NEWSLETTER
Part of the reason the Chicago Cubs wanted to send a struggling Kyle Schwarber to AAA Iowa is to give him a mental break from the pressure of trying to make adjustments at the big league level in the middle of a deep, season-long slump. They know he’s an incredible natural hitter, and, with a mental break, he may very well be able to quickly get back to the things that have always made him effective.
To that end, it only makes sense not to push Schwarber to leap immediately into the AAA lineup. If he’s going to benefit from a mental break, might as well give him a mental break.
So it’s no surprise to learn that Schwarber won’t play for a few days.
Tommy Birch reports that Schwarber will re-debut with the I-Cubs on Monday, when the team returns home to Des Moines from its current road trip. Usually, optioned players must report within 72 hours, but, with explicit permission – perhaps even encouragement – from the organization, Schwarber will get a little more time.
Hopefully that structure will give Schwarber a useful mental break, and then a comfortable place to begin retooling the mechanical issues that have apparently prevented him from ripping his usual complement of line drives all over the field.
One side benefit is that he will certainly receive an extremely warm welcome from the Iowa Cubs crowd on Monday night.
And then a new process begins at a level where Schwarber has played only 17 games.
