Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber set the Major League Baseball record for most first inning leadoff home runs in a single Major League Baseball season. Schwarber hit his 14th leadoff dinger on Tuesday in a 9-4 Phillies win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Who had the previous record?
According to Sarah Langs of mlb.com, Alfonso Soriano of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic had the old record with 13. The New York Yankees second baseman accomplished the feat during the 2002 MLB season.
Inside look at the home run
Schwarber’s home run was 437 feet to center field and opened the scoring. The pitch came with a count of one ball and zero strikes with Rays starting pitcher Taj Bradley on the mound. Schwarber is ninth all-time in leadoff home runs with 45. Of his 45 leadoff home runs, 31 have been with the Phillies according to Jason Catania of mlb.com. The player with the most leadoff home runs in a career is Rickey Henderson of Chicago, Illinois, who had 80 leadoff dingers from 1979 to 2003. In a quarter of a century, Henderson played for the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Anaheim Angels, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Schwarber in 2024
Schwarber is batting .251 with 35 home runs and 95 runs batted in. Schwarber’s 35 home runs are third in the National League. The only two players who have more are Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers (46) and Marcell Ozuna of the Atlanta Braves (37). Interestingly, Schwarber, Ohtani and Ozuna have all been designated hitters this season. During 134 games, 510 at bats, and 621 plate appearances, Schwarber has scored 100 runs, and had 128 hits, 20 doubles, five stolen bases, a National League leading 98 walks, 253 total bases, and eight sacrifice flies, along with a slugging percentage of .496 and an on base percentage of .372.
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