Best Cubs outfield? Adding Almora puts Cubs among game’s elite

It didn’t take long for Albert Almora Jr. to show why his addition to the Cubs’ outfield on Wednesday already had scouts putting the Cubs in conversations about the top defensive outfields in the game.

On his first defensive play in the majors, Almora tracked a wind-blown fly slicing toward him from center, made the catch and then threw a one-hopper to the plate to nail Odubel Herrera trying to score from third.

And just like that the only scoring threat of the game against his starting pitcher, John Lackey, was snuffed in a game that remained scoreless until the fifth – eventually won 8-1 by the Cubs.

“That was a big play,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “That took anything away form them momentum-wise.”

As a first-inning play to “kind of define the game,” Maddon compared it to right fielder Jason Heyward’s harrowing, wall-crashing catch in San Francisco three weeks ago that cost Heyward three days on the bench with a bruised side.

Not that the team with the best record in baseball was desperate for improvement.

But when Almora joined the club for his big-league debut Tuesday night, the Cubs added the best-fielding outfielder in the organization to a big-league roster that already included a three-time Gold Glove winner in Heyward and a strong center fielder in Dexter Fowler.

“He’s the best center fielder I’ve seen,” said Kris Bryant, whose two-run homer in the sixth Wednesday broke open a 1-0 game. “His routes are there, his accuracy with his arm. It’s everything you want in a center fielder.”

And he probably won’t even play center unless Fowler needs a day off – at least not until next year.

Depending how long Almora sticks – after replacing the injured Jorge Soler – and how often Maddon chooses to use Wednesday’s alignment, Almora brings the kind of impact glove that makes the Cubs outfield look as tight as any in the game this side of Pittsburgh’s young, athletic trio (Starling Marte, Andrew McCutchen, Gregory Polanco).

“That’s a good comparison,” said one longtime major league scout.

“With [Almora] and Heyward, it’s one of the best,” said another. “And I really like the way Fowler’s playing.”

Heyward underscored the point in the bottom of the sixth Wednesday with a sliding catch to rob Cody Asche of a hit when it was still a 1-0 game.

“We’re going to cover a lot of ground; those are three really good outfielders out there,” said the veteran Lackey (7-2), who retired 20 of the final 21 batters he faced –starting with the Almora play — after back-to-back singles leading off the game against him.

“And you like to see that behind you for sure when you’re pitching,” Lackey said.

As if the Cubs’ pitching needed any more help two months into the season.

Lackey’s seven-inning gem – which included retiring the final 16 he faced – lowered the best starting-staff ERA in the majors to 2.30. The starters have a 1.55 ERA with 95 strikeouts in 87 innings in the last 13 games. No wonder they’ve won 10 of those games – and 12 of their last 15.

Lackey alone is 4-1 with a 1.59 ERA over his last eight starts.

“You talk about our pitching being so good,” said Maddon, whose often-overlooked fielders are in the midst of a season-high eight-game streak of errorless games. “A lot of it has to do with these guys [in the field].”

Team president Theo Epstein said last October one of his priorities for this season was improving the outfield defense – with two of Wednesday’s starters in free agency limbo at the time and the third coming off a season at Class AA.

The transformation is especially noteworthy for a franchise known more for frazzle than dazzle in its outfield over the years – variously employing as starters such historically bad outfielders as Babe Herman, Dave Kingman and Glenallen Hil. As recently as 2007, Alfonso Soriano was the Opening Day center fielder for a Cubs playoff team.

What’s that make Wednesday’s starting trio?

“It’s one of the best,” said coach Henry Blanco, whose connection with the Cubs goes back more than a decade.

“Maybe the best they’ve had,” said one of the scouts.