CHICAGO -- The Cubs haven't ruled out a possible return from injured slugger Kyle Schwarber for the World Series.

Schwarber, who tore two ligaments in his left knee in just the third game of the regular season, has been cleared by doctors to hit. He joined the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League on Saturday.

"It was a pleasant surprise," Cubs president Theo Epstein said before Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, in which the Cubs beat the Dodgers 5-0 to advance to the World Series. "We got news that was better than expected."

After Schwarber received clearance from his doctor in Dallas on Monday, the outfielder immediately called Epstein to plead his case.

"He asked for a chance to do this," Epstein said. "With as hard as Kyle has worked and as much as this means to him -- and potentially us -- we wanted to give him that opportunity."

The team hopes Schwarber will be available to be its designated hitter for World Series games in Cleveland. The Indians will host Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday.

"We're going to evaluate him day to day from a medical standpoint and a baseball standpoint," Epstein said.

Kyle Schwarber has batted .333 (9-for-27) with five home runs and eight RBIs in nine postseason games for the Cubs. Jerry Lai/USA TODAY Sports

Schwarber flew from Dallas to Los Angeles on Monday afternoon and hit in the batting cage. He then took batting practice with the Cubs at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday. By Thursday, he was taking batting practice at the team's spring facility in Mesa, Arizona.

He hit second in the order for Mesa in Saturday night's Arizona Fall League game, going 0 for 3 with a walk as the designated hitter. He watched the Cubs face the Dodgers on a tablet in the dugout between at-bats.

"I felt like I put in two good at-bats," Schwarber said. "The first two I chased a little bit, a little antsy up at the plate as expected. But once it started getting back to being normal baseball again, it started slowing down."

There were no games in the Arizona Fall League on Sunday, and a spokesman for the Cubs said it was a scheduled off day for Schwarber. There was no word on the plan for the slugger for Mesa's game against the Surprise Saguaros on Monday afternoon.

Epstein said Schwarber's only medical concern at the moment is "blisters" after taking so much batting practice. He'll wear a knee brace during games.

"I have full confidence in my knee," Schwarber said. "My knee doesn't bother me. It was my hands that hurt the worst. I've got about eight blisters on them. I guess I should have kept rubbing a bat or something."

"He's made it to a best-case scenario after six months, "Epstein said. "We're not ruling anything in; we're not ruling anything out. We're not getting ahead of ourselves. We have a lot of work here before this becomes pertinent."

Schwarber burst onto the scene last year, hitting 16 home runs after being called up from Triple-A Iowa. He then hit another five in the playoffs to become the Cubs' all-time postseason home run leader.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.