Chicago Cubs: Who will Kyle Schwarber replace on World Series roster?

With Kyle Schwarber most likely earning a roster spot for the World Series, the Chicago Cubs will have to take one man off who was on the NLCS roster. With more than a few options, who exactly will be replaced?

From the NLDS to NLCS, the Cubs made one minor change to the roster. Utility infielder Tommy La Stella was taken off in favor of left handed reliever Rob Zastryzny due to the Dodgers’ struggles against southpaws. As it turned out, Zastryzny did not even play in the six-game series against the LA. Does this mean he is the easy choice to be taken off in favor of Schwarber?

The answer is not so simple, as coach Joe Maddon would ideally like to have an additional left-handed specialist to face off against lefty hitters like Jason Kipnis, Lonnie Chisenhall and Tyler Naquin.

The Cubs were fortunate to have their starting pitchers go deep into most games, with Jon Lester going six and then seven in his starts, and Kyle Hendricks going five and a third and then seven and a third in his two appearances. If Chicago were to have a game where its starter leaves in the first few innings with a drone induced bloody pinky finger or something, Maddon would like to have as many weapons in the pen as possible.

At the same time, the NL Central Division Champs specialize in versatility, and getting rid of a fielder for Schwarber, who is expected to only hit, could be detrimental to the Cubs’ strategy.

Looking at the team, there appears to be 18 players who are 100 percent safe, leaving seven with varying degrees of risk to be replaced. With rosters being announced on Tuesday at 10 a.m., let’s take a look at all of the possible players that were on the CS roster that may be left off the WS team due to the addition of Schwarber.