I feel the need to handle this delicately, and to say, up front, that the health of the two-year-old girl injured by a foul ball on May 29th in Houston is more important than anything that happens on a baseball field.
But while affected in a much less damaging way than that girl and her family, Albert Almora Jr. was also affected by the incident, as the player who struck the ball. Obviously, the incident was not his fault. He bears no guilt. He’s a victim of the incident—again, not to the same degree as the girl and her family, but a victim nonetheless.
Because Almora saw what happened. His emotions, at the time, were a major part of the story. He had to deal with that, and with whatever feelings accompanied it.
It’s not unlikely he’s still dealing with it.
This would be true regardless of how he was playing. It’s the sort of thing that doesn’t go away, especially with the child still recovering, having suffered a fractured skull and a seizure. Hopefully, Almora has every possible resource available to him when it comes to dealing with this grief and this undeserved guilt (just as, again, hopefully the MLB and the Houston Astros are making every possible resource available to the girl and her family).
But it’s hard to ignore that Almora has been struggling since the incident, and I hope it’s fair to speculate that these feelings might be a cause.
After a bad start to the season (9 wRC+ through April 24th), Almora entered that game in Houston on a tear, slashing .301/.333/.583 with a 134 wRC+ between April 25th and May 28th (100 is average for wRC+, 134 is 34% above-average, 9 is 91% below-average).
Since that game, Almora’s only managed a 39 wRC+, getting on base in hardly more than a quarter of his plate appearances.
This might seem like a selective inflection point, and it certainly fits a narrative. But if you measure Almora’s wRC+ between any date and yesterday, the starting dates that yield the lowest results are May 28th (the night before the incident), which gives a 35 wRC+, May 29th (39 wRC+), and May 30th (39 wRC+).
It could certainly be coincidental, but it’s a major event occurring at the exact time in which Almora’s offensive struggles began. At the very least, it’s possible the incident is a cause.
Whether emotional strain is causing Almora’s woes or not is unknowable to us, outside the clubhouse—outside Almora’s thoughts. And if it is emotional strain causing the issues, it should be made clear that it would be perfectly acceptable. If Albert Almora is performing poorly because he’s still agonizing—or to a lesser scale, fixating—over the events of that night, it’s understandable. It’s a natural, healthy human reaction to be distracted by such a happening. To lament such a happening. To grieve such a happening.
If this really is making it harder for the outfielder to do his job, it’s also fair to suggest that the Cubs give Almora some time off. Not for the offense’s sake, or for the sake of the fans, or for the sake of wins and losses. But for the sake of Albert Almora Jr. Because his well-being, like that of the girl and her family, is more important than anything that happens on the baseball field. He, like the girl, is an innocent human being, the victim of a tragedy.
I hope he’s ok. But if he isn’t, to be abundantly clear, that’s ok.
