Joe Maddon Lauds Kyle Schwarber's Progress At Catcher, Doesn't Plan On Playing Him in LF Yet

(CBS) Cubs rookie catcher Kyle Schwarber's hot bat is making it more likely that he'll be up with the big league club for the remainder of the season, and his work behind the plate is giving the franchise more confidence to use him on a more regular basis.

Despite plenty of questions about whether he could handle being an MLB catcher, Schwarber has impressed the Cubs' management and coaches.

"Catching-wise, he's been really good," manager Joe Maddon said. "He's been really good. Mechanically, he's better defensively. More than that, I like his mental awareness during the game. He knows what he's doing out there. He studies well. He's his own worst critic, so you don't even have to worry about being hyper-critical with him. He is that to himself.

"Everybody looks at his hitting. There's a lot more going on than that. He's doing everything else really, really well."

For now, Schwarber isn't catching Cubs starters Jon Lester or Jake Arrieta. And despite his hot bat -- he's hitting .409 with a 1.151 OPS, three homers and 11 RBIs in 13 games -- Chicago doesn't play on using him in left field.

"That's a lot to throw on somebody's plate," Maddon said of playing him in left field too. "The other thing you have to understand is we intend to play an extra month this year. If you want to wear somebody out, go ahead. But it's going to come back to bite you. I promise you. He's never played that deeply into a year."

Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer expressed a vote of confidence for Schwarber's defensive progress as well.

"It was impressive, no doubt. He obviously came up, he's sort of piping hot right now. He's seeing the ball great. Even his outs are loud right now, and I think he's working really hard at the catching part of it. Pitchers know how hard he works before the game. They see the effort, and I think that goes a long ways with a pretty veteran pitching staff, to know how hard he's going to work. Listen, the catching, the whole game is a work in progress. Certainly the catching is something he continues to work on, but as we've said all along, he sees himself as a catcher. He's said he wants to be seen as a catcher first, and that mentality is going to go a long way with the pitching staff."