May 16, 2026
Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images
Kyle Schwarber is on pace for more than 70 homers. Will opponents allow him to keep getting pitches to hit?
Kyle Schwarber sent two pitches deep into the Pittsburgh night Friday, two more monstrous home runs that gave the Phillies' DH his 19th and 20th of the season.
The Phillies needed them, too, much like they've needed almost all of his Major League Baseball-leading dingers.
They trailed 6-0 early, and were coming off a series against the Red Sox in which they scored just six total runs in the three-game series that they still managed to take.
Schwarber's first homer, a two-run shot in the fifth, trimmed the deficit to 6-3. His next one, a two-run blast seventh, narrowed Pittsburgh's lead to 8-5.
Kyle Schwarber's second homer of the night is his 20th of the season! pic.twitter.com/fzpncNMgV0
— MLB (@MLB) May 16, 2026
He also walked during a three-run rally in the ninth that tied the game before the Phillies scored three in the 10th frame and hung on to win, 11-9.
Schwarber now has nine homers in his past nine games, the second time in his career he's done that. He is the first MLB player this year to reach the 20-home run plateau, and in just 45 games.
Kyle Schwarber becomes the 8th player in MLB history to hit 20 HRs in the first 45 games:
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) May 16, 2026
Cy Williams
Mickey Mantle
Ken Griffey Jr
Barry Bonds
Mark McGwire
Luis Gonzalez
Albert Pujols
Kyle Schwarber
And it's not even close to June.
As most Phillies know, Schwarber's favorite slugging months are June and August. He has 71 career homers in August, 67 in June.
After Friday night's two-homer helping, Schwarber is on pace for 71 this season, after homering 56 times last year to lead the National League.
No MLB player has hit more than 65 homers in 25 years, when Barry Bonds clubbed 73 in 2001 – the pinnacle of the steriods era. The only MLB players since 1998 to have hit more than 65 homers are Bonds, Mark McGwire (70, 1998) and Sammy Sosa (66, 1998), all of whom reached that milestone in the steroid heyday.
Since 2005, the year that MLB instituted strict penalties to those who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, only two MLB players have even reached the 60-homer mark – Aaron Judge with 62 in 2022, and Cal Raleigh with 60 last season.
Schwarber is already one-third the way to tying Raleigh for the second-most homers in baseball over the past 31 years.
And it's still just mid-May.
For perspective, Raleigh didn't hit his 20th homer last year until May 30th. In 2022, Judge didn't hit his 20th until June 3. Last year, Schwarber didn't his 20th until June 7.
The only question is: Will opposing managers keep pitching to the 33-year-old slugger, especially if first base is open.
Fortunately for Schwarber, who bats second, Bryce Harper has been excellent protection as the 3-hitter. Harper, who went 4-for-5 against the Pirates on Friday and nearly homered in the ninth, is now slashing .282/.372/.584, so giving Schwarber free passes to bring up Harper might not be ideal at the moment.
But as an overall lineup, the Phillies are still struggling. They enter Saturday's game against the Pirates ranking 21st in MLB in runs scored, and Schwarber's 20 homers represent 37 percent of the team's long ball total.
From the cleanup hole, the Phillies are among the worst teams in terms of power and run production. They have just three homers from the 4-hole, tied for second-fewest in MLB, and rank just 22nd overall in RBI from that slot.
Opposing managers could start to think it's just best to walk Schwarber and be selective with Harper to get past the main – only? – power sources in the Phillies' lineup.
At the rate Schwarber is sending pitches over fences, it would be shocking to see him to continue to get any to hit.
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