Kyle Schwarber’s first home run on Monday in the Nationals-Mets game had an exit velocity of 110.2 miles per hour and a distance of 439 feet. It was his 11th home run starting a career game and his sixth of that line this season.
In the fifth inning, Schwarber took it out once more, a 105.8 mph, 409-foot hitter. The slugger now has 13 career multi-homer games and five in 2021.
“We tried everything,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said of New York’s strategy in throwing Schwarber. “We pull him in, out, down, up. We did bouncing pitches… the boy is hitting. “
The decision by Nationals manager Dave Martinez to raise Schwarber to leadoff position has paid dividends, to say the least. Schwarber’s 15 home runs in June are the most for a month in Nationals history (since the franchise moved from Montreal to Washington in 2005), surpassing Bryce Harper’s previous mark of 13 in May 2005.
“It’s been pretty good,” Martinez said with a smile, referring to the lineup change. “We will continue like this.”
With every Schwarber home run, there are historical events. The outfielder’s 11 homers in his last nine games are tied for the most (Frank Howard, Washington Senators) in a stretch dating back to 1901. In addition, Schwarber has joined Barry Bonds (2001) and Sammy Sosa (1998). ) as the only players to have hit 15 home runs in 17 games.
Although Schwarber noted that those numbers (they are definitely something you want to remember), he doesn’t want to get lost too much thinking about statistics.
“To be honest, I want to play ‘gross,'” Schwarber said. That’s the best way to describe it. Just get to the plate and have my turn. I do not remember the previous one, but I live in the present. I think that’s the most important thing, to go out and have a short memory ”.
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