Chicago Cubs: Maddon has some serious decisions to make
Chicago Cubs’ slugger Kyle Schwarber made his return to the organization on Tuesday. However, the National League Champions may have an issue on their hands as the World Series comes back to Wrigley Field.
As of right now, the question for Chicago Cubs’ skipper, Joe Maddon is who will be taking the field alongside Dexter Fowler. He has plenty of options to roll with and has experimented with a few changes in the process.
Last year’s offseason signee, Jason Heyward stayed put out in right field mainly because of his defense. Heyward has struggled in the batter’s box as he is currently 2-for-28 heading into Game 3. In addition, his bat was somewhat quiet during the regular season.
Don’t get me wrong, the Chicago Cubs did not hand him a contract worth $184 million for his offense. We all know how great he is when he’s playing defense but he hit well for the St. Louis Cardinals.
It felt like Jason was always on base during last season’s 2015 National League Division series — which was frustrating at the time. Now he is on the right side of the fence and like many players on the roster, playing in his first World Series.
For the second straight night, Jason started the night on the bench. Outfielder, Chris Coghlan started in his place on Tuesday and Jorge Soler filled in on Wednesday. Both men would go hitless in their at-bats.
First World Series Appearance
With the Chicago Cubs holding a comfortable lead, Maddon brought in Heyward to play defense. He even squared up on a pitch and nearly had extra bases. That was until the center fielder reeled in the ball with his glove.
Fowler and Zobrist were the only guys in the outfield who could put together a hit. Fowler’s came late while Zobrist remains as the Cubs hottest hitter in this series. So with Zobrist and Kyle Schwarber swinging hot bats, what will Joe do?
Let’s be clear on one thing, Schwarber has not been cleared to go out and field the ball. He was initially brought back to serve as the club’s designated hitter, nothing more, as of now. However, all that could change over the next 24-hours.
If there is no way he could go out and start in either left or right field, there is a good chance he comes off the bench as a pinch-hitter. But how could you not want him in the lineup? Kyle looks like he hasn’t missed 90% of the year.
Removing Heyward from the roster in order to bring in a fresh bat such as Matt Szczur may be a little extreme. With that being said, the chances of Coghlan being removed in favor of Szczur could become a possibility.
Szczur has become a reliable tool for Joe Maddon since his arrival. Matt was called up multiple times in 2015, bouncing back between Triple-A Iowa and the big league Cubs. His breakout 2016 campaign has not been overlooked.
In fact, it was a bit of a shock to not see his name on the LDS roster when it was announced. The ball is currently in Joe’s court, yet again, and it’ll be interesting to see what he decides to do. Surely, he’ll wait to hear from Kyle’s doctor on whether or not he’s healthy enough to take the field on defense.
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