Schwarber coming up

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Have to admit I fear him as a catcher. I just always felt he'd end up our LF next year. (Which he probably still will).

 

I just am concerned it's going to be a train wreck with him at catcher this season.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

God mlb.com is worthless when it comes to their prospect lists and updating them. The headline on cubs.com is "No. 2 Prospect Schwarber Called Up." No, mlb.com, reliever Carl Edwards Jr. is not a superior prospect.

 

Hahahaha. Nice.

[jersey cubs fan]

It's a pretty weird and you might say tortured logic that considers Schwarber a good enough defensive C(at least for his bat) to play there for 6+ innings but also a must-pull when the game reaches late innings, especially for Teagarden/Ross. Just play him and be as willing to swap out with 2 catchers like you were with Montero/Ross. There aren't durability/injury worries there, and you don't lose Teagarden when you demote him. There aren't very many games in LF for him to grab unless you think Coghlan is toast for some reason(at which point, just call up your favorite of Baxter/Szczur/Lake instead of keeping Teagarden).

 

Presumably you'd take him out in games when you have the lead and keep him in in games you need more runs. It would be dumb to automatically take him out in the 6th every game but I doubt that is on the table.

 

My larger point here is that I don't think you need 3 catchers to do this. We're presuming here that Schwarber is bad enough defensively compared to Ross(a good framer/bad thrower) and Teagarden(?) that they have to pull him and risk those two taking important at bats in close games. Even if that's the case(I'm skeptical, but I might be higher than most on Schwarber the defender), you don't need 3 catchers to make that happen.

 

Well, you can't start him at other positions if you only have 2 catchers and he can't be your primary bat off the bench if you only have 2 catchers. You have to be less aggressive using him if you only have Ross and Schwarber.

 

This isn't just about being able to pull him in the 7th when you lead. I think it is about letting him play every day, or close to it, without the fear of being left with no catcher on the bench when Ross takes a ball in the noggin.

[Andy]

Have to admit I fear him as a catcher. I just always felt he'd end up our LF next year. (Which he probably still will).

 

I just am concerned it's going to be a train wreck with him at catcher this season.

I have to think if Theo and Jed thought it would be that bad he wouldn't be getting called up.

[SouthSideRyan]

I feel like Maddon hasn't been very hesitant in burning his backup catcher.

[Guest]

It's a pretty weird and you might say tortured logic that considers Schwarber a good enough defensive C(at least for his bat) to play there for 6+ innings but also a must-pull when the game reaches late innings, especially for Teagarden/Ross. Just play him and be as willing to swap out with 2 catchers like you were with Montero/Ross. There aren't durability/injury worries there, and you don't lose Teagarden when you demote him. There aren't very many games in LF for him to grab unless you think Coghlan is toast for some reason(at which point, just call up your favorite of Baxter/Szczur/Lake instead of keeping Teagarden).

 

Presumably you'd take him out in games when you have the lead and keep him in in games you need more runs. It would be dumb to automatically take him out in the 6th every game but I doubt that is on the table.

 

My larger point here is that I don't think you need 3 catchers to do this. We're presuming here that Schwarber is bad enough defensively compared to Ross(a good framer/bad thrower) and Teagarden(?) that they have to pull him and risk those two taking important at bats in close games. Even if that's the case(I'm skeptical, but I might be higher than most on Schwarber the defender), you don't need 3 catchers to make that happen.

 

Well, you can't start him at other positions if you only have 2 catchers and he can't be your primary bat off the bench if you only have 2 catchers. You have to be less aggressive using him if you only have Ross and Schwarber.

 

This isn't just about being able to pull him in the 7th when you lead. I think it is about letting him play every day, or close to it, without the fear of being left with no catcher on the bench when Ross takes a ball in the noggin.

 

I don't think there's any need to try and find time for Schwarber in LF. Coghlan and Denorfia have that handled and Rizzo is going to play every day at 1B. Just let him play catcher, he's not going to wear down since he hasn't played 70 games there already, and keeping Teagarden so that Schwarber can play the odd game in LF seems counterproductive since they're better off with Schwarber catching those games and someone like Szczur or Baxter in the OF.

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't think there's any need to try and find time for Schwarber in LF.

 

But there is a need to get him in as many games as possible. This set up allows for that. Unless he was going to catch 80% of games (he was not going to catch 80% of games) this is the best option to get him to play.

 

 

And there are no good players being wasted at AAA because of it.

 

Also, Ross probably has brain problems.

Edited July 16, 2015 by jersey cubs fan

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Have to admit I fear him as a catcher. I just always felt he'd end up our LF next year. (Which he probably still will).

 

I just am concerned it's going to be a train wreck with him at catcher this season.

I have to think if Theo and Jed thought it would be that bad he wouldn't be getting called up.

 

It's a good point. Although if they thought it would be totally fine, there wouldn't be talk of him not playing every day nor would they carry three catchers again.

 

I haven't seen one inning of his minor league work so perhaps it's an irrational fear. But I just see a bunch of passed balls, pitches in the dirt that go for wild pitches, runners stealing against him and every close pitch being called a ball instead of a strike.

 

However, maybe that's being a tad over the top.

[sontensei]

Maybe Coghlan is going to be traded in a package for a pitcher?

 

Schwarber platoon at LF with Denorfia and Catch platoon as well?

[Guest]

This is a lot different from last time in that it's going to be a pretty extended run. What the hell do they do when Montero comes back if Schwarber kills it in a most-days role for 6+ weeks?

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Maybe Coghlan is going to be traded in a package for a pitcher?

 

Schwarber platoon at LF with Denorfia and Catch platoon as well?

 

I'm not sure any team we'd be getting a pitcher from would have that much interest.

[Guest]

I don't think there's any need to try and find time for Schwarber in LF.

 

But there is a need to get him in as many games as possible. This set up allows for that. Unless he was going to catch 80% of games (he was not going to catch 80% of games) this is the best option to get him to play.

 

 

And there are no good players being wasted at AAA because of it.

 

Also, Ross probably has brain problems.

 

This is the assumption that I'm rejecting. I don't see any reason Schwarber can't be the primary catcher when the alternative is Ross/Teagarden. Give Ross an extra start or 3 against LHSP so maybe it's not exactly 80%, but if you can play Schwarber 50% of the games you can play him 80%.

[Agony and Ivy]

Maybe Coghlan is going to be traded in a package for a pitcher?

 

Schwarber platoon at LF with Denorfia and Catch platoon as well?

 

Playing catcher and LF against all righties might not be possible.

[jersey cubs fan]

This is the assumption that I'm rejecting. I don't see any reason Schwarber can't be the primary catcher when the alternative is Ross/Teagarden. Give Ross an extra start or 3 against LHSP so maybe it's not exactly 80%, but if you can play Schwarber 50% of the games you can play him 80%.

 

I hold out some hope that he can catch in the future but I believe it is pretty crazy to think he can do a good job catching now, with such limited coach and experience at the pro level and having such a long road to go down even if the experiment does succeed. If the good habits are not already second nature to him, then starting him 80% of the time starting now is a terrific way to have him go back to bad habits that are more comfortable and natural to him. There is no ongoing instruction if he's catching practically every day.

[Guest]

This is the assumption that I'm rejecting. I don't see any reason Schwarber can't be the primary catcher when the alternative is Ross/Teagarden. Give Ross an extra start or 3 against LHSP so maybe it's not exactly 80%, but if you can play Schwarber 50% of the games you can play him 80%.

 

I hold out some hope that he can catch in the future but I believe it is pretty crazy to think he can do a good job catching now, with such limited coach and experience at the pro level and having such a long road to go down even if the experiment does succeed. If the good habits are not already second nature to him, then starting him 80% of the time starting now is a terrific way to have him go back to bad habits that are more comfortable and natural to him. There is no ongoing instruction if he's catching practically every day.

 

He's playing 9 innings each game at AAA now. I'm not sure I follow why him catching as frequently at the MLB level is going to cause him to revert to bad habits, or that he can't be coached while playing full games just like he was at Iowa.

[Sammy Sofa]

This is a lot different from last time in that it's going to be a pretty extended run. What the hell do they do when Montero comes back if Schwarber kills it in a most-days role for 6+ weeks?

 

Drive Ross out to the country and leave him in an empty field and make Montero the backup.

[Andy]

This is a lot different from last time in that it's going to be a pretty extended run. What the hell do they do when Montero comes back if Schwarber kills it in a most-days role for 6+ weeks?

Well, presumably Schwarber isn't going to become the defensive catcher Montero is in that time period, so my only answer for you is that these things tend to work themselves out. Either an OF vacancy is created by trade/injury/someone falls off the face of the earth or Schwarber becomes a super-sub at 1B/OF/C under your scenario.

[SouthSideRyan]

This is a lot different from last time in that it's going to be a pretty extended run. What the hell do they do when Montero comes back if Schwarber kills it in a most-days role for 6+ weeks?

 

Drive Ross out to the country and leave him in an empty field and make Montero the backup.

 

http://data3.whicdn.com/images/86988668/large.gif

[jersey cubs fan]

This is the assumption that I'm rejecting. I don't see any reason Schwarber can't be the primary catcher when the alternative is Ross/Teagarden. Give Ross an extra start or 3 against LHSP so maybe it's not exactly 80%, but if you can play Schwarber 50% of the games you can play him 80%.

 

I hold out some hope that he can catch in the future but I believe it is pretty crazy to think he can do a good job catching now, with such limited coach and experience at the pro level and having such a long road to go down even if the experiment does succeed. If the good habits are not already second nature to him, then starting him 80% of the time starting now is a terrific way to have him go back to bad habits that are more comfortable and natural to him. There is no ongoing instruction if he's catching practically every day.

 

He's playing 9 innings each game at AAA now. I'm not sure I follow why him catching as frequently at the MLB level is going to cause him to revert to bad habits, or that he can't be coached while playing full games just like he was at Iowa.

 

Like any other player, the results do not matter at AAA but they do in the majors. The problem with catcher is it is nothing like the 7 other positions when it comes to learning to do it properly. You can ad lib in LF and even a middle infielder can presumably just do what comes naturally. The pressure to do what he is more comfortable doing while maintaining the responsibility of catching a major league staff nearly every day is completely different than continuing to learn the ins and outs of catching in Iowa. Any error, misplayed ball or poorly framed pitch has the potential to be magnified a million times what it would in AAA. Couple that with game planning and calling games for this staff and it is completely understandable why management would not want the kid as their everyday catcher.

 

Unless you do not think there is actual value in learning how to catch in the minor leagues you have to see the drawbacks of throwing him out there 5-6 times a week.

 

Plus, you are ignoring Ross's bad brain and the lack of any good players being held down unfairly because of this move.

[sontensei]

Maybe Coghlan is going to be traded in a package for a pitcher?

 

Schwarber platoon at LF with Denorfia and Catch platoon as well?

 

Playing catcher and LF against all righties might not be possible.

 

Not sure lefty / right is an issue for Schwarber tho at least he has a higher .ops against lefties in AAA(small sample size) but in AA he was still solid (.838)

[sontensei]

Has Schwarber caught anyone with nasty stuff like Arrieta in the minors? I think if he can have a good game catching him (considering Arrieta is just filty with the movement, etc.) i think he will be fine.

[Guest]

This is a lot different from last time in that it's going to be a pretty extended run. What the hell do they do when Montero comes back if Schwarber kills it in a most-days role for 6+ weeks?

If he's killing it you stick him in left.

[Sammys Boombox]

This is a lot different from last time in that it's going to be a pretty extended run. What the hell do they do when Montero comes back if Schwarber kills it in a most-days role for 6+ weeks?

If he's killing it you stick him in left.

 

What if Coghlan is tearing it up?

[Sammy Sofa]

This is a lot different from last time in that it's going to be a pretty extended run. What the hell do they do when Montero comes back if Schwarber kills it in a most-days role for 6+ weeks?

If he's killing it you stick him in left.

 

What if Coghlan is tearing it up?

 

Platoon him with Fowler in CF and pray.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

This is a lot different from last time in that it's going to be a pretty extended run. What the hell do they do when Montero comes back if Schwarber kills it in a most-days role for 6+ weeks?

If he's killing it you stick him in left.

 

What if Coghlan is tearing it up?

 

Platoon him with Fowler in CF and pray.

 

What if Fowler is tearing it up?

 

Oh. Never mind.