Maddon expects short demotion for scuffling Schwarber
Joe Maddon doesn't know how long Kyle Schwarber will need in Iowa to rediscover his stroke, but the Chicago Cubs manager expects the newly demoted 24-year-old to be back in the big leagues shortly.
"There is no actual timetable," Maddon told ESPN's Jesse Rogers. "I don't anticipate it to be long. We'll see how it plays out."
Installed as the Cubs' leadoff hitter out of the gate following his triumphant finish to the 2016 campaign - he came back from ostensibly season-ending knee surgery to help his team win its first World Series in more than a century - Schwarber floundered, hitting just .182/.305/.351 through his first 38 games this year. In late May, Maddon bumped him down in the order, but Schwarber continued to struggle, going just 11-for-74 (.149) over his last 26 contests, hitting mostly toward the bottom of the lineup.
So, on Thursday, the Cubs decided to option Schwarber - who managed an .842 OPS with 16 homers in 69 games as a rookie in 2015 - to Triple-A to give him a "mental break," according to general manager Jed Hoyer.
"We reached a point recently where the fundamental side, it was really tough," added Cubs president Theo Epstein. “You reach a point where you’re just trying to survive.
“It’s not atypical for players to change their environment to rediscover who they are.”
Epstein also made clear what he'd like to see from Schwarber, who has 12 homers (.207 ISO) in 64 games in 2017, when he rejoins the Cubs.
"Come back as a hitter, not just as a slugger," Epstein said.