A few games after the Philadelphia Phillies clinched the NL East title, the Phillies secured a first-round bye. Barring any major collapse from the Milwaukee Brewers, the Phillies will be the two-seed in the 2025 postseason.
During the Phillies' game against the Miami Marlins, Schwarber added two home runs to his season total, reaching 56 on the year. He's not just two away from Ryan Howard for the most in Phillies history.
But, with the bye wrapped up and their seeding likely finalized, there isn't much incentive for the Phillies to play the final four games of the year. Even so, as Devan Kaney of 94 WIP shared, Rob Thomson is giving Schwarber the green light to pursue Howard's home run record.
Kyle Schwarber has a chance to set the Phillies' franchise history
"Rob Thomson says he will give Kyle Schwarber a chance to break Ryan Howard's HR record," Kaney reports. "Even if the games become meaningless as the regular season winds down."
Rob Thomson says he will give Kyle Schwarber a chance to break Ryan Howard’s HR record even if the games become meaningless as the regular season winds down
— Devan Kaney (@Devan_Kaney) September 25, 2025
This is both an exciting and slightly worrisome report. Of course, seeing Schwarber break the record would be an incredible moment, especially since it'd come at Citizens Bank Park, rather than on the road.
Making Phillies history would be exciting, but there's still some risk involved. He could get hurt in those final games while vying for the record. With those games being meaningless, it'd draw a lot of scrutiny if the Phillies put their World Series hopes in jeopardy for an individual record.
While those concerns are valid, in this scenario, there's no reason to bench Schwarber to rest him. He's still hot, hitting three home runs during the Marlins series already, and with a few days off after the bye, there's no reason not to play Schwarber in the last few games.
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Teams that rest their players for a while at the end of the year, with a bye secured, could end up killing their momentum. The Phillies need to avoid that, and having Schwarber in the lineup, with a chance to set a team record, is not the worst idea.
Another reason why there shouldn't be any concern is that the Phillies slugger is a DH. He won't play the field, diminishing his chances of getting hurt as he'll be less taxed during every game he plays.
With four games to go, Schwarber sits at 56 home runs. Howard reached 58 homers in 2006. Suppose he can hit three more in the final four games. In that case, Schwarber can sit alone atop the Phillies' single-season home run leaderboards, further adding to his already remarkable resume in Philadelphia.
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