Chicago Cubs will stick to plan with Schwarber
Kyle Schwarber was back behind the plate for the Cubs in Sunday's 11-5 loss to the Phillies at Wrigley Field.
Sure enough, Schwarber singled in the first inning, giving the Cubs their first hit after being no-hit by Cole Hamels on Saturday.
Cubs fans can't get enough of the rookie phenom, and many want manager Joe Maddon to play Schwarber more.
Not so fast, says the boss.
"Regardless of what I say, I know they're not going to be ameliorated by anything," Maddon said of those clamoring for Schwarber. "When somebody comes up and they're doing extremely well, everybody wants a taste of that on a daily basis. When he came up, we talked to him about specifically how he was going to play here, and that's what we've been doing."
Maddon then turned the tables.
"I've always thought that why don't you consider the fact that maybe the way we've been playing him bleeds into the fact that he's playing so well, too," he said. "So be careful what you ask for sometimes. He's got two more months plus to play yet here. Just keep him healthy and keep him well and keep his mind and his body good and then he can help you when it really matters, too."
Overall, Maddon said he likes what he sees from the rookie.
"He's incredibly dogged about the whole thing," the manager said. "He really gets after anything he wants to do. He sits with (coach Mike) Borzello when he's not playing. He's wide-eyed. He asks good questions. He's in there, man. He's definitely engaged mentally. That's what he has to be.
"He's gotten better. Physically they've worked through some issues with his receiving and everything. He's doing a really good job."
Schwarber's hit was his first at Wrigley Field. His first 18 hits came on the road. According to STATS, he's the first Cubs player since at least 1914 to get his first 18 hits on the road. He's the first major-leaguer to do that since Steve Scarsone in 1992-93 with the Phillies, Orioles and Giants.
Getting over it:
The Cubs went into Sunday saying they had put Saturday's no-hitter behind them.
"Just because it's a no-hitter doesn't mean it's any different than getting beat any other day," said third baseman Kris Bryant, who flied out to deep center field to end the game. "That's how we look at it - we just got beat that day. I don't think there's any difference between that and any other loss."
Joe Maddon set the tone for not letting the no-hitter affect his players.
"It can be very disappointing," he said. "It's a loss. I don't talk to them after every loss. We didn't get a hit yesterday, but we hit some balls really well. Their guy was really good. I talk about weighting. There's no more weight applied to a no-hitter. It's a loss."
This and that:
Catcher David Ross was used as a reliever in the ninth inning before hitting a homer in the bottom half of the inning. He became the first Cubs reliever with a homer since Carlos Marmol in 2006. … Addison Russell hit a home run for the first time since June 17.