The Philadelphia Phillies have enjoyed a recent surge in the standings since they made a managerial change.
After the firing of Joe Girardi, Rob Thomson has given the team new life.
Even with Bryce Harper sidelined for the foreseeable future, the team seems to be playing with a little more fire.
One of the many reasons for that is Kyle Schwarber, who is once again hitting home runs left and right.
Tuesday night, he had two as the Phils blew out the Washington Nationals, 11-0.
Schwarber is up to 25 homers through 81 games for the second season in a row, with his second team in that span, and ESPN Stats & Info reports on Twitter that by doing this, Schwarber has matched two MLB legends.
Kyle Schwarber has 25 HR through 81 team games for the 2nd straight season.
He’s the 3rd player in MLB history to do that in back-to-back years for different teams, along with Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey Jr. pic.twitter.com/H3JvpRA0O9
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 6, 2022
Can’t Cool Off Schwarber
When you’re in the same company as Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey Jr. you’re doing something right.
Schwarber has emerged as one of the league’s best power hitters over the past couple of seasons and is clearly a major threat at the plate.
Without him, the Phillies would really be struggling in Harper’s absence.
But Schwarber continues to hit bombs.
He’s the one leading the way and picking up the slack with Harper on the shelf for the time being.
In addition to his 25 home runs, Schwarber has driven in 53 runs.
His .219 batting average isn’t all that great, but he has a respectable OPS of .853.
The Phillies needed a boost when Harper went down, and Schwarber is providing that boost for them.
The Phils climbed into a tie with the St. Louis Cardinals for the third NL Wild Card spot behind Schwarber’s powerful performance.
He has been one of the key factors in their resurgence, and he’ll continue to play a key role as the Phils look to end their postseason drought.
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