Coming into the season, the Chicago Cubs had decided to do something rather unorthodox in order to fill their recently vacated Leadoff spot. Dexter Fowler had filled that role the past two seasons, but he moved on to St. Louis. Without a traditional leadoff man on the roster, the Cubs decided to go with outfielder/catcher Kyle Schwarber as the man to start things off.
From the very beginning, this decision raised some eyebrows considering his decided lack of traditional lead-off speed. Not being a team that steals much anyway, the Cubs decided they could stand to see Schwarber "clogging" the basepaths a bit more than his predecessor.
Now that the experiment is in full swing, there are some who are getting a bit nervous about his slow start to the season. His strikeout rate, in particular, has some worried.
Chicago Cubs don't have traditional lineup either
One of the reasons the Cubs don't have to worry about Schwarber not posting big numbers that are in line with a leadoff hitter is because the team has fully embraced the edict that the "lead-off hitter is really only leading off the first time." This means that while Schwarber leads off the game for his team, the rest of the time he's coming up at some other point in the rotation. Sometimes he'll bat third in the inning, sometimes later.
The Cubs have also changed up the bottom of the lineup in order to have Schwarber come to the plate with runners on more.
The pitcher for the Cubs is now batting in the eighth spot and a position player is batting ninth. This allows for a better chance of turning the lineup over and giving the outfielder more RBI opportunities.
Schwarber is still slugging
In 2016, when it became readily apparent that Jason Heyward's struggles were not just a slow start, most people pointed to his slugging percentage as proof.
Heyward finished the season with a career-low .325 slugging percentage. While Schwarber's early slugging percentage is lower than it was in his first season in the bigs or last year's playoffs, it isn't dropping off a cliff. In fact, of his four hits this season, three have went for extra bases.
The Cubs are not happy about how many strikeouts he's racked up.
The Milwaukee Brewers have been especially hard for him to figure out, striking out five times in his last 11 at-bats. He's way over his career average when it comes to strikeout percentage. So far, we can chalk this up to pressing and adjusting to his new spot in the lineup. If it gets worse, then it will be time to worry but for now, there are signs he should be able to turn it around.
