Chicago Cubs infielder Tommy La Stella is at AAA Iowa rehabbing his strained hamstring, getting his timing back at the plate, and preparing himself for a return to the big leagues.
He is also, apparently, practicing a certain magical sliding ability:
https://twitter.com/IowaCubs/status/750177772736098305
Tommy La Stella avoids the tag to score against Omaha. More from last night's @IowaCubs win: https://t.co/9ljDlGySr7 pic.twitter.com/2IxIt2fh44
— Michael Zamora (@mzamoraphoto) July 5, 2016
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If that beautiful work looks vaguely familiar, it could be because La Stella’s fellow infield-mate at the big league level has for quite a while now perfected the craft of magically sliding past players with the baseball.
La Stella’s iteration, of course, is slightly different, since it’s coming into home plate, and is feet first. But the “hey, here’s my body, tag me, NOOOOOOPE” maneuver is straight out of the Javy Baez Book of Magical Body Control.
That was fun.
La Stella could be back with the big league team any day now, and he’s likely to replace third baseman Jeimer Candelario on the roster. The youngster was called up this weekend (and got his first big league hit off of Noah Syndergaard) when Chris Coghlan (rib cage) went on the disabled list.