PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ryan Howard hit home runs as far and as fast as any slugger of his era. He’s still the only player to sock one completely into the third deck in 22 years of Citizens Bank Park — and he did it twice.
So how about it, Ryan.
Who would win in a home run derby in their primes between two of the best Phillies to ever launch ’em over the fence? Howard — the only Phillie to top 50 homers in a season, when he totaled 58 in 2006 — or current sensation Kyle Schwarber? Schwarber leads the National League with 40 homers, and No. 40 came in style, a grand slam as he dug in to roaring “MVP! MVP!” chants.
“It’d be a tight one,” Howard said. “Young Howie put some balls in the seats. Schwarbs is nothing to sneeze at.”
Schwarber’s 40 homers this season put him well ahead of the pace to best his career-high of 47 set in 2023, one better than the 46 he hit in 2022 in the first season of a four-year, $79 million free-agent contract.
Howard’s team mark of 58 remains in play if Schwarber keeps scorching balls like he has since he won All-Star Game MVP honors after he hit three homers in the game’s first-ever swing-off. Schwarber has 10 homers — dubbed Schwarbombs that have made him arguably the most popular franchise star — since the break for the Phillies, who lead the NL East as they get set to open a 10-game road trip on Friday in Texas.
Howard hit 198 homers from 2006 to 2009 and helped the Phillies win the 2008 World Series before his career was cut short by injury. It’s the ring he treasures most these days. But he looks back now in admiration of his record 2006 season, a feat he didn’t necessarily enjoy as much in real time, just as he expected Schwarber to do of this season well after retirement.
“I think he’ll look back and one day say, ‘I hit 50 home runs, and have no clue how I did,’” Howard said.
Howard might be on to something. Schwarber indeed says he has no clue why his home run total has been going, going, gone through the roof at this point of the season.
“You go into every year in the offseason and you try and find ways to keep getting better,” he said. “It's not like I went into the offseason saying I want to try and hit more home runs or anything like that. I think it's just trying to be consistent with what you're doing. The more consistency you can find in your swing and in your work, I think that will lead to results on the field.”
His results are a key reason why the Phillies are on track to make the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
He hit 40 homers in the Phillies' first 112 games — one more than Howard over the first 112 games of 2006. His .965 OPS is third in baseball and he leads baseball with 94 RBIs. Schwarber has played every game this season, almost exclusively as the designated hitter.
Perhaps no moment so far this season has been as automatic an entry into the season highlight video as his game Monday against Baltimore. Schwarber had already connected on a two-run home run deep in the second deck. The crowd of 41,099 fans were in a Schwarbomb frenzy when he came to the plate in the sixth. He heard the MVP chants as he sent one into the right-center seats off Yaramil Hiraldo for his ninth career grand slam and second of the season.
“Those are the moments that you take in as a player,” Schwarber said. “Those are special things that happen and that kind of just go in the back of the memory. Hold on to those things for a while. It was obviously a really cool thing and I appreciate it.”
Schwarber's production raises two pivotal questions down the stretch; Can a designated hitter in the National League not named Shohei Ohtani win MVP and just how much of the bank will Schwarber break when the impending free agent signs his new deal?
Schwarber and the Phillies failed to reach a deal ahead of the season and contract talks were tabled until after the season. Phillies managing partner John Middleton has remained steadfast in his commitment to wanting Schwarber back.
“We need no motivation whatsoever when it comes to Kyle Schwarber,” Middleton said in July. “He’s great. We thought he was great when we signed him years ago. We thought he was great consistently through the years. There’s nothing Kyle does that surprises us."
Schwarber could command a new deal that would place him among the highest-paid players in the game. Fair enough, perhaps, for what's he accomplished over his four seasons in Philadelphia. But can a player who turns 33 ahead of next season really be counted on to club 40-plus homers a season deep into his 30s without adding any defensive value?
Maybe if that player wins an MVP (oh, and a World Series).
Ohtani last season became the first primary designated hitter and first player who didn’t appear defensively for a single inning to win an MVP. The Los Angeles Dodgers star remained the favorite in 2025 to win another one, with Schwarber a distant second, per BetMGM Sportsbook.
But hitting 50 homers — do we hear 60? — is still very much in play for Schwarber even if he's not sure how he's doing it.
“Sometimes it's just one of those things where you're just in it,” Howard said, “and it just happens.”
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Dan Gelston, The Associated Press
