A few games after winning the NL East title, the Philadelphia Phillies received a first-round bye. Barring a significant collapse by the Milwaukee Brewers, the Phillies will be the second seed in the 2025 postseason.
During the Phillies’ game against the Miami Marlins, Schwarber hit two home runs, bringing his season total to 56. He isn’t only two behind Ryan Howard for the most in Phillies history.
However, with the bye week over and their seeding almost certainly set, the Phillies have little reason to play the last four games of the season. Nonetheless, as Devan Kaney of 94 WIP reported, Rob Thomson has given Schwarber the green light to break Howard’s home run record.
Kyle Schwarber has a chance to set the Phillies’ franchise history
“Rob Thomson says he will give Kyle Schwarber a chance to break Ryan Howard’s HR record,” adds Kaney. “Even if the games become meaningless as the regular season winds down.”
This is both an exciting and rather concerning report. Of course, seeing Schwarber break the record would be a thrilling experience, especially because it would occur at Citizens Bank Park rather than on the road.
Making Phillies history would be great, but there are some risks involved. He could be wounded in those last games as he competes for the record. With those games inconsequential, the Phillies would face a lot of attention if they jeopardized their World Series aspirations by setting an individual record.
While there are reasonable concerns, there is no need to bench Schwarber in this situation to rest him. He’s still hot, having hit three home runs during the Marlins series, and with a few days off following the bye, there’s little reason not to start Schwarber in the next few games.
Teams who rest their players at the end of the year, after securing a bye, risk losing momentum. The Phillies need to avoid that, and having Schwarber in the lineup, with the potential to establish a team record, is not a bad idea.
Another reason not to be concerned is that the Phillies’ slugger is a designated hitter.
He will not play on the field, which reduces his chances of injury because he will be less taxed throughout each game.
With four games remaining, Schwarber has 56 home runs. Howard hit 58 homers in 2006. Assume he can hit three more in the remaining four games. In that instance, Schwarber can sit alone atop the Phillies’ single-season home run leaderboards, adding to his already impressive record in Philadelphia.