I-Cubs' Candelario posts crooked number again

Patience can be a virtue, but Jeimer Candelario is doing better with less of it.
"Candy can be too patient and he'll find himself down, 0-1, 0-2," Triple-A Iowa hitting coach Desi Wilson. "We're stressing with him, 'Be more aggressive, especially with guys on base.' He's working on that, and it shows."

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It showed Wednesday as the fourth-ranked Cubs prospect's third five-RBI performance paced the I-Cubs to an 18-5 romp over the visiting New Orleans Baby Cakes. Candelario's 15 total RBIs lead all of affiliated baseball -- Majors and Minors -- and he reached base five times with a triple, three doubles and a walk.
"With men on base, I have to be able to drive it in, so I just concentrate on hitting the ball hard," the 23-year-old told MiLB.com after plating five Saturday.

Wilson, who coached Candelario with the Double-A Smokies for 56 games last season, sees the No. 92 overall prospect's willingness to swing early in at-bats as his biggest improvement since last year.
"At Tennessee last year, he was too passive with guys on base, and you can really see the difference. His swing is still the same -- he's just being more aggressive early," the veteran of 11 pro seasons and 41 big league games said. "He's getting that good mental approach at the plate. I think more than anything his mentality is, find a good pitch and be ready to hit it."
Candelario's triple, which plated two runs, came in the first inning on a fly ball of Baby Cakes right-hander Severino González. The switch-hitting third baseman pulled a couple more offerings from Gonzalez -- for an RBI double in the third and a two-run double in the fourth.
After walking against left-hander Kelvin Marte in the sixth, Candelario hammered an 0-1 pitch off righty Ryan Beckman the other way in the eighth.
"He's in the zone. He's really focusing on at-bats, getting a good pitch," Wilson said. "When hitters get in the zone like he is, they see the ball and it looks like a grapefruit coming out of a pitcher's hand."

After compiling a slash line of .283/376/.464 across the Southern League and the PCL and getting 11 big league at-bats last year, he's opened the season 10-for-27 (.370) with nine extra-base hits and two walks over seven games. He's gone hitless on three occasions, but the Iowa hitting coach praised his consistent approach.
"You're not going to hit all the time, but he was still being aggressive [in those games]," Wilson said. "They didn't fall his way, but I like what I see from Candy. We're reminding him on a daily basis to keep being aggressive. When he gets his pitch, he's not going to miss."
Ian Happ, Chicago's No. 2 prospect and No. 25 overall, went 2-for-5 with a homer, three RBIs, three runs scored and a walk. The dinger was his fourth of 2017.
"Happ is a good player as well, and he's being aggressive as well too," Wilson said. "I see both guys rubbing off on each other. They're up there doing their job -- get a good pitch and drive it hard, and they're not worrying about the outcome."
No. 21 Cubs prospect Alec Mills (2-0) allowed three hits and fanning three without walking a batter over five scoreless innings.
Tomás Telis, the Marlins' No. 28 prospect, was 2-for-5 with a couple runs scored.