Hoosiers in MLB: Schwarber Among Home Run Leaders; Herrin Succeeding With Cleveland
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Two Indiana alumni have performed well just over one month into the MLB season.
Outfield slugger Kyle Schwarber, who played for the Hoosiers from 2012-14, is now in his 10th MLB season and third with the Philadelphia Phillies. After being selected No. 4 overall in the 2014 MLB Draft, he helped the Chicago Cubs win the 2016 World Series. And after brief stints with the Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox in 2021, he's settled in with the Phillies as one of the game's top home run hitters.
Schwarber finished second in home runs in MLB during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, hitting 46 and 47 long balls, respectively. But he also led MLB in strikeouts both seasons, with 200 in 2022 and 215 in 2023.
He's on pace for similar numbers in 2024. Schwarber has nine home runs in 36 games already, putting him in a five-way tie for fifth and just two home runs away from league-leader Shohei Ohtani. He's on pace for 40.5 home runs, which would be his third most in a single season and bring him to 295 career home runs.
Schwarber also leads MLB with 53 strikeouts, putting him on pace for a career-high 238, which would set a single-season MLB record. Mark Reynolds currently holds the all-time single-season strikeout record with 223, set in 2009 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Beyond home runs and strikeouts, Schwarber has a .214 batting average, .323 OBP, .407 SLG and .730 OPS. A two-time All-Star in 2021 and 2022, Schwarber has finished top-20 in MVP voting each of the last two seasons, along with winning one of three Silver Slugger awards given to National League outfielders.
Pitcher Tim Herrin is the other Hoosier currently on an MLB roster. Following his career at Indiana from 2016-18, he was picked in the 29th round of the 2018 MLB Draft. And now the 6-foot-6 lefty has been one of the Cleveland Guardians' top pitchers this season.
Across 15.2 innings, Herrin has a 0.59 ERA, which ranks second on the team among healthy pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched. He's allowed six hits, one run and seven walks while striking out 15 batters.
Indiana has a slew of former players in the minor leagues too. Pitcher Andrew Saalfrank helped the Diamondbacks reach the 2023 World Series with a 3.18 ERA across 5.2 innings in the playoffs. He pitched one inning in the big leagues this year, but has since been sent down to Triple-A.
Scott Effross pitched well for the Cubs and New York Yankees in 2021 and 2022, but he's currently on the 60-day IL with a back injury.
Here's the full list of players in an MLB organization who played at least one year for Indiana, as of April 2nd, 2024, per Indiana Athletics.
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JACK ANKONY
Jack Ankony is a Sports Illustrated/FanNation writer for HoosiersNow.com. He graduated from Indiana University's Media School with a degree in journalism. Follow on Twitter @ankony_jack.