Do the Cubs miss Kyle Schwarber or what?

Kyle Schwarber is a one-tool player who hit .188 with 11 home runs and a .701 OPS in his final season with the Cubs — on paper he's not exactly Lou Brock, Greg Maddux, Phil Esposito or Bobby Layne as one-that-got-away players who started in Chicago.

But yet, his departure is lamented by Cub fans more than anyone from the 2016 team, and for good reason. Schwarber was an extremely likable player with a flair for the dramatic and a knack for coming through in big moments.

In the National League wild-card game against the Pirates at PNC Park in 2015 — a huge moment for a Cubs team that had not been in the playoffs since 2008 and had not won a postseason game since 2003 – it was Schwarber who broke the ice with an RBI single off Gerrit Cole in the first inning, then hit a two-run homer off Cole in the third inning to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead en route to a 4-0 victory. He finished with four homers in that postseason.

In 2016, he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the third game of the season when he collided with Dexter Fowler chasing a fly ball. But he returned for the postseason — starting in only games in Cleveland where he could be the designated hitter — and went 7-for-17 (.412), including a single leading off the 10th inning of Game 7 that started the winning rally that gave the Cubs their first World Series championship since 1908.

Schwarber continued to be a dependable power hitter for the Cubs — 30 home runs in 2017, 26 in 2018 and 38 in 2019. But he slumped in the COVID-19 season of 2020 — hitting .188 with 11 homers and 24 RBIs and 66 strikeouts in 191 at-bats over 59 games of that abbreviated season.

And that cast enough doubt in Schwarber that the Cubs elected to not tender him a contract for 2021 and make him a free agent. Instead of signing Schwarber for around $8 million for 2021, the Cubs signed Joc Pederson for $7 million. Unless you considered a bizarre, 60-game season with no fans in attendance defining, it seemed odd to give up a popular player with credentials like Schwarber for a difference of $1 million to $2 million. It wasn't like Schwarber was in line for a $100 million deal.

It was a move the Cubs officially regret. Though Schwarber is still a one-tool player, his consistent and clutch power hitting has made him one of the most valuable hitters in baseball. With the DH in the NL, Schwarber doesn't have to play the field. And Schwarber is no longer a liability against left-handed pitching. In fact, in 2024 and 2025, Schwarber has hit left-handers (.276/.389/.543/.931) better than right-handers (.231/.356/.527/.882) — even his power numbers are better against left-handers in that span.

For the record, Cubs president Jed Hoyer acknowledged the error, blaming post-COVID season finances and bad timing for the ill-fated decision.

"We drafted him. We felt like this guy's going to bat third for us for a long time and be our leader, and it never clicked," Hoyer said in January of 2025 on the REKAP Podcast with David Kaplan and Gordon Wittenmyer. "It clicked at times, but never for a full season. And we didn't have any money after COVID. I had to cut money and that was the move we had to make.

"It feel like we were right about the player. In the end, we were right. We ran out of time and patience and money. I feel like he should be a Cub. We got the evaluation right. We got the timing wrong."

That seems like a lame deflection for a significant error. If Hoyer "got the evaluation right" and the Chicago Cubs couldn't afford $8 million to $10 million for Kyle Schwarber — even given the circumstances of the 2020 season — that's a Tom Ricketts/Cubs budget issue. And cutting Schwarber to save $8 million to $10 million and then signing Joc Pederson for $7 million undercuts the budget excuse, at least on paper. Hoyer, perhaps under duress, just made a bad decision. That's why it wasn't a good idea to base evaluations or make judgements off the COVID-19 season — which not only was abbreviated, but just a strange, awkward season that, for better or worse, was not defining.

Be that as it may, Schwarber continues to make that decision look bad. On Thursday night, he broke out of an 0-for-20 slump with four home runs and nine RBIs in his first four at-bats against the Braves at Citizens Bank Park to give him an NL-best 49 home runs and 119 RBIs.

(Two of the homers came off left-hander Austin Cox. Schwarber's .969 OPS against left-handers this season (with 19 home runs) would rank third in baseball among all hitters against all pitchers. Not bad for someone who hit .170 with a .322 slugging percentage and .600 OPS vs. left-handers in six seasons with the Cubs.)

That's 212 home runs — and counting — since leaving the Cubs, for those of you scoring at home. For the season, Schwarber is hitting .248 with a .586 slugging percentage and .936 OPS — fourth in all of baseball behind Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh. Schwarber, 32, has hit 180 home runs in the last four seasons, all with the Phillies (46, 47, 38 and 49). He hit 153 home runs in his first seven MLB seasons.

Here's the list of 18 players who have hit 100 or more home runs since leaving the Cubs. It's headed by Rafael Palmeiro (544) and Joe Carter (396) and includes Josh Donaldson (279) and Eric Hinske (137) — Cub draft picks who were traded before they played for the Cubs. Kyle Schwarber is the only player on the list to hit 100 or more home runs with the Cubs and 100 or more home runs after leaving the Cubs.

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