The Cubs have designated outfielder Matt Szczur for assignment, Carrie Muskat of MLB.com was among those to report (on Twitter). In a corresponding move, the club has recalled left-hander Rob Zastryzny from Triple-A Iowa.
The out-of-options Szczur won an Opening Day roster spot with the reigning World Series champion Cubs during spring training, but he got off to a subpar start in limited action. In 23 plate appearances this season, the 27-year-old has batted .211/.273/.263 for a team that has plenty of other outfield options in Jason Heyward, Kyle Schwarber, Ben Zobrist, Jon Jay and Albert Almora Jr..
While Szczur hasn’t been much of an offensive threat since making his major league debut in 2014, he was a was a respectable reserve for the Cubs last year. The right-handed-hitter posted a .259/.312/.400 line in 200 PAs while logging time at all three outfield positions. A fifth-round pick in 2010, Szczur has spent his entire career with the Cubs thus far, but his tenure with the organization is now in jeopardy of ending.
Braves will surely show interest
Braves, WhiteSox, Orioles, plus a fee more teams
He’s been coming on this week too
Interest… in terms of willing to pay the waiver fee?
Interest…. in terms of offering some actual talent for him?
Interest… in terms of being willing to pay well over the waiver claim price for him.
What level of interest?
Probably the lowest level. I highly doubt any team is going to be parting with any of their own talent for a reserve outfielder
I’m good with this answer. Though I’m baffled why fans would be so all over a guy not worth investing more in than the waiver claim fee.
He won’t sign a minor league deal unless it’s IOWA Cubs
Saw this one coming. Jon Jay seemed to spell the end for Szczur in spring training. I hope he finds a good home with a major league team.
About Time!
Schwarber is the one that should be sent down. Awful Avg., awful OBP., awful SLG., and we all know what kind of fielder he is. Ugh
But you can’t! He’s the next Babe Ruth!
schwarbar was either going to be something special or another adam dunn. he has to adjust because its obvious the league made adjustments
By the end of the season, Kyle will have a .860 OPS. He’s the third best hitter on the team.
No. ‘Genius” Joe Maddon should just put Kyle Schwarber in a proper spot in the batting order, preferably at #5 behind cleanup hitter Kris Bryant.
Ben Zobrist should not be batting cleanup when he starts. He needs to be moved to his prototypical #2 slot, flip-flopping with Bryant.
Jason Heyward would make for a far better choice in the leadoff role than Schwarber who has likely never led-off in his entire amateur and professional career until Maddon thought it was a good idea that he do so. The CF platoon of Jon Jay and Albert Almora might also work in the #1 slot.
The only Cub who is currently in his correct spot in the lineup is #3 hitter Anthony Rizzo.
In addition, enough with the pitcher hitting 8th. Also, free-swinging Javier Baez should never bat in front of the pitcher. Maddon finally got Baez out of that “normal” spot this season earlier in the week and he had his two best offensive games of the season. Maddon then decided to put Baez back in front of the pitcher and he went hitless in his very next game.
Schwarber actually led off often here where I live, in Bloomington. The IU manager never stole bases at all, and bunted like 12 times a game (like most college managers do)
So the Cubs drafted Schwarber in the 1st round (4th) of the 2014 MLB June Amateur Draft because of his ability to lead off ball games and not necessarily with the hope that he might be the second coming of Babe Ruth. It’s no wonder the front office made little effort to retain Dexter Fowler this past offseason. They already had his heir apparent on the roster! lol
Aaron he never batted leadoff at IU,he was the cleanup.
“In his junior season at Indiana in 2014, Schwarber was batted leadoff for 10 straight games and went 14-for-40 with eight walks.”
cincinnati.com/story/sports/high-school/ohio-high-…
I live in Bloomington and work at IU and watched Schwarber bat leadoff several times.
“Most sabermetric analyses of batting order find that the most optimal batting order is worth between five and 15 runs over a typical batting order.” roughly 1 win.
fangraphs.com/blogs/how-significant-is-batting-ord…
Yeah, I do subscribe to fangraphs. Perhaps I should cancel my subscription in protest or just based on personal principles of what a lineup should be from watching baseball religiously since the early 1960’s.
No doubt a sabermetric egg-head or two in the Cubs front office also thought that batting Schwarber lead-off was a great idea.
Versus the ol timey batting lineups that had your best hitters hitting with two outs in the first inning or leading off the second with obviously no-one on base? C’mon. You assuming low percentage situations are going to happen in the first inning for any old time line up to mean anything. If you want your best offense your best hitters need to be at bat the most times in a game. It’s that simple. Stack the front of the line up with the guys you know can hit. If you are already quitting on schwarber that’s your issue but the mathematical concept is sound. You just might have a hard time adjusting.
Yes, Kyle and Bryzzo are the three best hitters with Zobrist not too far behind. Joe is correct to bat them in the first four spots of the lineup.
Well, it’s not some “egg-head” idea, it’s pretty simple: you should bat your best hitters more. Each lineup slot bats 11% more than the next one. Unless you have prime Rickey Henderson – walks and speed and power – then the best option is just to find the guys who get on base. Runs are, quite obviously, the goal. The Cubs don’t have a speed and walks guy. So the walks should probably be the driver of lineup construction. And batting Schwarber leadoff makes sense strategically, in terms of double-switches.
You are all suggesting that Kyle Schwarber is one of the Cubs best 3 hitters. Fact, is he is still very much a work in progress as a MLB player, including offensively. No sabermetric analysis would or should suggest that a hitter with 40+ HR potential and slow foot speed is an ideal leadoff candidate. OBP should be the primary metric followed by foot speed and base running ability.
The Cubs have plenty of other options who can match or exceed Schwarber’s OBP numbers and most will easily surpass his ability on the base paths. So again, tell me that some combination of Jason Heyward and Jon Jay leading off is a worse option than Schwarber. Both are excellent base runners with Heyward probably the Cubs best.
Also tell us naysayers that Ben Zobrist wouldn’t make for an excellent #2 batter as a switch-hitter who possesses great plate patience, has a high contact rate and an ability to hit to all fields. He would afford a good base runner in the leadoff spot an opportunity to steal a base and would then have the ability to move him further along regardless of the count. He’s an excellent hit and run option, was one of the few MLB hitters who had more walks than SO’s last season and is not afraid to hit with two strikes.
No doubt, both Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant are also high OBP players as well as with high SLG numbers. Arguably, Schwarber has the the highest ceiling for most HR’s on the Cubs with his raw power. Explain to me how that potential wouldn’t translate into more RBI’s batting 5th behind 4 high OBP hitters than leading off ahead of the Cubs #8 and #9 hitters, one of whom would be the pitcher. In addition, the leadoff hitter is always guaranteed at least one PA per game. Schwarber also wouldn’t have the impact of clogging the bases hitting 5th that he might have leading off. It seems Schwarber’s power might also be put to better use hitting further down in the order with a higher probability for 2-run HR’s, 3-run bombs or a grand-slam versus the likelihood of more solo shots batting in the #1 slot.
Btw-Check Heyward’s career numbers offensively to those of Dexter Fowler and tell me he couldn’t provide the Cubs with a comparable leadoff hitter. Also check his most recent numbers in his walk year with the Cardinals in 2015 and compare them to Fowler’s who was the Cubs leadoff man that same season. Heyward equalled or bettered Fowler, was the more efficient base stealer and had fewer SO’s to boot! Also, when comparing those career offensive numbers keep in mind that Fowler accumulated those in the hitter-friendly home parks of the Rockies and Astros while Heyward was in neutral or pitcher-friendly parks in Atlanta and St. Louis.
It’s better to maximize Kyle’s PAs as lead off man or #2 because he’s going to be replaced defensively later in the game to help protect leads. If Kyle can hit.250 (a very reasonable possibility), his OBP will be around .370 – higher than Heyward or Jay usually average.
Another lineup possibility:
Zobrist
Kyle
Bryant
Rizzo
They are the four best hitters. They should get the most PAs.
Lineup location shouldn’t effect average/obp. He should be able to have mostly the same approach in any spot, just would have an rbi/etc effect.
I’m also guessing that the NCAA employs the DH and pitchers aren’t required to bat in games. This would be like the A.L. where a manager could make a better case for not having a prototypical leadoff hitter.
Unfortunately, the Cubs are in the N.L. and the result was Maddon reverting to his 2015 notion of batting the pitcher almost exclusively in the #8 slot. He altered his thinking last season when the Cubs were World Series champs but decided to revisit the pitcher hitting 8th to “accommodate” Schwarber hitting first this season.
Still in all, the pitcher is still preceding Schwarber, albeit by two spots instead of one and the fact remains that the slugger will always bat at least once every game with nobody on base.
The NCAA does use the DH; the same rules as in MLB, which requires the DH to bat for the pitcher, although there are a handful of good hitting pitchers in the college ranks
It’s a good idea to bat Kyle first or second because it’s easier to flip flop the pitcher into his spot when he comes out for a defensive replacement.
Kyle may do better in the second spot as he would probably hit better if the lead off hitter reaches first base opening a hole to hit through.
I think Zobrist or Jay would be better choices for lead off than Heyward. Jason is much improved this year but I Iike him batting lower in the order.
It’s funny how you mock a well-respected manager, and I might add, a World Series Champion manager, yet don’t even know the basics of what you’re talking about.
This is a common theme I see with the minority of @ $ S clowns that mock Maddon. They aren’t true baseball people, and are usually only the casual Saturday and Sunday fans.
Anyone thats played the game realizes the guy knows what he’s doing.
To clarify the errors of your post, Schawarber led off in college, and Heyward wants no part of batting leading. Also, Maddon is making these unconventional batting orders because analytics dictate that this is where they’re USUALLY more productive. Unfortunately, Schwarber and Zobrist are just in a slump.
I’m sure you’d have this team winning 80% of their games, however. Lol. ((Eye role))
We’ll never know, but I am convinced that any competent manager would win with a Cubs roster that most believe is the best in MLB. I also believe that most of those managers would have won a World Series last year and given Cub fans less potential for a heart attack with more sound strategic moves in the postseason.
Personally, I think that Joe Maddon is overrated as a manager and has an ego that requires him to be the star of a team that has plenty of worthier candidates among it’s players. As a fan of all Chicago teams I pray that Maddon would develop into a leader like Phil Jackson and oversee numerous championships but fear the Cubs have an egotist on a par with Ozzie Guillen and Mike Ditka who failed to repeat after winning a single title. As far as I’m concerned, the signs are all pointing in the wrong direction with Maddon. Rather than just be a competent manager of a gifted roster he seems bent on trying to somehow reinvent the great game of MLB in the process. I myself embrace sabermetrics as a useful tool or I wouldn’t subscribe to sites like fangraphs. But it’s just one of many tools and I certainly wouldn’t manage the Cubs like they were some sort of fantasy baseball team.
I only wished that former Cub catcher, Northwestern alumni and native Illinoisan Joe Girardi had accepted the managing position back in 2012. But he chose to remain in NY and remain the Yankees manager primarily due to family concerns which we should all respect.
I also believe that Rick Renteria was deserving and capable of developing and managing a perennial winner on the North Side of Chicago before he was fired in a classless move by the Cubs front office. It was equally classless for Maddon to pursue the job of a peer who was still under contract with the team. I don’t fault Maddon for opting out of his deal with the Rays. It was his contractual right to do so. But he didn’t have to lobby for the job of a fellow manager. He could have waited one more season if he had the Cubs as his dream job or just pursued another, perhaps as Dodgers manager where his former Tampa Bay boss Andrew Friedman became their president of baseball operations.
Bottom line: The Cubs loss is the White Sox gain with regards to Renteria. I also hope that Maddon will finally come to his senses, shed some stubbornness and manage the team more efficiently and proficiently. A monkey should win 90 games with such a gifted roster and a great manager ought to win much more, especially with a team that is more talented, youthful and healthier than any other in MLB.
Agree completely. I wanted to trade him last year for Chapman. I know he’s having a terrible start. That’s not the main reason. It’s because he. Reds to be able to DH
Baseball slumps happen all the time. It has nothing to do with him needing to be a DH.
Glad your not the one making cub decisions. When he finishes with 35-40 bombs and 100 RBI you should be glad as well. Schwarber .412 in World Series and why would Yankees trade when he was injured?
LOL
Just not leading off
Would love to see Matt S in an Oriole Uniform!!!
Would you want the Orioles to give up something of more value than $25,000 to get him?
Braves, pick him up and release emilo Trashifacio.
The problem is that bonifacio can play the infield and the braves employ a tiny bench.
Not sure when the last team he played infield was, but we haven’t played him there in a long time. Jace is the guy on our bench that will be used as a utility, bonifaco is more of a 4th outfielder.
He would help any major league team
And it’s looking like Brett Anderson will be next!
I hope so. He’s garbage.
Theo should have went to the mound and DFA’d him on the spot.
Thank you for tonight Brett, from all Dodger fans!
Thank you for outbidding us on maeda from all Cub fans!
DL-bound. Likely to be replaced by Eddie Butler.
Cub nation hope so—bye Brett
Braves fans stop it already!
No surprise here. The move was also a by-product of Joe Maddon’s insistence on micro-managing his pitching staff as well as his ridiculously dysfunctional batting order.
This article is about Szczur, yet Errant Suppozenik and other Pale Hoser fans are compelled to throw garbage at Maddon and Theo any chance they get.
In contrast, the South Side has had this recent cast of leaders to boast about: Ozzie, Robin, Kenny Williams, and Hack Horrorson. Love that downward-facing arrow logo…. so symbolic.
Not many people thought Szczur had a chance to make it to the bigs, but has been a useful player and a good story to follow. Hope he finds a role with a decent team.
Not often you see four Zs in one player-for-player roster shuffle.
Ha-ha, and with only four vowels in 15 letters, two of which are y’s!. This would be a tough get on “Wheel of Fortune”. lol
Szczur really has no value. He can’t hit and he’s just okay in the outfield. Most teams have a szczur in their minor league system.
If not traded, Matt will be claimed.
Teams _should_ have guys like Szczur in their pipeline.
That so many fans are intrigued by Szczur leads me to believe that more teams don’t have a 0.00-0.2 WAR outfielder that can play all three OF spots with some adequacy in their pipeline.
Wouldn’t the Giants be the most desperate team for an OF like him? Hell, they gave Drew Stubbs a shot. That’s desperation.
Szczur’s spot was cost by starting pitchers not giving enough innings. Pure and simple.
Best offer, in relief help or prospect, gets him.
Submit your best offer to the Cubs front office by about Tuesday. He won’t hit waivers. He will require an actual functioning player to acquire him.
Which guy in your system should your GM offer to get him?
You can have Bastardo. Don’t even need Szczur back for him.
LOL! his only positive WAR was 0.4 last year. Best OPS was a 91. .259/312 last year in a sample size. He may be a good person but not a good baseball player….So to say you will get a good return is pure stupidity.
A good return on Szczur is a guy that improves the Cubs pipeline. Or a guy that might be productive in the bullpen.
The Cubs received a very good return on Tony Campana and Rafael Lopez, who they had DFA’d. The return for Damien Magnifico was rather good, for instance.
The Cubs have no use for “mediocre utility infielder in A-Ball”.
I’m amused by fans who are interested in acquiring a DFA’d player, but have no concept of three guys in their pipeline they’d be willing to trade.
Sad to see him more than likely go to another team, but with Jay and Almora playing so well, he would never ever see the field.
It’s just for the best. He is probably good enough to start for three quarters of the other teams.
He’s not that good. And I’m definitely a Szczur guy.
I hope someone offers a reasonable return for him.
He is.
Sorry but he would not start for 3/4 of the teams in the league….lol….he might make 1/2 of the teams roster as the 5th OF….and maybe 1/4 as the 4th OF….but he isn’t starting for 3/4 of the teams….good guy and all but so is Chase Utley….u need talent on the team not a good guy….just saying….
Given a chance to play everyday, believe me, you’d eat those words.
I can see a Sczur to Atlanta for Kyle Kinmann deal. Kinmann is a solid AA relief prospect but the Braves are so loaded that he’s probably expendable
Best post here so far. Acknowledges a level of value. No snark. Even comes up with a reasonable return on the investment.
MLBTRADERUMORS would be a better site with more posts like this.