The words “Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber” and “bunt” should never appear in the same sentence. Anyone who has ever seen him knows that to be true. This is the same guy who hit a ball all the way on top of the scoreboard at Wrigley Field. You let that guy swing the lumber as hard as he can as often as possible.
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So when you see the phrase “Kyle Schwarber executes the most perfect bunt you’ll ever see,” we expect you to be plenty skeptical. Kyle Schwarber, the behemoth of a leadoff man for the Cubs, laid down a beautiful bunt?!?! No way!
Well, feast your eyes on this:
Holy hell, how did this Kyle Schwarber bunt stay fair all the way? #Cubs pic.twitter.com/yioFB25pqJ
— Sung Min Kim (@sung_minkim) April 18, 2017
There’s no such thing as bunt porn, and honestly, there shouldn’t be, but that’s about the closest you’re going to get to bunt porn.
In fact, let’s see it from another angle:
Kyle Schwarber just executed perhaps the most perfect bunt I have ever seen: pic.twitter.com/JOIwHjuHt1
— Dan Sostek (@dan_sostek) April 18, 2017
Everything about that play was perfect. Schwarber realizes the defense has him shifted and sees his opening. He squares around, and looks surprisingly nature doing so. That’s not easy for a power hitter. He probably doesn’t practice bunting all that often.
And then the bunt itself is put in the most precise spot on the field. It hugs the line, slowly drifting near foul territory. It teases Brewers fielders as it looks like it might get there, and then suddenly it just dings the edge of the third base bag. There was nothing anyone could do to stop it. It was the perfect bunt.
Clik here to view.
Sure, you could argue Schwarber got lucky the ball staying in fair territory. The way the field was raked might have helped him. Or the english on the ball was just right. But you have to give him credit for executing the play and putting himself in that position. It was just great stuff.
It feels weird to say, but hopefully he never has to do it again. The whole point of Schwarber dropping down the bunt here was proving to opposing teams that he’s capable of beating the shift. He showed that here, and now clubs may have to play him straight up again. He’ll be allowed to take normal at-bats, unleash that powerful swing and send some more balls all the way out of Wrigley.
Every once and a while, he’ll have to prove he can beat the shift with some consistency. If Monday’s bunt was any indication, he’ll be more than happy to take the free single.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik