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Sports Mockery’s Adam Nissen broke the news earlier today that Kyle Schwarber was going to be sent down to Triple-A Iowa. However, the Chicago Cubs aren’t done making roster moves today. Jason Heyward is going to be placed on the disabled list, while outfielder Mark Zagunis and left-handed pitcher Dylan Floro will be called up.
After helping the Cubs win the World Series in November, Schwarber never took off batting leadoff in 2017. Manager Joe Maddon eventually moved the 24-year-old out of the No. 1 spot in the lineup, but Schwarber never improved. Through 64 games this season, Schwarber put up a .171/.295/.378 slash line. Schwarber struck out 75 times, drawing 36 walks, while hitting 12 home runs. The power has been there, but the overall struggles were too big to overlook.
The Cubs want Schwarber to take a break for a few days and just stay away from baseball before reporting to Triple-A, but Theo Epstein didn’t give a time table for his return back to the Cubs.
Sources: #Cubs planning to send Kyle Schwarber to Triple-A Iowa, put Jason Heyward on DL and add Mark Zagunis and Dylan Floro to roster.
— Patrick Mooney (@CSNMooney) June 22, 2017
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In recent weeks, Schwarber was in a platoon, only starting in left field against right-handed pitchers. The weird thing about Schwarber’s short MLB career is that he’s seemingly had a lot of success, but he still hasn’t played in 162 regular season games. He came up until the summer in 2015, missed basically all of the 2016 season, and then became the leadoff hitter. Schwarber has 539 career plate appearances in 135 MLB games. Yes, that’s still a relatively small sample size.
The hope is Schwarber works on the specific things the Cubs have told him to work on and he gets his confidence back. Epstein was on 670 The Score on Thursday, and his main point was that Schwarber became a slugger instead of being a hitter.
Theo Epstein on Kyle Schwarber: "It's about being a hitter first, not slugger." #Cubs
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) June 22, 2017
Yes, it’s the minor leagues, but before Schwarber was called up for good by the Cubs he hit .333 in Triple-A. He can hit. That’s why the Cubs drafted him fourth overall in the 2014 draft. But right now, he’s simply lost, but we’ve seen incredible things from Schwarber before. He can easily get it back. The Cubs are on the road for two weeks and then the All-Star break starts a week later, so maybe Schwarber spends a month down in Iowa before coming back.
The bigger loss for the Cubs right now might actually be Heyward’s departure. The gold glove right-fielder injured his hand against the Pittsburgh Pirates and wasn’t available against the San Diego Padres this week.
PHOTO: Jason Heyward Shows Off Nasty Cut After Sliding In Foul Territory
Heyward has been better at the plate this year, but his defense in right is going to be missed even more.
As for the players coming up, we’ve seen Floro pitch out of the bullpen, but the intriguing name is Mark Zagunis, who could be the new Cubs leadoff hitter?
Yes, even though Anthony Rizzo established himself as the greatest leadoff hitter of all-time, ideally the Cubs want him batting third. Zagunis put up a .399 OBP in 65 games with the Iowa Cubs, with an .873 OPS.
Zagunis, 24, was drafted in the third round of the 2014 draft. In 338 minor league games, the right-handed hitter has a .401 OBP.
