Right now, Schwarber is leading the league with 18 homers followed by Judge in second place with 16. Murakami is in third place with 15. Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins has been on a hot streak and just tied Murakami for third place as well. <\/p>\n
We dropped a story with six hot takes for the 2026 season<\/a> and one of them was that two players will hit 60 or more homers. Right now, Schwarber is on pace for 66.2 long balls and Judge is on pace for 58.9 homers. This hot take very well may end up being just a take if Judge gets hot again soon. <\/p>\n The Phillies Star Is Crushing At A Historic Level May 12, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) hits a home run against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Schwarber is the man of the hour, though. He had a run of five straight games with a homer that was snapped on Wednesday. He launched six homers across those five games. While his streak snapped on Wednesday, he started a new one with yet another long ball<\/a> against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night. <\/p>\n 7 home runs in 7 games for DJ Schwarbs \ud83d\udcc0 pic.twitter.com\/nd74kb70LP<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MLB (@MLB) May 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Schwarber has played in all 44 games for the Phillies so far this season en route to his 18 long balls. This is a historic pace. In fact, MLB’s Sarah Langs<\/a> shared on X that he tied Mike Schmidt for the second-most homers through 44 games in a season for the Phillies. The record belongs to Cy Williams, who hit 20 homers in the Phillies’ first 44 games back in 1923. <\/p>\n “Most home runs in Phillies\u2019 first 44 games of a season: 1923 Cy Williams: 20, 2026 Kyle Schwarber: 18, 1980 Mike Schmidt: 18, 2009 Ra\u00fal Iba\u00f1ez: 17,” Langs wrote. <\/p>\n We’re witnessing history right now with Schwarber, and these sluggers at the top of the leaderboard in general. <\/p>\n There’s no denying the fact that baseball is more fun when the ball is flying out of the yard. If there ever was a season in which some sort of major home run chase was needed, it would be this one. The MLB and MLBPA have already begun negotiations<\/a> with the collective bargaining agreement set to expire after the 2026 season comes to an end. Baseball is popular right now and a home run chase would only add to that allure. A work stoppage would be incredibly bad for the momentum and goodwill of the league. <\/p>\n In a perfect world, the interest in the league would be very high this season to the point that both sides wanted to work out a deal even more to avoid any sort of work stoppage. That’s a pipe dream. The negotiations are going to come down to the dollars at the end of the day. But loud fanbases don’t hurt. <\/p>\n Hopefully, Schwarber, Judge and these other sluggers can continue to give fans something to be excited about throughout the rest of this season. <\/p>\n![\"Philadelphia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/01krnvzkfasfks9tsha8.jpg\" "\\"Philadelphia")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a>