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The Boston Red Sox don’t need to sign Kyle Schwarber. I hate saying that—I wrote back in early October that the Red Sox needed to add a middle-of-the-order slugger this offseason and I highlighted Schwarber specifically, but that was more of a knee-jerk reaction to the situation than anything else. Schwarber means a lot to Boston even though he only spent half a season with the organization in 2021. He took on the ‘Kyle from Waltham’ persona with grace and embraced the city in a way that few other trade additions have in recent memory. Had the Red Sox made him a competitive offer after the '21 season, we likely wouldn’t be having this conversation and he would be well on his way to establishing himself as another impact DH like David Ortiz and J.D. Martinez before him.
That didn’t happen though, and Schwarber has been hitting dingers for the Phillies since 2022. His power would be welcome in Boston, but his lack of positional adaptability makes him an even more imperfect option than Masataka Yoshida, and that’s saying something. Schwarber doesn’t fix the first base problem, even though he’s logged some innings there in the past. Playing him in the outfield further complicates things in an already extremely crowded player group that, for some reason, just added Kristian Campbell as a potential option as well. To put it frankly, he’s a terrible defender and would only be signed as a power-hitting DH.
The are a couple of offensive knocks against Schwarber too, despite his prodigious pop. First, his strikeout percentage is awful. In 2025, he registered a 27.2% strikeout rate, which ranked in the 11th percentile. The Red Sox are a strikeout-heavy team as it is; they registered a 22.9% strikeout rate as a team, the tenth-most in all of baseball. Adding Schwarber, who strikes out almost 5% more than the team as a whole, puts even more swing and miss in the batter’s box. This team can ill-afford to have that when they struggle to score runs for multiple games. Streakiness can be survived during the regular season, but a cold stretch in October means an early vacation.
To go along with his high strikeout rate, Schwarber’s whiff percentage came in at 33.1% in 2025, good for the fifth percentile league-wide. He’s taking hacks, but he’s missing a ton. Yes, when he makes contact it often goes quite far, but he’s got holes in his swing that will be exploited by the AL East’s top pitchers next season. He's averaged more than 200 strikeouts per year over the past four seasons, leading the NL in that category in both 2022 and 2023.
Finally, Schwarber is left-handed. I’m not saying this is the reason the Red Sox won’t be in on him, but a lot was made out of the fact that this team was dominated by left-handed hitters over the last couple of seasons. They already have Triston Casas coming back into the fold and they could bring Nathaniel Lowe back to platoon at first base as well. It’s entirely possible that Schwarber could be the type of left-handed hitter capable of taking aim at the Green Monster in the opposite field like so many other great lefties that have played for this team. Even then, that money is better spent elsewhere, like on someone who could take over first base on a full-time basis (or, ideally, play second or third base).
This team is so close to being a powerhouse in the American League. With just a couple of additions, the Red Sox can serve as a serious challenger in the AL East. Adding Schwarber provides pop, no doubt. But his red flags are too similar to that of the current core's; adding someone who can balance the scales would be a better bet from the front office this offseason.
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