If any team is equipped to weather the loss of a star position player, it's the Cubs. They've amassed an impressive array of multi-talented stars both in the majors and waiting at the minor-league level, and that depth will be put to the test with the news Friday that Kyle Schwarber will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
Schwarber, who suffered the injury Thursday in an outfield collision with Dexter Fowler, will undergo surgery to repair tears to the ACL and LCL in his left leg. A recovery time for the injury has yet to be announced, but we're probably looking at at least nine months. That might make those Fantasy owners in keeper and Dynasty leagues breathe a little easier -- he could be back for next spring training -- but those of you in season-long leagues are left with a gaping hole in your lineup.
And unlike the Cubs, you probably don't have any easy replacements for Schwarber's bat. So, what should you do?
In-house options
If you're using Schwarber in Fantasy, chances are it was as a catcher -- any player who is eligible at multiple positions including catcher, is obviously most valuable there. The problem is, of course, Schwarber wasn't playing catcher for the Cubs, so his absence won't open up playing time there. Miguel Montero could, of course, help replace some of Schwarber's lost power in your lineup, so certainly consider him as an option.
Schwarber's absence obviously does open up playing time in the Cubs outfield, and it looks like Jorge Soler is the player who will benefit most. Matt Szczur has been the team's primary fourth outfielder, spelling Schwarber in left during the team's first series and serving as the primary defensive replacement. However, it is Soler who is getting the first crack at starting Friday, a sign that Szczur's role is unlikely to change much here.
This is great news for Fantasy, considering the circumstances. Soler didn't quite capture the imagination of Fantasy players the same way Schwarber did, but we're not that far removed from Soler lighting the league on fire in a cup of coffee in 2014, when he clubbed five homers in 24 games and hit .292/.330/.573. Soler struggled in his first crack at a full-time job last season, but a .262/.324/.399 line is hardly an embarrassment for a 23-year-old. Soler's minor-league track record screams, "Future star," and there were still enough positive signs last season to get excited about.
Any discussion of Soler's upside has to start with his raw power. He generates a ton of bat speed, and used that to cruise to a .239 ISO in the minors. That hasn't quite translated in the majors (.162 ISO), but you still saw signs of it here and there a year ago. He finished with 10 homers in 101 games, but the raw power was still there, as he sported a 13.5 HR/FB rate and a 36.3 percent hard-hit average. When he squares up on one, Soler can certainly drive it.
The problem with that is, of course, he has struggled to consistently put his plus raw power into play in games. Just 29.8 percent of his batted balls were hit in the air last season, and 12.2 percent of those were infield flies -- it's hard to get those to leave the yard. He also, of course, struck out in 30 percent of his plate appearances and had a swinging strike rate of 15.4 percent, the seventh-highest mark in baseball.
Soler is an aggressive hitter, which probably means he'll never be great at avoiding strikeouts. However, if he is going to stick in the majors and live up to his awesome potential, that's the first improvement he needs to make. Last season wasn't a great start, but you still almost have to take a chance on him on waivers, if for no other reason than players with this kind of upside don't tend to stick around for long. Someone is going to pick him up; it might as well be you.
If Soler can't manage with the stick or the glove -- which was an issue for him in right field a year ago -- the Cubs are certainly not lacking for options out there. Here are some of the ones to keep an eye on, even if none are really worth an add at this point:
- Big-time power prospect Javier Baez is an infielder by trade, but as Schwarber proves, the Cubs aren't exactly shy about experimenting out there if you prove you can hit. Unfortunately, he is in the minors dealing with an injury, which is the first hurdle of many to getting him to the majors.
- Arismendy Alcantar has struggled in his limited exposure to the majors, but is just 24 and hit .274/.327/.429 in the minors with 29 stolen bases per-150 games and could provide a plus glove in left if they feel the defense has too many holes.
- Of course, if they want to stop messing around with converted infielders and projects in the outfield, they have one other option who will immediately upgrade the defense: prospect Albert Almora. Almora's bat hasn't quite developed the way many expected, especially in the upper minors, but he projects to be a future Gold Glove-caliber defender -- in center field. He doesn't have a s much Fantasy upside as the others listed, but he did hit for consistent averages in the lower minors, so there is some hope he could tap into that eventually.
The Cubs could also call on top catching prospect Willson Contreras, who was pretty impressive at Double-A last season. He's a contact artist, striking out in just 16.9 percent of his trips to the plate over his minor-league career. That hasn't translated to big batting averages overall, but it did in 2015, as he hit .333/.413/.478 in 126 games. The Cubs have moved Contreras around the infield at times, but he has primarily played catcher in recent years, and could be an answer if Montero gets hurt or stumbles, because he is already at Triple-A.
Catcher help from the outside
The biggest reason Schwarber's injury hurts Fantasy owners is because you just can't find his kind of bat at catcher very easily. There's a reason Evan Gattis was being drafted as a top-50 player last season, after all.
If your prospects for contention were built around Schwarber's big bat, you're not going to find anything quite like it on waivers, obviously.But you still need some help. Here are some of the most intriguing catchers out there who are owned in 65 percent or fewer of CBSSports.com leagues:
Wellington Castillo, Diamondbacks (62 percent owned): Castillo woke up after an abysmal start with the Cubs and Mariners last season, ultimately clubbing 17 homers in 80 games. Plays half his games in good hitters park, Chase Field.
Derek Norris, Padres (50 percent owned): Norris has never really lived up to the big hype he had as a prospect, but 15 homers from the position is nothing to sneeze at.
Nick Hundley, Rockies (47 percent owned): The case begins and ends with, "He plays half of his games at Coors." Hundley enjoyed a career year in 2015, thanks to a ridiculous .355/.393/.563 line at home.
Wilson Ramos, Nationals (46 percent owned): Like with Norris, we're past the point of expecting a breakout from Ramos. Still, he hit 27 homers in 166 games between 2013 and 2014, and shouldn't have much trouble improving on the .229 average he floundered to last season.
Miguel Montero, Cubs (42 percent owned): The book on Montero has already been written. He'll hit somewhere around .240, with 15 or so homers.
There aren't many top prospects at the position right now, but here are some of the key names to look at if you want to stash an upside play:
Tom Murphy, Rockies
As with Hundley, if you're going to get at-bats at Coors Field consistently, you get to make the list. Murphy got a taste of the majors last season and acquitted himself well, after hitting .256/.314/.490 between Double-A and Triple-A. The power is the key tool here, and Coors Field could make him a high-end Fantasy catcher if he gets the chance.
Alfaro may not end up sticking behind the plate defensively, but all that matters for our purposes is that he has that "C" next to his name for Fantasy. Sanchez's upside is still considered to be sky-high, as he will flash a rare power and speed combination for a catcher, averaging 17 homers and 12 steals per-150 in the minors. His hit tool is still raw, and he's an aggressive hacker at the plate, striking out in 26.4 percent of his plate appearances, but there is upside worth dreaming on here, especially on a Phillies team that could call him up for good at some point this season.
It feels like we've been waiting on Sanchez for a long time -- he made his first appearance on the Baseball America Top-100 prospect in 2011 -- but he's still just 23. Sanchez's prospect star has taken a hit in recent years, as he has climbed the organization ladder, but 2015 was a nice bounceback season for him, as he made it to Triple-A and hit .295/.357/.625 in 35 games. Sanchez has averaged 24 homers per-150 games in the minors, and could be a nice power source at catcher if he gets a chance.
Like with Alfaro, there are questions about Nottingham's abilities behind the plate, but they tend to go away when he's standing at it with a bat in his hands. He burst onto the prospect map with a massive 2015 campaign that saw him hit .316/.372/.543 as a 20-year-old, and he opened this season at Double-A Biloxi, making his debut just a few days after his 21st birthday. He probably isn't going to get a look until the trade deadline at the earliest no matter what he does down in Mississippi, if only because one of baseball's best backstops is a pretty big hurdle at the big-league level.
