A slugger with 351 career home runs is floundering in a swamp of strikeouts. Kyle Schwarber (33·Philadelphia Phillies) faces an unprecedented ignominy after striking out in eight consecutive plate appearances.
Schwarber started as the No. 2 designated hitter in the Phillies' road game against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park in Miami, Florida, on June 3, 2026 (Korean time), going 0 for 3 with three strikeouts.
Facing Miami right-handed starter Max Meyer, Schwarber swung and missed a slider for a strikeout in his first at-bat in the first inning, and in the fourth his bat whiffed at Meyer's sweeper for another strikeout. In the final at-bat in the seventh, he struck out on a 3-pitch sweeper from Meyer. His bat moved toward the low sweeper and stopped, but the third-base umpire ruled it a swing.
In the previous day's (June 2) game against Miami, Schwarber endured the humiliation of going 0 for 5 with five strikeouts. Against starter Yuri Pérez he struck out swinging in the first, struck out looking in the third, struck out swinging in the fifth, then struck out swinging against Cade Gibson in the seventh and again struck out swinging against Lake Butcher in the eighth. He struck out in all eight plate appearances over the two days.
The major league record for consecutive strikeouts by a batter belongs to Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1955. Koufax, a three-time Cy Young Award winner and Hall of Fame Dodgers 'legendary pitcher,' struck out in 12 consecutive plate appearances.
Pitcher Koufax was not a regular hitter. For nonpitchers, the record for consecutive strikeouts is nine plate appearances, held by Regi Jackson of the Oakland Athletics in 1987, Bo Jackson of the Kansas City Royals in 1988, Mark Reynolds of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2007, and Dylan Cozens of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018.
If Schwarber strikes out in his first two plate appearances in the Philadelphia game on June 4, he would become the first batter to reach the ignominy of striking out in 10 consecutive plate appearances. Miami's starter on June 4 is right-hander Chris Paddack, who has recorded 26 strikeouts in 28 innings this season.
It would not be that surprising if Schwarber set the ignominious record. Schwarber is known in the major leagues as a batter who strikes out a lot. He struck out 200 times in 2022 and 215 times in 2023, leading the National League in strikeouts two years in a row. His career strikeout rate is 28.4%, well above the major league average of 22.2% for the same period.
Although he strikes out a lot and has a low batting average, his exceptional power produced NL home run titles with 46 in 2022 and 56 last year. He has good plate discipline and a high on-base percentage. Since 2023 he has drawn 100 or more walks in three consecutive seasons, consistently posting an on-base percentage above .340. His career on-base percentage (.347) is more than .100 higher than his batting average (.231). In 2023 he set a remarkable record by becoming the first player in the league to hit 40 home runs (47) and drive in 100 runs (104) with a batting average in the .100s (.197).
Last year he posted career-high numbers in 162 games with a .240 batting average (145 hits in 604 at-bats), 56 home runs and 132 RBIs with an OPS of .928, finishing first in the NL in home runs and RBIs and second in the MVP vote. In recognition of that performance, he re-signed with the Philadelphia Phillies last winter on a five-year, $150 million free agent contract. This season, in 33 games his batting average is a low .210 (25 hits in 119 at-bats), but he has 11 home runs, 20 RBIs, 24 walks and 48 strikeouts, with an on-base percentage of .361, a slugging percentage of .555 and an OPS of .916. He is tied for first in NL home runs, seventh in slugging percentage and eighth in OPS, showing continued offensive production.
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