The Battle For Center Field is Heating Up
By: Dan Schmuldt
Tags: Chicago Cubs, Sports, Baseball, Major League Baseball, MLB

As the Cubs barrel through Spring Training one thing has become apparent — the Center Field job is not going to come easy to either of the two candidates (despite this whole baseball thing coming easy to them so far this Spring).

Both Albert Almora and Ian Happ are off to a killer start to the Spring, making David Ross’s job of selecting his everyday CF as hard as it possibly could be. Like seriously, they’ve both been flat out RAKING.

Now you can say, “oh Dan, it’s a clear choice that it should be Ian Happ. Almora sucked last year and he’s a switch hitter!!” and to that I would normally say that you are right. BUT, here’s the thing: after a pretty bad season at the dish last year (.236/.271/.381), Almora has come into Spring with a noticeably different swing, a more refined approach, and a noticeable drive to win back his CF job.

Through his 6 games, Almora has more hits than any Cub on the roster, including 2 long balls and an OPS of 1.588. I know it’s a pretty small sample size, but the guy is hitting for contact and power. Aside from the hits, his approach is what has me the most high on him. Through his 15 ABs Almora has only K’d twice. Again small sample size, but his walks match his strikeouts thus far. At the end of the campaign in 2019 Almora had 1 walk to every 3.8 strikeouts.

With the numbers and the seemingly refined profile, you’d be a bit ignorant to write Almora off, but it gets complicated when it comes to the other option, Ian Happ.

Happ began 2019 in AAA, but made his way back to the big club by July. The switch hitter played a couple positions, but is mainly up for the CF job this spring. Through 2019 Happ slashed .264/.333/.564, numbers that are higher than Almora’s across the board.

Even with Almora’s strong start, the choice isn’t easy.

Ian Happ is having himself quite the Spring. With 15 ABs as well, Happ has a BA of .467, and an OPS sitting at 1.400 (sorry no exact numbers here, they haven’t been logged yet and I suck ass at math). Happ has also hit 2 dingers and has a 1:1 K to walk ratio. Though it’s a super small size, Happ looks to be more contact driven at the plate and has cut down on the Ks he’s been known for over the years.

As it stands now, it’s a pretty even race. Like almost a dead tie even. I think it’ll come down to a couple of things, since platooning (in my opinion) isn’t necessarily fair to either party here. Those things will be: on-base percentage, approach, plate discipline, any wild, incredibly clear troubles in CF, Albert Almora’s ability against RHP and Ian Happ’s ability against LHP. If Almora continues his hot spring and shows that he can handle the bat against same-handed matchups, it’s tough to call him off. On the other hand, if Happ is absolutely crushing both sides of the plate as a switch hitter, you can’t tell the guy no.

If it comes down to it, and one guy is getting on base at a clearly higher clip than the other despite the guy on the mound, I think that’s gotta be your plug there. As either option will likely be hitting near the bottom of the order, OBP is going to huge as the lineup turns over to a leadoff man whose name is Kris Bryant. I could be wrong (I usually am), but the on-base ability has to be standout for whoever is going to see the most time in CF to start the 2020 campaign.

It’s going to be a tough decision for David Ross, but it’ll be a fun battle to follow throughout the rest of Spring Training. Who you got?