Coghlan Heading to DL, Jeimer Candelario Gets the Call

Chris Coghlan had to leave the game last night against the Mets with right rib cage soreness. According to Carrie Muskat, Coghlan has been placed on the disabled list and the Cubs have called up young stud third baseman, Jeimer Candelario.

Candelario got a lot of playing time this spring and took full advantage, swinging the bat very well as he posted a slash line of .350/.381/.675, including three home runs. In 25 games for AAA Iowa he’s putting up similar numbers, slashing .333/.452/.600 with three home runs.

How the Cubs fit him in to the lineup remains to be seen since he’s primarily a third baseman. My assumption here is that the Cubs are looking to get Jeimer some exposure to big league hitting so that, in addition to their other young studs such as Albert Almora and Willson Contreras, they’ll have a better idea of what pieces can and should be moved prior to the trade deadline.

Jeimer certainly deserves this call-up and it’s going to be fun to see how it all plays out. Tommy La Stella is currently working his way back from the DL, so that would give the Cubs another infielder upon his return, meaning that Jemier’s trip to the majors may be a short one.

Don’t be surprised to see Joe Maddon move Javier Baez and Ben Zobrist to the outfield a little bit more as well to cover for the injury riddled outfielders.