The lowest batting average of any player in Major League Baseball history to hit 40 home runs in a season is Adam Dunn.
Dunn, who retired at the end of 2014, hit 41 home runs in 2014 with the Chicago White Sox, but only managed a .204 batting average. It’s the lowest single-season batting average ever recorded by a 40-homer hitter. He also struck out 222 times that year, one short of the all-time single-season record.
바카라사이트 Dunn made his major league debut with the Cincinnati Reds in 2001 and played for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals, and White Sox before hanging up his uniform with the Oakland Athletics in 2014.
In his career, he hit .237 with 1,631 hits and 462 home runs, and had six seasons of 40 or more home runs. But he also struck out a lot. In his career, he struck out 2379 times in 8328 at-bats, a 28.6 per cent strikeout rate. He struck out three times in every 10 plate appearances.
This year, however, there’s a player on the verge of surpassing Dunn’s ‘record’. Philadelphia Phillies left-handed slugger Kyle Schwarber is on the verge of a historic record.
Schwarber hit two home runs in the first game of a doubleheader against Washington at Citizens Bank Park on Monday (9 September) to reach the 30-homer plateau for the season.
Trailing 3-0 in the third inning, Schwarber hit a two-run homer to right-centre field with runners on first and second, and a three-run shot to right-centre field with runners on second and third in the fourth inning with the score 3-3. It was his 29th and 30th home runs of the season in back-to-back at-bats. Led by Schwarber’s 4-for-5 performance with two doubles, five RBIs and two runs scored, the Phillies went on to win 8-4.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Schwarber went 0-for-3 with a walk, two strikeouts and one run scored as the Phillies lost 4-5.
Schwarber receives a sword ceremony from team-mate Bryson Stott during an interview after winning Game 1 of the doubleheader. AFP
Schwarber has hit 30 home runs in three straight years since 2021, making him one of the best sluggers in baseball.
But Schwarber is batting just .183 (77-for-420) on the day, the lowest among 144 hitters in both leagues with at least one home run in regulation. He’s tied with Max Muncy of the Los Angeles Dodgers (0.192) for the lowest average in the game. Schwarber is on pace to hit 43 home runs this season. He could become the first player in history to hit 40 homers in a season.
Schwarber hit 46 home runs last year to win the NL home run title, but he also hit just .218 and struck out more than 200 times, the most in both leagues combined. Even this season, he has struck out 149 times, the most among all hitters to date.
It’s a classic all-or-nothing style of hitting. However, Schwarber also draws a lot of walks. He drew 83 walks, second only to Juan Soto of the San Diego Padres (99). His on-base percentage is a whopping triple (.324). That’s why he’s the leadoff man. Schwarber signed a four-year, $79 million free agent contract with the Phillies shortly after the lockout last March.
For reference, the all-time record for most home runs by a first baseman in a season is held by Joey Gallo. In 2021, Gallo hit a combined 38 home runs for the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees while batting .199. He is the only player in Major League Baseball history to hit 38 or more home runs in a season with a batting average in the high teens.