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

Despite a 7-1 start to the second half, the Chicago Cubs have trotted out some highly questionable lineups – especially when it comes to two young players.

We can’t ask for much more out of the Chicago Cubs lately. The team has done it all coming out of the All-Star Break, sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates, taking two of three from the Cincinnati Reds and then going 2-for-2 to open this weekend series against San Diego with a chance for another sweep.

On Saturday, Javier Baez stole the show, falling a triple shy of the cycle and sealing the victory with an unbelievable no-look tag on Wil Myers in the top of the ninth inning. Really, he put the Cubs on his back – and even his skipper acknowledged that.

“We needed him to do that today,” Joe Maddon told MLB.com after the game. “Quite frankly, we needed him to be that guy today and he was.”

Well, maybe, just maybe if Maddon didn’t trot out Albert Almora as the leadoff hitter against a left-hander and continue slotting Addison Russell into the lineup on a near-daily basis, we wouldn’t need these types of performances to come away with victories.

Sure, at one time, having Almora in that role would’ve made sense. But it’s been a long time since that’s been the case. Need proof? Here you go.

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.