Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber missed virtually the entire 2016 regular season. He came back heroically in the World Series and, thus, we expected an MVP-caliber season in 2017. What we got, instead, was a train wreck of a calamity.
In the first half, the former first-rounder batted .178 with a .694 OPS. Things got so bad, the Cubs demoted him to Triple-A Iowa to try to get his head – and swing – right. Those adjustments seemed to pay off down the stretch. After the All-Star Break, Schwarber slashed .253/.335/.559 – raising his OPS by an even 200 points.