Kyle will bat – at a pinch
KYLE Schwarber, a Chicago Cubs hero after recovering from a left knee injury in April to play in the World Series, will be reduced to a pinch-hitter for the next three games.
The Cubs, trying to end America’s longest sports title drought by winning their first crown since 1908, are level 1-1 with Cleveland as Major League Baseball’s best-of-seven championship showdown shifts to Chicago for three games starting today at iconic century-old Wrigley Field.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Schwarber said. “It’s the World Series at Wrigley Field. It’s going to be electric. It’s going to be a fun atmosphere. I’ll definitely soak it in.”
Game three will match Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks, 1-1 with a 1.65 earnedrun average in the playoffs, against Indians right-hander Josh Tomlin, who has won both his playoff starts.
After a rehabilitation that put him back into the line-up two months ahead of the most optimistic prediction, Schwarber went 3-for-7 and drove in two runs over two games in Cleveland as the Cubs’ designated hitter. But games in Chicago under National League rules force pitchers to bat with no designated hitter.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon had hoped Schwarber might be able to play as an outfielder, but the same doctors who approved his batting and base running nixed that possibility this week, leaving Schwarber to wait on the bench for a strategic moment to make a plate appearance.
“Kyle has not been medically cleared to play the field, so he will not be in the line-up the next three games,” Cubs baseball operations president Theo Epstein said.
“But we do look forward to him impacting the game as a pinch-hitter.
“We’re all wrapped up in seeing how well Kyle swung the bat and the stage we’re on. There is the possibility of us getting carried away and throwing caution to the wind. That’s why you have to consult the doctors and follow their professional judgment.”
Physicians were too worried about greater damage to Schwarber’s knee from having to chase down batted balls.
Schwarber said he was not disappointed to be benched for the first World Series games in Wrigley Field since 1945.
“Deep down in my heart I really wanted to, but there’s obviously the doubts of the injury. It was a huge injury,” Schwarber said.
“It was a longshot at the most. I want to be there for my teammates and everything but facts are facts. I just can’t physically do it.”
Schwarber, a rookie last season, spent only four days taking pitches in workouts at Arizona before being activated for the World Series on barely a week’s notice.