The Cubs will promote catcher/outfielder Kyle Schwarber for his first big league action, Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com reports on Twitter. Schwarber is expected to spend six games as the club’s DH for interleague play, and will thereafter receive his first taste of the Triple-A level.
Schwarber, 22, was taken with the fourth overall pick in last year’s draft. Coming into the year, prospect evaluators agreed that he was a top-100 pick, though varied widely in placement. Baseball America placed Schwarber inside the top twenty prospects (19th), while Baseball Prospectus rated him 77th in the game.
Certainly, the Indiana University product has done nothing but enhance his value as a professional. He has destroyed pitching throughout the minors, putting up a composite .333/.432/.610 line over 549 plate appearances. At Double-A this year, Schwarber has slashed .318/.439/.578 while banging 13 long balls in 238 turns at bat.
Of course, the question with Schwarber was never his bat, but whether he would stick behind the plate. He’d likely only need to be an adequate defender to provide value as a catcher, though a move to the outfield or first base could also be possible in the long term. For now, of course, Chicago is giving him every chance to work as a backstop.
It appears that this is nothing more than a brief showcase for Schwarber, who really does not have an obvious roster spot to play in the big leagues. The club is set at catcher, with Miguel Montero and David Ross on hand. And while adding a power bat to the corner outfield would certainly hold appeal, Schwarber has spent just 36 games in left over his young professional career.
A huge showing at the plate or a well-timed injury could always change plans, of course. From a service time perspective, Schwarber can rack up no more than 111 days at this point, meaning he would not line up for Super Two status even if he stuck this year and never returned to the minors. Of course, every day added in 2015 will count for future years, making it harder for the Cubs to hold him back when he seems fully ready to play an everyday role in the majors.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Great news for Schwarber and the Cubs. It’ll be nice to see him get a taste of the bigs, then continue to work on his defense in AAA.
Cool to see Schwarber up. I wonder if they’ll let him catch just one game and DH the rest. Hopefully he does well in his stint at AAA after. Hopeful Sept call up.
They’re playing to win games, they’re not going to throw Schwarber in to catch a fame when he’s jot familiar with any of the pitchers with 2 healthy catchers on the roster. It will be a nice way to get his feet wet then go continue to work on his defense in AAA.
I doubt he’ll actually catch, but getting to spend six games on the bench with Miggy and Ross will be invaluable to his development. I’ve been super impressed with Montero as a teacher on the bench. Looks like a coaching career is in his future.
please lord let him mash so crazily that they can’t send him back down.
“Schwarber is expected to spend six teams as the club’s DH for interleague play”
typo there
Not a bad idea, but if they weren’t going to call him up before September, isn’t this just wasting an option?
If Schwarber’s bat is anywhere near as good as they think it is, do you really think we need to worry about if he’ll be able to be sent to the minors in 4 years?
Once a guy hits the 40-man roster, he has 3 ‘option years’ in which his club can move him between the majors and minors as many times as they wish. I don’t think the Cubs are worried about options with a bat like Schwarber’s.
I’m equally interested in seeing how he does at AAA. That will really determine his timeline to the majors.
This is exciting! The prospect train never stops; we’ve welcomed Correa, Lindor and Buxton already this week!
Some stathead in 5 years will announce that four starting all-stars from each league team debuted all within two months of each other.
If they are only calling him up to DH for a couple of days, why not call up Vogelbach? Schwarber is the better prospect, but Vogelbach is more seasoned.
Vogelbach isn’t much of a prospect. Schwarber has a higher chance of helping you win in the next six games, and the exposure to the majors is going to help him develop over the course of the season.
BTW, how do you reply on the mobile site? I don’t see anything that indicates a reply function?
I think they’re mixing in development with win now. They want Schwarber to get a taste of the majors. Maybe get some pointers from Montero and Ross. So excited. So this is what it’s like to root for a good team…
“… though a move to the outfield or first base could also be possible in the long term.” Outfield, for sure, but first base? Seems unlikely. Rizzo is a cornerstone of the Cubs for at least the next six years with the high-value contract he signed in 2013.
Seems like the Cubs are making all the right moves, this gives them another hitter in the line-up and also showcases him for a trade for a pitcher!
Hopefully he does well and stays up with the Cubs. Next thing to do is put castro on the trading block
I don’t think they’ll trade Schwarber unless they are overwhelmed. Cubs have plenty of other prospects which are more blocked in the majors. Torres, Baez, Vogelbach, Alcantara, etc. Schwarber at catcher would make the Cubs lineup fearsome.
I already miss the upvote feature, but +1 to this. The Cubs will get a chance to evaluate Schwarber’s bat against MLB pitching this week and assuming he can handle it, they’ll find a position for him. Nothing against Coghlan, but Schwarber wouldn’t be that much of a downgrade defensively in LF right now.
Cubs are committed to him catching. They think he can at least be adequate to average. From my blog reading the thought is, he gets called back up in August in time to be included on the playoff roster.
Schwarber has been on a tear since he’s been called up to the bigs. I don’t see how you can send a guy back down after he hits this well for the week that he has been in the big leagues. 6-10 in his first 3 games is pretty dang good. Now I know they do not know where they are going to put him because he’s not good enough defensively to catch right now so honestly do you try to trade him to the AL for an arm or a good OF bat?