Report: Washington Nationals Have Interest in Outfielder Kyle Schwarber

With Kyle Schwarber a Free Agent, the Washington Post reports that the Nationals are interested.

Richard Wachtel

Dec 11, 2020 - 1 min read

At the beginning of the month, when the Chicago Cubs did not tender some exciting players, there was a lot of talk about one specific player that became a free agent: Kyle Schwarber.

As we have noted here at the Nats Report and other websites, the Washington Nationals have a lot of holes to fill, and one of those holes is a power bat that they can put behind Juan Soto and Trea Turner.

There are a lot of possibilities and big bats out on the now cold free-agent market; however, today, the Washington Post reported that the Nationals are interested in possibly signing Schwarber, "according to two people with knowledge of their plans."

So with that being said, let's take a closer look at Kyle Schwarber and how he could fit within the lineup and the outfield.

Schwarber, in 2019, only missed seven games, and in 2020, he only missed one game even during the shortened season. Schwarber has consistently been on the field and in the Chicago Cubs lineup, which is essential to any baseball team, even at age 27.

In 2019, Schwarber had 38 home runs, 92 RBI's, which netted him a .250 batting average with a .339 OPS. Schwarber has also performed well in every postseason series that the Cubs have appeared. Back during the 2016 postseason when the Cubs won the World Series, Schwarber an impressive batting average of .471 and had an OPS of .500, and a slugging percentage of .471. During that five-game series, he had two RBI's, seven hits in 20 plate appearances.

In the outfield, Schwarber has played very well. In six seasons, Schwarber has only committed six errors, has a fielding percentage of .981, and has a total of 645 putouts and 29 assists from left field. If the Nationals were to sign Schwarber, would that mean that Juan Soto would have to move to right field? Most likely, that would have to be the case.

As the search for players to fill out the Washington Nationals 40 man roster, let's add Kyle Schwarber to the laundry list of players to be on the lookout.