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Chicago Cubs: Where does Kyle Schwarber fit in the team’s long-term plans?
After a breakout second half performance, slugging outfielder Kyle Schwarber played his way into the long-term plans of the Chicago Cubs.
This offseason will likely be as tumultuous as any in recent memory for the Chicago Cubs. Coming off an 84-win 2019 performance, the clock is ticking for this championship window. The most pressing task for Theo Epstein and the front office? Find the perfect successor to Joe Maddon – no easy task. Once that’s done, Chicago faces the tall order of fixing a broken roster.
Several prominent members of this year’s club are poised to hit the open market, including Nicholas Castellanos, Ben Zobrist and Pedro Strop. Most folks (myself included) would love to see Castellanos back with the team for the foreseeable future, but after his tremendous second half, he’ll undoubtedly fetch a pretty price in free agency. The good news? He’s not the only Cubs outfielder to turn in a monster late-season performance.
Kyle Schwarber wasn’t just the best offensive player on the Cubs – he was one of the most valuable players in all of baseball down the stretch. According to Fangraphs, Schwarber’s 177 wRC+ in the month of September ranked fourth among NL players. Something clicked – in a big way – so much so that it’s now almost inconceivable the former first-rounder isn’t back with Chicago in 2020.
Chicago Cubs: Powering his way to career-best numbers
Looking at the big picture, Schwarber wound up with a .339 on-base percentage on the year – right in line with his career mark. I’ve never looked at his batting average as a measure of his success, but I’d like to see him continue to push his OBP closer to or even north of the .350 mark moving forward.
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His on-base presence, paired with his ability to drive the ball (.282 ISO this season – nearly 100 points above league average), even with the spike in power across the game, make him an incredibly valuable presence in the order.
Schwarber hit .250 for the first time in his big league career – buoyed by his monster second half. The former Indiana University standout put up a .997 OPS after the All-Star Break – a full 200 points higher than what he managed in the first half. He slugged north of .600 in August and September, doing everything in his power to propel the Cubs to the postseason.
Assuming Jason Heyward returns in 2020, the Cubs have two-thirds of their outfield spoken for. Center field, of course, is a bit of a black hole given the dramatic drop-off we saw from Albert Almora this season and I expect Epstein to focus on addressing this during the winter. As for Schwarber, the name of the game will be consistency next season.
Chicago Cubs: Is this the start of something wonderful?
As good as he was in the season’s final two months, he certainly battled through his share of struggles during the 2019 campaign. He hit below .200 in two separate calendar months and got on base at a below-average rate for roughly half the year. Simply put, that’s not going to get the job done, especially when you take his rather dramatic splits into account.
It’s no secret. Kyle Schwarber hits right-handed pitching far better than he does left-handed. There was a 150-point swing in his OPS that can’t be ignored. I’m not saying he can’t play against southpaws – because there was once a time where Anthony Rizzo platooned against lefties and now, he’s in there on a daily basis, no matter who’s on the mound. But he’ll certainly need to take that next big step and carry the momentum he finished the year with forward.
Next. Can Epstein get the Cubs back on top in 2020?. dark
While the Cubs fell out of contention, Schwarber’s emergence as an elite hitter – at least for a good chunk of the 2019 season – is cause for optimism moving forward. This is a guy who’s always had all the tools – and if how he finished the year is any indication, he may be building something great with them.