SEATTLE -- Kyle Schwarber became the first player this season to join the 40-homer club -- one he's quite familiar with -- on Wednesday afternoon.
Schwarber smashed a three-run shot off Mariners starter Bryan Woo in the second inning of the Phillies’ 6-0 win at T-Mobile Park for his MLB-leading 40th of the season. It was also the 380th of his big league career.
“Obviously, it's a good thing because that means you're producing runs for your team,” Schwarber said. “It’s not about going out there and trying to achieve or attain a certain number. I think it's just more trying to stack as many at-bats as you can to keep trying to help the team win.”
This is the fourth time in five seasons with the Phillies that Schwarber has reached the 40-homer plateau. His previous high before arriving in Philadelphia was 38 homers for the Cubs in 2019.
Schwarber's four 40-homer seasons are tied with Phillies legend Ryan Howard for the most in franchise history. Howard accomplished the feat in four straight seasons from 2006-09.
Schwarber's place amongst the game's elite isn't limited just to the Phillies.
His four 40-homer seasons are also tied for the most among all active players, joining Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. Ohtani, who entered Wednesday with 30 homers, still has a chance to notch his fifth career 40-homer season this year. Judge, however, has just 17 home runs after spending the majority of the season on the injured list.
While Schwarber likely won't come close to his career-best 56 homers from last season, he still has a chance to reach 50 for the second time in his 12-year career. Hitting his 40th on Wednesday puts him on pace for 48 this season.
That would put Schwarber at 388 career home runs. Teammate Bryce Harper hit his 390th career homer with a two-run shot of his own on Wednesday and is on pace to finish the year with 395 career homers.
Those two set the tone early for Jesús Luzardo, who tossed a seven-inning gem in which he allowed only one hit and reached the 200-strikeout plateau for the second straight season.
“Today was a great day overall for us, where we go and hop out early, and Zeus was just able to keep those guys down,” Schwarber said. “ … So it was a great overall day, and now get into [Thursday’s] off-day, hit the reset button and get right back to it.”