Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber ‘can definitely relate’ to injured Rhys Hoskins

CLEARWATER, Fla. — It’s rare these days, in the age of the pitch clock, that time stands still in a baseball game, but that was precisely what happened in the top of the second inning at BayCare Ballpark on Thursday afternoon. Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins had just torn his ACL trying to field a ground ball, and one awkward step later, he was rolling on the grass, clutching his left knee in agony.

He laid on his back with his arms around his head. Second baseman Bryson Stott got there first, kneeling beside his teammate. Before long, the other eight Phillies on the field had joined him, forming a tight circle around their first baseman.

» READ MORE: Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins carted off the field with a torn ACL

“It was quiet,” said manager Rob Thomson. “Nobody was saying a word. Just sitting there hoping he would stand up.”

Hoskins eventually did stand up, but not without support. Leaning on assistant athletic trainer Joe Rauch, and left fielder Kyle Schwarber, he gently hobbled over to a paramedics cart.

“You’re going to be all right,” Schwarber told him, but he knew that there was nothing to be said in that moment. Schwarber had been through a similar moment himself. In his second game of the 2016 season, the then-Cubs left fielder collided with center fielder Dexter Fowler over a ball that fell in the left-center gap.

He laid face down on the dirt of the warning track at Chase Field as his teammates gathered around him. An MRI later revealed that Schwarber had torn the ACL and LCL in his left knee. He missed the rest of the season — and made a remarkable comeback 204 days later, in the 2016 World Series.

“I mean, I can relate,” Schwarber said, when asked Thursday if he had a flashback to his previous injury. “I can definitely relate. That’s why when he went down, I was just hoping that wasn’t it. I don’t wish that upon anyone.”

In many ways, Schwarber, who signed with the Phillies last year, is the leader in the clubhouse. But when he first arrived in Philadelphia, it was Hoskins who made Schwarber feel at home. It was Hoskins who set the tone.

» READ MORE: How do the Phillies replace Rhys Hoskins at first base and in the lineup?

He has been part of the organization since 2014. He’s seen the Phillies at their worst, when they tallied 90-plus losses, and he’s seen them at their best, in all of their bat-slamming, postseason glory. He’s a player who is beloved when he’s hitting, and crucified when he’s not, but is always the same with his teammates. Nick Castellanos likes to call him their “spokesperson.”

“He’s the guy who steps up and speaks to the team when something needs to be addressed,” Castellanos said. “He’s important to what we have.”

Those five minutes of silence on Thursday spoke to that importance. Castellanos was asked if it was a powerful moment.

“I mean, it’s a powerful team, man,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of good individuals that give a [bleep] about the right things. And when something like that happens, that’s not something that’s taken lightly. I think every single person on that field around him felt the seriousness of it.”

» READ MORE: Rhys Hoskins’ heartbreaking knee injury means Nick Castellanos can’t hide any more