NEWSLETTER
[UPDATE: He’s coming.]
Despite being just barely 22 years old, Albert Almora has been in the Cubs organization – without reaching the Major Leagues – for what has felt like a very long time. That may soon change.
Although it may not be under the circumstances we’d all envisioned, Albert Almora may soon be getting the call to the Chicago Cubs.
Those circumstances, of course, are the injury and potential DL stint of fellow outfielder Jorge Soler. Soler came out of last night’s game after coming up lame while rounding first base. You can read much more about Soler’s left hamstring injury and the pending MRI results here at Bleacher Nation, but suffice it to say the timing was terrible – .318/.434/.591 slash in his last 17 games, and he had even begun to look stronger defensively in left field.
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But that’s the point of having a deep pool of minor league players waiting in the wings. When one young, talented outfielder gets hurt at the Major League level, another may be ready to step up and take his place for the time being. Today, it looks like that may be the case:
former No. 1 pick albert almora is on way to philly for cubs. expectation: he'll be activated barring soler miracle recovery
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) June 7, 2016
According to Jon Heyman (and Tommy Birch earlier), Albert Almora will indeed be the replacement, should Jorge Soler need to miss time on the disabled list. Given that time on the DL seems imminent for Soler (who has dealt with hamstring issues throughout his career), an Almora sighting may be on the way. And, for what it’s worth, Almora is not in today’s I-Cubs lineup:
Today’s I-#Cubs lineup: Alcantara 2B; Kawasaki SS; Murton LF: Vogelbach 1B; Perez CF; Negron 3B; Freitas C; Watkins RF; Wagner. P. #MiLB
— Tommy Birch (@TommyBirch) June 7, 2016
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But that could be as much about keeping Almora ready and waiting to head to Philadelphia -pending the results of the MRI – as him definitely being on his way and activated. In other words, it’s possible that the Cubs aren’t 100% certain on how much time Soler will need to miss. If, by some miracle, it winds up being just a few days, the Cubs may work with what they have. I doubt that, but we’ll likely find out soon.
I’ll have rolling updates included on this post, so keep checking in for the latest. For now, I’ll avoid speculating on what Almora’s role could look like in Chicago, because there are still so many unknowns. If you want to read a bit more on Almora and his nice start to the season, I took a deep dive a few weeks back here at Bleacher Nation. Once things get a little clearer and there is some comments/confirmation from the Cubs, we can take this to the next step. For now, just keep pulling for a quick Soler recovery.
UPDATE (from Brett): Just a short bit from Joe Maddon on the radio, as there’s no official word yet:
Joe Maddon: "No news yet on Jorge, haven't heard results from MRI yet" #Cubs https://t.co/Zi5g8I9ADq
— Nick Shepkowski (@Shep670) June 7, 2016
I don’t think anyone will or should be surprised by this second part:
Maddon says that if Almora is called upon that you shouldn't expect to see him in the lineup each day.
— Nick Shepkowski (@Shep670) June 7, 2016
The Cubs have games to win, and there will be days when starting a 22-year-old with limited AAA experience and needs on the offensive side of his game will not be the best approach to winning that day. Having Almora with the big league team will definitely have benefits to the Cubs – his glove, for example, could impact every game in the right spots – but it could also be about getting him a taste of the big league experience (and coaching staff) without necessarily starting him every single day. Heck, Soler wasn’t starting every day either.
