Ranking the top 5 Chicago Cubs who’ve packed their bags in recent years

Chicago Cubs: Top players we’ve lost in recent years – #4: Kyle Schwarber

Kyle Schwarber burst onto the scene in 2015 batting .246/.355/.487 in his rookie campaign with 16 bombs and 43 RBI in only 69 games played. Schwarber capped off his 2015 season with one of the more memorable home runs in recent Cubs history, launching a seventh-inning NLDS Game 4 home run that landed on top of the scoreboard in right field.

Moreover, as the calendar flipped over to 2016, many remember Schwarber tore his ACL two games into the regular season and subsequently missed the entire year. Shockingly, he came back for the World Series in November, less than seven months after going down with the devastating injury. He returned with a bang, launching a double off the wall in Game 1 of the World Series and never looking back from there.

Unfortunately, Schwarber was non-tendered at the end of the 2020 season and, like Castellanos before him, went on to crush for another team and left a bad taste in Cubs fans mouths. In fact, Schwarber went on a historic tear this season before missing time with a hamstring injury, hitting 12 home runs in 10 games. Schwarber was a mainstay for several years with the Cubs core and though he didn’t play during the 2016 regular season, he is every bit the champion as everyone who did.