The Cubs DH Spot Isn’t as Easy as You Think

However you feel about the designated hitter in baseball, it seems that the National League will adopt it (if only for the 2020 season). This is an effort to help save more pitchers, by limiting potential chances for injury. This is especially important if the MLB returns during the COVID-19 crisis without minor league teams operating.

MLB rosters will likely expand to 30, up from the 26 that teams would have carried. It is also suggested that MLB teams will have upwards of 20 minor leaguers attached to them in the event that there are injuries mid-season.

The MLBPA has been pushing for a universal DH for a while. This has been an effort to increase the amount of higher paying jobs in baseball. As soon as people caught wind of the DH becoming universal, Chicago Cubs fans began drooling over what that meant for Kyle Schwarber.

It would seem Schwarber was built for the DH role. He’s a big, bruising, punishing hitter. While he’s built himself up to a more-than-adequate left fielder, if he only had to focus on mashing, the dude could be special. Like, potentially Jim Thome-like special. This could open LF up for a more athletic player, someone like Albert Almora or even provide flexibility for manager David Ross and moving Kris Bryant to left while giving more time to David Bote at third.

But this isn’t as simple as one may believe, and I don’t say that just to write an article on it.

Schwarber has become a good defensive player. He isn’t that athletic, and it doesn’t look pretty out there, but he isn’t the blundering fool a lot of folks portray him to be defensively. While on the surface you would say he’s the DH, 10 out of 10 times (as someone suggested to me), I don’t think its that simple.

The Cubs aren’t very deep in the outfield, and pulling one of their starters to DH causes a hole. Looking at the roster, the Cubs have Schwarber, Almora, Ian Happ, Jason Heyward, and Steven Souza Jr. Adding to that list, Bryant, Willson Contreras, and Nico Hoerner can also flirt with some outfield play.

But Ross wasn’t high on Bryant playing in the outfield, and considers him to be the everyday third baseman. Hoerner could be apart of the four extra roster players, and Contreras will get the lions share of starts behind the plate. So pulling Schwarber to DH really leaves the team with only four viable outfielders on a day-to-day basis.

Ross quelling idea of regular OF time for Bryant pic.twitter.com/YOtzX8i0uj

— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubMLB) February 29, 2020

Of course a lot has changed since Ross made those comments. Not only has there been a world-wide pandemic, but he made those comments without knowing the NL might have the DH. This could change how he perceives the roster, positions, and playing time. So he might believe Schwarber at DH now makes much more sense.

If Schwarber is the DH, that puts Almora into the lineup, likely in left field. When doing this, the Cubs would have underperforming offense from two outfield positions, with Happ’s performance still in question. So by putting Schwarber into the DH spot, the club could be hurting their offensive ability, instead of making it better.

Personally, I would look at putting someone like Jason Kipnis into that DH spot and getting Bote regular starts at second base. While Kipnis isn’t the type that screams DH, he has some pop and is a veteran bat, and his defense is considered below average. Bote had himself a fine season in 2019, finishing with a 106 wRC+ and a .784 OPS, he’s also a bit more athletic than Kipnis, which should allow him to field more balls at second.

The Cubs could also look to 2019 Iowa breakout, Robel Garcia. While he struck out in 43% of his MLB at bats, he did launch 21 taters in 296 plate appearances in Triple-A. Another option is former third-round pick, Mark Zagunis. He has played parts of three seasons in Chicago, and while 2019 wasn’t the best showing at the Major League level, he has shown the ability to hit at nearly every professional level he’s played.

A curveball, which I feel a lot of fans might not like, once things open the front office calls a certain free agent outfielder. Someone that Cubs fans aren’t big fans of, Yasiel Puig.

He can answer a ton of problems for this club. Outside of Heyward, and times when Almora plays, two-thirds of the OF have defensive questions. While I have seen Schwarber turn himself into a decent fielder, he very well could regress. Happ is OK in center, but it isn’t considered a good defensive player. If the Cubs are facing a lefty, now Souza is in right and the entire OF defense has some questions.

Puig, for all his antics, is a very strong defensive player. In fact, in 2017 Puig should have won the NL Gold Glove in right field, as he had a stronger defensive season than Heyward did. But outside of defense, he adds an offensive punch that the club doesn’t have from any outfielder besides Schwarber. He’s averaged 25 homers over the past three seasons, which playing in LA (for most of that time) is a feat, and has a 124 wRC+ over his career, suggesting he’s 24% better than the average player. There was only three Cubs, that played the entire year in Chicago, with a higher wRC+ in 2019, Contreras (127), Bryant (135), and Anthony Rizzo (141).

The most likely candidate for the DH spot could be Schwarber, but it really shouldn’t be as open and shut as one would think. So, while a lot say 10 outta 10 games Kyle’s the DH, I think its a lot closer to six or seven out of 10 games.