Kyle Schwarber named NL Player of the Week amid September power surge

The Philadelphia Phillies have been on quite a roll lately, having won six of their past eight and 12 of their past 16 games to re-strengthen their hold of top spot in the NL East. In particular, their recent success has been fuelled in large part by the surging Kyle Schwarber.

Kyle Schwarber named NL Player of the Week amid September power surge

This past week, Schwarber’s big-time impact with the club was recognized across the league as he captured National League Player of the Week honors. Over the past week, he batted a stellar .462 with a 1.654 OPS with nine runs scored, three doubles, five home runs and 11 RBI in just six games played. His impressive showing was highlighted by a three-homer, six-RBI game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sept. 3.

With some of their big guns, such as Bryce Harper and Trea Turner, struggling a bit on offense lately, the sudden surge in production by Schwarber was indeed a welcoming sight for the Phillies during their recent run. On the season, Schwarber is now hitting a solid .250 with a .370 on-base percentage (OBP) and .859 OPS, together with 98 runs scored, 34 home runs and 94 RBI in 133 games.

He might not be on pace to surpass his career highs in home runs (47) and RBI (104) that he set just last season. But it has certainly been comforting to see that he has actually been focusing more on his effective hitting, along with getting on base to help generate runs for the team with his batting average and OBP both well above his career averages. That mindset will likely provide much more sustained success going forward for both Schwarber and the Phillies.

But he can still launch the ball when he needs to, as we witnessed once again on Monday night with his sixth-inning tie-breaking blast against the Tampa Bay Rays, leaving the bat at 113.3 mph and traveling 447 feet.

As the Phillies looks to finish off the season strong, they will be counting heavily on key players just like Schwarber, along with many others to step up their game and play at their very best as they prepare for the postseason.