MESA, Ariz. — Several months before the Cubs made him the No. 4 overall pick in last year’s draft, Kyle Schwarber was asked to meet team president Theo Epstein and top scouting/player development executive Jason McLeod during a trip to the Phoenix area with his Indiana University baseball team.
Expecting some nerves from a kid, the big-shot Cubs execs quickly realized there was nothing about them that was going to intimidate Schwarber.
If anything, they were the ones looking for cover after questioning Schwarber’s catching skills.
‘‘The question was something like did he think he could do it,’’ McLeod recounted during Cubs Convention. ‘‘He just stone-faced looks at both of us, and — I won’t use his exact words — but basically said, ‘You know that really ticks me off when people say that I can’t [expletive] catch.’
‘‘Right there, I was, like, ‘This is our guy.’ ”
Reminded of the story this week, Schwarber said, ‘‘That’s the clean version. That’s something I’m really passionate about.’’
And it’s the most common thing questioned and criticized by evaluators when talking about the left-handed slugger.
‘‘When people say I can’t do something, I take that to heart, and I’m going to go out there and prove people wrong,’’ he said. ‘‘I think I can do it. I know I’m a good enough athlete to do it. And being around guys like [veterans Miguel Montero and David Ross], it can definitely be beneficial.’’
He’s a good enough athlete that he turned a dropped fly ball into a three-base error in a recent game, defying the first-glance impression his stocky 6-foot frame gives and showing off the ability that got him football offers to play linebacker from Big East, Mid-American Conference and Big Ten schools.
‘‘Put a clock on him,’’ manager Joe Maddon said. ‘‘He runs better than people think.’’
But it’s the whole catching thing that’s going to draw the most scrutiny as he advances through the system this year and into next. Nobody thinks twice about the power, poise and hitting ability that he flashed at three minor-league stops last summer (and early this spring).
‘‘He’s got some things to learn,’’ said first-year Cubs coach and longtime big-league catcher Henry Blanco. ‘‘But this kid works hard.’’
Schwarber, 22, has caught Maddon’s attention in just a few weeks at camp, in large part because of a determined, high-energy attitude — but in no small part because of a set of catching skills.
‘‘He definitely has the will. The want-to is unbelievable,’’ said Maddon, a former minor-league catcher. ‘‘Watching him catch, he sees the ball pretty well, better than I’d anticipated. His movement, blocking, it’s good. I think he was just in need of some more information on how to do this.
‘‘He’s the kind of guy that it’s hard to say would never be able to do something, because if you were to say that to him, it’d probably be the best way to motivate him.’’
Schwarber did a crash course in catching with coordinator Tim Cossins over the winter. He’s continued with advanced courses around the likes of Ross and Montero.
‘‘I’m learning a ton. It’s an everyday thing for me,’’ he said.
It’s no accident the Cubs signed one catcher (Ross) to a two-year deal and acquired the other (Montero) with three years left on his deal.
If Schwarber can keep up the pace over the next two seasons of the work he has done over the last six months, he could become the heir to the starting job about the time the Cubs expect to hit a competitive high in their multi-year building process.
If his bat continues to be what it looks like now, his ability to be an impact offensive player at that position makes his value skyrocket — no matter what anybody else might say.
Asked if there was ever something he failed to do after somebody told him he couldn’t do it, Schwarber took a second to politely spit into a cup, then turned around and said simply, earnestly, ‘‘No.’’
Said Maddon: ‘‘Yes, I do believe he’s a big-league catcher.’’
Email: gwittenmyer@suntimes.com
Twitter: @GDubCub
