Chicago Cubs: Uphill battle ahead for Albert Almora Jr.

After a down year and reduced playing time in 2020, Albert Almora appears to be fading out of the Chicago Cubs’ future plans.

Albert Almora was Theo Epstein’s first draft pick as President of Baseball Operations of the Chicago Cubs. At the time, various media sites graded the pick highly, because of Almora’s ability to put the bat on the ball. And through his first three seasons in the big leagues, he looked the part…mostly.

But while 2019 was downright awful for Almora, it really started in the second half of 2018 when the former first-round pick hit just .232 in 62 games. He finished with a .286 average on the year, thanks to a .319 first-half surge.

He was on the rebound through 48 games last year, hitting .259 with eight doubles, seven home runs, and 20 RBI. But then in Houston, Almora’s foul ball went into the stands, hitting a young fan, and he was never the same after that.

Almora would go onto hit .215 the rest of the year while also posting a negative defensive rating for the first time in his career. His glove has always been highly-touted coming up through the minors, but it was a matter of whether his bat was Major League-ready.

There was some level of suspicion whether the Cubs would tender Almora a contract in the offseason. Had they seen enough? Apparently not, as he was tendered a one-year $1.6M deal and, thus, avoiding arbitration. He’s under team control for two more seasons, but it raises the question if he should be part of the Cubs’ future plans.

With the 2020 season likely settling on 65-70 games, playing time is going to be sparse, especially with the addition of Steven Souza Jr. added during the offseason. The real offseason, I should say.

However, with the DH likely to be implemented permanently, Kyle Schwarber figures to step into that role, freeing up left field to the group. Ian Happ will have a larger role in 2020 after spending the majority of 2019 in the minors working on his timing. He returned for 58 games, reducing his strikeout rate from over 36 percent in 2019 to 25 percent last season.

Happ played well in limited time, but he also needs to prove that it wasn’t a fluke. We know one thing. Jason Heyward is a permanent fixture in right field, and Kris Bryant is likely to get some spot starts in the outfield to accommodate David Bote’s playing time, especially with a crowded middle infield.

So, to put it mildly, Almora has a difficult task ahead of him. Thankfully, he comes at a fairly insignificant cost, but at some point, he may no longer justify getting regular at-bats. Especially with Brennen Davis and Cole Roederer knocking on the door in the minors. Let’s see if he can make the most of a shortened season.