In re Nico coming up this year for more than a cup of coffee in September, y'all will recall that, in 2015, Schwarber came up for one 6-game road trip against AL teams. There had been a lot of talk about Kyle, people wondering when he would come up. He was brought up for that road trip solely because the Cubs wanted someone who could DH, and the bullpen was dealing with a guy on the DL. It made sense to get Schwarbs a quick look at pitching in The Show.
But, when the press asked Joe if there was any way in the world Schwarber would stay with the big league club after that quick look, he stated very definitely "There is no way. This was a special scheduling thing. He will not be promoted to the major league club permanently this season, period."
A month later, he was promoted to the big league club. His performance was just too strong to ignore.
So, if for some reason Nico comes up, even for a very short period to cover someone who goes on the DL, he can always play himself onto the lineup if given a chance. Schwarbs is a good case in point of how it can be done.
-Doug