Chicago Cubs: Who is the better slugger between Schwarber and Bryant?

So much hype surrounded both Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber in the minor leagues. With their thunderous bats and their tape measure home runs that were being hit in the minor leagues, Cubs fans couldn’t wait until they made their Wrigley Field debut.

It was hard to imagine that with all of the hype that surrounded these two young prospects that they would be able to live up to it.

Both have been tearing the cover off the ball since their promotions, so the doubts of if they could carry over their success are all gone so there really is only one other question – who will be the most dangerous slugger of the two phenoms?

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Right now Bryant stands ahead of all Chicago Cubs rookies in history as the leader of the pact with home runs and runs batted in. He passed Hall of Fame Billy Williams in both home runs (25) and RBI (86), and also Geovany Soto who tied Williams in his Rookie of the Year season with 86 batted in.

Bryant started out slow when he was called up with the power; it wasn’t until his 21st game of the season before he hit his first bomb. A lot of that can be contributed to pitchers treating him as a seasoned veteran at the plate and not a typical rookie.

As the season stands currently, Bryant has 26 homers with 99 runs driven in he stands a good chance of eclipsing 30 home runs and is more than likely going to surpass the century mark in RBI.

Schwarber, on the other hand, got a much later start on his major league rookie campaign, but that hasn’t stopped him from making a statement on how big of a power hitter he will be for the Cubs.

“Hulk”, as he is called by his teammates, is struggling with getting the routine base hits to keep his average at a respectable level, currently at .241, but with 16 home runs and 43 RBI in only 64 games and 253 plate appearances, those are very impressive power numbers.

According to baseball statistics, in a 162 game schedule Bryant at his current pace would average 29 home runs with 110 RBI and a .505 slugging percentage. Schwarber, on the other hand, would post 41 home runs, 109 runs batted in with a .500 slugging percentage.

To be fair to Bryant, you have to think about how he was being pitched and the slow start it did force him to have. I believe the home run total would be closer to the 40-45 home run mark like Schwarber.

With that, the answer to the question of who will be the better slugger in my humble opinion will still be Schwarber.

Schwarber is built more like the prototypical slugging home run hitter, similar to some throwbacks like Rob Deer, Chili Davis, and even Mark McGwire. While the strikeouts and batting average will always be below the ideal mark for a dangerous hitter, he is always a threat to go deep with his raw power.

Bryant is the better and more dangerous hitter with his ability to hit line drives and ability to run out more doubles with his surprising speed. He may also hit more home runs over his career than Schwarber, but his slugging percentage may also be lower while his OBP (On Base Percentage) and batting average will likely be much higher.

Either way, both will have excellent careers with the Chicago Cubs and are sure to bring plenty of fireworks to the Friendly Confines and any road parks they visit.

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