Last of the best? Kyle Schwarber is one of last 2016 Chicago Cubs to maintain stardom

Tina Nguyen goes 1-on-1 with Chicago Cubs catcher Carson Kelly

Carson Kelly has burst onto the scene this year with the Chicago Cubs, batting .350 and smacking eight homers in the first two months of the season. FOX 32's Tina Nguyen caught up with Kelly.

It's never easy playing the ‘What-If’ game in Chicago. It hurts especially on the Northside more recently in the 2025 MLB season.

The Chicago Cubs' 2016 World Series core of Kris Bryant, Ben Zobrist, Javier Baez, Kyle Schwarber, Anthony Rizzo, Jon Lester, Dexter Fowler, Willson Contreras, Addison Russell and Kyle Hendricks delivered one of the greatest sports moments in Chicago history.

Of that core, only one player remains in the MLB as a true star. That's Schwarber, who is in the midst of a league-leading on-base streak, which is the longest in the majors since 2023. 

Schwarber has reached safely in 46 games. The last streak in the MLB that long was Yankees' star Aaron Judge's 45-game on-base streak in 2023. So far in 2025, Schwarber is batting .268 with 14 home runs, 32 RBI and 40 hits.

That ongoing streak makes Schwarber the lone remaining star from the Cubs' World Series-winning team.

By the numbers:

As of May 11, Schwarber has 16 homers, 37 RBIs and 33 runs during his career-long on-base streak. He started the streak on Sept. 23, 2024 against the Chicago Cubs, which has the potential to be a footnote that agonizes Cubs fans and Cubs brass.

"It’s impressive because I see him now as a complete hitter," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Saturday, according the Associated Press. "He uses the entire field. He takes his walks, but obviously has big-time power. He’s been really impressive through this stretch.

Schwarber is also on the brink of tying Odubel Herrera's 2018 team mark for consecutive games getting on base to begin a season.

He doesn't pay much attention to that mark, though. He was adamant about how he's just focused on doing his job.

"To be honest with you, I didn’t even realize anything about it. And then, it started catching on," Schwarber said. "My job at the plate is moving the runners and drive guys in. I want to get to my pitch and I don’t want to try to help them out by trying to go to their pitches and things like that, and really trying to stay stubborn to the zone. I’ll take a walk and if I’m getting hits, great."

The backstory:

Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer was clear about how he feels about the circimstances surrounding Schwarber's departure.

In a January episode of ESPN1000 radio host David Kaplan’s Cubs REKAP podcast, Hoyer said Schwarber should have remained in Chicago.

"The obvious one as I look back was non-tendering Schwarber," Hoyer told Kaplan. "I look back on that one and it just feels like we were right about the player. In the end, we were right. We ran out of time and patience and money. I feel like he should be a Cub."

Schwarber and Cubs reached an impasse after the 2020 season, and the Cubs decided not to tender Schwarber and go through arbitration for a new contract. That contract would most likely have been around $8 million.

After that, the Cubs and Schwarber parted ways. Schwarber, the Cubs' World Series hero who battled back from a torn ACL to bat .412 in the 2016 World Series, shuffled between the Red Sox and Nationals before signing a four-year, $79 million deal with the Phillies.

Now, Schwarber remains one of the lone players from that World Series team that's actively starring in the league.

Former MVP Bryant has struggled with the Rockies, fan-favorite Rizzo remains unsigned after his contract with the Yankees expired, Baez is beginning to rebound after struggling with the Detroit Tigers in 2024 and Contreras hasn't been an All-Star since the 2022 season. Fowler, Lester and Zobrist retired. Russell remains out of the major leagues.

This offseason, Schwarber will be a free agent after his four-year deal with the Phillies expires. 

Any team that wants Schwarber's services might need to pry him away from Philadelphia, who have come to love Schwarber.

"'I don't want him to go anywhere else," Phillies star Bryce Harper said, according to MLB.com, of Schwarber.