Chicago Cubs: Despite critics, Kyle Schwarber has actually been solid

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Expectations have always been high for Kyle Schwarber. In the eyes of many fans, he has failed to live up to them. But is such criticism warranted?

It may be the case on the surface, but Kyle Schwarber’s reality has been better than that of a failed perception. Just 25 years old, the Chicago Cubs big lefty from Middletown, Ohio is, by his standards, having a career year.

Schwarber’s debut came unabashedly on the Cubs’ impressive run to the National League Championship Series in 2015. Wetting his feet to the big league scene, Schwarber posted an impressive .364 wOBA and 131 wRC+ in 273 plate appearances. Unfortunately, it would be awhile until the Chicago faithful saw him in live game action.

As it feels, Schwarber has always seemed like a bit of an enigma. After missing the entire 2016 season with a torn ACL, Schwarber made his splash in the World Series and showed everyone, once again, how productive he could be. Last season, despite hitting 30 home runs, Schwarber struggled with barely keeping his production over league average. Nevertheless by his standards this season, Schwarber has been better than most realize.

Chicago Cubs: An offensive resurgence

If you look at Fangraphs, you’ll see an incredible consistency for Schwarber to this point in the season, over the last couple of years. Many of his offensive categories, for example, are nearly analogous with each other. That being said, diving deeper into his production can hopefully spell out the whole story.

Fangraphs is exceptional when it comes to displaying a player as a whole, and not just in chunks when it comes to how a player performs. For Schwarber, a noticeable change has been his strikeout and walk rate, and how that is helping him overall.

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Last season, Schwarber was striking out at a ridiculously bad 30.9 percent clip. This year, while still high, it has decreased to 27.2 percent, the lowest of his career, minor league included. Schwarber’s walk rate has increased as well, moving from 12.1 percent last season to another career-high (over a respectable sample size) of 15.3 percent.

The way to decrease one’s strikeout rate and increase one’s walk rate is simple: do not swing at bad pitches. It is precisely what has been happening with Schwarber in 2018. Diving into his 0-Swing%, which measures swings on pitches out of the zone, Schwarber has decreased that from 28 to 25.2 percent. Once again, in a large sample size, this is a career-best for him.

Schwarber has also found increased production when it comes to swinging at pitches inside the zone. Z-Contact% measures this statistic, and Schwarber has gone from 80.7 percent in 2017 to 82.4 percent this year. It is, you guessed it, another career best for him.

Placing two and two together, and of course, it is not that simple, Schwarber’s wOBA, wRC+, and WAR have all been much better this year versus last year. He has posted a .343 wOBA while performing better in wRC+ with a 114 and has been worth nearly three Wins Above Replacement.

Schwarber overall slash line is higher too, as he sits at a .239/.356/.471. It would be great to see the overall slugging percentage rise a little more, but if wishes were fishes nobody would go hungry, or rather we’d see Schwarber’s slugging percentage go through the roof.

Chicago Cubs: Defense is the name of the game

It becomes incredibly frustrating when outside sources talk about how bad Kyle Schwarber is defensively, and how it hurts the Cubs. The reason being is that it is merely not true. Yes, Schwarber was fair to Midland on defense last season. He was also returning from his ACL tear and was not the Adonis he became during this past offseason.

The narrative, needless to say, has shifted. This season, Schwarber has shown much greater mobility and range, and it has transferred into a very defensively productive season.

Last year, for example, in 821 innings in the outfield, Schwarber finished with -9 defensive runs saved. He made five errors and did not look like he should be out there on a day-to-day basis. This season, Schwarber has been remarkable. He has a 3 DRS, a positive change of twelve runs from last season, and both his UZR and UZR/150, which is the best way to measure outfield efficiency, has increased from 4.3 and 8.8 to 7.1 and 12.1, respectively.

No, Kyle Schwarber will not win a Gold Glove this season, but it is a far cry from saying his defense is terrible, which many have done. By producing with the leather, on top of the wood, Schwarber is flipping the script.

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Chicago Cubs: Realistic expectations moving forward

It is essential to understand that Kyle Schwarber is who he is, and that is okay. Sure, it would be fun for everyone if Schwarber was the 40+ home run, 100+ RBI machine that many expected him to be when he came into the league, but the Cubs are a strong enough team where he doesn’t need to be that guy.

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Schwarber is a consistent player. He has already reached last years level of production, and in some areas has played better, because he has been able to stay healthy. As the last few weeks of the season wind down, heading towards October, Schwarber could prove to be a wild card who could help the lineup in a big way.

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