Boston Red Sox’s Kyle Schwarber: ‘Last year, there’s no excuse for that. I underperformed in that 60 games. And I wanted to be better’

Red Sox's Kyle Schwarber during the first inning Monday. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Chicago Cubs non-tendered Kyle Schwarber last December, letting him become a free agent.

He has responded with a monster season. The 28-year-old left-handed hitter went 2-for-5 with a run in the Red Sox’s 4-0 win over the Rays here at Tropicana Field on Thursday. He’s batting .269 with a .366 on-base percentage, .568 slugging percentage, .934 OPS, 28 home runs, 13 doubles, 54 runs and 58 RBIs in 89 games (377 plate appearances).

“I think learning is kind of the biggest thing,” Schwarber told MassLive.com earlier this week. “There was a 60-game sprint last year. And I didn’t even start out the hottest either this year. I think having the benefit of a 162-game season, it allows you to make those adjustments that you need to make throughout the course of the season, especially early on when you could be grinding through some things, whatever it is. But also, last year, there’s no excuse for that. I underperformed in that 60 games. And I wanted to be better.”

Schwarber has put himself in position to receive a multi-year contract this coming offseason after signing last winter with the Nationals for one year, $10 million, including an $11.5 million mutual option for 2022.

Boston acquired Schwarber for pitching prospect Aldo Ramirez on July 29. He is expected to decline his 2022 option. He’ll receive a lot more money in free agency and the Red Sox should make a run at re-signing him this winter.

“Obviously we will address all those things at the appropriate time but he’s a player we’ve liked even before acquiring him,” chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said. “We’ve liked him and admired him for a long time. Everything he’s done since coming here has only strengthened that impression.”

It’s difficult to fathom how the big-market Cubs non-tendered Schwarber who controls the strike zone so well and has plus power.

But he batted just .188 with a .308 on-base percentage, .393 slugging percentage, .701 OPS, 11 homers and six doubles in 59 games (224 plate appearances) during the shortened 2020 season.

“It is what it is,” Schwarber said about his down year and getting non-tendered. “But I’m happy to be in the position where I’m on a team right now that’s chasing down the playoffs. I’ve been a guy who wants to win. I’ve been a part of a lot of winning seasons in the big leagues. Five out of six with the Cubs in terms of playoff-wise. I was kind of spoiled early on in my career.”

Schwarber started out slow this season as he mentioned. He slashed .181/.253/.319/.573 in his first 19 games. He then posted a 1.034 OPS with 23 homers over his next 53 games.

He knew he had something to prove this year.

“I think it was more for myself,” Schwarber said. “I knew I was a better player than I was in a 60-game season. And I wanted to obviously just go out there and have that one year and show everyone what kind of player I am. I was fortunate to be on Washington where we were going out there, we were trying to win. And things just didn’t work out. And now to be traded over here, and to be in a winning position, and to be around a bunch of winners, it just brings the best out in people.”

Schwarber remembers a conversation he had with Chris Denorfia in 2015. At that point, Schwarber was a rookie entering his first postseason. Denorfia, who made his major league debut in 2005, was receiving his first opportunity to play in the postseason.

Schwarber learned he was lucky to be exposed to winning so early in his career.

“In 2015, I don’t know how many years he had in the league by then but that was his first playoff appearance and he’s been in the league,” Schwarber said. “So just to be able to focus on the winning-aspect is huge for me. And I think that is the thing that brings the best out of a lot of players. And I love that. And that’s what I’m about. I just want to go out there, I just want to win. I want to compete. I want to help the team win. And if I live by that motto, I think all the other stuff will just kind of take care of itself.”

Schwarber’s ability to recognize strikes and balls (and not swing at pitches outside of the strike zone) has showed during his brief time with Boston. He has walked in 20.3% of his 74 plate appearances.

He’s in the 88th percentile in chase rate (21%). He’s in the 96th percentile in expected weighted on-base average (.403).

He has a higher on-base percentage vs. lefties (.387) than he does righties (.357). But his slugging percentage is 236 points higher against right-handers.

“I think I’ve always had it in my game,” he said about his ability to know the strike zone. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s developed, especially at the big league level where the pitching is the best in the world. Especially in today’s game where the pitching is at an all-time high in terms of stuff-wise, the spin-rate stuff, things like that. I just think the biggest thing is just being able to have your plan of attack and go from there.

“For young hitters — especially like the high school level and things like that — I think the biggest thing is to challenge themselves to go up there with that plan,” Schwarber added. “Trust me, it gets harder at every level as you go. And I think the more you can work on it at a younger age, it can only help the more you keep progressing throughout high school, college, minor leagues.”

Schwarber ranks in the 98th percentile in max exit velocity (116.6 mph) and barrel percentage (18.3%). He ranks in the 97th percentile in expected slugging percentage (.576) and 91st percentile in average exit velocity (92.2 mph).

“He’s done nothing but impress since he showed up,” Bloom said. “He’s every bit of the person that we knew he was. I think that started to influence our group even before he took the field. Obviously on the field he’s been incredibly productive and really everything we could have hoped for and then some.”

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