Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber shouldn’t be named a full-time DH

The Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber won’t be named a full-time designated hitter–even though they’ve been waiting for it.

The Chicago Cubs‘ Kyle Schwarber has been waiting for a full-time designated hitter to come–but he won’t get it. At least, not exactly. Schwarber has been waiting to be a DH for a long time. But as an abbreviated season comes for a 2020 season? It’s not sure how much he will be out of left field. h/t Phil Rogers, Forbes

Cubs’ manager David Ross will be cautious of taking Schwarber out of left field. First, he’s not the player he was his rookie season. On Fangraphs, he had a -7 Defensive Runs Saved–his first year back from major knee surgery. But since then, he’s averaged a 0 DRS in 2018 and 2019.  Pretty good for an ACL and an LCL tear.

The Baseball Info Solutions–included in the Bill James annual–had him at -1 last year. Not bad, but it ranked him eighth out of 13 left field qualifiers. The Cubs don’t have a particularly good left field who stands in his way. Kris Bryant, Ian Happ or Albert Almora (Happ would move to left), could stand to benefit from it.

And the way they work out, Bryant could be replaced by David Bote at third base. But he’s solid at best. Steven Souza Jr. could be an exciting option. But Souza has been decimated by injuries the last two years. He’s a wild card, at best.

Victor Caratini, the switch-hitting backup catcher, was a monster in Triple-A. And he’s emerged as the primary backup for first base. Willson Contreras could land at DH when he’s not catching.

Robel Garcia is another switch hitter who never really adjusted to MLB from Italy. But he averaged 32 homers–27 in the ‘high minors.’ But he wasn’t having a great time at snatching the second base job. He was only hitting .150 with a triple and 10 strikeouts in14 games.

Schwarber creates a plethora of moves that have to be made. Bryant for Bote. Almora for Souza. Needless to say, we got some decisions to make.