Jeimer Candelario

Jeimer Candelario
(Candy; Baby Ruth)

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.

• Debut July 3, 2016

• Born November 24, 1993 in New York, NY USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Third baseman Jeimer Candelario has been a regular in the majors after making his major league debut in 2016, seeing most of his action with the Detroit Tigers.

Candelario began his career in 2011 when he was signed for the Chicago Cubs by scouts Jose Serra and Marino Encarnacion. Although born in the United States, he grew up in the Dominican Republic, and therefore did not have to go through the amateur draft. He hit .337/.443/.478 in 72 games for the DSL Cubs in debut. His average declined each season through 2014, and his OBP and slugging percentage stagnated or declined as well. Still, going into 2013, he was ranked the #8 prospect in the Cubs chain by Baseball America and in 2014, he was again rated #8. At 19, in 2013, he had 35 doubles and 11 home runs in 130 games; the next year, he had 29 doubles and 11 dingers. In 2015, he rebounded to hit .277/.339/.431 with 10 home runs, 35 doubles and 64 RBI in 128 games between the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and Tennessee Smokies, earning Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star and MiLB.com Organization All-Star honors. After the campaign, he played for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .329/.371/.610 with 5 home runs and 15 RBI in 21 games to be named to the All Prospect Team and a Rising Star. Going into 2016, BA ranked him the #10 prospect in the Cubs system. He began the year at Double A, making the Southern League All-Star team. On June 8th, he was promoted to Triple A for the first time; after hitting .333/.452/.600 in 25 games with the Iowa Cubs, he was called up to the majors.

He made his big league debut on June 3, 2016 against the New York Mets. Facing All-Star Noah Syndergaard, he struck out in his first and second at-bats, but managed a single in his third, then struck out again versus Logan Verrett in his final at bat. He only played 5 games for the Cubs, going 1 for 11 (.091). With Iowa, he finished the season at .333 with 9 homers and 54 RBI in 76 games, giving him a minor league batting line of .286/.380/.469 in 131 games, with 39 doubles, 13 homers and 77 RBI. With most other organizations, he would have been considered a top-line prospect, but the Cubs were teeming with promising young players and he was a bit lost in the shuffle as 2017 started. He played 11 games, hitting .156, but was mainly with Iowa, where he hit .266 with 12 homers and 52 RBI in 81 games. On July 30th, he was one of two prospects (Isaac Paredes being the other) traded by the Cubs to the Detroit Tigers in return for catcher Alex Avila and reliever Justin Wilson.

Jeimer's Detroit start was promising, ripping American League pitching to a .330/.406/.468 line with 9 extra base hits in 94 at bats. He was staked to the third base job in 2018, with Nicholas Castellanos moving to the outfield, and had a tepid first full season, batting .224/.317/.393 with 19 home runs and 78 runs scored in 144 games. The roof caved in on him in 2019, as he was sent back down to the AAA Toledo Mud Hens on June 2nd, after hitting just .178 over the first two months of the season with Detroit. He was back at the end of the month, but made a second trip to the bushes in early August, with his BA still below the Mendoza Line at .197, before returning to the Bengals in September. Overall, he hit .203/.306/.337 in 94 games. He was outstanding with Toledo, however, where he hit .320 with 10 doubles and 9 homers in 39 games, but he was unable to translate that into success at the higher level. He then seemed to find his swing again in 2020, although the games cancelled because of the Coronavirus pandemic prevented him from putting up impressive counting stats. In his 52 games, however, in spite of starting the year in a nasty 0-for-19 slump, he hit a solid .297 with 11 doubles and 7 homers, scoring 30 runs and driving 29. His OPS+ was an excellent 135 - the highest of his career, as he played mostly first base. He led his team in doubles and tied for the lead in runs scored with Victor Reyes, while finishing second in RBIs behind veteran Miguel Cabrera. He was named the Tigers' Player of the Year.

He had another good season in 2021, once again on a non-competitive Tigers team. He led the American League with 42 doubles, part of a season in which he batted .271 in 149 games with 16 homers and 67 RBIs. His OPS+ was 121 and he was back to starting at third base. In 2022, he fell back, batting .217 in 124 games, with 13 homers and 50 RBIs and an OPS+ of just 82. He was now 28 and should have been in the middle of his prime, but the Tigers were not expecting to compete for at least a couple more seasons, so they let him go as a free agent, and he ended up with another cellar-dwelling team in 2023, the Washington Nationals. He bounced back after his poor 2022 season, hitting .258 in 99 games through the end of July, with 16 homers and 53 RBIs. he also hit 30 homers in those four months, after getting just 19 in the entire previous season; his OPS+ was back at 128. On July 31st, he was traded back to his original team, the Chicago Cubs in return for two prospects, SS Kevin Made and P DJ Herz. The Cubs were hovering on the edges of the postseason race, thanks in large part to being in a weak division in which no team had managed to pull away. He continued to hit well after joining the Cubs, batting .234 with 9 doubles and 6 homers in 41 games for an OPS+ of 103, even if the Cubs missed the postseason. Overall, his numbers included an average of .251 in 140 games, 39 doubles and 22 homers, 77 runs and 70 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 119.

A free agent after his bounce back season in 2023, he signed a three-year contract that December with the Cincinnati Reds. It was for $45 million, with an option for a fourth year at $15 million. He was expected to take over first base from departing team legend Joey Votto.

Notable Achievements

• AL Doubles Leader (2021)
• 20-Home Runs Seasons: 2 (2023 & 2024)

Further Reading

• Theo DeRosa: "Reds make a splash with veteran INF Candelario", mlb.com, December 7, 2023. [1]

Related Sites

• Jeimer Candelario on mlb.com
• BR Minors page
• Bleacher Nation
• Bleed Cubbie Blue