Nats shower praise on Kyle Schwarber as hot streak continues originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Kyle Schwarber is on an absolute tear for the Nationals, and it’s gotten to the point where his teammates aren’t really sure what to say about it anymore.
“I’d probably walk him in four [pitches], or hit him maybe,” Joe Ross said after Thursday’s win. “Fun is an understatement, I feel like it’s almost a joke at this point. The guy is just on fire right now and hopefully we can keep it going.”
Schwarber had another two home run game Thursday night against the Marlins in the Nationals in Washington’s 7-3 win, hitting his 11th and 12th home run in the month of June. That’s already a franchise record for June, and the lefty slugger is one homer away from breaking Bryce Harper’s record for the most in any singular month.
Perhaps more importantly, Schwarber’s hot streak at the plate has resulted in a bunch of wins for the Nats. After a slow start to the season, Washington has won nine of its last 10 to get back to .500 and they’re 3.5 games behind the Mets for first place in the NL East.
“He sparks us when he gets up there in the first inning and puts us on the board,” manager Davey Martinez said on Thursday. “I’ve talked often about scoring first, and he gives us the ability to do that right away, and the guys are following suit. Guys are having good at-bats, putting the ball in play, pitching is doing well, so we gotta continue to do what we’re doing.”
Schwarber thinks this is the best place his swing has ever been, including the 2019 season in which he hit a career-high 38 home runs. Right now he’s on pace to hit 50, but for now he’ll take the wins over everything else.
“It makes it a lot more satisfying,” Schwarber said. “Trust me, I wouldn’t care if I was doing this and we were going out and losing baseball games. I still wouldn’t be happy, but we’re going out there and we’re playing really good baseball and it’s definitely very satisfying. I’m not the only component to this. This is a team game, it’s not a one-person game.”
Schwarber and the Nats are back in action against the Marlins at 7:10 p.m. as they look for their sixth-straight win.