Wielding new bat, Schwarber launches 3 clutch HRs to win MVP honors

ATLANTA -- As Kyle Schwarber prepared to take his swings in the first All-Star Game swing-off, Dodgers third-base coach Dino Ebel approached him.

Ebel would be throwing to Schwarber, who had only three cuts to try helping the National League to victory.

“He asked me right before, ‘Where do you want it?’” Schwarber said. “I’m like, ‘Just middle.’ He’s like, ‘I got you.’”

Schwarber made those three swings count, drilling three home runs to lift the NL to a 4-3 win in the swing-off, earning both a 7-6 victory for his team along with winning the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet at the 95th All-Star Game.

“He doesn't take much batting practice outside anymore,” NL manager Dave Roberts said. “For him to get out there ... use a big part of the field and hit it out, clutch up and hit three homers. … That speaks to the hitter he is. You've got a guy who can really hit with bat to ball and has huge power. It's fun to watch.”

“That’s Schwarbs; I’m not shocked,” said AL manager Aaron Boone. “He did Schwarber-type things.”

Schwarber is the second Phillies player in history to be named All-Star MVP, joining Johnny Callison, who won the award in 1964. He is also the first DH to win the All-Star Game honor.

“There's a lot of guys who are way more deserving of this award,” Schwarber said. “I’m just happy that we get a win with the National League and it's going to come home with us to Philly.”

Playing in his third career All-Star Game, Schwarber entered the game in the fifth as he took over DH duties from Shohei Ohtani, going 0-for-2 with a walk in three trips to the plate.

The NL had wasted a 6-0 lead by the ninth, and after they failed to win the game in the bottom of that inning, Schwarber knew he was going to be a part of history.

“Frickin' broke my bat in the ninth off a 100-mile-an-hour sinker,” Schwarber said. “Went up, got the new bat, waited my turn.”

Brent Rooker opened the swing-off with two homers for the AL side, then Kyle Stowers answered with one. Randy Arozarena followed with one home run, bringing Schwarber to the plate for his three swings with the NL trailing, 3-1.

Schwarber, who has participated in the Home Run Derby twice in his career (2018, 2022), said it was “definitely different” to go up there knowing he had only three swings. With Pete Alonso – a two-time Derby champ – set to hit third for the NL, Schwarber stepped up with the goal of tying the score.

“I'm just trying to put in my head, ‘Well, if I can get two here and give it to Pete to try to finish it off,’” Schwarber said. “I got two right away and was able to sneak the third one out.”

Schwarber’s first homer went to straightaway center field, landing 428 feet from home plate. The second was a 461-foot blast to right-center that clocked in at 109 mph off the bat, while his third was a 382-foot shot down the right-field line that managed to stay fair.

“I was really hoping it was going to go,” Schwarber said of his third homer. “I didn't hit it, obviously, my best, but I was thinking I got enough of it. I was just kind of down there [on one knee], hoping, saying, ‘Go, go, go.’ And it went. It was awesome.”

“I'm watching it in the cage as I'm taking my swings,” said Alonso, who had earlier hit a three-run homer in the sixth to help the NL build its six-run lead. “Every one I see go over the fence, I'm like, 'Hell yeah, Schwarbs!’”

“The guy's already a legend,” Stowers said. ‘It just adds to it.”

Jonathan Aranda was the AL’s final hitter, but the Rays first baseman went homerless in his three swings, sealing the win for the NL.

“It doesn't matter how he's feeling or how he's performing; whenever he steps in the box, he's always dangerous,” Alonso said of Schwarber. “His power is some of the best in the game.”

Schwarber’s bat is on its way to Cooperstown, as the Hall of Fame took it to display at the museum. It’s unlikely that Schwarber’s swing-off heroics will eclipse his 2016 World Series run with the Cubs, but Tuesday night will surely be pretty high on his list of memorable moments.

“I think it's more going to settle in when you're all said and done,” Schwarber said. “You're going to be able to kind of look back at your whole career and realize all the really cool things that you were able to participate in or take part in and realize how special the journey was because it doesn't last long. You want to just make the most of it.”