points (23 second-place, five third-place, one fourth-place, one fifth-place). Mets right fielder Juan Soto finished third with 231 points.

Other Phillies to receive MVP votes this year were Trea Turner (fifth place, 102 points) and Cristopher Sánchez (16 points).

Schwarber batted .240 with a NL-leading 56 home runs, an MLB-leading 132 RBIs, a .928 OPS and a 150 OPS+.

He ranked second in the NL in OPS and third in OPS+.

Schwarber’s monster season was well-timed, considering he is a free agent. The Phillies want him back, and Schwarber said he wants to return. The belief is that Phillies managing partner John Middleton will do whatever it takes to bring back one of the game’s best sluggers.

“Durability is the biggest thing. It’s especially big when you’re primary DH,” Schwarber said on MLB Network Thursday night. “... To play those 162 games, play a whole full season, it is really cool to say you were able to do that. And I look forward to continue to do that.”

Schwarber not only posted big-time numbers this year, but he often kept the offense afloat. Consider: Bryce Harper missed a month early in the season because of a wrist injury, Turner missed time in September because of a hamstring injury, Alec Bohm got off to a poor start, Nick Castellanos ranked last in baseball in fWAR and bWAR, J.T. Realmuto had his worst offensive season since his rookie year, Max Kepler didn’t have the year the Phillies hoped and Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott struggled terribly in the first half.

But Schwarber was excellent from beginning to end. The Phillies wouldn’t have won 96 games without him.