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Almora was doing well until he hit the kid with a line drive.  Then his offense/defense seemed to nose dive.

Almora was doing well until he hit the kid with a line drive.  Then his offense/defense seemed to nose dive.

Almora had a two week hot streak before the foul ball. He was bad for the first month and a half of the season, good for two weeks, then bad for 4 months.

Almora had a two week hot streak before the foul ball. He was bad for the first month and a half of the season, good for two weeks, then bad for 4 months.

Almora through 5/30 had a wRC+ of 88 and was at 101 in the month of May in 100 PA.  lose to his career average, after the line drive he was wRC+ of 41 and his defense declined as well.

Thank you, guys, for those stats.  I often wondered what the splits were before and after that Houston incident.

So Almora's decline may have occurred because those cheap ass Astros didn't have an extended screen.  Damb bastards are at the root of all evel.

Players will be hot and cold, but a CF with a wRC+ 88 would have ranked 13 in offense in that majors with enough AB to qualify.  If you take out guys you spent time more time on corner OF spots it would have been 9th.  Only 4 primary CF had a positive Fangraphs defensive value and a wRC+ above 100.

So Almora will his usual defense and below average offense would have been one of the better CF's last year.

Akiyama reports have been kinda all over the place.  I've seen a good defensive CF to adequate to corner OF.  I've seen he'd be an OK starter to more of 4th OF.  If he could be Fukudome with the ability to play CF I'd be happy.

Happ in addition to working on his contact at Iowa improved his defense in CF as well. 

Thanks, helpful.  *IF* the Cubs don't like Shogo's CF defense, then he doesn't seem like a good fit.  Or *IF* they do, and sign him, but he actually doesn't play it very well, that could be bad too. 

*IF* Happ has improved his CF defense so massively that he's now OK out there, or even fairly good, that could be helpful.  *IF* both his defense and his hitting have adjusted and improved, he might be a useful flex piece.  Even if the Cubs want to believe both are true, I can't imagine they'd be willing to move ahead with him as the primary intended CF, though.  I want to, but I'm hesitant to believe his Cub hitting was more than a short hot-stretch fluke.  But *IF* I'm wrong and he proves to have adjusted/improved himself enough to be a good hitter, he could be a very useful flex guy.

I'm still uncertain whether his trade value will be substantial to justify a trade in Theo's eyes.  Same as for what Sharma said about Schwarber.  Suppose the Cubs believe the adjustments are real and will result in sustained success for both Happ and Schwarber. If so, will other teams value Schwarber or Happ as much as Theo does, in order to offer what's perceived as fair value? 

Or maybe I'm totally wrong on that?  Maybe teams self-confident in analytics and hit-lab analyses are big believers that practice and adjustments can improve a guy...  Maybe they figure the Cubs obsolete development practices, or lack thereof, have left Happ with all kinds of untapped potential?  And that once they get him into their program, that they'll be able to tap into potential that Maddon and McLeod couldn't access?   

On Almora, I'm really doubtful that the foul ball in Houston would have really had a causal effect.  I think more coincidence.  I think most athletes are pretty well able to compartmentalize.  It's not his fault, he's got his own job to do. 

I don't imagine that was on his mind or distracting him very often during batting practice, or film study, much less during actual game AB.