Theo Epstein has faith in Kyle Schwarber, Cubs despite slow start
Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein promised — and delivered — a World Series to the sports world’s most starving franchise. So fortune teller isn’t far outside of his repertoire.
His longstanding faith in Kyle Schwarber, despite a .187 batting average as Chicago’s leadoff man, was on display Tuesday when he confidently backed the struggling slugger ahead of Chicago’s game against the Reds.
“If anyone wants to sell their Kyle Schwarber stock, we’re buying,” Epstein said via CSN Chicago. “If they want to sell low, we’ll buy low. He’s going to have tremendous production at the end of the year. He’s going to have a lot of big hits to help us win games. It just means there’s a lot of hits out there for the rest of the year. He’s hasn’t gotten on track yet, but we have no doubts that he will.”
Fast forward to the second inning of the Cubs’ 9-5 victory, and Epstein’s intuition proved true, as Schwarber blasted a 462-foot home run off Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo, snapping an 0-for-17 streak. The home run is Schwarber’s longest of his career and the longest homer by a Cubs player this season.
Epstein has stood behind Schwarber since the Cubs took him fourth overall in the 2014 draft. He said the mentality with Schwarber is the same for the team’s World Series-hangover 19-19 start.
“Like I said with Schwarber, the same applies to the team. If people want to sell low on the Cubs, sell their stock, we’ll buy,” he said. “We still really believe in this team. We know how good we can — and will — be when we get it locked in.”