Nationals' Kyle Schwarber isn't counting stats amid home run tear: 'I want to play stupid'

Jacob Camenker

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Nationals' Kyle Schwarber isn't counting stats amid home run tear: 'I want to play stupid' image

Kyle Schwarber is producing one of the greatest power-hitting stretches in MLB history.

The Nationals' slugger has hit 15 home runs through the first 28 days of June. Even more impressively, all 15 of those homers have come in his last 17 games. Sammy Sosa (1998) and Barry Bonds (2001) are the only other players to hit 15 homers in a 17-game span.

But Schwarber isn't paying any attention to the numbers. At least he's trying to ignore them.

“To be honest with you, I want to play stupid,” Schwarber said, per MLB.com's Jessica Camerato. “That’s kind of the best way to describe it -- just keep going up there and take your at-bat. Don’t remember the one before, just live in the present. … I think that’s the biggest thing, is just go out there and have a short memory.”

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Even still, it must be hard for Schwarber to drown out the noise. It seems like he's setting some sort of new mark every night. On Monday night, He joined Frank Howard as the only player in MLB history to hit 11 homers in a nine-game span. At the time of his 14th homer, he had hit as many or more long balls than 10 MLB teams since July 12.

Additionally, Schwarber has clubbed seven homers in his last 13 at-bats against the Mets.

“We tried everything,” said Mets manager Luis Rojas. “We were pitching him in, away, down, up. We were bouncing balls. ... This guy's swinging a hot bat. He hasn't just done it against us. We're watching highlights of him doing it against other teams, too."

Schwarber is hoping his good fortune with the bat will carry over into Washington's series against the Rays, which starts on Tuesday night. With two days left in June, he is five homers back of tying Sosa for the all-time single-month homer record of 20, which he set in June of 1998.

Cracking five homers in two games is no easy feat. But if anyone can do it, it's Schwarber.

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker Photo

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.