Kyle Schwarber's powerful bat has been absent from the Chicago Cubs lineup since the third game of the 2016 season, when the outfielder suffered a torn ACL and LCL. But if the Cubs reach the World Series, there's a chance he could re-enter the lineup as a designated hitter.
Continue for updates.
Epstein Comments on Schwarber's Status
Saturday, Oct. 22
Before Game 6 of the National League Championship Series on Saturday, Cubs president Theo Epstein spoke with Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com about Schwarber's possible return if his team beats the Los Angeles Dodgers for the pennant.
"He's made it to a best-case scenario after six months," he said. "We're not ruling anything in; we're not ruling anything out. We're not getting ahead of ourselves. We have a lot of work here before this becomes pertinent."
Schwarber has been cleared by doctors to hit and is set to join the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League, per Rogers. According to Bleacher Report's Scott Miller, he will play Saturday night.
The second-year outfielder suffered the injury when he collided with teammate Dexter Fowler while pursuing a fly ball during an April 7 game against the Arizona Diamondbacks:
Schwarber underwent surgery April 19 and missed the remainder of the regular season.
But Epstein suggested the outfielder is on the cusp of making an unlikely return if the Cubs win one more game thanks to his hard work during rehabilitation, per Rogers:
It was a pleasant surprise. We got news that was better than expected. ...
He asked for a chance to do this. With as hard as Kyle has worked and as much as this means to him -- and potentially us -- we wanted to give him that opportunity. ...
We're going to evaluate him day to day from a medical standpoint and a baseball standpoint.
The speculation will be for naught, though, if the Cubs can't win the NLCS. With a 3-2 lead, the team—which hasn't won the World Series since 1908 or even been to the Fall Classic since 1945—will face Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw in Game 6, which won't be an easy task.
But if the Cubs make it to the World Series, they could add a bat that hit 16 home runs with 43 RBI in just 69 games last season.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
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