ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Schwarber is staying with the Philadelphia Phillies, agreeing Tuesday to a $150 million, five-year contract.
Schwarber set career bests this year with a National League-leading 56 homers and a major league-high 132 RBIs along with a .240 batting average and .928 OPS. He scored a career-high 111 runs as he led the club to its second straight NL East title.
Schwarber’s 23 homers against left-handed pitching set a major league record for a lefty batter, surpassing 22 by Stan Musial in 1949 and Matt Olson in 2021.
“The body’s gotten better over time,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said earlier Tuesday. “He’s in the best shape of his life right now, and I don’t think that that’s going to change. He’s so intelligent. He sees the game a little bit different than a lot of other guys, and he works at it, watches a lot of film.
“I think there’s a really good chance that he’s going to maintain this level. I mean, this was an unbelievable year for him. So I don’t think we can expect this every year, but I still think he’s going to be a high-level performer,” Thomson added.
Schwarber won this year’s All-Star Game for the NL with three homers in a tiebreaking swing-off, and he finished second in NL MVP voting behind Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani.
The 32-year-old Schwarber rejected a $22,025,000 qualifying offer from Philadelphia in November.
“There’s very few people in my career that I’ve had when you look at him and say that is a genuine leader of your team that brings everything together,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “The way they work, the way they play, the way they handle themselves day in and day out, the way they treat their teammates, the way they bring you together. And he’s one of those guys.”
Dombrowski and the Phillies also are focused on retaining others among their players who became free agents, a group that includes catcher J.T. Realmuto, left-hander Ranger Suárez and outfielder Harrison Bader.
Schwarber grew up in southwest Ohio before playing his college ball at Indiana. He was selected by the Chicago Cubs with the No. 4 pick in the 2014 amateur draft.
He was at the beginning of his second year with Chicago in 2016 when he tore two ligaments in his left knee in an outfield collision during an April game in Arizona. It was believed to be a season-ending injury, but he returned for Game 1 of the World Series and helped the Cubs to the franchise’s first championship since 1908.
Schwarber is a .234 hitter with 23 homers and 37 RBIs in 73 career playoff games. He went deep twice in the NL Division Series this year against the Dodgers.
Schwarber hit 38 homers for Chicago in 2019, but he was non-tendered by the team after he batted just .188 in 59 games during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
He signed a $10 million, one-year contract with Washington in January 2021. After clubbing 25 homers in 72 games for the Nationals, he was traded to Boston at the deadline. He helped the Red Sox reach the AL Championship Series before they were eliminated by Houston.
Following his rebound season, Schwarber signed a $79 million, four-year deal with Philadelphia in March 2022. He flourished with the Phillies, belting 187 homers and driving in 434 runs in 627 games.
He hit his 300th homer on May 19 at Colorado and got his 1,000th hit with his 319th homer on July 25 at the New York Yankees.
AP Baseball Writer Jay Cohen contributed to this report.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
FILE - Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber connects for a double during the first inning in Game 4 of baseball's National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oct. 9, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
MOUNT POCONO, Pa. (AP) — On the road in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, President Donald Trump tried to emphasize his focus on combating inflation, yet the issue that has damaged his popularity couldn't quite command his full attention.
The president told the crowd gathered at a casino and resort in Mount Pocono that inflation was no longer a problem and that Democrats had used the term “affordability” as a “hoax” to hurt his reputation. But his remarks weaved wildly to include grievances he first raised behind closed doors in his first term in 2018 — and later denied saying — asking why the U.S. doesn't have more immigrants from Scandinavia.
“Why is it we only take people from s—-hole countries, right?” Trump said onstage. "Why can’t we have some people from Norway, Sweden, just a few?”
Trump said he objected to taking immigrants from “hellholes like Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and many other countries." He added for emphasis that those places “are a disaster, right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.”
Tuesday’s gathering in the swing state — and in a competitive House district — was an official White House event, yet it seemed more like one of his signature campaign rallies that his chief of staff said he would hold regularly ahead of next year’s midterms. But instead of being in an arena that could draw several thousand attendees, it was held in a conference center ballroom at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, a small town of about 3,000 residents.
Following dismal results for Republicans in last month's off-cycle elections, the White House has sought to convince voters that the economy will emerge stronger next year and that any anxieties over inflation have nothing to do with Trump.
He displayed a chart comparing price increases under his predecessor, Joe Biden, to prices under his own watch to argue his case. But the overall inflation rate has climbed since he announced broad tariffs in April and left many Americans worried about their grocery, utility and housing bills.
“I have no higher priority than making America affordable again,” Trump said. “They caused the high prices and we’re bringing them down."
As the president spoke, his party's political vulnerabilities were further seen as Miami voters chose Eileen Higgins to be their first Democratic mayor in nearly 30 years. Higgins defeated the Trump-endorsed Republican Emilio Gonzalez.
The president's reception in the county hosting his Tuesday rally showed he could still appeal to the base, but it was unable to settle questions of whether he could hold together his 2024 coalition. Monroe County flipped to Trump last year after having backed Biden in 2020, helping the Republican win the swing state of Pennsylvania and return to the White House after a four-year hiatus.
As home to the Pocono Mountains, the county has largely relied on tourism for skiing, hiking, hunting and other activities as a source of jobs. Its proximity to New York City — under two hours by car — has also attracted people seeking more affordable housing.
But what seems undeniable — even to Trump supporters in Monroe County — is that inflation seems to be here to stay.
Lou Heddy, a retired maintenance mechanic who voted for Trump last year, said he’s noticed in the past month alone that his and his wife’s grocery bills have risen from $175 to $200, and he’s not sure Trump can bring food prices down.
“Once the prices get up for food, they don’t ever come back down. That’s just the way I feel. I don’t know how the hell he would do it,” said Heddy, 72.
But Suzanne Vena, a Democratic voter, blames Trump’s tariffs for making life more expensive, as she struggles with rising bills for food, rent and electricity on a fixed income. She remembers Trump saying that he would stop inflation.
“That’s what we were originally told,” said Vena, 66. “Did I believe it? That’s another question. I did not.”
The area Trump visited could help decide control of the House in next year's midterm elections.
Trump held his rally in a congressional district held by first-term Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, who is a top target of Democrats. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democrat, is running for the nomination to challenge him.
Speaking to the crowd before Trump, Bresnahan said the administration was working to lower costs, but voters “aren’t asking for partisan arguments — they’re asking for results.”
It's not clear if Trump can motivate voters in Monroe County to show up in next year's election if they're worried about inflation.
Nick Riley, 38, said he’s cutting back on luxuries, like going out to eat, as he absorbs higher bills for food and electricity and is having a hard time finding a good deal on a used car. Riley voted for Trump in 2020, but he sat out the 2024 election and plans to do so again next year.
“We’re all broke. It doesn’t matter whether you support Republicans or support Democrats,” Riley said. “We’re all broke, and we’re all feeling it.”
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said on the online conservative talk show “The Mom View” that Trump would be on the campaign trail next year to engage supporters who otherwise might sit out a congressional race.
Wiles, who helped manage Trump's 2024 campaign, said most administrations try to localize midterm elections and keep the president out of the race, but she intends to do the opposite of that.
“We’re actually going to turn that on its head," Wiles said, "and put him on the ballot because so many of those low-propensity voters are Trump voters.”
The challenge for Trump is how to address the concerns of voters about the economy while simultaneously claiming that the economy is enjoying a historic boom.
Asked on a Politico podcast how he'd rate the economy, Trump leaned into grade inflation by answering “A-plus,” only to then amend his answer to “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus.”
The U.S. economy has shown signs of resilience with the stock market up this year and overall growth looking solid for the third quarter. But many Americans see the prices of housing, groceries, education, electricity and other basic needs as swallowing up their incomes, a dynamic that the Trump administration has said it expects to fade next year with more investments in artificial intelligence and manufacturing.
So far, the public has been skeptical about Trump's economic performance. Just 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of the economy, according to a November survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
But Trump indicated that his tariffs and other policies were helping industries such as the steel sector. He said those industries mattered for the country as he then specifically told Americans that they should buy fewer pencils and dolls from overseas.
“You don’t need 37 dolls for your daughter,” he told the crowd. “Two or three is nice.”
Boak reported from Washington.
President Donald Trump dances to music after speaking at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
President Donald Trump speaks at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
President Donald Trump speaks at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
People arrive before President Donald Trump speaks at Mount Airy Casino Resort, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Mount Pocono, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while in flight on Air Force One from Joint Base Andrews to Avoca, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump exits Marine One, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., for a trip to Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
People wait in line to hear President Donald Trump speak at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mt. Pocono, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
People wait in line to hear President Donald Trump speak at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mt. Pocono, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Lou Heddy, 72, poses for a photo while shopping at the Stroud Mall, Dec. 9, 2025, in Stroudsburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)
President Donald Trump listens during a roundtable on farm subsidies in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump arrives for the lighting of the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
