Plenty of prospects have made some noise during spring training. One of them was Chicago Cubs youngster Jeimer Candelario, who received praise from the organization for his performance at MLB camp before he was sent down to Double-A Tennessee.
The 22-year-old hit .350/.381/.675 with seven runs scored, three home runs and five RBI in 15 games (40 at-bats) this spring and made some good plays at third base despite committing four errors in 76 innings.
Manager Joe Maddon was incredulous when he sat down with Candelario and had to tell him he'd be going back to the minors.
"I just talked about: How can we possibly send you out? You're the best hitter in the Valley right now. What's wrong with us?," Maddon said.
General manager Jed Hoyer was also impressed with Candelario's spring training performance and is optimistic about his future with the club.
"Another guy for us that really stood out was Jeimer Candelario," Hoyer said on the Baseball Tonight Podcast. "He might have been our best hitter in camp ... he's a switch hitter with great balance on both sides and he can really play third base. It was a lot of fun to see him come in and open the eyes of the coaching staff."
However, Candelario is blocked by Kris Bryant, who won the NL Rookie of the Year in 2015, so it's unclear what the team's long-term plans with the prospect are. He broke out last season and batted .277/.339/.431 with 63 runs scored, 10 home runs and 64 RBI in 128 games between High Class A Myrtle Beach and Double-A Tennessee and then continued his surge in the Arizona Fall League (.329 avg., .981 OPS with 10 runs scored, five home runs and 15 RBI in 21 games).
Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago noted earlier this month that Candelario could possibly be a "headliner in a trade for a top-of-the-rotation starter," but at this point that's just speculation. While trade rumors have not been a focus of the Cubs during spring training, it's still possible they strike a deal for another starter at some point during the 2016 season because their farm system is so deep and another arm in the rotation could be necessary for a World Series run.
All we know at this point is that Candelario is a promising talent after witnessing his progress from last season into MLB camp.
