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.

Chicago Cubs: Almora a victim of the team’s success?

So why didn’t Almora make the All-Star team? First its a numbers game. Every team must have at least one representative in the All-Star game. So the fact that Javier Baez, Willson Contreras and Jon Lester made the team meant that Almora didn’t have to make the team.

The Cubs have been victims of their own success before. In 2016 Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon could have arguably been named to the All-Star team. But that year the Cubs sent so many other players to the All-Star Game that Strop and Rondon almost had to be left off the team.

But three or even four players from one team is not a crazy high number of representatives in the All-Star game. The Cubs had the entire starting infield on that 2016 National League All-Star team (Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist, Addison Russell and Kris Bryant) in addition to Dexter Fowler also being voted in as a starting outfielder and Jake Arrieta and Lester also making the team that year.

Chicago Cubs: Platoon play hurting Almora’s reputation?

Perhaps some people don’t think of Almora even as a starter on his own team. The Cubs have 10 everyday position players who can start any day depending on matchups, hot or cold streaks and health. In the outfield especially it is difficult to say who the starters really are.

During spring training this year it seemed that Ian Happ had locked up the leadoff spot in the batting order and that most days his defensive position would be center field. Even if you say that Almora is a starter and that Happ isn’t. Who do you say are the other two starters: Schwarber? Heyward? Zobrist?

Almora’s stats have no doubt benefited from platoon advantages. Many of Almora’s at bats have come against left-handed pitchers. It’s only recently that Almora is beginning to regularly start against right handed starting pitchers in favor of Happ and Zobrist. Perhaps those situations were held against him.

Almora isn’t even going to have the chance of getting in as part of the final vote. The National League candidates for that spot are  Jesus Aguilar, Brandon Belt, Matt Carpenter, Max Muncy and Trea Turner.

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However there is one other way that Almora might become an All-Star this season and that’s if he is named as a replacement for an injured player. Some Cubs players have made the All-Star team this way in previous years. For instance in 2008 Carlos Marmol replaced Kerry Wood when Wood was dealing with a blister on his pitching hand.