With a Wild Card game on the horizon Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, it’s easy to overlook some other Chicago Cubs players, those in the farm system, that are just beginning their Arizona Fall League season.
Coming into the season as a Top 30 Chicago Cubs prospect, it’s difficult to say Jeimer Candelario defied expectations this season. But with a roster and farm system dominated by big-name prospects, the 21-year-old from New York City via the Dominican Republic still managed to fly under the radar.
At least for a while.
Jeimer Candelario has pushed his way into the @Cubs' plans. http://t.co/KkAMSo1rG2 pic.twitter.com/PHXA3Rozbr
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) October 3, 2015
Candelario was called up to the Double-A Tennessee Smokies for the final 46 games of the Southern League season and finished as one of their best offensive and defensive players. The outfielder batted .291 with 10 doubles, one triple, five home runs and 25 RBIs, tearing through experienced Southern League pitching as the Smokies season went down to the wire.
Candelario was born in New York City, but at the age of five his father Roger moved his family to the Dominican Republic to open up a baseball training center for Dominican talent. It was an opportunity the younger Candelario wouldn’t let go to waste.
“My dad and my mom are from there, so it was just moving back for them,” Candelario said. “I was a young kid and didn’t know what to expect. I was there every time and started practicing with him. The kids work with my dad so they can get signed (by a major league baseball team). I took advantage of it.”
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It wasn’t long before Major League baseball teams came knocking on Candelario’s door. And while as an American citizen he could have taken the opportunity to go to college in the United States and get drafted, it never came to that. At just 16, Candelario was already being courted by multiple major league clubs, including the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays. But it was the Cubs who closed the deal and bring Candelario back to the country of his birth full time.
“I never looked at getting drafted, because I’d lived in the Dominican Republic for so long,” Candelario said. “I just tried to be the best player I could be and put myself in the best position to get signed. I signed in September. I was excited to be with a new group of people. My dad always worked hard for me to get me ready. I really appreciate the time he spent with me. I learned a lot.”
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What he hadn’t learned at the time is how to bounce back from struggles at the plate. Candelario had been trained almost from birth to play baseball but last season with the Cubs’ High-A club, he couldn’t get it together at the plate. At just 20 years old he stumbled for the first time and he was far from home and his support system. After batting .193 in 62 games, he was sent back down to Low-A to finish out the season.
He bounced back, even helping the Kane County win a Midwest League title, but it was a career setback that Candelario didn’t want to repeat.
“In baseball, you’re going to be in some tough times,” Candelario said. “You’re going to struggle. You have to learn how to handle it because that’s going to happen. I learned a lot about myself. I had to learn that I can’t be perfect every time.”
The lessons he learned from 2014 carried over and when he got the call up to join the Smokies, he was ready. Now he’s reaped the rewards and will play on in the Arizona Fall League with the Cubs’ contingent.
Southern League Notes
The Chattanooga Lookouts, led by SLCS MVP Jason Wheeler on the hill, shut out the Biloxi Shuckers in a deciding game five, to win the Southern League title 4-0 on Sept. 21. It was the Lookouts’ first title since 1988. Wheeler entered the game as a reliever, but was a solid starter in his time with Chattanooga, going 4-3 I 10 starts with a 3.92 ERA. Max Kepler, who finished his minor league career batting .322 with 71 RBIs, 32 doubles, 13 triples and nine home runs was called up to the Minnesota Twins the very next day to help with their wild card bid.
