By the numbers: Phillies' Kyle Schwarber dominates June
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Phillies' 2023 season has been disappointing so far after a World Series run.
Bad injury luck and stars underperforming aren't the recipe for success but don't worry, June has arrived.
That means so has June Kyle Schwarber, who has historically dominated the month throughout his career.
Schwarber provided the Phillies a huge boost at the plate in the team's 11-3 win vs. the Washington Nationals Sunday. He smacked two three-run homers to record six RBIs in the victory.
So far this season, Schwarber has now hit 15 home runs with a .172 batting average and 33 RBIs.
But, those totals could go up as we move through the month of June.
Schwarber has smacked 49 home runs in his career while playing in June, which is more than any other month in the baseball calendar.
The second-highest total would be in August, where he has hit 43 home runs. The months of May and September/October are ranked tied for third with 34 dingers.
Schwarber's best batting average marks and highest RBI totals were also in June, which is no surprise because he's hit the most home runs of his career during the month.
The Phillies enter June in a similar spot where they were last season.
Last June, the Phillies were eight games below .500 and 12.5 games behind the New York Mets for first place. The Fightins' are 27-32 and currently sit 7.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for first place.
But during the 2022 regular season after the team fired manager Joe Girardi, Schwarber helped the Phillies climb back into contention.
After losing Bryce Harper to an injury, Schwarber batted .272 in June with 12 home runs -- the most by any player during that month -- and drove in 27 runs. He helped lead the Phillies to an 18-9 record in June of 2022 and earned June's National League Player of the Month award for the second straight season -- he won the award in 2021 with the Nationals.
Maybe a third one is in store for the Phillies' slugger? In 2022, he had two multi-home run games. He already has one in the month so far after Sunday's performance.
Before the Phillies' series vs. the Nationals, manager Rob Thomson moved Schwarber back to the leadoff spot.
Schwarber isn't your typical leadoff hitter, but like the month of June, he's had the most success in his career hitting at the very top of the order.
In the leadoff spot, Schwarber has hit 81 total home runs in his career.
The second highest total? That would be 35 in the two hole. He's hit 32 in his career while batting fifth, where Thomson had him penciled in before making the lineup change. He's smacked 27 while batting sixth and 20 batting fourth.
The Phillies will travel back to Citizens Bank Park back-to-back series vs. the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers, and maybe Schwarber's June magic can catapult them back into contention like the 2022 season.
*All stats are courtesy of FanGraphs.
