Thursday, September 11

Welcome to the latest edition of the Phillies Beat newsletter. This version was written by Paul Casella, who has been based in Philadelphia since 2019 and covers the team alongside Todd Zolecki.

PHILADELPHIA -- Kyle Schwarber never foresaw having a 50-homer season on his big league resume.

Not after hitting 30 in his first full season as a big leaguer with the Cubs in 2017. Not after hitting 46 in his first season with the Phillies in '22 -- or after hitting 47 one year later.

But that doesn’t mean “50” wasn’t on his mind.

“It’s something that I wouldn’t say I expected,” Schwarber said. “But it's something that you try to strive for, right? You want to strive for reaching things that might not be attainable, because that's just the way you keep yourself going every single day.”

When Schwarber hit homer No. 50 on Tuesday night against the Mets, he attained something that only 33 other players in the history of Major League Baseball have achieved -- and only one other Phillie.

Schwarber joined Ryan Howard, who hit a team-record 58 homers in 2006, as the only members of the 50-homer club in franchise history.

“It'd be awesome,” Howard said earlier this year on what it would mean if Schwarber reached the 50-homer mark. “For the fans, that would be great for them to see another guy get 50 home runs, and I know for Kyle, it’s just an amazing accomplishment.”

But as manager Rob Thomson pointed out in his postgame toast to Schwarber: “You’re not done yet.”

The Phillies have 16 games remaining in the regular season. That means there’s still time for Schwarber to make a push for the franchise record. He would need to hit eight over the final 16 games to tie Howard, and nine to pass him.

So, back to that word again … is it attainable? Honestly, yes.

After all, this is a guy who once hit 15 home runs in a 16-game span for the Nationals in 2021. Even this season, Schwarber’s most homers in a 16-game span is 10.

Of course, it won’t come easy, but then again, neither did hitting the first 50.

“I remember my first year hitting 30 and just being excited,” Schwarber said. “You know, coming into the big leagues, I felt like 30 was a really, really big number. And then 40 -- I remember my first 40-homer season here in 2022. And now, 50? It’s pretty cool.”

Schwarber acknowledged after Tuesday’s game that while he’s not taking this latest milestone for granted, it is something he’ll likely appreciate more once his career is over.

Howard can substantiate that.

“I think once you get out of the game and you get a chance to kind of reflect on your career and things that you did,” Howard said, “I think he'll look back one day and say, 'I hit 50 home runs and I have no clue how I did it.' Sometimes it's just one of those things where you're just in it and it just happens.”

Schwarber has never gone into a season with a specific number of homers in mind. He’d be the first to say he’ll take a 20-homer season and a World Series ring over a 50-homer season and an early postseason exit. But that doesn’t mean the magnitude of these single-season numbers is lost on him.

In four seasons with the Phillies, Schwarber has hit 46, 47, 38 and 50 (and counting) homers. He’s the only player across the Majors to hit at least 38 homers in each of the past four seasons.

“Thirty is a lot, 40 is a lot, 50 is a lot,” Schwarber said. “And then you see the guys who get to 60, and you're like 'What the heck?'”

Hey, it’s something to strive for -- and, for Schwarber, it just might be attainable.

By inning: Surprisingly, the inning in which Schwarber has homered the most this season is not the first inning -- it’s the seventh. He has 10 home runs in just 77 plate appearances in the seventh inning compared to eight homers in 134 plate appearances in the first.

In fact, Schwarber also has eight homers in the eighth inning in just 62 plate appearances. Overall, Schwarber has hit 20 home runs in the seventh inning or later -- the most by any Phillies player in a single season in franchise history.

By opponent: Less surprisingly, Schwarber’s homered most against the Braves. He has eight home runs against Atlanta, half of which came in his four-homer game on Aug. 28. Next up, he has five against the Nationals and four against the Rockies.

By pitcher: Schwarber’s 50 homers have come off 48 pitchers. The only pitchers he's taken deep twice this season are Austin Cox and Scott Alexander.

An eventful week for Aidan Miller continued on Wednesday, when he highlighted the list of eight Phillies prospects who will participate in the Arizona Fall League.

The announcement came just one day after the club’s No. 2 prospect (and No. 47 overall, per MLB Pipeline) was promoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Miller, 21, worked three walks and stole three bases in his IronPigs debut on Tuesday, then picked up his first Triple-A hit on Wednesday with a double.

After a slow start to the season, Miller -- the Phillies' first-round pick from the 2023 Draft -- finally found his stroke over the past month. In 28 games from the start of August until his promotion, Miller hit .361 with five homers, 15 stolen bases and a 1.115 OPS.

• The Phillies placed both Trea Turner (right hamstring strain) and Alec Bohm (left shoulder inflammation) on the IL on Monday, but they hope to have both back for the postseason.

• Ranger Suárez had a career-high 12 strikeouts against the Mets on Tuesday as he continues to be at his best against potential postseason foes.

• Aaron Nola turned in one of his best outings of the season on Monday against the Mets -- highlighted by a surprise strikeout pitch that left Juan Soto baffled.

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