Cubs Manager Joe Maddon Confirms Kyle Schwarber Could Return For World Series

(CBS) Cubs manager Joe Maddon couldn't quite measure the likelihood, but he admitted Saturday that Kyle Schwarber could return and be on the team's roster for the World Series, should Chicago earn its way there.

"There's a chance," Maddon said Saturday, prior to Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.

The Cubs sent Schwarber to the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League. He will start in Saturday's contest, which coincides with the Cubs-Dodgers game.

Schwarber suffered a torn ACL and LCL in the Cubs' fourth game of the season and was ruled out for the remainder of the year. Cubs officials have been adamant during much of the regular season that Schwarber wouldn't return this season. Saturday was the first that it was acknowledged he could return before 2017.

Even Maddon was caught off guard when the news was offered to him early this week. Schwarber was cleared to hit by team doctors on Monday. He could be available as the designated hitter for games in Cleveland.

"I don't know to what extent we'll be able to use him or not," Maddon said. "But we're trying to explore all the possibilities."

Schwarber's recovery has gone ahead of schedule. The World Series starts Tuesday, with the Indians awaiting the NL champion.

Back in August, Schwarber left the door open ever so slightly to a return when 670 The Score's Mark Grote asked if there was "any chance" of a comeback in 2016.

"There's no comment on that — most likely probably not," Schwarber said. "So we're shooting for spring, but I'm going to push myself as hard as I can to come back as soon as I can. It sounds like it's going to be spring."

Schwarber has played in just 69 career games, making him eligible to play in the AFL. He hit five home runs in the 2015 playoffs, the most by a Cub in one postseason.

The Cubs own a 3-2 lead in the NLCS look to close out the series on Saturday at Wrigley Field when they host Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers. If they advance on, there could be a big boost waiting for them in the form of Schwarber.

"It's up for us to get to the next moment," said Maddon, "to see if it can work out for us."