Kyle Schwarber named National League Player of the Month

Following a month in which he hit 16 home runs - including seven leadoff home runs - Washington Nationals left fielder Kyle Schwarber was named National League Player of the Month for June on Friday. Major League Baseball made the announcement on MLB Network.

Schwarber, 28, led the National League in home runs (16), RBI (30), slugging percentage (.760) and OPS (1.122) during the month of June. His 16 home runs during the month of June were the most in any single month in Nationals history (2005-pres.) and the second-most hit in the month of June in Major League history behind Sammy Sosa (20 in June 1998), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Schwarber didn't hit his first home run until June 12 vs. San Francisco. From that date until June 29 vs. Tampa Bay, he hit 16 home runs in 18 games, becoming the third player in MLB history to hit 16 homers in 18 games (Barry Bonds, 2001; Sammy Sosa, 1998). Within that stretch, he became the second player in MLB history to hit 12 homers in 10 games (Albert Belle, 1995).

On June 20 vs. New York (NL), Schwarber clubbed his first career three-home run game. He also recorded four other two-home run games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Schwarber is only the fourth player in Major League history to have five multi-homer games in a single calendar month, along with Harmon Killebrew (May, 1959), Albert Belle (Sept., 1995) and Edwin Encarnacion (May, 2014).

Schwarber moved to the leadoff spot during the month of June and went on to hit seven leadoff home runs, already the most in Major League Baseball and the second-most in a season in Nationals history (2005-pres.). His 16 home runs in June were the most in a month by a hitter occupying the leadoff spot in the Modern Era.

This is Schwarber's first career Player of the Month Award. It is the second award taken home by a Nationals player in 2021 after he won National League Player of the Week on June 21.

Name Award

Kyle Schwarber Player of the Week (June 21)

Kyle Schwarber Player of the Month (June)