Shohei Ohtani's Silver Slugger win lifts Dodgers as Phillies scramble for answers

Dodgers fans knew that the NLCS MVP trophy was only the first piece of hardware Shohei Ohtani would walk away with this season. He's the current favorite to win NL MVP for the third season in a row over the Phillies' Kyle Schwarber and the Mets' Juan Soto, and he became a Silver Slugger finalist on Oct. 22.

Schwarber is the biggest threat to total Ohtani domination during awards season. He's also nominated for NL MVP, and he already swiped the MLBPA Players' Choice Award for NL Outstanding Player, which had some writers speculating on possible Ohtani fatigue setting in among awards voters.

It didn't with Silver Slugger voters, at least. On Thursday, he won the fourth Silver Slugger of his career over Schwarber and Christian Yelich.

You kind of have to feel bad for Phillies fans. They couldn't maximize what might've been one of the last years (if not the last year) of their World Series window, instead going out with a whimper at the hands of the Dodgers' pitching staff. Schwarber is leaving in free agency, just lost the Silver Slugger to Ohtani, and will probably lose the MVP to him, too.

Yeesh.

Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani edges out Kyle Schwarber, Christian Yelich to win 2025 Silver Slugger at DH

Schwarber's Silver Slugger and MVP cases have been easy enough to understand. He led the National League with 56 homers and all of baseball with 132 RBI. Ohtani was just one homer behind him, but didn't get close in RBI (102).

Still, Ohtani is clearly the superior all-around bat, with a .282/.392/.622 slash line (his slugging led the NL) that lapped Schwarber's .240/.365/.563. Schwarber's four-homer night might've eclipsed most single-game achievements for Ohtani in the regular season, but there's just no argument as to who was the more valuable player overall — even when you disregard the pitching side of Ohtani's game.

The Phillies seem likely to make a play at re-signing Schwarber, arguably the most beloved player on their 2025 roster, but they'll have heavy competition and have disappointed time and time again in the postseason. If not this year, when they had the second-best record in baseball, ran away with the NL East, and knew they were losing Schwarber and JT Realmuto at the end of the year — then when?

Ohtani's win is a sad reminder for Phillies fans of how their season panned out, the great offensive year Schwarber had but the Phillies couldn't capitalize on, and the fact that they very well might see Schwarber in a new uniform in just a few months' time.