Move over, Mr. October.
Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber hit his 19th career playoff long ball during a 6-5 Game 4 loss in the National League Championship Series on Friday night, passing Reggie Jackson for the most postseason home runs by a left-handed batter in major league history.
“I think it’s a cool stat,” Schwarber said, per MLB.com. “I think it means more whenever it’s all said and done, whenever my career is over with. It’s a great baseball player to be accompanied by; it’s such a cool thing. I think, for me, that’ll be cool when everything is going to be all said and done.”
After struggling through the first two rounds of the playoffs, Schwarber has been red-hot during the NLCS, hitting all four of his postseason home runs off Diamondbacks pitching.
The masher has been a fixture in October since his debut in 2015.
Schwarber made the postseason with the Cubs for three straight seasons from 2015-17, hitting six long balls during that stretch.
Then, in 2021, he hit three home runs with the Red Sox during their run to the ALCS.
Last season with Philadelphia, Schwarber hit six roundtrippers: three in the NLCS and another three in the World Series.
He’s reached 10 total home runs and counting during the team’s last two playoff runs.
“I’ve always been very lucky to be on really good teams,” Schwarber said. “I got kind of spoiled when I was young coming up in the big leagues and made the postseason. I’ve missed the postseason once. It’s a special brand of baseball, and it’s a brand of baseball that you want to play every single year. For us, we just have to keep going.”
Schwarber is also quickly climbing the all-time postseason homer list for any handedness.
His 19 home runs tied Albert Pujols and George Springer for fifth on the playoff leaderboard.
Manny Ramirez is the all-time leader with 29.
Jose Altuve, who hit his 26th career postseason home run Friday against the Rangers in Game 5 of the ALCS, is second on the all-time list.
Long-time Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams is third with 22 postseason home runs.
Hall of Famer Derek Jeter is fourth with 20 playoff taters.
Schwarber has established himself as one of the top sluggers in baseball in recent years.
His 174 regular season home runs since 2019 are tied with Aaron Judge for the fourth-most among all hitters, trailing just Pete Alonso (192) and Matt Olson (177).
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