Forgotten Cubs castaway stood between Kyle Schwarber and history

To put it bluntly, Thursday was not a good day for Chicago sports fans.

As the Chicago Cubs wrapped up their disastrous series in San Francisco, fans were allowed mere minutes to process the loss before more salt was poured on the wound, as the Green Bay Packers acquired star linebacker Micah Parsons in a blockbuster trade.

Cubs fans learned the true meaning of the phrase “when it rains, it pours,” as former Cub Kyle Schwarber made sure that their day of misery was nowhere near complete. The slugger is in the midst of a career season and has catapulted himself into the NL MVP conversation in the process.

Schwarber put an exclamation mark on an already historic season Thursday night, becoming the 21st player in MLB history to hit four home runs in a game, as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves in a whopping 19-4 rout. 

Cubs fans will never guess who stood between Kyle Schwarber and history on Thursday.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Schwarber looked to etch his name further into the history books by becoming the first player to ever hit five home runs in a game. By that point, the Braves had all but given up, sending a position player out to the mound in a mop-up role.

Standing in Schwarber’s way was none other than another former Cub in Vidal Bruján, who was designated for assignment at the end of July. In this bizarre matchup, it was Bruján who came out on top, getting Schwarber to pop out for the second out, denying him a chance at history.

Acquired by the Cubs in December, the former top prospect failed to live up to expectations in Chicago, posting an OPS+ of just 52 in 36 games. After trading for Willi Castro at the deadline, Bruján’s fate in Chicago was all but sealed.

Bruján appeared in one game for the Baltimore Orioles after his release, but was promptly put on waivers and later claimed by the Braves. So far, Bruján is off to a solid start in Atlanta, batting .273 in eleven games with an OPS of .726. Those certainly aren’t numbers that would blow you away, but they are significantly better than his contributions in Chicago.

While it would’ve been nice to see Bruján put up numbers like this with the Cubs, the recent emergence of Matt Shaw will help soften the blow to Cubs fans, as the rookie third baseman seems to be the only source of life amidst a struggling Cubs offense these days.

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