It seems every single day I fight for why the Chicago Cubs should acquire Justin Verlander, and why the shouldn’t trade Kyle Schwarber’s. Each day the Verlander argument becomes easier, while the War Bear discussion becomes more and more difficult.
I am a huge Schwarber guy, but he is getting harder to defend. I will hold on to my final argument though – even struggling, he’s an .850 OPS guy.
That said, including playoffs, Schwarber has played in 162 games. Here is his stat line in what would be a full season’s work.
This is encouraging. Of course you would expect a lot higher batting average, and slugging is down, but if you had a rookie hit 36 home runs with 98 runs and 84 RBIs, you’d feel real good about him.
That’s essentially what Schwarber is, a rookie. He still hasn’t lived a full season on the road. He is visiting cities for the first time. He is learning how the league and certain pitchers are adjusting to him. It’s crazy weird to think, since he’s been apart of the team for three seasons, and was such a huge factor in two different playoff runs, but he’s essentially entering his second year as a pro.
I still believe in this kid, and think the best Cubs lineup is the one with War Bear in it. Now just prove me, and Theo, but more importantly me, right.
