Kyle Schwarber made Boston pay again Tuesday, drilling a solo home run in the Phillies' 2-1 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The blast came on a night when the former Boston slugger once again looked right at home in a ballpark that has never really solved him.
Schwarber’s homer was his 17th in 42 games this season, a pace that led all of MLB entering the night. It was also the latest reminder of how much offense the Red Sox lost when they let him walk after his abbreviated 2021 tenure, when he hit.291/.435/.522 with seven home runs before signing a four-year, $79 million contract with Philadelphia after that season.
The path from Boston to Philadelphia has only widened the gap. Schwarber has since become one of the sport’s most dangerous left-handed bats, piling up 204 home runs over 669 total games with the Phillies before re-upping with them on a five-year, $150 million contract in December 2025. Boston had a chance to revisit the relationship this past offseason, but Schwarber said the pursuit never moved far beyond a brief call or Zoom.
"There was a conversation. [Boston’s pursuit] kind of just started and ended with the conversation," Schwarber said, adding, "We had the phone call, the Zoom, whatever it is." That fits the broader picture around a player who has spoken openly about feeling comfortable in Fenway, where the dimensions and sight lines have long seemed to suit his swing.
Schwarber’s numbers in Boston back up the feeling. Across 27 career games at Fenway Park, he has hit.344/.470/.667 with seven home runs, and his 1.137 OPS there ranks fifth all-time among players with at least 100 career plate appearances. He has also said, "I feel I’ve always kind of just had an eye for the park," and noted, "Even when I got traded over [to the Sox at the 2021 deadline], I had some really good success... It always just seems to fit the eye."
That is what makes Boston’s decision after 2021 linger. The Red Sox moved on from a hitter who produced in a short stay, and Schwarber has only grown into a more complete force since then. On Tuesday, in the same park where he has repeatedly punished them, he did it again with one swing.
