Chicago Cubs: Outfielder Albert Almora snubbed in All-Star Game voting

Albert Almora was not named to the 2018 All-Star team. However, he did make several media organizations (USAToday, CBSSports and BleacherReport) lists of players who were deserving but left off this year All-Star roster including.

Aside from maybe Javier Baez, no player has emerged as a force in the same was as Albert Almora. Long a favorite of the Chicago Cubs front office, the former first-round pick is playing out of his mind, chasing the National League batting title.

Cubbie’s Crib’s own Daniel Miniel looked about a month ago to see if Almora deserved to be an All-Star.

Almora is the National League leading hitter. He’s currently holds a .326 batting average. That ties him with Scooter Gennett for the league lead. But Almora’s not just hitting for average. He already has one more double (19) than he had all of last year. Almora is also just two walks shy of equaling his total from last year. So he’s hitting for average, power and getting on base.

Almora is playing more than he was last year. Last year he finished with just 299 at bats and this season he already has 261 at bats. But it is not just his totals that are higher, its the rates. Last year Almora produced a slash line of .298/.338/.445. This year his slash line is .326/.365/.452. Most of the improvement in his slash line is due to his increased batting average.

Almora’s defense is of course also a big reason he should be a member of the 2018 All-Star team. He currently ranks first in range factor both as any outfielder in general and as a center fielder specifically.