Kyle Schwarber

Kyle Joseph Schwarber
(Hulk)

Bats Left, Throws Right
Height 6' 0", Weight 235 lb.
School Indiana University
High School Middletown (OH) High School
Debut June 16, 2015

Born March 5, 1993 in Middletown, OH USA

Biographical Information[edit]

Catcher Kyle Schwarber was selected by the Chicago Cubs and scout Stan Zielinski in the first round of the 2014 amateur draft with the fourth overall pick, out of Indiana University. He was considered a bit of an overdraft at the time and when he soon signed for $3.125 million, his bonus was well below the projected amount for his draft slot. He made his pro debut with the Boise Hawks and also played for the Kane County Cougars and Daytona Cubs that first season, combining for a batting line of .344/.428/.534 in 72 games, with 18 doubles, as many homers, 55 runs scored and 53 RBIs. Obviously on a fast track to the majors, at the start of the 2015 season, he was with the AA Tennessee Smokies where he hit .320 in his first 58 games, with 13 home runs and 39 RBIs. On June 15th, Cubs President Theo Epstein announced that he would be called up to Chicago the next day to serve as the team's designated hitter during a six-game string of interleague games on the road.

His debut came in a home game, however, as he took over on defence for catcher Miguel Montero in the 9th inning of a 6-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians on June 16th; he struck out against Marc Rzepczynski in his first big league at-bat. He started for the first time the next day and had a great game, going 4-for-5 in a 17-0 demolition of the Indians. His first major league hit was a triple off Shaun Marcum during a six-run 2nd inning, and he scored 3 runs and drove in 2 that night. He then hit his first major league homer on June 18th, a two-run blast off Danny Salazar in a 4-3 win over the Indians; he also had another hit in the game to start off his career 6 for 10. He finished his six-game stint with the Cubs at .364 then went back to the minor leagues, which allowed him to be the starting catcher for the United States team in the 2015 Futures Game. He went 1 for 3 in the game, but his hit was a two-run triple off Jarlin Garcia that broke a 1-1 tie in the 3rd inning and sent the U.S. to a 10-1 win. He was named winner of the Larry Doby Award as the game's Most Valuable Player. He was then called up by the Cubs on July 17th, as they planned to have him share catching duties with veterans Taylor Teagarden and David Ross after starter Miguel Montero was placed on the disabled list with a thumb injury suffered just before the All-Star break. In his first game as a starting catcher, on July 17th, he went 3 for 4 with a double, then on July 21st, he had the first multi-homer game of his career when he connected twice, a two-run shot in the 9th and a game-winning blast off Nate Adcock in the 13th to give the Cubs a 5-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds. In a statistical quirk, his first 18 major league hits came in road games before he hit a single at Wrigley Field on July 26th. His arrival seemed to coincide with the Cubs catching fire. He was at the center of things when the Cubs won 13 of 14 games in late July and early August, including another two-homer game on August 13th, when he drove in 4 runs in a 9-2 beat-down of the Milwaukee Brewers. He finished the season with a .246 average, but with 16 homers and 43 RBIs in only 69 games. He started the Wild Card Game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in right field and batting second and was one of the offensive heroes, driving in Dexter Fowler from second base in the 1st, then homering against Gerrit Cole with Fowler again on base in the 3rd inning as the Cubs ended up 4-0 winners. He continued to hit well in the NLDS, going 5-for-10 with a pair of homers as the Cubs upset the St. Louis Cardinals. He was limited to two hits when the Cubs were swept by the New York Mets in the NLCS, but both of these were long balls as he secured his place as one of the brightest young stars in the game.

On April 7, 2016, he was injured in an outfield collision with Dexter Fowler, as both players were trying to catch a ball off the bat of Jean Segura of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The ball fell between them for an inside-the-park homer and he had to be carted off the field. At first, the Cubs thought they had escaped the worst, as x-rays indicated that there was no ankle fracture, but an MRI the next day showed that Schwarber had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, putting him out for the season. He had only played two games, going 0 for 4, before the injury. In a surprise move, however, Schwarber was able to play a couple of games in the Arizona Fall League that October, and given the Cubs had made it to the World Series, facing the Cleveland Indians, he was eligible to be added to the roster for the Fall Classic. He was inserted at DH for Game 1, played in Cleveland, and hit a solid double to the wall in his second at-bat. He then drove in a pair of runs in Game 2, proving he had not lost a step. He went 7 for 17 in the series, with 1 double, 2 runs and 2 RBIs, making a major contribution to the Cubs' first championship since 1908.

Schwarber began the 2017 season as the Cubs' lead-off hitter and starting left fielder, but he struggled to maintain a decent batting average. He was only at .165 at the end of May while the Cubs were playing below .500. On June 3rd, he had been moved to the 9th spot of the order when he hit his first career grand slam, off Mike Leake of the St. Louis Cardinals, giving the Cubs a 5-3 win. It was just a temporary blip, though, as on June 21st, he was still hitting only .171 with an OBP below .300 and slugging percentage of .328 in spite of 12 homers and 28 RBIs. That is when the Cubs decided to send him down to AAA. His confidence-boosting trip to Iowa resulted in his hitting .343 in 11 games, with 4 home runs and 9 RBIs. There was little point in letting him destroy AAA pitching much longer and on July 7th, he was called back to Chicago. He hit a lot better over the second half - .253 with 17 homers - to finish at .211 with 30 homers and 59 RBIs in 129 games. He did not do much in the postseason either, going 3 for 17 with 1 homer and 1 RBI as the Cubs lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the NLCS stage.

In 2018, Schwarber was a lot more consistent, playing 137 games and hitting .238 with 26 homers and 61 RBIs. His OPS+ was a solid 117. He was exclusively a left-fielder by that point but did not start the Wild Card Game against the Colorado Rockies at Wrigley Field on October 2nd. He came in as a pinch-hitter for P Pedro Strop in the bottom of the 9th inning with one on and one out and the score tied a 1-all, but he struck out against former teammate Wade Davis. The Cubs eventually lost the game, 1-1, in 13 innings. He was back as the Cubs' regular left-fielder in 2019 and on July 28th had a tremendous day against the Milwaukee Brewers, hitting a three-run homer and a grand slam to lead Chicago to an 11-3 win. The grand slam ball traveled 473 feet, making the longest four-run homer of the statcast era. Overall, he hit .250 in 155 games, with 38 homers and 92 RBIs. All three figures were personal bests, although his OPS+ of 122 was just below the 130 he posted as a rookie. However, the Cubs missed the postseason for the first time since he had joined the team, and significant changes took place in the off-season, with his former teammate David Ross replacing Joe Maddon as the team's manager. Things did not go well in 2020 although he did play 59 of the Cubs' 60 games in a season cut short significantly by the Coronavirus pandemic. Even though the National League implemented a full-time DH for the first time in its history, Schwarber remained the regular left-fielder for the Cubs, making 48 starts at the position. He hit just .188 as batting averages fell across baseball, but did manage 11 homers, tied with Anthony Rizzo and just one behind team leader Ian Happ. His OPS+ fell to 88 and even though the Cubs won a division title, he was considered a disappointment. He failed to get a hit in the postseason, as the Cubs were swept in two games by the underdog Miami Marlins in the Wild Card Series, but did draw 3 walks in 7 plate appearances. On December 2nd, his tenure as a Cub ended with a whimper as he was non-tendered and became a free agent.

On January 9, 2021, he signed a one-year contract with the Washington Nationals for $10 million. He started the season slowly, hitting just 2 homers and batting .206 in 16 April games. He fell back under the Mendoza Line in May before starting to get going in the second half of the month, when he added 7 long balls to his total. He also had 18 RBIs, but strikeouts were a big concern, with 32 during the month, giving him 53 over the first two pages of the calendar. He then really picked up the pace in June and on June 19-20, he tied a major league record by hitting 5 homers in two games, both against the New York Mets, also driving in 8 runs. The second of these games was also the first three-homer game of his career as he drove in 4 of his team's 5 runs in a 5-2 win. Later that same week, on June 24th, he had another two-homer game in a 7-3 win over the Marlins to bring his season's total to 21. He was the 7th player in history to hit 8 or more homers over a five-game span, one shy of the record held by Shawn Green who hit 9 in 2002. All of these long balls were a major factor in the Nats winning 10 of 11 games in that span, putting themselves back into the postseason race after a rough start. With another homer on June 25th, he became the first player in history to hit 12 homers out of the leadoff spot in 12 games. He added two more long balls on June 28th and another on the 29th, on the first pitch of the game, to make it 16 in 18 games. He also tied the major league mark set by Albert Belle with 12 homers in a ten-game span. His spurt had allowed him to tie Fernando Tatis Jr. for the National League home run lead and put the Nats back over .500 for the first time since starting off the season with a win. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious pulled hamstring on July 3rd, stopping him dead in his tracks just when he was enjoying the best stretch of his career. To no one's surprise, he was named the NL Player of the Month for June, and was also named to the All-Star team for the first time, although he was likely to skip the contest because of his injury. Indeed, he was still on the injured list when the trading deadline came around, but that did not prevent him from being moved, as on July 29th he was traded to the Boston Red Sox in return for P Aldo Ramirez. The Red Sox had apparently tried to obtain former teammate with the Cubs, Anthony Rizzo, but failing that - Rizzo went to the New York Yankees - they settled on Schwarber. He was finally re-activated on August 13th, by which time the Red Sox had fallen out of first and were in danger of missing out om the postseason altogether. However, he turned out to be a very useful adddition for the Sox, as he batted .291 in 41 games, with 7 homers, 18 RBIs and an OPS+ of 154. His combined line for the year was .266 in 113 games, with 32 homers and 71 RBIs. In the postseason, he hit a key homer and scored two runs in the Wild Card Game against the Yankees and batted .313 with another homer when the Sox upset the Tampa Bay Rays in the Division Series. He was limited to 3 hits in 25 at-bats in the ALCS which Boston lost to the Houston Astros, but still hit a homer and a double and drove in 4 runs. Overall, no one could complain about his contribution to the cause.

A free agent after the 2021 season, demand for his services suddenly increased after the resolution of the 2021-2022 lockout, as it brought in the universal DH and increased opportunities for players with his skill set. On March 16, 2022, he signed a four-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, who now needed a DH and were ready to offer him $80 million to take on the job. However, he ended playing a lot more outfield than anticipated, because Bryce Harper was forced into a full-time DH role by a shoulder injury in April. He was the National League Player of the Month for June, exactly one year after winning the honor for the first time, as he led all major league hitters with 12 homers and drove in 27 runs while the Phils went 18-9 after firing manager Joe Girardi on June 3rd. He followed that up with back-to-back two-homer games on July 5-6, the first Phillie to do that since Chase Utley in 2006 and only the fourth overall. He finished the season at .218 in 155 games, led the NL with 46 homers, scored 100 runs and drove in 94, and also led the league with 200 strikeouts. His OPS+ was 131, he was an All-Star for the second time, and won a Silver Slugger Award] for the first time as one of three most productive outfielders with the bat in the league. The Phillies made it into the postseason for the first time after an absence of a decade, and after going a combined 0 for 20 in the first two rounds, had 6 hits including 3 homers against the San Diego Padres in the NLCS, and another 5 hits and 3 more long balls in the World Series, where the Phillies lost to the Houston Astros.

In 2023, he was able to play more DH after Harper took over at first base in the second half, having recovered enough from his shoulder surgery to be able to handle the field. He had an unusual season, statistically, as in spite of batting below the Mendoza Line (.197 in 160 games), he was the Phils' regular lead-off hitter, given his OBP was a very solid .343 thanks to 126 walks. He once again led the NL in whiffs, with 215, but also hit 47 homers, scored 108 runs and drove in 104. His OPS+ was 122 as the Phillies returned to the postseason. They were unable to repeat their deep run of the year before, but still made it back to the NLCS, where they were defeated by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He blasted five homers in that series, but they were all solo shots, limiting the damage, but still hit .364 and slugged 1.136 in a losing cause. He again had been quieter in the first two rounds, going a combined 4 for 25 without a homer.

Notable Achievements[edit]

2015 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
2-time NL All-Star (2021 & 2022)
NL Silver Slugger Award Winner (2022/OF)
NL Home Runs Leader (2022)
20-Home Run Seasons: 6 (2017-2019 & 2021-2023)
30-Home Run Seasons: 5 (2017, 2019 & 2021-2023)
40-Home Run Seasons: 2 (2022 & 2023)
100 RBIs Seasons: 1 (2023)
100 Runs Scored Seasons: 2 (2022 & 2023)
Won one World Series with the Chicago Cubs in 2016

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Kyle Schwarber

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