Chicago Cubs’ Highs And Lows Of The First Half

Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Rookies Debut

During the Epstein rebuild, he spent a lot of time acquiring some talented offensive players. This season, the investment made on them is starting to pay dividends.

Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler, Addison Russell and even Kyle Schwarber made their debuts and made their presence be known.

Russell has had his ups and downs offensively, but even though he was moved from shortstop to second base, his defense has been sparkling.

Schwarber made his debut a few weeks ago. He came over just to play DH while the Cubs were playing interleague games at American League cities.

Even though he played only a week, he impressed while in a Cubs uniform.

Yes, it was only six games, but Schwarber looked like he was not scared of big league pitching. He hit .364/.391/.591, with a home run and six RBI.

After a week, Schwarber was sent back to the minors. It will not be long, though, until his name is called again. In fact, depending on Miguel Montero‘s thumb, Schwarber may be back with the Cubs as soon as this week.

The rookie with the biggest impact on the team was definitely Bryant.

After the Cubs controversially sent Bryant down for the first week and a half of the season, they called him right back, and he’s been the Cubs’ biggest hitter behind Anthony Rizzo.

Bryant is hitting .269/.376/.472, with 12 home runs and 51 RBI. He also has 14 doubles, 4 triples and 46 walks. He is in the running for National League Rookie of the Year with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Joc Pederson. Both Pederson and Bryant are also All Stars.

So far, Bryant’s been the one rookie who is having a real impact. We are still waiting for Soler to finally break out like he did last year and Russell has not been hitting consistently. They are key parts of the offense, so they will need to turn it up for the Cubs’ offense to help clinch a playoff spot.

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