Red Hot Philadelphia Phillies Slugger Has Great Chance at MLB History

The Philadelphia Phillies slugger's recent hot streak has given him a real chance at making MLB history.

Sep 6, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) celebrates after scoring against the Miami Marlins during the first inning at loanDepot Park. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies are once again red hot and are being driven by a superstar slugger, who has actually played himself into a chance at standing alone in the MLB history books.

As MLB.com looked through some of the most interesting stat races down the final stretch of the regular season, designated hitter Kyle Schwarber was highlighted.

Schwarber recently tied Alfonso Soriano for the MLB record for most leadoff home runs in a season (13). That means he's just one away from standing alone with the record with plenty of baseball left to play.

He's now up to 44 for his career, which is good for ninth-best all time. He still has a long way to go for that record, as Rickey Henderson holds it with 81.

The 31-year-old has made up some major ground over his recent hot stretch, which could not have come at a better time for the Phillies.

He's hit five home runs, two leadoff, over his last four games with a slashing line of .526/.571/1.421. Unsurprisingly, the team has won all four of those games.

Though Philadelphia has held the division lead since the first week of May, the team had recently undergone a serious cold stretch that had people starting to doubt them as postseason contenders.

Star players were disappearing at the plate, pitchers were imploding. All in all, it was an ugly sight for a bit.

Even Schwarber took a bit of a dive, putting up just a .121/.229/.193 slashing line over the last 21 games of August.

Over the last 13 games, however, things have turned around. The Phillies were able to take series wins against the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves. All of those teams are expected to be major contenders come the postseason.

The team is back to winning games in long stretches and Schwarber is finally looking like the same slugger the organization has come to love.

Over his first two seasons with Philadelphia, the Ohio native had become fairly predictable. He was hitting a lot of home runs and leading the league in strikeouts. In turn, his batting average was always low but his OPS was carried by his slugging numbers.

He's started to look more like the player that he was when they signed him, a bit more balanced of an approach. He's not contending for a league lead in home runs this year, but his overall OPS is still higher.

Now the Phillies have to start to figure out just how valuable he is as he'll be in the last year of his contract next season.