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Chicago Cubs Call Up, Start Highly Touted Jeimer Candelario?? After Chris Coghlan Placed On DL

By Oliver VanDervoort
Published on: 04:52 PST, Jul 3, 2016

The Chicago Cubs have had to rely on rookies and very young ballplayers the last couple of years, and that trend will continue with the promotion of third baseman Jeimer Candelario. Candelario was called up on Sunday morning after Chris Coghlan was placed on the Disabled List.

Shortly after the announcement of the callup of Jeimer Candelario, the Chicago Cubs announced he would be starting at third base for Sunday’s game against the New York Mets. CSN Chicago reports the Cubs are having to react to yet another injury while also hoping they can find a way to spark a struggling offense.

Chris Coghlan played in Chicago’s latest loss, a 4-3 defeat to the Mets. During that game, Coghlan had to leave with what was called “rib soreness” at the time. Whether the Chicago Cubs put him on the DL because he was that badly injured, or because he’s performed poorly at the plate since coming to Chicago is something that will be debated by fans today.

It seems unlikely the Cubs want to have another player on the disabled list what with the number of bodies they’ve already got on there. Jeimer Candelario will be looked at to provide the offense that has been missing with three Cubs starters injured.

Dexter Fowler, Tommy LaStella, and Jorge Soler have all gone on the DL with hamstring injuries, and it’s not clear when any of them will be ready to return to the Chicago Cubs. Candelario has certainly provided quite a bit of offense to the franchise’s minor league teams this season.

Jeimer Candelario started the year at AA, but the 22-year-old infielder was quickly promoted to AAA Iowa. Should he be sent down before the game is set to take place, he’s slated to appear in the All-Star Futures game. Since being called up to AAA, he had been hitting.333 in 25 games.

The Chicago Tribune reports Candelario will be batting sixth in Sunday’s contest while another rookie in Wilson Contreras will start in left field. Contreras is a catcher by trade, but he’s played quite a bit in the outfield since the Cubs called him up a few weeks ago. David Ross is going to start at catcher for the team.

Jeimer Candelario and Wilson Contreras are two rookies in the lineup today, and the team could have had a third in the form of Albert Almora. Last year, there were times when the team was starting four rookies in its lineup.

The team has managed to make itself a contender thanks in part to a youth movement that includes Kyle Schwarber, Addison Russell, Kris Bryant, Soler, and Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo is the veteran of the group at 26-years-old. The promotion of Candelario means the Cubs have six position players on their 40-man roster that are in their first or second year in the big leagues.

Despite that much youth, the team has had or flirted with the best record in baseball since opening day. The injuries and perhaps a lot of young players seem to have taken their toll in last few weeks. The club started off red hot but has come back to earth.

Part of that coming back to earth is the threat of being swept in a four-game series against the Mets. Even if the Chicago Cubs manage to win today, it is still the third straight series against a team with a winning record where they’ve lost at least three games. This streak started with a sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals and was followed up by losing three of four to the Miami Marlins.

The Chicago Cubs looked as if they were righting the ship with a sweep in Cincinnati against the Reds. Instead, the team has returned to its recent losing ways, dropping the first three games of this series against the Mets. The Cubs will be leaning on Jeimer Candelario to help them salvage at least one win in the series on Sunday.

[Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images]

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