April 10--Chicago Cubs left fielder Kyle Schwarber had no regrets about the play that led to his season-ending left knee injury Thursday night.
"I felt bad for 30 minutes," Schwarber told reporters Saturday in his first public comments since colliding with center fielder Dexter Fowler and suffering tears in the anterior cruciate ligament and lateral collateral ligament. "I'd definitely feel bad if I did something wrong or wasn't playing hard or something in that nature.
"But me and Dex did everything we possibly could to catch that ball. Literally everything had to be on time for this to happen, and it just was.
"My spirits won't get down. I know it's a long road, there's going to be ups and downs. I just got to keep a good attitude with this and cheer these guys along. It's going to be a fun ride and for me to be around, it's going to be a pleasure."
Schwarber, 23, who hit 16 home runs in 69 games and five in the 2015 playoffs, will accompany the Cubs to Chicago following Sunday's series finale at Arizona. But a date for surgery hasn't been finalized yet.
Schwarber feared his injury was serious the night before the MRI taken Friday revealed the tears and a left ankle sprain.
"I knew it was something significant because my knee was swollen," Schwarber said. "I have a pretty good feel for my body. I knew something was probably wrong, but I didn't see two tears coming.
"You got to face it head on. I'm not going to back down from it. I want to be there for the team whenever I can, I want to be positioned to (make me) bigger, faster, nd stronger for next year."
Schwarber said he appreciated support from fans, the Cubs' front office and players that included Jay Bruce and Michael Lorenzen from the Cincinnati Reds.
Schwarber concurred with Fowler, who said that the collision resembled a "car crash."
"That's a big man over there, but you respect the hell out of him for the way he handled it," Fowler said.
