Kyle Schwarber has all eyes on him as he begins his first Double-A baseball campaign with the Tennessee Smokies and with the swath Kris Bryant cut through the minor leagues last season, the bar is set pretty high. If that attention comes with any pressure, the 22-year-old catcher isn’t showing it.
“I go around with a big smile on my face every day,” Schwarber said. “I don’t pay any attention to that stuff. I look at myself like any other baseball player, just like the rest of these other guys out here. We’re all out here trying to have fun, play baseball and win and getting the ultimate goal of making it to major league baseball.”
If Schwarber doesn’t pay any attention to outside expectations, he’s making himself hard to ignore. In his first at-bat in the major league camp spring training this offseason, Schwarber hit a grand slam. That first at-bat just so happened to come on his birthday.
“It was fun,” Schwarber said. “I don’t come up there tying to hit home runs. They just happen. It’ll hopefully bring some attention to the team. It’s not that big of a deal for me. It just happened to be on my birthday. I lived in the moment for a little bit, but now it’s gone.”
Schwarber was the Cubs first-round pick in 2014 and entered 2015 as the No. 3-ranked prospect in their minor league system, behind only Bryant and Triple-A shortstop Addison Russell. With Bryant’s promotion to the Cubs last week, Schwarber moves up to No. 2. Regardless of his early success, Schwarber isn’t taking anything for granted.
“When you take a step up into every league you go to, you see better competition,” Schwarber said. “I saw it in High-A last year. I got a little bit of a head start, being in big league camp and now I go to Double-A, I see some of the same guys. It’s a game of adjustments. You have to make adjustments every time you come to the plate. This is where you’re going to see some major league-type pitching. You’ve got to take advantage of it.”
Schwarber is already dangerous with a bat in his hands at the plate, but he’s still working on the nuances of his position with a glove and facemask behind it.
“I’ve made a ton of strides since last year,” Schwarber said. “I made strides in the last month. I always try to keep learning. I feel better each time I get back there. That’s all I can do now. I need to get to know the pitchers and find out what they like to do in certain situations.”
Schwarber is working with a good, experienced group of starters with the Smokies and fellow top prospect C.J. Edwards in the bullpen.
“He (Schwarber) is a man amongst men as far as swinging the bat,” Smokies manager Buddy Bailey said. “We have a lot of work to do with the catching aspect to get professionalized. His IQ for baseball is pretty high. Just with reps, he’ll figure a lot of things out. He’s a gamer so he’ll find a way to get it done.”
Schwarber is splitting time at catcher with Willson Contreras who’s come out of the gate hot, hitting .364 with one home run and four RBIs through Monday night. Schwarber has made the big hits, with a homer and a triple himself, but trading starts has kept him from getting into any kind of rhythm at the plate. Add to that the lack of opportunities with teams pitching around him and Schwarber is sitting on a four-game hitless streak heading into Tuesday night with only six total at-bats in that stretch.
“I just try to get my pitch when I’m up at the plate,” Schwarber said. “I really hound myself on it. I try to be patient, but also aggressive. If I’m going to get my pitch in the first pitch of the at-bat, I’ve got to take advantage of it. Sometimes I’m only going to get one pitch to hit.”
That’s all he usually needs.
