The Nationals made another notable move this offseason, this time acquiring left handed slugger Kyle Schwarber in free agency. Schwarber signed a 1 year $10M deal with the Nationals on Saturday. The Nationals had just made another move right before the new year when they landed Josh Bell in a trade with the Pirates. The Nationals plan for the offseason seems clear, add protection for Juan Soto in their lineup.
Schwarber was non tendered by the Chicago Cubs earlier in the offseason and received interest from many other teams. Schwarber will be plugged into the middle of the order for the Nationals and will be added protection in the lineup for Juan Soto. Schwarber will most likely play left field for the Nats replacing Adam Eaton who left for the White Sox early in free agency. Juan Soto will move back to right field which is his natural position. The Nationals are going to look like a different team offensively in 2021 with their three big power bats in the middle of the order in Soto, Bell, and Schwarber. The Nationals as a whole did not have a good 2020 season but offensively they lacked in the power department big time. They only had two players hit more than 10 home runs in the 2020 season (Soto,Turner). The additions of Bell and Schwarber should be very noticeable this season as they could easily hit at least 25 home runs each in a normal 162 game season which is expected to happen this year. The Nationals might not be done adding power bats to this line up as they are still in the running for JT Realmuto who would add more balance to their lineup and could bring the Nationals back to the playoffs and potentially another World Series, watch out for the 2019 champs.
Kyle Schwarber burst onto the scene as a rookie as almost all of the Cubs rookies did in the 2015 season. He blasted 16 home runs and drove in 43 RBI’s in 69 (nice) regular season games. The Cubs would ultimately come up short in the NLCS to the New York Mets who lost the World Series to the Kansas City Royals. The 2016 regular season was a lost season for Schwarber after he tore his ACL two games into the season. Schwarber did recover in time to re-join the Cubs in the World Series that year as the DH for all the road games in the series. Schwarber had 7 hits in the World Series and drove in two runs. The power was on display for Schwarber the next three years as he averaged 31 HR’s during those years before a down 2020 season. Schwarber lost a lot of weight and got in good shape which has led to him being relatively healthy since the ACL surgery. The Nationals are hoping to get the power bat that Schwarber showcased from 2017-2019 and a bounce back year from the left handed slugger. Schwarber is 27 years old and will be looking to earn a much bigger contract next offseason.
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