Chicago Cubs need Albert Almora to find sustained success this season

After an All-Star caliber first-half last season, Chicago Cubs outfielder Albert Almora faded down the stretch. Can he put it all together in 2019?

Last week, we learned the Chicago Cubs are heading into spring training with a projected outfield of Kyle Schwarber, Albert Almora and Jason Heyward. That likely means you’ll see Ian Happ as the team’s fourth outfielder while Ben Zobrist sees more reps at second base early in the year while Addison Russell serves the remainder of his 40-game suspension.

As has been the case annually under manager Joe Maddon, this is a roster with tremendous versatility. Zobrist, Happ, Kris Bryant and Javier Baez are all capable of moving around the diamond on a daily basis. You could even make the case catcher Willson Contreras belongs in that group, too. But while versatility is nice, what the Cubs really need this season is consistency from its core.

The 2018 campaign has not and never will be labeled as ‘consistent’. The team’s complete offensive collapse down the stretch wound up costing them a division title – and another deep October run. But one guy who may be overlooked heading into a new season is Almora, a guy who has the tools to hit .300 and play Gold Glove-standard defense in center field.

Chicago Cubs: Almora’s decline aligns with team’s struggles

Saying a Chicago Cubs player struggled offensively late last season is about as obvious a statement one can make. But I’ll say it regardless. As the team’s bats went ice-cold, Almora followed suit.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups
• Cubs: P.J. Higgins deserves to be in the lineup on a daily basis

In July, he hit just .222 – and with the lack of walks – his OBP plummeted to just .253. After putting up a .403 BAbip the month prior, he clocked in at just .281, a figure just below league average (usually in the .300 range). Granted, you don’t ever expect a guy to continue putting up a BAbip in the .400 range – it’s just not sustainable. But as the second half wore on, Almora never again caught fire as he did in the first half.

Not surprisingly, as Almora went, so did the team. In Cubs’ wins, the young outfielder put up an .817 OPS. In losses? That figure plummets to .530 – hardly what you need from a pretty much everyday player in your lineup. Well, at least you hope that’s what he becomes – especially on the heels of that first half.

So what can Albert Almora do to avoid the pitfalls that plagued him late last season and derailed what seemed to be a very promising campaign?

Chicago Cubs: It’s time to grind it out over the course of 162

If there’s one thing you can say about Albert Almora, it’s that when he sees his pitch, he makes the most of it. He might not launch balls off the scoreboard like some of his teammates, but he makes solid contact and has well above-average baserunning skills.

Maddon will go with the mix-and-match strategy we’ve seen since he came to Chicago when it comes to building a lineup. But you can do that and still have that one guy who sets the table for the other seven position players in the lineup on a daily basis. This is the year Albert Almora needs to become that guy for the Chicago Cubs.

Last season, Almora put up a .797 OPS – including a .368 on-base percentage – out of the leadoff spot. He can hit both left and right-handed pitchers, which has proven to be a thorn in the side of multiple other guys on this team (Kyle Schwarber, Ian Happ, etc). There’s no reason to platoon him like we’ve done in the past.

If Almora can work more counts and bump up that walk rate in 2019, there’s no reason he can’t cement himself as the Chicago Cubs center fielder of the future. That’s not taking a shot at Happ, but with Ben Zobrist likely in his last season on the team, Happ can pivot into more of the stopgap, ‘play wherever you need me’ role.

The talent is there. We saw that on full display last season. Now, it’s about rolling with the punches and proving that, even under a manager like Joe Maddon, there’s a place for a ‘traditional’ leadoff hitter on a new-age team like the Cubs.