Heading into play on Tuesday, Kyle Schwarber was 24 for 69 (.348/.403/1.043) with 16 home runs in 21 games since Davey Martinez first moved him to the leadoff spot back on June 12th in Tampa Bay.
Schwarber talked late on Tuesday night, after hitting yet another leadoff home run against the Rays in D.C., his seventh in his first at bat in 18 games as the Nationals’ leadoff man to that point, about the breakthrough moment which followed shortly after his manager put him in the top spot in the batting order.
“Man, I felt like I went through a pretty good streak earlier in the season, when we were in Arizona, going to Chicago [in mid-May], hit a little skid I think at some point, I was like 0 for whatever and Davey put me in the leadoff spot, and we were in Tampa and I was able to go out on the field and work with K-Long [Kevin Long] and Josh Harrison was out there too, working, and felt like it was just a good session out there being able to accomplish what I wanted to accomplish, and ever since then it’s kind of just since that day, it’s been clicking.