Chicago Cubs: Joe Maddon has to quit gambling his team’s success

Chicago Cubs: Almora is a glove – and nothing more lately

According to Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic, Almora carries the third-lowest wRC+ over the last year among players with at least 400 plate appearances, trailing only Billy Hamilton and Chris Davis. But sure, let’s have him set the table for the rest of the order.

Over the last week, Almora is slashing a horrendous .167/.211/.333, striking out in 33 percent of his at-bats and drawing one walk. That’s always been the knock on the former first-rounder – he doesn’t work counts well enough and, to this point, he’s done nothing to show he’s capable of making that adjustment moving forward.

The logic for Almora over Kyle Schwarber lately? Chicago has faced a decent number of lefties – so splits-wise, a right-handed hitter makes more sense, right? Wrong.

In 85 plate appearances against southpaws, Almora carries a .543 OPS this season. He’s worked to a .247 on-base percentage – hardly what this lineup needs, regardless of his defense. Meanwhile, Schwarber (across 69 plate appearances) has a much stronger .711 OPS – including a .304 OBP.

Now, I’m not saying that a .304 on-base percentage will play at this level – because it won’t. But at a certain point, you have to face the music and play your best hand. The only logical explanation I can offer for Schwarber’s repeated absences is he’s being tossed around as a potential trade chip and Chicago doesn’t want to risk anything when it comes to their slugging outfielder.

Chicago Cubs: An undefendable baseball decision

But that’s not the worst of it. The worst of it? Addison Russell continuing to take reps on a daily basis.

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My feelings regarding Russell have been made abundantly clear. But the worst part of it all? Regardless of his off-the-field issues, his play has, simply put, been absolutely unacceptable this season.

On Saturday, he made countless miscues – on the bases, at the dish and in the field – the hat trick, if you will – and one that, as a ballplayer, you pray you never accomplish. Maddon weighed in on his young infielder’s shoddy performance in his postgame presser – specifically, his baserunning.

“We’ve talked about his baserunning in the past,” Maddon said. “We’re making too many outs on the bases, and we’re missing things on the bases that we can’t to be an elite team.”

It’s not like the Cubs lack other options at second base, either. David Bote is more than capable of holding down the fort there. You’ve got Ian Happ torching the ball at Triple-A Iowa and rookie Robel Garcia has done everything you could have asked for – and then some – in his brief time with the big league club.

At this point, it’s hard to imagine Russell sticking with the team past the trade deadline. But, then again, he’s got Maddon in his corner at every turn – and it has to stop. Loyalty is undervalued in today’s world, sure. But the window for the Cubs to contend won’t last forever – and Maddon needs to start managing that way.

The time has come to move on from Russell and Almora – and give the guys who deserve starts a real chance to succeed and help this team run away with the division. The Cubs have overcome Maddon’s dilapidated lineup construction so far in the second half, but the mistakes are piling up and it’s time to do what needs to be done.