The Return – Lead-Off Still an Option
This weekend we suspected that Chicago Cubs slugger, Kyle Schwarber, would make his return as early as this past Tuesday. Whoa were we off! Well, according to multiple outlets, he is being recalled today, for the Cubs game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
After struggling mightily this season, Kyle really put the work in to get back on track. When he was sent down, Kyle immediately took to an empty ballpark to begin working on a small flaw in his swing. There was a lot of people that thought he was in need of a complete revamp, similar to Jason Heyward – this wasn’t the case with Kyle. He had his hands too low, which threw off his timing when he was loading. making that small adjustment to get his hands up, he was in a better position to hit the ball more consistently.
The next adjustment was pitch selection. While as a slugger, he will still be susceptible to striking out, he was pressing, which caused him to reach out of the zone more often. Pair this with a small timing issue, and it equated to a lot of missed opportunities for the Cubs and Kyle.
Giving Kyle a handful of games to bring the adjustments together, he began to click in Iowa, which resulted in 4 home runs in two days. Not only that, Kyle had a much better approach at the plate, resulting in a .477 OBP. Sure, this was against minor league talent, but the adjustments have proven to of helped.
Theo Epstein was clear that they would not bring Kyle back up until he “looked like himself.” I am also certain they didn’t think the big league roster would miss him for long. With the 10-day window for which a team would be allowed to call a player back up expiring yesterday – it all seemed to line up for Kyle and the Cubs to do it now.
Now the next hurdle that a lot of fans will have is the recent sentiments from Cubs skipper Joe Maddon.
“In my mind’s eye, it had nothing to do with it (batting in the leadoff position), so I would not be concerned with putting him back there, just depending on what he looks like when he gets back.”
A lot of fans hated the idea of Kyle, a slugger, batting leadoff. While the experiment didn’t “work” early in the season, having a slugger, which takes walks, hit leadoff isn’t a horrible idea. Sure it limits what the offense can do. You aren’t going to see a lot of small ball, get, get him over, get him in type of baseball. But you weren’t going to get that brand of baseball from the Cubs anyway. Joe Maddon would be foolish to ask Kris Bryant, who typically hits second, to bunt or give up an at bat. A roster which lacks speed needs to score by hitting runners in.
A roster which lacks speed needs to score by hitting runners in. This is partially a reason for the team’s early struggles. When a team has multiple guys struggling with the bat, they will struggle to score runs. Then top it off with injuries, a rotation which hasn’t really hit their stride, and a couple of key cogs in the pen not performing – and the outcome is a .500 team.
I wouldn’t count on Joe tossing Kyle back in the leadoff spot, at least not just yet. But Joe is Joe and could do so just out of spite.
Today’s lineup might be the most anticipated lineup of the season…
