Kyle Schwarber Returns, Plays First Game With Boston Red Sox After Injury

After a red-hot and record-setting June, Kyle Schwarber injured a hamstring on July 3 and missed more than six weeks. After getting traded to the Boston Red Sox, he finally got a chance to make his debut at Fenway Park on Friday night and hopes to help Boston get back in the playoff chase.

For the month of June, Kyle Schwarber was the best story in baseball. He hit 16 home runs in 18 days for the Washington Nationals and 12 in a 10-day period from June 19-29, something only Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa have done in baseball history.

But then on July 3 he strained his hamstring severely and was sent to the injured list, and was scheduled to miss at least a month. As the trade deadline approached, the Nationals, who went 5-16 after Schwarber's injury to fall out of the National League East race, shipped him off to the Boston Red Sox for a minor-league prospect.

His rehab is finally complete, and he returned to action Friday night for the Red Sox. Schwarber was 0-for-2 with two walks, but he scored both times, in Boston's 8-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park.

And it's good timing. With 44 games to go, the Red Sox are five games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East, and they are hanging on by a thread for a winner-take-all one-game playoff spot. 

Schwarber's bat – especially if it's June-like hot – could help.

Tonight’s DH pic.twitter.com/zN1E2AiYQP

— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 13, 2021

“It’s a different at-bat with Kyle,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after the game. “It’s a more patient approach. Obviously he’s looking to do damage, and hopefully that’s the start of something good. We still don’t know how it’s going to look when everybody is playing, but whether he’s hitting second or fourth or sixth, it’s a quality at-bat, and he protects a lot of guys in the lineup.”

The Red Sox have been struggling of late, with 11 losses in their last 14 games before Friday. The Red Sox hope to get a boost of energy from Schwarber and All-Star pitcher Chris Sale, who returns to the mound on Saturday for the first time in nearly two years after Tommy John surgery. 

"That's our trading deadline, right? These might be our trades," said Cora. "We've been talking about this for a while, and now it's right here right in front of us. But at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter. We have to perform. 

"There's a lot of guys in that clubhouse that have struggled the last few weeks, either offensively or defensively, pitching-wise. For us to be a good team, we have to play clean baseball. We have to be better."

xxx

Most home runs since June 19, current Red Sox:

1. Kyle Schwarber – 12
T2. Rafael Devers – 11
T2. Hunter Renfroe – 11
4. Kiké Hernández – 10

(Schwarber last played on July 2. He hit those 12 HR in 14 games.)

— J.P. Long (@SoxNotes) August 13, 2021

Schwarber was supposed to do a minor-league rehab stint this week, but when Triple-A Worcester's game got rained out on Thursday, they decided just to throw him into the fire at Fenway. 

Six weeks away, with no prep time, could be a risk. But the Red Sox are desperate now as Tampa Bay starts to pull away.

"We're about to see," said Cora. "We've seen this guy do other stuff, kind of a similar thing a few years ago, so we trust his judgment. We've seen him taking batting practice. We've done a lot of stuff behind closed doors to get him up to speed with the game, and the goal for him is to get complete at-bats.

"This guy, he controls the strike zone. It's not like he's a wild swinger. Hopefully he can control it, get a few walks, put a few good swings and help us win a ballgame."

Schwarber batted sixth on Friday night, but Cora said he could bounce around the order. He did that during his five-plus years with the Chicago Cubs, too, and hit leadoff for the Nationals during his June hot streak.

"The plan is obviously to take care of him. It's one of those that we're going to be smart, and obviously we have to take care of him throughout the process,'' Cora said. "And not [just] physically, but protect them against lefties and righties, [so] we can play the matchup game. The goal is for him to DH throughout the week and let's see where we're at physically when we get home for the Texas series."

Schwarber played three years of college ball at Indiana from 2012 through 2014, and led the Hoosiers to their only College World Series appearance in 2013. He was the fourth overall pick of the 2014 MLB Draft, taken by the Chicago Cubs. He played with the Cubs from 2015 through 2020, and helped the Cubs win the World Series in 2016, their first title in 108 years.