In the 149 NL seasons that have played out to a conclusion, a player representing the Phillies franchise has staked the claim as home run king in 29 of them. Curiously, only two of those who’ve worn the crown wore it only once. Mike Schmidt is king of all the Phillies kings, having claimed eight home run titles during his 18-year career with Philadelphia. Back in the deadball era, Gavy Cravath led the NL in homers six times. Chuck Klein took home four titles during the explosive late 20s and early 30s, Cy Williams claimed three belts in the Roaring Twenties, Ed Delahanty and Sam Thompson each won a pair in the 19th century and Ryan Howard then flew two banners in the first decade of the 21st century. And then there are the two fellas with just one flag to wave: Jim Thome in 2003 and Kyle Schwarber in 2022. Schwarber, of course, still has time to join the multi-players, and in 2025, holds the NL longball lead through the first quarter of the season.
Kyle Schwarber homered twice in four at-bats to extend his on-base streak to 40 games – tied with Odúbel Herrera in 2018 for the longest to begin a season for any Phillies player since 1901. The pair are also tied for the sixth longest to open a campaign in the past 30 seasons.
1996-2025: Longest On-Base Streak to Begin a Year
53 Derek Jeter for the Yankees in 1999
52 Frank Thomas for the White Sox in 1996
48 Mark McGwire for the Athletics in 1996
44 Matt Holliday for the Cardinals in 2015
41 Albert Pujols for the Cardinals in 2008
40 Odúbel Herrera for the Phillies in 2018
40 Kyle Schwarber for the Phillies in 2025
~Schwarber’s 14 homers in 2025 tie for the sixth most for any Phillies player through the team’s first 40 games:
18 Cy Williams (1923)
16 Raúl Ibañez (2009)
15 Chuck Klein (1930), Mike Schmidt (1976, 1979)
14 Chuck Klein (1929), Mike Schmidt (1980, 1981), Kyle Schwarber (2025)
Making his 142nd start for the Phillies, Zack Wheeler turned in seven innings of three-hit, no-run ball. The right-hander owns a career 143 ERA+ while pitching for Philadelphia; this snapshot at this exact moment finds him atop some hallowed franchise names.
Phillies Franchise: 142+ GS, Highest Career ERA+
143 Zack Wheeler
140 Pete Alexander
126 Curt Schilling
124 Dan Casey
124 Cole Hamels
122 Jim Bunning
120 Charlie Ferguson
120 Steve Carlton
Aaron Judge (3 singles, a double) and Paul Goldschmidt (3 doubles) surpassed the 60-hit and 50-hit levels, respectively, in the Yankees’ win over the Athletics. The teammates are first and third in the AL in hits and one of only a few Yankees duos (or trios) to reach these levels at this point in the same season:
Yankees Franchise: 2+ Players with 53+ Hits Through 40 Team Games
2025 Aaron Judge (63)* and Paul Goldschmidt (53)
1999 Derek Jeter (56) and Bernie Williams (54)
1997 Tino Martinez (58) and Bernie Williams (56)
1936 Lou Gehrig (55), Frankie Crosetti (54) and Bill Dickey (54)
1931 Earle Combs (63)* and Ben Chapman (55)
1930 Earle Combs (54) and Babe Ruth (54)
1926 Bob Meusel (60), Earle Combs (59) and Babe Ruth (53)
1925 Joe Dugan (56) and Earle Combs (54)
1906 Hal Chase (55) and Willie Keeler (54)
*Judge and Combs – with their 63 – are tied for the second most hits through New York’s first 40 games, with only Mickey Mantle and his 64 in 1956 ahead of them.
~Judge’s Triple Crown numbers come in at a .409 average, 14 home runs and 39 RBI (he leads the Majors in all three of these categories). There are three others in the modern era to be at or above Judge’s numbers through 40 team games.
1932 Jimmie Foxx .425 / 17 / 50
1956 Mickey Mantle .430 / 19 / 48
2001 Manny Ramírez .412 / 14 / 50
On Sunday, Freddie Freeman added a homer and two doubles to his résumé, reaching and then gliding past 900 career extra-base hits. With 902, he’s tied with Nap Lajoie for 69th all-time. The Dodgers first baseman is also one of 24 players in history to have reached 900 before the start of his age-36 season. Those around Freeman in this latter lens:
900+ XBH Though a Player’s Age-35 Season: Ranks 20-24
919 Mickey Mantle
904 Al Simmons, Jeff Bagwell
902 Freddie Freeman
900 Goose Goslin
Nathan Eovaldi allowed two hits and a walk over seven scoreless innings to garner his fourth win of the year and drop his ERA to 1.78. The line is fairly representative of the righty’s work this year, as he leads the AL with a 0.754 WHIP, 0.81 walks per nine and a 12.0 K:BB ratio while holding down the fifth lowest ERA.
~Eovaldi is one of 102 pitchers in Rangers franchise history who’ve made at least nine starts through the club’s first 41 games. Among them, his 0.754 WHIP is the lowest, besting Fergie Jenkins’ 0.898 from 1974.
~Among these same 102, Eovaldi owns the third lowest ERA, with his 1.78 behind Kenny Rogers’ 1.49 in 1995 and Rick Honeycutt’s 1.74 in 1983.
~Among the AL leaders in ERA in 2025, Eovaldi’s teammate, Tyler Mahle, is tied for the second lowest, at 1.48. Since 1968, here is the full list of AL teams to have multiple pitchers with a sub-2.00 ERA through 41 team games (with a minimum of 41.0 innings and at least five starts):
1968 Indians Sam McDowell & Luis Tiant
1968 White Sox Joe Horlen & Tommy John
1990 Athletics Dave Stewart & Bob Welch
2013 Mariners Félix Hernández & Hisashi Iwakuma
2016 White Sox Chris Sale & Jose Quintana
2018 Astros Justin Verlander & Gerrit Cole
2025 Rangers Nathan Eovaldi & Tyler Mahle
Rafael Devers homered, singled and walked in Boston’s 3-1 win over Kansas City and now has 19 extra-base hits to pair with his AL-leading 31 walks. Red Sox batters have reached/surpassed these two bars through 42 team games on 22 occasions, with Ted Williams responsible for nine of the previous 21. Starting with the most recent before Devers, Kevin Youkilis (2010), Jason Bay (2009) and David Ortiz (2007) represent the 21st century. Wade Boggs (1986), Rico Petrocelli (1969), Carl Yastrzemski (1969), Pete Runnels (1959), Williams (1940, 1942, 1946-51, 1957), Joe Cronin (1941), Dom DiMaggio (1941) and Jimmie Foxx (1936, 1939-40) take care of the 20th century.
Ronel Blanco was masterful on Sunday, allowing two hits over eight scoreless frames to pair with 11 strikeouts. The full line of work produced a Game Score of 88 – the second best of the right-hander’s career, after the 92 that came out of his 2024 no-hitter. Blanco is one of 22 Astros pitchers to have multiple games translating into a score of at least 88, with J.R. Richard having the most – 10. Nolan Ryan (8), Mike Scott (7) and Don Wilson (6) follow.
Hunter Goodman doubled, tripled and homered in Colorado’s win on Sunday to become the 12th player in franchise history to fall a single shy of the cycle. 10 of the 12 efforts – including Goodman’s – occurred with the Rockies in their home ballpark.
Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.
Roger Schlueter
As Sr. Editorial Director for Major League Baseball Productions from 2004-2015, Roger served as a hub for hundreds of hours of films, series, documentaries and features: as researcher, fact-checker, script doctor, and developer of ideas. The years at MLB Production gave him the ideal platform to pursue what galvanized him the most – the idea that so much of what takes place on the field during the MLB regular and postseason (and is forever beautifully condensed into a box score) has connections to what has come before. Unearthing and celebrating these webs allows baseball to thrive, for the present can come alive and also reignite the past.