The Philadelphia Phillies have played an impressive stretch of baseball as of late, and it’s come from the power production of their two superstars: Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.
Schwarber is the leader in Major League Baseball in home runs (30), while Harper is on pace to hit between 25 and 30 (currently at 19). Even more impressive, Schwarber and Harper are both on pace to reach 400 career home runs each this season.
Schwarber, with his blast on Sunday in the Phillies 5-4 win over the New York Mets, puts him at 370, while Harper, who homered on Saturday, is at 382.
Kyle Schwarber has proven to be more of a power hitter than Bryce Harper
With another half of a season to play, the likelihood of Schwarber or Harper reaching the career milestone is high. Moreso for Schwarber, who is a pure power hitter — having a 30-plus home run season every year since 2021, with 56 last season being his high-water mark.
“Oh, when Kyle [Schwarber] hits a ball, it’s just gone,” Harper said to Paul Casella of MLB.com. “Absolutely gone.”
In the two-time MVP’s own words, he doesn’t consider himself a power hitter, as he tries to hit more doubles, which wind up turning into home runs.
“I don’t technically see myself as a home run hitter, you know?” Harper commented to Casella. “I feel like I’m trying to hit doubles, and sometimes, I clip ‘em just right and they turn into homers.”
In his 15 seasons as a big leaguer, Harper has four seasons of 30-plus home runs (one season of 42 in 2015), while having six 30-plus double seasons, with two seasons of 42 each (tied for the lead in MLB in 2021, his MVP season).
Kyle Schwarber says there’s no competition between him and Bryce Harper
Despite both being close to 400 home runs, Schwarber “doesn’t” see any competition between him and Harper.
“I don’t think there’s any competition between me and him on that,” Schwarber said to Casella with a smile. “ … But to see someone of his caliber be able to reach 400 — and more — it’ll be really cool. And whenever that day comes for me, it’ll be another cool milestone.”
The “competition” between the two All-Stars (11 combined between them) has helped the Phillies come within striking distance of taking the National League East lead back from the Atlanta Braves. Beginning in June, the Phillies were 9.5 games out of first place; now, with a day left (June 29), they’re 3.0 games out.