3 Unforgettable Kyle Schwarber Home Runs as a Cub

Schwarber's impressive career got started in Chicago back in 2015, when he stormed into the league to help power the Cubs to a playoff birth. Over the next five seasons, Schwarber would collect 121 home runs in a Cubs uniform, making him one of the best sluggers on the team during that timeframe. 

Here are three Schwarber home runs that Cubs fans will never forget.

1. 2015 Wild Card Game

One of the most thunderous swings a Chicago Cubs hitter has taken in the last two decades came from Schwarber in 2015. The Cubs were facing the Pittsburgh Pirates, who finished a game ahead of Chicago that year, in the National League Wild Card game.

The Pirates had their ace Gerrit Cole on the mound, who would finish fourth in Cy Young award voting that year with 202 strikeouts and a 2.60 ERA in 208 innings. But those stats didn't matter when the then 22-year-old Schwarber came to the plate in the third inning. Schwarber instantly put two more runs on the board and gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead with a 450 ft. moonshot into the Allegheny River. 

2. 2015 NLDS

The Cubs won that Wild Card game to set up a NLDS matchup with the St. Louis Cardinals, where Schwarber's heroics continued. In game 4, the Cubs had a precarious 5-4 lead in the seventh inning. 

That is until Schwarber hit another gargantuan bomb over the scoreboard in right field to give the Cubs a vital insurance run and one of the most iconic moments at Wrigley Field in the 21st century. 

This insurance run gave the Cubs the momentum to defeat their bitter division rivals and fuel the team's first NLCS birth since 2003. Schwarber's home run ball was found on top of the scoreboard, where it was encased in glass. 

3. Career Home Run No. 1

Schwarber made his MLB debut on June 16, 2015 in Cleveland against the Indians. The young sluggers first home run of his career came in the third game of the series while facing Indians' starter Danny Salazar. 

It's only fitting Progressive Field is where things got started for Schwarber since he grew up in Middletown, Ohio and he had plenty of family members in attendance for his debut series in MLB. This is also where the Cubs would later win the 2016 World Series in a chaotic game 7 where Schwarber started the championship-winning rally in the 10th inning.