Schwarber Being Sent To AAA

TC in Mississippi

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Well Kyle's heading to Iowa. Certainly makes sense but you would have liked for him to have turned it around in Chicago. He hit well for a week and dropped back off again. You never know how a player reacts to a demotion.
 

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Makes sense now. Not really surprised.. He needs to work on that swing.
 

CSF77

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Right-hander Dylan Floro and outfielder Mark Zagunis will be called up from the Minors.
 

TC in Mississippi

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Hope he gets his groove back. To much talent there. Very disappointing year for him. Right move to do this.

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Listening to Theo on the Score talking about the move and one thing that stuck out was that the FO saw him becoming more slugger than hitter and that they firmly believe he's a hitter first.
 

chibears55

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Guess I know what I'm talking about after all..

Just hope he goes down there and actually works on things and not see ball smash ball..

Probably be back after the break.


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chibears55

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Right-hander Dylan Floro and outfielder Mark Zagunis will be called up from the Minors.
I'm interested in seeing how Zagunis does..
I think he'll do pretty good

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beckdawg

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I think people will make a bigger deal about this than it is. My take is they had some injuries and needed some bullpen help and Schwarber was unlikely to start the next few games anyways. 3 of their next 5 games are vs LHP.(Locke, Nicolino and Gio Gonzo). I view this more as a short opportune DL stint than him going down to work on things.
 

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But his trade value is unaffected
 

chibears55

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I think people will make a bigger deal about this than it is. My take is they had some injuries and needed some bullpen help and Schwarber was unlikely to start the next few games anyways. 3 of their next 5 games are vs LHP.(Locke, Nicolino and Gio Gonzo). I view this more as a short opportune DL stint than him going down to work on things.
If that was case,why lose his bat off bench..

Like I said hopefully he goes down and actually works on things..
Stay down til after the break

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anotheridiot

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Needs to work on his catching skills.

This...... I think watching movement of 150 pitches a nite will help his swing. Better than the Cardinals sending Gruchuck to A ball.

I also think Kyle is a better catcher than left fielder. Move Montero, give Kyle a starter or two.
 

anotheridiot

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Zagunis? Already have Happ, Jay, Almora, Bryant and Heyward, eventually Zobrist. Why did we need another outfielder? Oh, thats right, Ms Stella cant play the outfield.
 

beckdawg

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If that was case,why lose his bat off bench..

Like I said hopefully he goes down and actually works on things..
Stay down til after the break

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Well presumably they are going to start Happ in LF for the majority of the time he's down. That would allow Jay/Almora more time in CF. Happ is obviously a switch hitter so less worry of needing a lefty off the bench. But even then, you have La Stella who's a pretty good PH bat. I'm not saying there's no benefit to Schwarber in AAA. Part of the problem at the MLB level right now is you simply cannot have all those young bats play everyday. And given they'd started to platoon Schwarber maybe it's for the best for him to get daily playing time. But here's my contention... what if he just wrecks AAA pitching? I suppose you could argue it's a confidence boost but Schwarber doesn't strike me as a guy who lacks confidence. And if he does crush in AAA you're really not learning much. I mean it's a similar situation to Candelario who's crushed in AAA but hasn't hit when he's been called up. I suppose there's the counter argument that something is actually wrong and he wont hit in AAA but if the cubs really believed that he would have been sent down far sooner.

That's why I think this is just a move that's essentially "go clear your head." I think the reason you do that vs just benching him for a week or whatever is the cubs have a lot of nagging injuries on offense and not being able to play a guy on the bench is a big deal. IIRC, you have to stay down a week after being optioned. So the soonest he could return is the 29th. All Star break is the 10th. Given that timing, I'd imagine he stays down until the all star break. It's roughly 2 or so weeks which as mentioned is similar to an opportune DL stint.

Overall though I don't see this being much of a long term move. It just strikes me as a procedural move more than anything and I think they timed it to coincide with the all star break. It's often difficult for hitters to make adjustments in season so you will often hear about guys using a couple of days off during the all star break to get back on track. I think this is essentially that plus giving him daily at bats vs platoon type situation where it's harder to find consistency.
 

chibears55

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But here's my contention... what if he just wrecks AAA pitching? I suppose you could argue it's a confidence boost but Schwarber doesn't strike me as a guy who lacks confidence. And if he does crush in AAA you're really not learning much. I mean it's a similar situation to Candelario who's crushed in AAA but hasn't hit when he's been called up. I suppose there's the counter argument that something is actually wrong and he wont hit in AAA but if the cubs really believed that he would have been sent down far sooner.

That's why I think this is just a move that's essentially "go clear your head."/QUOTE]

Why I hope he actually going down there to yes clear his head and also watch films, and work on things..
Not just ok I'm here, throw me your junk so I can smash it 400 feet..
Come back and just fell into the same bad habits and routine..

Why I also hope it's for a few weeks and not just a 7 to 10 day thing.
Bring him back after the break if all going good for him there..
Be like starting the season over again

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Zag in RF, Almora CF and Happ LF. I'm kinda expecting a RF platoon with Jay now that Zag is up. Baez should get the starts at 2B with Happ in LF full time.

Things should change when Zo gets off the DL. Most likely Zag demoted.
 

beckdawg

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Why I hope he actually going down there to yes clear his head and also watch films, and work on things..
Not just ok I'm here, throw me your junk so I can smash it 400 feet..
Come back and just fell into the same bad habits and routine..

I'm just not sure AAA pitching can challenge Schwarber enough. Just as an example here, you're talking about guys like Aaron Brooks, Seth Frankoff, Williams Perez, Jake Buchanan and Casey Kelly being the cubs top 5 in terms of games started in AAA. Of those 5 only Frankoff has an ERA under 4.50. Now that's not the most robust sample or anything but it goes to the point that AAA pitching is no where near the same level as MLB pitching. With a few exceptions, take whatever your teams #5 starter is and add a run or so and that's generally the ERA you're talking about on AAA pitching because they are your 7th-8th type options if a starter goes down.

This is legitimately why the whole "send <x> to AAA" thing really doesn't work as you're describing it. The gap between AAA to MLB is probably as big as the gap between A and AA if not bigger. I mentioned Candelario but another example is 2015 Baez. He hit .324/.385/.527 with a 144 wRC+ in AAA in 2015 and .289/.325/.408 with a 98 wRC+. In other words, he was a 46% better hitter vs AAA pitching. Often times guys just gotta take their lumps vs MLB pitching until they get it or they flame out.
 

CSF77

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I'm just not sure AAA pitching can challenge Schwarber enough. Just as an example here, you're talking about guys like Aaron Brooks, Seth Frankoff, Williams Perez, Jake Buchanan and Casey Kelly being the cubs top 5 in terms of games started in AAA. Of those 5 only Frankoff has an ERA under 4.50. Now that's not the most robust sample or anything but it goes to the point that AAA pitching is no where near the same level as MLB pitching. With a few exceptions, take whatever your teams #5 starter is and add a run or so and that's generally the ERA you're talking about on AAA pitching because they are your 7th-8th type options if a starter goes down.

This is legitimately why the whole "send <x> to AAA" thing really doesn't work as you're describing it. The gap between AAA to MLB is probably as big as the gap between A and AA if not bigger. I mentioned Candelario but another example is 2015 Baez. He hit .324/.385/.527 with a 144 wRC+ in AAA in 2015 and .289/.325/.408 with a 98 wRC+. In other words, he was a 46% better hitter vs AAA pitching. Often times guys just gotta take their lumps vs MLB pitching until they get it or they flame out.

Hard to say what makes Kyle tick. If it is a rhythm issue then teeing off vs weaker pitching maybe the solve. Build up his self confidence and lets him trust his swing again.

Now I can see the whole hitter first vs slugger first. He is waiting out AB's vs being aggressive as a hitter.Maybe getting some meatballs over the plate will snap him out of his "lead off approach funk"
 

CSF77

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This...... I think watching movement of 150 pitches a nite will help his swing. Better than the Cardinals sending Gruchuck to A ball.

I also think Kyle is a better catcher than left fielder. Move Montero, give Kyle a starter or two.

Good to know. Thanks Dave Magadan.
 

chibears55

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I'm just not sure AAA pitching can challenge Schwarber enough. Just as an example here, you're talking about guys like Aaron Brooks, Seth Frankoff, Williams Perez, Jake Buchanan and Casey Kelly being the cubs top 5 in terms of games started in AAA. Of those 5 only Frankoff has an ERA under 4.50. Now that's not the most robust sample or anything but it goes to the point that AAA pitching is no where near the same level as MLB pitching. With a few exceptions, take whatever your teams #5 starter is and add a run or so and that's generally the ERA you're talking about on AAA pitching because they are your 7th-8th type options if a starter goes down.

This is legitimately why the whole "send <x> to AAA" thing really doesn't work as you're describing it. The gap between AAA to MLB is probably as big as the gap between A and AA if not bigger. I mentioned Candelario but another example is 2015 Baez. He hit .324/.385/.527 with a 144 wRC+ in AAA in 2015 and .289/.325/.408 with a 98 wRC+. In other words, he was a 46% better hitter vs AAA pitching. Often times guys just gotta take their lumps vs MLB pitching until they get it or they flame out.
Not really looking for him to be challenged..
Guess I'm kinda looking at it as him getting a couple weeks of live batting practice, where he can just look at film and try to readjust himself back to where he was when he was hitting good..
Use the time in real games that means nothing to him, to work on it

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beckdawg

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Not really looking for him to be challenged..
Guess I'm kinda looking at it as him getting a couple weeks of live batting practice, where he can just look at film and try to readjust himself back to where he was when he was hitting good..
Use the time in real games that means nothing to him, to work on it

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Fair enough. Essentially you're saying you want more reps a la spring training yeah? I can sorta buy that idea but that's more saying the issue Schwarber vs what pitchers are doing to Schwarber. I'm not a hitting coach so I can't speak to issues with swings but typically when young hitters have problems it's that higher level pitching handle them in a certain specific way that lower level pitching can't. So, it could be just something Schwarber has messed up mechanics in which case maybe this helps. But if it is a case of higher level pitching being able to execute better, if that's the case I don't really know that much will change. This was always my issue with him going down to AAA. I'm thinking the issue may just be MLB pitchers/catchers having a proper game plan vs him that they can execute. I'm not sure AAA pitching will be able to do the same and if they can't he may just destroy them.
 

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