Outfield collision with Dexter Fowler to put Kyle Schwarber on DL

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Kyle Schwarber (12) is injured in Thursday’s second inning colliding with Dexter Fowler.

PHOENIX – The Cubs’ versatility and newly bolstered depth is getting put to the test before they ever get home for a game.

Kyle Schwarber, the 2015 rookie sensation who powered the Cubs in the playoffs, suffered injuries to his left ankle and left knee Thursday night in an outfield collision and is expected to be placed on the disabled list Friday.

“It had bad things written all over it,” said manager Joe Maddon, who won’t find out how bad until the extent of the knee injury is determined by an MRI Friday. “You’d just rather see the ball go over the fence right there, and we’d been fine.”

Schwarber, Thursday’s left fielder, was carted off the field in the second inning after colliding with center fielder Dexter Fowler chasing Jean Segura’s drive to the gap, diagnosed with at least a sprained ankle and knee bruise, the team said.

“We were playing hard. I have no regrets about playing hard and getting hurt,” he said as he stood on crutches at his locker after the game. “I’m not going to be down in spirits. I’m going to just wait till tomorrow and see what happens.”

X-rays were negative, but the Cubs’ bigger concern after their 14-6 victory over the Diamondbacks was the knee.

Schwarber said both the ankle and knee felt “tight and sore” hours later.

Schwarber, who broke the Cubs’ postseason home run record after a torrid half-season debut last year, was hit on the inside of his left leg by Fowler when the two collided on the play with two out in the second.

As the ball bounded away and Segura rounded the bases with an inside-the-park home run, Schwarber remained face down on the warning track, hitting the track with his right palm and kicking it with his right leg, in obvious pain.

“The ball was literally in no-man’s land, right between us,” he said. “We both thought that the other person wasn’t going to get the ball. You only call it of you know you can get it. So we both went at it, and I stuck my glove up, and I was pretty close. But then he dove for it, too.”

With Schwarber out, that increases the early season role of Jorge Soler, who was sharing time in left with Schwarber. Maddon said infielder Tommy La Stella could see more playing time, too, as part of a domino effect with third baseman Kris Bryant getting time in the outfield.

Bryant took over in left on Thursday when Schwarber left the game, and La Stella came off the bench to take over at third.

“I hope it’s not as bad as it looked. I’m optimistic,” said first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who reached five times and tied his career high with six RBIs – three on a ninth-inning homer.

Hopefully, it’s just something that will be short term,” Rizzo said.

A few hours before Monday’s season opener, team president Theo Epstein talked about the inevitable adversity the team would face this season and how he expected to be prepared.

“We don’t know what this year’s going to bring,” Epstein said. “We know that it will bring some challenges, maybe some really dire challenges. But in the end I trust our ability to adapt and show what we’re worth.”

Three games into the season, Schwarber’s injury appears to create a more significant loss than they suffered via injury at any point during a remarkably healthy 2015 season.

They adapted on this night with a barrage after trailing 4-2 when Schwarber went out. By the middle of the fourth inning, they had a lead they wouldn’t surrender, and by the end of the game they had 14 hits, 10 walks, 24 total bases, a run (and single) on a squeeze bunt, and their first 3-0 start on the road since 1988.

“It’s a 25-man team, and we played really well again tonight,” Maddon said.

Schwarber was scheduled to start behind the plate Friday as starter Jason Hammel’s personal catcher.

The loss of his catching is the least of the Cubs’ concern when it comes to the left-handed slugger, who hit 16 home runs during his half-season, then five more during the postseason last year.

It’s not clear who would take his place on the roster Friday. Maddon said he had a brief talk postgame about that with assistant general manager Scott Harris and likes all of the possible choices.

Utility player Javy Baez is eligible to return from his thumb injury Saturday, but Maddon said before Thursday’s game he “doubted” Baez would be ready to return in time for Monday’s home opener, as originally planned.

Baez’s thumb if doing better, Maddon said, but he sat out the last three days for precautionary reasons after getting hit on the brim of his helmet by a pitch during an extended spring training game early in the week. The club would like to see him get a longer stretch of at-bats before activating him.


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