Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber is on a clinic, especially in the home run department. On Monday, he hit his 40th home run with a grand slam against the Baltimore Orioles.
Furthermore, he became the fastest player to achieve that feat in franchise history in 112 games.
At this point, Schwarber has 40 home runs with 98 RBIs and is batting .258. Also, he is on pace to eclipse a record set back in 2006 by former Phillies slugger Ryan Howard.
That year, Howard hit 58 home runs and had 139 RBIs. His 40th homer came in his 112th game, but in the Phillies' 114th.
As for Schwarber, he is focused on winning above record-setting, per Paul Casella of MLB.com.
“I’m not trying to go out there and think about records or anything like that,” Schwarber said. “I’m more just trying to go out on a daily basis and help these guys win. If that happens, it’s great. If it doesn’t, that’s great.”
The Phillies are 64-48 and hold a 1.8 game lead over the New York Mets in the National League East.
Meanwhile, Schwarber's history-making season has additional layers to it. On August 4, his 38th home run against the Detroit Tigers was his 15th against a left-handed pitcher, the most in all of baseball.
It came with a 435-foot shot against Tigers left-hander Tyler Holton. Also, Schwarber won the Home Run Derby during the All-Star week in Atlanta.
Altogether, Schwarber is in reasonable contention for the National League MVP.
Kyle Schwarber is the power generator for the Phillies
In 2022, Schwarber joined the Phillies organization. Since then, he has emerged into one of the formidable power hitters in baseball.
That year, he won the Silver Slugger Award and was the NL home run leader with 46 home runs.
In addition, Schwarber has hit 38 or more home runs each year he has been in Philadelphia. He is poised to become a free agent after this season, but the Phillies are looking to retain him.
