(AUDACY) In his last 12 games, Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani has 14 hits, nine of which are home runs, and is slashing .318/.412/1.023. That final number — the slugging percentage — clearly steals the show, as that's an otherworldly number for a batter to post over any stretch of games, regardless of position. To put it in perspective, Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth are the only two players to post a slugging percentage of more than .800 in a single season. They're also the only two players to post a slugging percentage of at least 1.000 in a 50-game stretch. And though 12 games isn't nearly as long as 50 games, much less an entire year, it's still worth mentioning as a ridiculously high number.
Somehow though, that isn't the leading slugging percentage over that stretch. Instead, that honor belongs to Nationals outfielder Kyle Schwarber, who's slashing .354/.415/1.042 over his last dozen contests.
When we last checked in with Schwarber a wee four days ago, he was belting home runs at a near-historic pace, with eight over a five-game span. Now, we can get rid of the "near" qualifier that kicks off that statement. That's because Schwarber has hit three more homers in the four games since, including two against the Mets on Monday night, and he's entering untouched territory as a result.
The 11 home runs that Schwarber, who played for the Cubs from 2015-'20, has hit in his last nine games — he has a 1.297 slugging percentage in that time — is tied for the league record with slugger Frank Howard, who did the same in 1968, according to Sarah Langs of MLB. And no player has ever needed fewer games than Schwarber to hit 15 home runs, according to fellow MLB stats guru Jeremy Frank. A quick browse on the incredible Stathead database proves this to be the case, showing that Schwarber has now joined Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa as the only players to ever crank 15 home runs in a 17-game span. And Bonds and Sosa weren't exactly doing it under the most honorable circumstances.
Now, for your viewing enjoyment, here's every home run from Schwarber's incredible run.
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