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.