"Time makes fools of us all" - The Kyle Schwarber Thread

[squally1313]

I’m pretty sure our revolving door leadoff spot has posted better numbers than Dexter every year since he’s left. But yes I get what you’re saying, just basic baseball intuition has me wanting a set guy there for ~145 games. We should trade for Haniger is what I’m saying.

 

Fowler posted a .393 OBP in 2016. I'd be VERY curious to see if the Cubs' leadoff spot has topped that in the 2 full season since.

I can try and figure it out tonight, have to head out to golf league soon. I’m almost positive I’ve seen tweets or mentions in articles our leadoff spot has been better than Dexter every year since he’s been a Cardinal. If someone wants to dig in to it before then feel free.

 

I'm guessing no, but pretty easy on FG, so here goes:

 

2019: .303 OBP, 72 wRC

2018: .366 OBP, 121 wRC

2017: .324 OBP, 94 wRC

2016: .381 OBP, 123 wRC

 

So, in conclusion, no.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I’m pretty sure our revolving door leadoff spot has posted better numbers than Dexter every year since he’s left. But yes I get what you’re saying, just basic baseball intuition has me wanting a set guy there for ~145 games. We should trade for Haniger is what I’m saying.

 

Fowler posted a .393 OBP in 2016. I'd be VERY curious to see if the Cubs' leadoff spot has topped that in the 2 full season since.

I can try and figure it out tonight, have to head out to golf league soon. I’m almost positive I’ve seen tweets or mentions in articles our leadoff spot has been better than Dexter every year since he’s been. If someone wants to dig in to it before then feel free.

 

Last year it was a similar/slightly better because they left Rizzo there after his early season slump ended.

 

Team

 

2016: .267/.381/.434

2017: .246/.324/.422

2018: .303/.366/.454

 

Individual

 

2016

Fowler: 546 PA, .276/.393/.449

Zobrist: 96 PA, .219/.333/.402

 

 

2017

Jay: 239 PA, .267/.325/.350

Zobrist: 182 PA, .253/.330/.438

Schwarber: 173 PA, .191/.312/.381

 

 

2018

Almora: 213 PA, .333/.368/.429

Zobrist: 140 PA, .285/.371/.439

Rizzo: 138 PA, .328/.428/.552

Murphy: 131 PA, .312/.336/.504

[Sammy Sofa]

Holy freakin' YIKES, 2017.

[Banedon]

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Believe it, that's a baseball in shallow left field that Schwarber watched go through his legs.

[jersey cubs fan]

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[jersey cubs fan]

Believe it, that's a baseball in shallow left field that Schwarber watched go through his legs.

the most impressive part is that Gonzo posted a photo where it's clear enough to see that ball

[Banedon]

Horsefeathers looks like the thing again.

[BigSlick]

Schwarber has basically stabilized at where he's gonna be as a hitter, I just want him to unleash the Dong and have a career year where he hits like 50 fat dongers

[CubInOK]

If his BA could crack .250 and he kept his discipline and power, he’d be a mighty strong bat. Alas, he can never defeat a shift.

[Rynomites23]

If his BA could crack .250 and he kept his discipline and power, he’d be a mighty strong bat. Alas, he can never defeat a shift.

He doesn’t defeat the shift because he has no interest in doing so which fits in with the rest of the launch angle club. In Kyle’s case, he thinks 2b is the foul line.

 

Here’s some fun facts to chew on. Schwarber has a war of .6 and that’s 12th on the cub and 7th among cub hitters. Brutal. Amongst of’s in mlb? 52nd. His defensive war is -3.4 so those that talk about what a great defender he is don’t know what they are talking about.

 

Finally, remember Dan Vogelbach? His WAR is 1.8 and as of yesterday’s stats, had better numbers than schwarber in nearly every offensive category with 25 less at bats. 3 more hr’s, 8 more rbi, 17 more walks, 20 less whiffs, avg 20 pts higher, obp .388 vs .322, slug .523 vs .467, ops .912 vs .789. Salary? Vogelbach is making 558k, rizzo 5.8 mill (war 2.2 so slightly better than vog’s) and the strikeout king solo homer leadoff fraud makes 3.4 mill.

 

Schwarber is one of the most overhyped and overrated cubs in recent history

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I dislike Schwarber as much as the next guy, but Vogelbach wouldn't have ever been a LF option so there's no need to bring him into this.

[squally1313]

If his BA could crack .250 and he kept his discipline and power, he’d be a mighty strong bat. Alas, he can never defeat a shift.

He doesn’t defeat the shift because he has no interest in doing so which fits in with the rest of the launch angle club. In Kyle’s case, he thinks 2b is the foul line.

 

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[jersey cubs fan]

If his BA could crack .250 and he kept his discipline and power, he’d be a mighty strong bat. Alas, he can never defeat a shift.

He doesn’t defeat the shift because he has no interest in doing so which fits in with the rest of the launch angle club. In Kyle’s case, he thinks 2b is the foul line.

 

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Why did he keep bunting in foul territory?

[squally1313]

I know there's less than no point in engaging here...I just really love that video.

[Rynomites23]

I dislike Schwarber as much as the next guy, but Vogelbach wouldn't have ever been a LF option so there's no need to bring him into this.

That wasn’t the main point but nice try.

[Rynomites23]

If his BA could crack .250 and he kept his discipline and power, he’d be a mighty strong bat. Alas, he can never defeat a shift.

He doesn’t defeat the shift because he has no interest in doing so which fits in with the rest of the launch angle club. In Kyle’s case, he thinks 2b is the foul line.

 

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One or a handful of at bats doesn’t change anything. His overall approach is to pull everything and to lift everything including when runners are in scoring position or when the pitch is outside or when there are eight guys right of second

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I dislike Schwarber as much as the next guy, but Vogelbach wouldn't have ever been a LF option so there's no need to bring him into this.

That wasn’t the main point but nice try.

So you had no point at all. Got it.

[squally1313]

He doesn’t defeat the shift because he has no interest in doing so which fits in with the rest of the launch angle club. In Kyle’s case, he thinks 2b is the foul line.

 

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One or a handful of at bats doesn’t change anything. His overall approach is to pull everything and to lift everything including when runners are in scoring position or when the pitch is outside or when there are eight guys right of second

 

Schwarber: 40.9% Pull %, 41.8% fly ball %, 6.6% infield fly ball %, 48.4% total fly ball %

Rizzo: 43.9% Pull %, 35.8% fly ball %, 9.8% infield fly ball %, 45.6% total fly ball %

 

Before you move the goal posts to strike out rate, I assume you want to trash Rizzo's batted ball profile too?

[muntjack]

This seems like a good time and place to go on record in support of Schwarber. He had a 3 WAR year last year at 25, is only now getting consistent PAs vs. LHP (he's improved every year) and I think he has another level coming. Just my opinion.

[squally1313]

Oh shoot, he pulled another ball in the air just now. What about all the defenders over there???

[jersey cubs fan]

 

Schwarber: 40.9% Pull %, 41.8% fly ball %, 6.6% infield fly ball %, 48.4% total fly ball %

Rizzo: 43.9% Pull %, 35.8% fly ball %, 9.8% infield fly ball %, 45.6% total fly ball %

 

Before you move the goal posts to strike out rate, I assume you want to trash Rizzo's batted ball profile too?

https://www.fangraphs.com/spraycharts.aspx?playerid=16478&position=OF&type=battedball

 

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[Ding Dong Johnson]

That would have been cooler if the Pittsburgh one ended with a splash.

[Rynomites23]

 

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One or a handful of at bats doesn’t change anything. His overall approach is to pull everything and to lift everything including when runners are in scoring position or when the pitch is outside or when there are eight guys right of second

 

Schwarber: 40.9% Pull %, 41.8% fly ball %, 6.6% infield fly ball %, 48.4% total fly ball %

Rizzo: 43.9% Pull %, 35.8% fly ball %, 9.8% infield fly ball %, 45.6% total fly ball %

 

Before you move the goal posts to strike out rate, I assume you want to trash Rizzo's batted ball profile too?

Clouding the issue with stat overload. I don’t have interest in breaking down further as the high level stats made the point clear enough. But i do have one observation- separating fly ball from pull is crap because it makes it look like you are separating in order to position your argument. Whether he turns on a fly ball or ground ball, they both fall under the same category of “pull” - right side of second

[jersey cubs fan]

Clouding the issue with stat overload. I don’t have interest in breaking down further as the high level stats made the point clear enough.

 

And what was that point?