Cubs give Candelario welcome-back gift: a new position
The Cubs had a vision for new acquisition Jeimer Candelario. Even though he played third base for Washington, they saw him as a first baseman.
It's not a new spot. He was a full-time first baseman for Detroit in 2020 and has 60 major league starts there. But he did have to borrow a first baseman's glove from teammate Miguel Amaya before making his Wrigley Field return Tuesday.
"First base, you just throw the ball and catch the ball. It's that simple," Candelario said before the game. "I was a little surprised, but I want to bring energy and bring some positivity. Anything I can do to help my team win, that's what I'm here for."
There was some rust. The first challenging ground ball to first base went through Candelario's legs for an error and let in an unearned run. With the Cubs scoring 13 runs in the first four innings, it hardly mattered. Candelario also started the game 4-for-4 at the plate with a double.
"He'll play a significant amount at first," manager David Ross said. "He's comfortable, I talked to him. By some of our metrics, he's actually rated higher at first than third. So he's a good athlete. He has better metrics than Trey (Mancini) did, so it feels like it's a little bit of an upgrade defensively as well."
Candelario originally signed with the Cubs in 2010 and made his major-league debut during the World Series season of 2016. A year later, the Cubs traded him to Detroit. According to Candelario, there's nothing awkward about coming back to his former team.
"It's always great to play in Wrigley Field with the beautiful fans we have here," he said. "I remember when I signed. Signing that paper, it was a dream come true for me in that moment. Seeing that I'm here in Wrigley Field again, man, it's really special for me and for my family, for sure."
Candelario listed his first career home run, which happened on June 29, 2017, at Washington, as the favorite highlight of his Cubs years.
"It does make me feel old," president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. "Getting him six years to the day after we traded him in a deadline deal is pretty unbelievable.
"It was such a sellers' market. There were very few hitters we felt like could add something to this team and Candy was the one guy. He was a very clear target and there weren't a lot of those out there."
The Cubs sent a couple of midrange prospects to Washington, left-handed pitcher D.J. Herz and infielder Kevin Made. Candelario will be a free agent after the season, so how long he stays remains to be seen.
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