Schwarber never imagined 50, now he wonders what's next

This story was excerpted from Paul Casella's Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

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.