Chicago Cubs need Jason Heyward to play centerfield especially if his bat doesn’t improve

Centerfield makes sense

But Heyward is the better outfield defender, and usually, you put the better outfielder with the most range and surest hands in center and lesser one in a corner. So Maddon may eventually make that switch, the same way he ultimately switched Addison Russell and Starlin Castro‘s positions in the field despite doing the opposite for the first several months of the 2015 season.

So unless Almora plays so well that he clearly claims the starting centerfield job both in the field and at the plate, Heyward should play a lot more in centerfield this season where a defensive first player is more tolerable and to open up opportunities for Maddon to get other corner only outfielders into the game.

Next: The curious case of Alvarez

Almora is the one player on the Cubs aside from Heyward himself who has the power to make this entire situation irrelevant. If he plays so well that Almora must obviously start, then the question shifts from where Heyward should play to should Heyward even start? If he doesn’t start, Heyward will be the most expensive bench player in baseball.