It was last May 29 when Almora found himself in the middle of a tragic situation. A foul ball off his bat went into the stands in Houston and struck a 2-year-old girl in the head, fracturing her skull. Her brain injury could be permanent and has necessitated anti-seizure medication, an attorney for the girl's family said in January.
While Almora has declined to discuss the specifics of that incident, it clearly devastated him. In the aftermath, he had to learn to cope with it while continuing to compete in the sport that he has loved since he was a youngster.
He acknowledged it was difficult.
"Last year, I was not in a good place mentally, and the team was not going where it needed to be," Almora said. "I did not think I was going about my day (in) the correct way."
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Almora encountered difficulty off the field and on it. After the incident in which the young girl was seriously injury, Almora hit .215 with a .570 OPS the rest of the way.
Prior to that, he was hitting .259 with a .741 OPS. In all, he hit a career-worst .236 with 12 homers, 32 RBIs, a .271 on-base percentage and a .651 OPS in 130 games.
Now, Almora is looking forward to a new season. He emphasized that he's "in a good mental place."
"That is all I can ask for," Almora said.
He credited those around him for helping lift his spirits this offseason.
"I have my circle of people I trust," Almora said. "There are people that have always been there for me. It was just me listening better and opening up to new advice that I opened up to this year.
"I learned a lot in the offseason of how to better prepare mentally and physically."
The returns have been good for Almora early in Cactus League play. He's 4-for-4 with a homer in the Cubs' first three games this spring.
"I need to be a better player," Almora said. "I have motivation for myself, and I know what kind of player I can be. I just want to hit the ball hard consistently."
With that goal in mind, the 25-year-old Almora has adjusted his swing plane back to a more natural line-drive stroke.
"When you expect to be perfect and everything has to be on time, you have a tendency to expand your zone a little more," Almora said of his plate approach in 2019. "When you shrink that back, you can be a little more selective. Last year, my timing was off. You cannot hit that way. I was getting caught up in results last year more than preparation."
Almora isn't reading too much into his early play in the Cactus League but does hope it's the first step to success in 2020. He'll once again be in the Cubs' outfield mix, and he's fighting for as much playing time as possible after losing his regular starting job last year.
"I may have had two good games, but I am still far from where I want to be," he said. "I just want to stay healthy and have a great mindset the whole year."
So, what escaped Almora on the field in 2019?
Confidence," he said. "Confidence is the key to that. You lose a lot in this game. It is a game of failure a good portion of the time. I lost that. I am not going to lie, I definitely lost that."