The Way We Were – A look back at Jeimer Candelario in 2012

In Commentary And Analysis, Minor Leagues by Obstructed View StaffLeave a Comment

Jeimer Candelario was part of the Super Boise team and one of my favorite breakout threats for 2013. Candelario just turned 19 so he played his first full US season as an 18 year old and one of the youngest players in the NWL.

Candelario was an overslot signing a few years back inking for around 500,000. He was born in Brooklyn but moved to the DR where he was signed by the Cubs. I seem to recall BA saying he had first round talent and it certainly showed in the DSL 2 league he played in during the 2011 season.

As a 17 year old Candelario posted a .921 OPS and walked more (50) times than he struck out (42). Based on that the Cubs decided to be aggressive and promoted him right past AZL and sent him to Idaho to man the 3B position.            

He started the year in a big way tearing up the NWL to the tune of a .339/.391/.576. He hit 4 of his 6 HR's that month and Baseball America ran a nice feature on him. Unfortunately his season cooled after that as he posted a sub .700 OPS the next two months.

However, while his BA and power dropped off he still maintained a decent OBP which is a nice thing to see from any Cub prospect let alone a guy making the jump to pro ball and being young for the level. His defense at 3B isn't great and he's really going to have to work to stay there but I'll take a wRC+ of 113 any day.

Look for Candelario to move on to Peoria next season along with Gioskar Amaya, Marco Hernandez, Dan Vogelbach and Albert Almora. John Sickels had this guy rated way too low (15th) in my opinion and when dmick or the artist formerly known as MB21 get together to make our new top 20 prospect list Candelario will be a top 10 guy for sure. 

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