Coming into the season, one of the only positions to be solidified on a largely firm roster was that of centerfield. The Cubs brought in Jon Jay to serve as a left-handed option to compliment Albert Almora as he eased into the role of starting centerfielder. It was assumed that Jason Heyward would slot in there occasionally as well, primarily to get Javier Baez involved on the infield, with Ben Zobrist then dropping back to right in those instances. Such is the life of a versatile roster like the one rolled out on the North Side.
With the calendar having turned over into May already, it’s certainly worth exploring the way in which those centerfield options have been deployed and what may be the best way to do so moving forward. Which is exactly our purpose here. Spoiler alert: there’s a lot to like, as Jay has been solid in limited time, Almora has shown flashes of exceeding his offensive expectations, and Heyward is demonstrating signs of a resurgence.
As of yesterday, the distribution reads as such: Almora has led the way with 11 starts in center, and six additional substitutions (primarily for defensive purposes), Heyward follows with nine, and Jay follows up with eight starts. Heyward has obviously spent the remainder of the year in right, while Jay has racked up six additional appearances in left, three of them starts. In a general sense, this would appear to be a relatively ideal way for things to play out. Almora is the future of the position, so giving him every opportunity is a logical move. Heyward is still an above average defender in center, and it allows the Cubs to slot in an impact player like Baez and keep Zobrist in there as well.
A point made by Len and J.D. on Thursday’s broadcast against Philadelphia really speaks to the situation with Jay. He’s been strong in limited time, and that could largely be due to the fact that Joe Maddon has put him in the position to be successful, given the timing in which he plays. He obviously lacks the upside, both at the plate and with the glove, that the other two possess, so being able to deploy him almost exclusively as a fourth outfielder type is a perfect scenario for the Cubs.
In terms of fielding, there isn’t a lot of data that would lend itself to determining if continuing to roll out the trio (more logically, the duo because Heyward is an everyday player who sometimes jumps into the CF rotation) in this fashion is the right move. Each has a fielding percentage of 1.000, though it’s obviously not the best indicator of a player’s defensive skills to begin with, small sample size or not. We know that Almora is the superior player in that regard, and Heyward isn’t far behind. While Jay’s numbers look fine for now, he’s taken some questionable routes in the outfield and his arm is significantly behind the other two.
Not that this information comes as any sort of surprise to anyone. But given that we’re assessing the overall situation, the defense is still worth mentioning. That element will become more worth discussing when there’s more data to work with in the latter parts of the season. At this point, the more interesting, and more telling, element of this is their offensive output. And given that Heyward is the regular starter in right, it makes less sense to include him here, given that his numbers will include a far larger sample than that of the two true “platooning” options in center.
As such, here’s a quick offensive breakdown of Almora and Jay (Editor’s Note: Numbers are as of Thursday’s game):
| PA | AVG | OBP | ISO | K% | BB% | Swing% | Contact% | TAv | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Almora | 56 | .280 | .345 | .180 | 16.1 | 8.9 | 46.9 | 73.3 | .278 |
| J. Jay | 52 | .349 | .451 | .093 | 21.2 | 13.5 | 52.1 | 79.8 | .323 |
One interesting thing of note here. There’s a lot here that would indicate that Jay is having the better offensive season of the two. And if you’re going purely by the numbers above, then absolutely. However, like mentioned above, there’s the Maddon element here to consider. Of Jay’s 52 plate appearance, only 12 have come against left-handed pitching, whereas Almora has 19 PAs against righties. That’s 34 percent of Almora’s coming against the same handedness, against just 23 percent for Jay. Obviously, it’s a small sample, but it does speak to the idea that Maddon is deploying Jay almost exclusively against right-handed pitching, while Almora’s gotten a bit more leeway. Probably because of what the organization is hoping he can become.
At this juncture, you could absolutely argue that the decision to sign Jon Jay to complement Albert Almora has worked out in the best possible way. The two are both performing well offensively, while there’s been little to complain about defensively. Heyward stealing starts hasn’t completely affected their playing time, as he often moves back over to right with one coming in late in games depending on the situation. The interesting thing to keep an eye on is how this situation will continue to develop over the season’s long haul.
Will Almora start to steal starts regularly, even against righties, with Jay taking a backseat and serving as a true fourth outfielder? Will we continue to see Heyward in center with this type of regularity? The hope is likely that Albert Almora locks down that spot on a more permanent basis, especially in a long-term sense. The Heyward question depends largely on the deployment of Baez and Zobrist.
In any case, it’s been fun to watch the situation unfold, especially with the effectiveness the position has provided, both offensively and defensively, early in the season. You can bet we’ll continue to monitor the overall situation moving forward, while holding out hope that this becomes more of an Albert Almora: Starting CF situation rather than a platoon. At the same time, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right?
Lead photo courtesy Charles LeClaire—USA Today Sports