Kyle Schwarber hit his 46th home run of the season on Aug. 28 vs. the Braves. (Grace Del Pizzo/OnPattison)
Stay up to date on Kyle Schwarber's ranking on the Phillies' all-time single-season home run leaderboard by using this tracker, which will be updated after every home run.
After winning NL Rookie of the Year in 2005, Howard took home the senior circuit's MVP in 2006, obliterating the franchise-record and becoming the first — and to this point, only — Phillie to hit 50 home runs in a season. Howard's 58 home runs in 2006 are tied with Hank Greenberg (1938) and Aaron Judge (2024) for the 14th most in a single-season in MLB history.
On Aug. 28 vs. the Atlanta Braves, Schwarber became the fourth player in Phillies history to hit four home runs in a game, joining Hall of Famers Ed Delahanty, Chuck Klein and Mike Schmidt:
FOUR HOME RUNS FOR KYLE SCHWARBER 💣
pic.twitter.com/Q1G2VjYPgj
After the game, Schwarber was asked about the fact that he's approaching Howard's record:
Kyle Schwarber is nine home runs away from Ryan Howard’s single-season Phillies record of 58 home runs. Is that on his radar at all?
(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/is5JvYy5n9
Schmidt clubbed a career-high 48 home runs in 1980, the same season he would help the Phillies to win the first World Series title in franchise history. Schmidt won the first of three career NL MVP Awards in 1980, with his record standing until Howard broke it in 2006.
Apparently if someone on the Phillies hits 48 home runs in a season, that means the team is going to win the World Series. While 2008 wasn't necessarily as dominant of an overall offensive campaign for Howard as some of his other peak years, he did reach his second-highest home run total for a single-season. Of course, he, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Cole Hamels led the Phillies to a World Series that fall.
A year after winning NL MVP, Howard had to settle for a more modest 47 home runs, and a fifth-place finish in voting for the award. It was the second of four straight seasons of 45+ home runs for "The Big Piece."
Schwarber was the epitome of a three-true-outcomes player in 2023, hitting 47 home runs and drawing a staggering 126 walks, but also leading baseball with 215 strikeouts.
Thome christened a six-year/$85 million free-agent contract with the Phillies by hitting 47 home runs in 2003, which also happened to be the final year of Veterans Stadium. The future Hall of Famer hit 101 of his 612 career home runs – which are eighth in MLB history — as a member of the Phillies.
After joining the Phillies on a four-year/$79 million free-agent contract, Schwarber crushed 46 home runs in 2022, many of which seemed to come when his team most desperately needed a boost. Schwarber helped the Phillies to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2011, and ultimately hit six more home runs in the postseason as the Phillies won the NL pennant.
2009 was probably the second-best season of Howard's career, as he hit 45 home runs, drove in 141 runs and posted a .931 OPS. Howard finished third in NL MVP voting in 2009, behind Albert Pujols and Hanley Ramirez. He later won NLCS MVP, as the Phillies returned to the World Series for the second year in a row.
1979 was a disappointing season for the Phillies, who went just 84-78-1, but it was one of the best in Schmidt's illustrious career. Schmidt hit 45 of his 548 career home runs, which are easily the most in club history, in 1979.
