In an effort to pay homage to Kyle Schwarber, the native of “Cincinnati,” if you will, more notably from Middletown, OH which is considered a suburb of Cincinnati, the Mayor of Cincinnati is giving Kyle Schwarber…wait WHAT?!
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Kyle Schwarber gets keys to the city of Cincinnati
Today before the game to celebrate Kyle Schwarber’s homecoming the city of Cincinnati is giving him the keys to the city. Before yesterday’s game, the Reds also gave Kyle Schwarber the first pitch. There’s a ton of Phillies fans upset by this gesture.
Most folks are seeing this as a way to pry Kyle Schwarber back home to play for his hometown Cincinnati Reds. ‘Hulk,’ as many call him, has said many times how much he’d love to play in his hometown for his boyhood team, and with his contract expiring after this season, there’s a great chance of this happening if he’s willing to take the ‘hometown discount’ and come back home.
Update 8/13/25, 8pm: A spokesperson for Aftab Pureval, the Cincinnati Mayor, tells me that the report out of Philidelphia is untrue, and that they have not given Kyle a set of keys to the city. The person that posted this in Philly, who does have over 80,000 followers on X and a talk show in Philly, was sarcastically exaggerating at Cincinnati’s efforts to bring Kyle Schwarber home, memeing over the first pitch. Boo, to that guy. Our take is this: Aftab should give him a set of keys, we need a big masher for this lineup.
Kyle Schwarber Having an MVP Level Season
Schwarber is currently worth 3.9 bWAR serving primarily as the Designated Hitter for the Philidelphia Phillies. He has played a bit of left field, but is definitely a daily player at DH. In 441 ABs so far in 2025, he’s slashing .249/.373/.578/.951 with a 156 OPS+ and a staggering 159 wRC+.
That would mark back to back seasons with values over 3.5 bWAR, and maybe most impressively, he has 42 homers this season. That would make Kyle Schwarber’s power a real threat at Great American Ballpark. Assuming he’s healthy the rest of the way, Kyle Schwarber will also surpass 100 RBIs for the 3rd year straight.
Can The Reds Sign Him?
That answer is yes – but the ownership that is notoriously cheap as can be would really have to fork over big money, and they haven’t shown any desire to do such. Could a three year deal for Kyle Schwarber make some sense considering Elly’s window? We believe so. Get Kyle Schwarber to Cincinnati this winter and let him retire with his hometown team!
