Kyle Schwarber may indeed be the best leadoff hitter in baseball right now. Since being inserted as the Washington Nationals’ leadoff hitter on June 12, Schwarber hitting a home run is just as much a guarantee as death and taxes.
Monday, facing the New York Mets, Schwarber crushed his sixth leadoff home run in 17 games at the top of the Nats’ lineup. This was a no-doubter sailing 439 feet into the third deck of Nationals Park.
The blast was Schwarber’s 14th homer in the month of June. He now owns the Nationals franchise record for most home runs in a month, surpassing Bryce Harper’s 13 in May 2015. Schwarber didn’t hit his first homer until June 13.
Schwarber is now 9-of-17 with six home runs as a leadoff hitter this season. That’s .529 batting average with a 2.118 OPS, incredible! He has proven to be the spark the Nationals needed. The Nats have won 11 of their last 14 games. Washington enters Monday with four games back of the Mets for first place in the NL East.
