Fantasy Baseball: 6 Hitters With a Lot to Prove in 2018

Kyle Schwarber, OF, Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber has had himself quite an interesting trajectory when looking at his journey to the big leagues. It also led to some unrealistic expectations.

Schwarber was expected to be a huge piece of Chicago's offensive puzzle in 2017. Due to the success he had up to that point (and looking great in the 2016 World Series after a seven-month layoff), it was easy to forget that this was a player with less than two minor league seasons under his belt and just 278 plate appearances in the majors.

He was due for some growing pains, and that was evident in the first half -- through 277 plate appearances, he posted an 82 wRC+ with an unsightly .178/.300/.394 triple slash. The power (13 homers and a .216 ISO) and walks (13.4% walk rate) were still there, but virtually nothing else was. These struggles led the Cubs to send their left-handed slugger to Triple-A in order to clear his head.

Judging by the results, it worked quite well. He finished the year with a 129 wRC+ in the second half, slashing .253/.335/.559 with a .306 ISO (thanks to 17 homers) in 207 plate appearances. The 34.4% strikeout rate during this time wasn't great, but still enjoying a 30-homer campaign despite those early-season struggles is mighty impressive. Watching his fly-ball rate (45.9% to 47.3%) and his hard-hit rate (31.0% to 43.9%) both climb from the first half to the second half doesn't hurt, either.

Which Schwarber will we see in 2018 -- the one with those first-half struggles or the other player we've seen during his short MLB tenure? He's working hard this offseason to make it the latter.