Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber shrugs off potential counting error in home run derby loss

LOS ANGELES — If Kyle Schwarber lost his first-round matchup in the home run derby because of a counting error, well, it was news to him.

And he isn’t bothered by it at all.

Shortly after Schwarber bowed, quite literally, to Albert Pujols by a 20-19 margin after a tiebreaking swing-off Monday night at Dodger Stadium, social media buzzed with clips that appeared to show the derby scorekeepers, who are appointed by Major League Baseball, fail to credit the Phillies left fielder with an 18th home run on his third-to-last swing. He went deep to right field — the same spot as the possibly omitted homer — on his final two swings, finishing with 19 homers.

» READ MORE: Kyle Schwarber is also an All-Star teammate

“I heard that. I don’t know,” said Schwarber, who received a few text messages Monday night that clued him in to the potential conspiracy. “I just saw 19 on the board, and I lost. Trust me, I’m not by any means trying to put up an uproar. If I was going to lose to someone, I’m happy it was Albert.”

Indeed, Pujols was the sentimental favorite, even among many players. The iconic St. Louis Cardinals slugger is retiring after the season. At age 42, and with only six homers in 149 at-bats this season, he competed in the derby for the fifth time.

Pujols hit 10 homers in the regulation portion of the first round, easily the fewest of the six contestants who came before him. Players from both leagues came together for a picture with Pujols in a gesture that was described as spontaneous and organic. Pujols called it “one of the top moments in my career.”

It also was premature. Not only did Pujols have 30 seconds of bonus time, in which he hit three more homers, but Schwarber had a poor round and finished with 13 homers. Pujols added seven homers in the one-minute swing-off before Schwarber hit six — or at least that’s how many were credited to him.

Schwarber didn’t react like someone who had been shortchanged. He doffed his cap and bowed to Pujols, who seemed as surprised as anyone that he was moving on to the second round.

“I just looked up at the number and I said, ‘You know, that’s it,’” Schwarber said. “I’m not worried about it at all. To be honest with you, it was probably a good thing for me. Get to save some swings. But the miscounting thing, I’m not paying that much attention to it.”

Pujols lost in the second round to Washington Nationals star Juan Soto, who defeated impressive Seattle Mariners rookie Julio Rodríguez in the final round.

» READ MORE: Phillies 2022 MLB draft tracker: Breaking down all 19 picks

A year ago, the Chicago Cubs shipped out 2016 World Series heroes Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Javier Báez in a trade deadline purge that began a full-scale rebuild.

Ian Happ knows he could be next.

Happ, a 27-year-old outfielder, is eligible for free agency after next season. He said the Cubs haven’t initiated talks on a contract extension, which makes him a prime candidate to be traded before the Aug. 2 deadline. If the Cubs move Happ now, they could maximize their return because the acquiring team would have him for two postseason runs.

The Phillies could have interest in Happ, a switch hitter with slightly better power splits from the left side and positional versatility. Happ, who is batting .274 with nine homers and an .807 OPS this season, has played 228 games in center field in his career. Phillies center fielders rank last in the National League with a .559 OPS.

Happ said he’d prefer to stay with the Cubs, who drafted him as a 20-year-old in the first round in 2015. But he’s also bracing to leave, just as so many of his former teammates did last year.

“As tough as it was to lose friends, those guys are all playing baseball and doing really well,” Happ said. “Joc [Pederson] is an All-Star; [Anthony] Rizzo has [22] homers before the break; Kris [Bryant] is happy where he is; Javy [Báez] is happy where he is. Guys end up being OK and playing baseball and still having a great time.”

Kansas City Royals left fielder Andrew Benintendi also is a trade candidate, although his market may be affected by his decision to not get vaccinated against the coronavirus. American League teams, in particular, may be hesitant to acquire him if he’s unable to travel to Canada for late-season or playoff games in Toronto.

MLB and the Players Association face a July 25 deadline to decide on the implementation of an international draft. The trade-off for instituting the draft would be the elimination of the qualifying offer for free agents. “We want to remove it, we’re committed to removing it,” MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said. “But we’re not going to do so at the expense of further damage in the international market.” ... Commissioner Rob Manfred said attendance across the majors is down 5% from 2019 before the pandemic.