Here's Why The Cubs Should Keep Kyle Schwarber As Their Leadoff Hitter

No other player has been under more scrutiny during the Cubs rough start than Kyle Schwarber. The 2016 World Series hero was poised to take Chicago by storm going into the 2017 season and had every single Cubs fan foaming at the mouth with the thought they'd finally get to see him play a full season with the club and continue to murder baseballs like we've become so accustomed to. What gave Cubs fans an even bigger baseball boner was the fact that Joe Maddon announced mid-February that the burly left fielder would be hitting leadoff for one of the most dangerous offenses in Major League baseball. And Cubs fans lost their shit. Going against all conventional wisdom, Maddon would put a 235-pound former high school linebacker at the top of his lineup but despite his lack of speed and "looking" like most leadoff hitters, Schwarber's high OBP paired with the fact he has the potential to hit a bomb in every at-bat was too much for Maddon to pass up. Maddon's theory was simple regarding the move to the leadoff spot for Schwarber and centered around the idea of Schwarber protecting the hitters behind him because Maddon sees him as one of the team's better hitters.

"There's pause involved there, because if you don't want to pitch to him, then the guys coming up behind are really pretty interesting. It's formidable, so it's uncomfortable from the other side."

While the theory of using Schwarber as a leadoff to get more at-bats and protect the sluggers behind him is a great idea on paper, the theory is falling apart in practice. With the Cubs sitting at 18-19 as of today, the media is losing their mind trying to analyze every single aspect of the Cubs playing below .500 baseball. At the forefront of the issues is whether or not Kyle Schwarber should stay in the one-hole moving forward in the 2017 season. I'll lay out the basic arguments for both sides and eventually give my insight as to what should happen with Schwarber.

Schwarber Needs To Go

David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune wrote an article yesterday explaining why Schwarber, in his words, "must stop leading off." He points out that as of Monday, Schwarber is batting a measly .193 and owns the major leagues' lowest batting average among leadoff hitters with at least 100 plate appearances. He also sports a putrid .313 on-base percentage with 44 strikeouts. Numbers don't lie. He argues that Schwarber is pressing at the plate and his body language just "screams help" and takes it a step further and suggests that the Cubs may want to think about demoting Schwarber to AAA Iowa if the slump continues. Demoting "superstar" players in Haugh's eyes is not as uncommon as you would think and mentions names like Mike Moustakas and Yasiel Puig as players who were sent down to AAA to make some adjustments. So what's the solution if it's not Schwarber? The obvious names of Jon Jay and Albert Almora Jr. are mentioned, as well as Ben Zobrist and the wild card name, Jason Heyward. Haugh claims the only reason action has not been taken yet is simply due to the fact of Kyle Schwarber's popularity and his role during the post season last year,

"if a young Cubs outfielder with 106 games of major-league experience and a career .219 batting average were named Jack Jones, his present shortcomings would outweigh any past success and demand action."

I can't say I'd disagree with that statement either.

Schwarber Is Due To Break-Out

Anyone that has played baseball at a competitive level knows baseball is a game of highs and lows. The hottest hitter can ride a hitting streak of twenty games and follow that up with an 0-20 streak. It's just the nature of the game. Even Schwarber himself acknowledges that.

“It’s a crazy game,” Schwarber said. “It can put you in a great place. And it can put you in a bad place. So you just try to stay right here — just try to stay right in the middle.”

Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago wrote an article explaining why Cubs management has no plans of moving Schwarber out of the leadoff spot anytime soon. While the low average and high strikeout total should be worrisome (according to Haugh), there are other numbers that show Schwarber in the leadoff hole is not as bad as it seems. "In terms of grinding out at-bats, only two hitters in The Show — Toronto’s Jose Bautista and San Francisco’s Brandon Belt — have seen more pitches than Schwarber (704) so far this season. Schwarber’s 24 walks lead the team and rank tied for seventh in the National League." From the games I've watch this year, I've also noticed something pretty interesting about Schwarber's at-bats. When I was watching the Cubs drop two of three to St. Louis this weekend, I noticed that Schwarber was absolutely crushing baseballs -- they just so happened to be hit directly at a defender. At one point in the series, Schwarber had three at-bats with an exit velocity over 100 mph (all resulted in outs.)

I hate to use the argument of "tough luck" but that's exactly what it looks like Schwarber is going through. Joe Maddon seems to agree. “If you keep playing back the tape, I’m seeing great swing, ball fouled back,” Maddon said. “It’s not coming over our dugout. Once in a while, it’s pulled on something soft. But a lot of them are going straight back in. It’s not like he’s slow or he’s not on time. He’s just a click underneath the baseball.”

The Verdict

I've read and processed damn near every article both for and against keeping Schwarber as the Cubs leadoff hitter for the rest of the 2017 season and I've come to the following conclusion.

Stick with him as the leadoff and ride the drought out.

I'm aware of the poor stats Schwarber has put up but I'm fascinated that he's the only one that media pundits are focused on. The media acts like the rest of the Cubs team is absolutely destroying pitching which obviously has not been the case. Or how about the fact the offense has constantly been put behind the eight ball due to the starting pitching spotting the opposing team two or three runs early? Maddon's theory of putting Schwarber as the leadoff way back in February was predicated around the idea that he'd protect the hitters behind him, specifically Anthony Rizzo. While Schwarber is getting blasted for his low numbers, it's not like Rizzo is tearing up opposing pitching either. Rizzo is currently hitting .213 and hasn't had a hit since May 12. His struggles at the plate allows pitchers to be more aggressive with Schwarber, which they've done. What about the fact that the Cubs rank dead last in RISP as a TEAM? That can't be all of Schwarber's fault right? The offensive woes are a team issue and while I understand Schwarber is the "table setter" as the leadoff guy, the offensive issues are bigger than just him. I asked Schwarber's high school coach Jason Cave what he thought about his former players role on the Cubs. "Maddon is like a baseball computer genius in the form of a human. If you think about it, Kyle only leads off his first at-bat and Maddon is a big fan of batting the pitcher 8th. Therefore, Kyle has the ability to drive in the 7, 8, or 9-hole guy throughout the game. Kyle has been making solid contact and he's a very smart leadoff hitter and I'm confident he'll start to convert all this solid contact into some base hits. People have to realize the Cubs are getting everyone's best shot right now because they're the World Champs!" I understand Cubs fans being nervous with the team's start but it's unfair to say Schwarber in the leadoff spot is the sole reason for the team's offensive struggles. This isn't a "you go, we go" type of argument here and as I mentioned earlier, he's squaring balls up. It's only a matter of time before those missiles start to find some holes in the opposing team's defense. Schwarber put his struggles into perspective for anxious Cubs fans.

“Many hitters have gone through what I’ve been going through. You just got to keep going.”

He knows he's struggling but will undoubtedly get out of this funk very soon. Also understand, the Cubs went 15-25 at one point last season but because they had such a huge division lead at that point, Cubs fans kind of just shrugged off that stretch of bad baseball. Now that they've opened the season struggling, fans are calling for whole sale changes in the Cubs lineup (starting with Schwarber) and that is something I don't see happening anytime soon. Joe Maddon would agree.

"So it’s just one of those things we have to ride (out).”

Be patient Cubs fans, let's ride it out with Schwarber.