Albert Almora Jr. could be great. There’s no doubt he can hit, evident by his career .289 batting average and more incredible catches in the outfield than I can remember. However, the former top-10 pick hasn’t reached the next level after 331 MLB games, but in a prove it year for Almora and the rest of the Cubs, he’s going back to what made him Theo Epstein’s first pick in Chicago back in 2012.
No one has ever confused Almora being a power-hitting outfielder, but 16 home runs in nearly 1,000 MLB plate appearances and a dreadful .378 slugging percentage in 2018, forced Almora to go back and tweak some things during the offseason.
The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma had a wonderful profile on Almora last week, breaking down a new stance for the 2012 first round pick of the Cubs.
Via The Athletic.
“It’s more of a base,” Almora said of his new stance. “If I’m upright and I have a leg kick, the timing has got to be perfect for everything to click. I’ll still have power if everything’s perfect. But if I’m a little wider, I have more leeway with having my bat through the zone longer. I just want to feel strong with every part of my swing.”
Almora had a good first half in 2018, but the numbers took a drastic dip in the final couple months. One visible thing that changed was his leg kick morphed into a toe tap and the results were negative.
Now, after adjusting his stance and going back to a leg kick, the difference is notable even if it is only February and the first week of spring training.
Did Almora notice a difference in how hard his contact has been since making the change?
“Oh yeah, absolutely,” Almora said. “I’ve been seeing it all offseason. It’s not like I came to Arizona and it was a brand new thing. At first, when I was in Miami and I saw a difference in how the ball was carrying, it’s a good feeling. It brought me back to my high school days. I was like, ‘Man, I’m hitting the ball hard again to all parts of the field.’”
Almora has a career 5.2% walk rate, so he has to hit for a high average to bring value on offense. He doesn’t hit for a lot of power, so Almora has to muster up as much hard contact as possible to get on base. Last year, Almora was plagued with a high ground ball rate and too much soft contact.
And what’s even more encouraging from Almora is that he too is in the best shape of his life.
Albert Almora Jr. is in such great shape this spring, he's actually become unrecognizable to his own manager:
"He can not look better than he looks right now. I didn't even know that was him running after some fly balls," Maddon said.
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) February 21, 2019
Can this finally be Almora’s time to cement himself into an every-day starter for the Cubs? That will be determined if and only if he can ever hit at least average against right-handed pitchers.
And you know what, if he’s just a platoon outfielder, who can pound lefties and come in late for defense, then that’s great too. Maybe not great for Almora, but more than adequate for the Cubs.
