Kyle Schwarber Confesses One Huge Regret That Shadowed His Historic Phillies Heroics

The Philadelphia Phillies entered Thursday night’s game holding first place but nursing a three-game skid against the Mets. Their star slugger, Kyle Schwarber, was even colder, going hitless in his last 20 at-bats over six games. But still, Schwarber entered the game with the NL leading 45 home runs and a career-high 110 RBIs. So, nobody has doubts about his ability, but no one could have predicted that explosion.

Schwarber’s historic night began with a 450-foot solo home run off Cal Quantrill in the first inning, which snapped his 0-for-20 skid. It was just a start; then he hit a two-run homer off reliever Austin Cox in the fourth. Then the crowd roared with “M-V-P!” when he launched his third home run off Cox in the fifth, and he officially joined baseball royalty in the seventh inning, hitting his fourth home run of the night off Wander Suero, becoming just the 21st player in MLB history.

Then the eighth, he got one last chance for a fifth home run, something no MLB player has ever done. And Schwarber was only the fourth player in history to even get a chance to hit a fifth homer, joining Bobby Lowe (1894), Lou Gehrig (1932), and Mike Cameron (2002), according to the Elias Sports Bureau. But he couldn’t land that 57.4 mph pitch to the right field gallery.

The Phillies star confessed his huge regret after the game. “I shouldn’t have even asked the question, but I was in the cage and I was like, ‘How many guys have hit five?’” Schwarber said. “And nobody said anything, so I was like, ‘Oh, OK, well that answers the question.'”

Almost everyone else was certain No. 5 was coming. “Oh, I thought he was going to do it. I really did,” said manager Rob Thomson. “There was no doubt in my mind”.  Pitcher Aaron Nola agreed, “I’ve never seen a four-home run game in person, so that was amazing.” Teammate Bryson Stott added, “I had an inkling he’d do it.”

The only thing standing in Schwarber’s way

It was Schwarber himself. After flying out in Braves infielder Vidal Bruján’s 57.4 mph pitch to the right, Schwarber said, “I stink against position players.” Schwarber added, “I’ve got a mental block somewhere in my head that I’m not very good against position players.”

He also regretted later, “All you’re trying to do is get a good pitch. I got the pitch. Just popped it up.”

That doubt is actually backed up by the numbers. He had not hit a home run in 14 previous plate appearances against position players. And he was just 2-for-9 against the position players before facing Bruján with a double, an infield single, and two walks. And he had even struck out swinging two months earlier against former Phillie Luke Williams in that same odd scenario.

Still, he finished the night 4-for-6 with a Phillies-record nine RBIs and a 19-4 win. These four home runs gave him the solo lead in the National League over Shohei Ohtani’s 45 home runs and a season total to a new career-high of 49, surpassing his old 47-homer record. And he is the fourth Phillie to ever hit four homers in a game and the first since Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt did it in 1976. But his nine RBIs set a new single-game franchise record for the Phillies. He now stands second-most in franchise history, trailing behind Ryan Howard’s 58 in 2006.

Schwarber, 32, now owns 333 career home runs between the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia, and as he is nearing his free agency this winter, every swing he takes will add an extra off-field subplot to his already storied All-Star Game MVP career.

However, the question remains: Do you think this historic game makes Kyle Schwarber the NL MVP front-runner? Let us know your thoughts!