Cleveland Indians: Can Abraham Almonte Repeat His 2015 Success?

What made Almonte successful last season?

Abraham Almonte didn’t claim a job as an everyday outfielder for the Cleveland Indians, but he certainly didn’t hurt his chances last season, either. Almonte was traded to the Tribe by the San Diego Padres in June, in exchange for left Marc Rzepczynski, and he put up some quality numbers for the Indians after joining the team.

Almonte finished the year with 196 at-bats in 51 games for Cleveland, thanks in part to the departure of outfielders Michael Bourn and David Murphy. The switch-hitter batted .264/.321/.455, with five home runs and six stolen bases.

Almonte doesn’t have the power the Indians are looking for, but he is capable of filling in as the center fielder until Michael Brantley returns. His chance to be a regular as opposed to a bench bat went up exponentially when the news of Brantley’s surgery was announced. Even if everything goes perfectly, Brantley won’t be ready until after the start of the season – and the Indians have a reputation for being cautious with their injured players, rather than rushing them back.

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So in the absence of competition, can Almonte repeat the success he had in 2015 and become a key member of the Indians’ roster?

It’s always a possibility, but there aren’t many statistics to back it up. This season was the best of his major league career, but only because of what he did with Cleveland. His batting average on balls in play was no higher than usual – so it’s not as though he was just getting lucky by having hits fall in for him. So what caused the change in results?

There is one thing that makes Almonte’s success seem as though it could be legitimately sustainable, and that is park factor. Before joining the Padres, Almonte played for the Seattle Mariners. Both Petco Park and Safeco field are notorious pitcher’s parks – some might even consider them the two worst hitter’s park in the game, thanks to incredibly deep outfields and weather that favors keeping the ball in the park.

Cleveland is considered a well-balanced park, and while the ball might not fly out of the park during the early or latter part of the season, it’s considerably better than either the Padres or the Mariners home parks. Almonte’s numbers as a minor leaguer were more similar to what he did with Cleveland than what he did with either of his last two teams, which certainly makes it seem like the parks had at least a little to do with his success – or lack thereof.

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There are a lot of questions surrounding the Tribe’s outfield, and at the very least, they’re going to need help until Michael Brantley returns, so it seems very likely that Almonte will get a shot at an everyday job out of Spring Training. However, the lack of proven success is concerning, and the Indians should try to upgrade if they can.