Slugger Kyle Schwarber Makes Cubs' World Series Roster

If the Cubs' season was any more magical, it would have to enroll at Hogwarts.

Even though he missed almost the entire 2016 regular season because of injury, Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber has been added to the team's World Series roster Tuesday after doctors cleared him to play, according to MLB.com.

And make no mistake, Schwarber's addition isn't meant to be a goodwill gesture by the Cubs. He's expected to be Chicago's designated hitter for games in Cleveland, which means fans could see the team's postseason home run leader at the plate as early as Game 1 on Tuesday night.

Schwarber tore his left knee's ACL and LCL in an outfield collision during the third game of the season April 7. He had surgery later that month and has been rehabbing his knee since then.

On Saturday, Schwarber — an Ohio native who played college baseball at Indiana University — played the first of two games with the Arizona Fall League in Mesa, MLB.com reports. His performance at the plate was enough for Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and manager Joe Maddon to bring him up to the Big Show for, well, the big show, the report added.

The addition of Schwarber means left-handed relief pitcher Rob Zastryzny is off the Cubs' 25-man roster, the report stated. Chicago will use 11 pitchers and 14 position players for the World Series, which is how the team roster stacked up for the National League Division Series.

As a rookie last season, Schwarber went 9-for-27 in the postseason with five home runs. The towering home-run shot he hit in Game 4 of the NLDS landed on the then-new Wrigley Field scoreboard in right field, and it was placed in Plexiglas case.

More via MLB.com

Kyle Schwarber (photo by Minda Haas on Flickr | Wikimedia Commons)

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