Chicago Cubs: Kyle Schwarber is closer than you think to providing significant value

Second-half resurgence

Schwarber is obviously a resilient guy. If there was even a sliver of doubt about that, those doubts were effectively killed after the 2016 World Series. And even though he struggled mightily during the first half the 2017 season, that resiliency shined through once again in the second half.

To say Schwarber had an awful first half would be an understatement. Over that period, he slashed .178/.300/.394. He even spent a chunk of this time as the team’s leadoff hitter. In fact, the bulk of his at-bats come from the leadoff spot. But having been dead weight at the plate for most of that stretch, his time at the top of the order came to a screeching halt. The Kyle Schwarber leadoff experiment had failed.

Bouncing back

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The second half served as somewhat of a clean slate, though. And Schwarber took advantage of the opportunity to prove himself worthy of being in a championship-caliber lineup.

After the All-Star break, he slashed .253/.335/.559. A marked improvement from his performance over the first four months of the season.

There are still ways in which he can improve upon his second half. Though his numbers were generally much better, his strikeout rate rose from 28.2 percent in the first half to 34.4 percent in the second half. His walk rate also dipped slightly.