Kyle Schwarber has 20 home runs through the Philadelphia Phillies’ first 49 games and is on pace for 66 over a full season, according to the report. The 33-year-old designated hitter hit 56 homers a year ago and has picked up where he left off to open 2026.
The report notes Schwarber is just the 18th player in major-league history to reach at least 20 homers through a team’s first 49 games and the first to do so since Josh Hamilton in 2012. Mark McGwire (1998) and Barry Bonds (2001) hold the single-season mark for homers through 49 games with 25; those were the years McGwire finished with 70 and Bonds with 73.
A 66-homer finish would tie Sammy Sosa for the third-highest single-season total in MLB history, the report says. The piece also points out there have been only 54 seasons in which a player hit 50 or more homers, underscoring how rare those seasons remain even in power-heavy eras.
Schwarber has produced several extended power bursts during his career: 16 homers in 18 games (2021), 16 in 32 games (2022), 16 in 30 games (2023), 10 in 20 games (2024), 15 in 27 games including a four-homer game (2025), and 12 homers in 18 games from April 26 through May 15 of 2026. The report adds that Citizens Bank Park is viewed as favorable to the long ball.
The report also highlights Schwarber’s role as a three-true-outcomes hitter: 49.2% of his career plate appearances have ended in a strikeout, walk or home run, the fifth-highest rate among players with at least 3,000 career plate appearances. Since joining the Phillies that rate is 51.1%, and it stood at 56.8% in 2026. His batting average is listed at .230, and the report notes the club has turned things around after replacing manager Rob Thomson with Don Mattingly.
