Schwarber as DH?

[jersey cubs fan]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-kyle-schwarber-answer-cubs-dh-20150605-column.html

 

I wouldn't be upset.

 

The Cubs are going to need a DH for their three seven upcoming Interleague games at Detroit, Cleveland and Minnesota. They appear to be ready to bring up Javier Baez, who has moved to third base at Triple-A Iowa. That would allow them to use Bryant as DH or in left field, keeping Starlin Castro and Addison Russell at their normal positions.

 

But another move they could make is bringing Kyle Schwarber up from Double-A Tennessee to serve as the DH, with the understanding he’d go back to the minors in a couple weeks. Schwarber was the fourth pick of last year’s draft, and if they want him to develop as a catcher he’s obviously going to need to do so in the minors.

[Andy]

That seems like a weird thing to do.

 

I'd be jazzed to see him up, but I don't see that as at all likely.

[Backtobanks]

That seems like a weird thing to do.

 

I'd be jazzed to see him up, but I don't see that as at all likely.

 

If he's as good a hitter as we think he is, it would make a lot of sense. It doesn't interrupt the Baez "clock", it doesn't cause any defensive changes, etc. Keep your 8 regular players in the positions they're used to and bring up a guy who can hit, but struggles with defense.

[SouthSideRyan]

They can call up Schwarber for the 2 in Detroit next week, then send him down immediately, then call up Baez for good for the CLE-MIN 5 game trip all the while postponing his FA.

[Gilby]

It makes sense to do it. I mean, I feel fairly comfortable saying he'd be our third best hitter. With Soler's injury, there would be plenty of room for both him and Baez for the post-June 11 Cleveland and Minnesota trip as well. Then you can send him to Iowa after the Twins series to catch.

[Guest]

They can call up Schwarber for the 2 in Detroit next week, then send him down immediately, then call up Baez for good for the CLE-MIN 5 game trip all the while postponing his FA.

What's the 40 man stand at? I guess that's the a big reason they may want not to do it.

[Gilby]

They can call up Schwarber for the 2 in Detroit next week, then send him down immediately, then call up Baez for good for the CLE-MIN 5 game trip all the while postponing his FA.

What's the 40 man stand at? I guess that's the a big reason they may want not to do it.

 

39, but there's plenty of guys they could get rid of - Beeler, Germen, Schlitter, Baxter, etc.

[biittner77]

Are they ready to say that Schwarber's bat is ready for MLB? That goes against what they did with Bryant and Baez. I'd be pretty surprised if they brought him up with the intention of sending him back down so soon.

[sontensei]

as much as i'd love to see Schwarber up on the cubbies ASAP hard to see it happening for just a couple days.

[SouthSideRyan]

Are they ready to say that Schwarber's bat is ready for MLB? That goes against what they did with Bryant and Baez. I'd be pretty surprised if they brought him up with the intention of sending him back down so soon.

 

Schwarber doesn't have the same red flags as Baez, and Bryant was to push back FA. Unless you think they'll play the same games with him in which case, rage.

[Clem Fandango]

Why not bring both?

[sontensei]

Why not bring both?

 

if schwarber and baez came up that would be like super mega awesome lol -- if they ended up playing very well, wouldnt it be hard to send em back down?

 

Why not Vogels if he is back from the DL? they wanna trade him anyways right? let him show off the stick

[SouthSideRyan]

Why not bring both?

 

if schwarber and baez came up that would be like super mega awesome lol -- if they ended up playing very well, wouldnt it be hard to send em back down?

 

Why not Vogels if he is back from the DL? they wanna trade him anyways right? let him show off the stick

 

Because Schwarber is a better hitter than Vogelbach.

[sontensei]

Why not bring both?

 

if schwarber and baez came up that would be like super mega awesome lol -- if they ended up playing very well, wouldnt it be hard to send em back down?

 

Why not Vogels if he is back from the DL? they wanna trade him anyways right? let him show off the stick

 

Because Schwarber is a better hitter than Vogelbach.

 

i wanna see schwarber play tomorrow if i could im just saying why would they call him up for a week? if he did great how could they justify sending him back down? Unless they forced him to LF? if thats the case and soler comes back where does baez go? i guess a logjam is a good problem to have!

[Him]

Every day Schwarber is up this year is one more day we'll have to leave him down next year for service time considerations.

 

That said the idea above about bringing him up for one series wouldn't be bad.

[SouthSideRyan]

Every day Schwarber is up this year is one more day we'll have to leave him down next year for service time considerations.

 

That said the idea above about bringing him up for one series wouldn't be bad.

 

Or who gives a [expletive] about service time considerations

[illiniguy]

Every day Schwarber is up this year is one more day we'll have to leave him down next year for service time considerations.

 

That said the idea above about bringing him up for one series wouldn't be bad.

Is Schwarber also a boras guy?

[Careless]

Every day Schwarber is up this year is one more day we'll have to leave him down next year for service time considerations.

 

That said the idea above about bringing him up for one series wouldn't be bad.

 

Or who gives a [expletive] about service time considerations

The Cubs.

[Fro]

IMHO, it'd be very smart to bring Schwarber up for a couple weeks to DH or maybe play LF. Would give us another big lefty bat to go with Rizzo.

 

Schwarber's got a very advanced approach as a hitter and would be fine at the MLB level at this point. Bring him up and then send him to Iowa once the stretch at AL parks is done. Then he can come up again when rosters expand in September.

[KrisBryantisaBeast]

Does this Baez injury increase the chance that Schwarber gets called up to DH the games coming up soon?

[bukie]

No, because the Cubs aren't as reactionary as the average game thread poster.

[Butterscup1679666578]

This is kind of a dumb question I guess, but I've been kind of surprised by all the talks of calling Schwarber up...is it just because the team is more competitive now that there's less need/desire to worry about his contract stuff since they're finally looking towards postseason play? Or is his team control situation different than Bryant's?

[Guest]

This is kind of a dumb question I guess, but I've been kind of surprised by all the talks of calling Schwarber up...is it just because the team is more competitive now that there's less need/desire to worry about his contract stuff since they're finally looking towards postseason play? Or is his team control situation different than Bryant's?

 

As far as I've seen (and I might've missed something) the talk surrounding calling Schwarber up has been more media driven speculation/suggestion than anything.

 

That said, his team control situation isn't any different. If and/or when they call him up this year, it'll be because they think he can help this team get to the postseason. If they think that's the case, they won't be delaying his call up til next year for service time reasons.

[Butterscup1679666578]

This is kind of a dumb question I guess, but I've been kind of surprised by all the talks of calling Schwarber up...is it just because the team is more competitive now that there's less need/desire to worry about his contract stuff since they're finally looking towards postseason play? Or is his team control situation different than Bryant's?

 

As far as I've seen (and I might've missed something) the talk surrounding calling Schwarber up has been more media driven speculation/suggestion than anything.

That said, his team control situation isn't any different. If and/or when they call him up this year, it'll be because they think he can help this team get to the postseason. If they think that's the case, they won't be delaying his call up til next year for service time reasons.

 

Thanks - I agree with both points, especially the bolded (though who knows with this front office, being as tight-lipped as they are). It does seem like the team has reached a point where service time isn't as much of an issue if a guy can come in and fill a need and help them win.

[Guest]

Reasons Schwarber could be treated different than Bryant

 

- Despite his similar/slightly better numbers, Schwarber is not as sure-fire a prospect as Bryant. As such, his 7th season isn't as valuable or worth sacrificing for, especially if he's going to play a significant amount of catcher, which could materially alter his career trajectory.

 

- Schwarber is not a Boras client and therefore a greater than 0% chance of signing a pre-FA extension.

 

- Keeping Bryant for an extra year involved not calling him up in 2014(a lost season) and ~10 games in 2015(a minimal downgrade). Keeping Schwarber for an extra year involves not calling him up for another ~120 MLB games, all of which appear to be important for making the playoffs. A much different calculation.