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Chicago Cubs: Kyle Schwarber is offensive key in the postseason
Many Chicago Cubs fan continue to question Kyle Schwarber‘s long-term future with the team. That being said, he a has a large role to play this October.
Kyle Schwarber burst onto the scene with the Chicago Cubs in 2015 a mere year after being drafted much higher than most baseball experts thought he would go. He proceeded to slash .246/.355/.487 with a 130 OPS+ in roughly half a season in the big leagues. Pretty good start.
That fall, in the winner-take-all Wild Card game, he hit a ball into the Allegheny against Gerrit Cole. He followed that up with a ball over the Wrigley right field video board against the Cardinals in a Division Series that saw him hit .500. Unfortunately, we all know how 2015 ended, with an NLCS loss to the Mets that saw Schwarber go only 2-for-13 (although both hits were bombs) and showcase his biggest defensive gaffes of the season on a national stage.
Schwarber’s 2016 story? Well, let’s just say it’s quite familiar at this point. In just the second series of the year, he suffered a season-ending injury against the Arizona Diamondbacks. After viciously attacking his rehab, he returned for the World Series, serving as the team’s designated hitter in the Fall Classic.
He went 7-for-17 (.412) against some of the best arms the American League had to offer, including Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller, Cody Allen and Trevor Bauer).
Chicago Cubs: A guy who will live in team lore forever
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Oh, and just in case you forgot, he also served as the catalyst for the greatest inning of Cubs baseball in the past century.
In the 2017 postseason, the Cubs offense mirrored Schwarber’s, barely surviving the series against the Nationals. Both the team and Schwarber hardly mustered any resistance in the National League Championship Series. He went 3-for-17 between the two series, although he took a trio of walks.
As you can see from Schwarber’s production the last three postseasons, the offense as a whole basically mirrors what he is able to do.
As Schwarber goes, so goes the rest of the offense. To paraphrase what Joe Maddon once famously said about Dexter Fowler and the offense, if Schwarber goes, we go. Pure and simple, this lineup is a monster if Kyle Schwarber is striking fear into opposing pitcher’s hearts.
Chicago Cubs: Looking at the numbers and predicting the future
So, what can we expect from Kyle Schwarber in this postseason? Will we get the Paul Bunyan who miraculously came back from a total knee destruction to help us win a World series? Will we get the Super Schwarber who overshadows tall scoreboards and rivers in a single blasts? There’s reason to believe we will, now that we know the Cubs will be in the playoffs this year.
First off, if you take Schwarber’s overall postseason numbers, he’s a monster in the postseason. He is slashing .311/.408/.623 in 71 career at bats with 10 walks and six bombs. That’s a pretty good track record of success in October and November. Secondly, Schwarber’s last month has produced a slash line of .265/.405/.618, which means he has been pretty good the past month. Thirdly, he’s 5-for-19 with five walks and a bomb off a lefty (his first of the season) since coming back from the DL a week ago. In an inconsistent season, he seems to be trending upward and gearing up for October.
And, if he can be trusted to hit lefties in the playoffs in high-leverage situations and stay in the field for the latter innings of tight games because of his improved defense, that bodes extremely well for the Northsiders. A lineup that features Daniel Murphy, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Kyle Schwarber, Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward, and Willson Contreras is a pretty mean looking eight on paper, especially if they can start clicking together in this last series and into October.
Next. Cubs pen running on empty heading into October. dark
In a somewhat up-and-down season, Schwarbs has slashed .240/.359/.474, and is second on the team with 26 home runs in only 420 at-bats. He has produced 3.3 WAR according to FanGraphs.
He also leads the team with 78 walks, which is impressive on a team with so many keen eyes and walk-takers. The Cubs are going to need him to continue his fine season and take it up a notch down the stretch and come October (as he usually does), because Chicago will only go if Kyle Schwarber is able to go. Time to add to that legend, big guy.