I’d say it’s been a great week for Chicago Cubs prospect Kyle Schwarber, but that would probably understate the fact that it’s been a great professional career for Schwarber.
This week, though, has seen Schwarber hit .375/.483/.917 with four home runs. Let’s watch a few of them.
Here’s Schwarber:
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Schwarber again:
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(I feel a little bad for the kids who run out to get Schwarber’s ball. No, no, children. That ball is far behind you in the patio area. You have underestimated Kyle Schwarber.)
And another Schwarber homer that you can watch here.
On the year, Schwarber is now hitting .327/.445/.645 at AA – this, by the way, is his first full professional season – with a totally fine 21.9% strikeout rate and an incredible 18.2% over 137 plate appearances. Kris Bryant similarly dominated AA last year (.355/.458/.702) for just shy of 300 plate appearances before getting the bump to AAA Iowa. Jorge Soler didn’t even get 100 plate appearances at AA before he was promoted, though he was something of a unique case, given his injuries and prior experience.
In other words, a mid-season promotion to AAA is going to be very plausible for Schwarber, at least if we’re going by the bat. The question, of course, is whether his glove behind the plate will be ready for AAA (or, if not, whether the Cubs don’t want to wait on the bat). You can read more on Schwarber’s hard work behind the plate here at MiLB.com. So far, Schwarber remains behind the plate, and the dream of having a bat like his at catcher is still alive.
As this season goes on, and we start dreaming about the possibility of Schwarber contributing down the stretch as soon as this year, well, then maybe we will have to talk about his position in the short-term. For now, he’s still catching.