NEWSLETTER
Getting back to full health was always the number one priority for Alexander Canario in the 2023 season.
The then-22-year-old outfield prospect was on something of a rocket ship last year, rising from High-A to Double-A, and from Double-A to Triple-A, putting up prodigious numbers along the way. He’d cemented himself as a clear top-10 prospect in the Cubs’ increasingly loaded system, and I think you absolutely could have made an overall top-100 argument at the time the season ended.
But we know what happened from there. While playing winter ball, an errant throw from shortstop threw off Canario’s approach to first base just enough that he hit the bag awkwardly, broke his ankle, flopped to the ground and dislocated his shoulder in the process. It was almost as injured as a player can get on a single play. Each of the damaged joints required surgery. With this particular ankle surgery being very significant and with a baseball player’s shoulder being a shoulder, it was impossible to know whether Canario could come back to play high-level baseball at all, much less at the output he was showing in 2022, MUCH-ER LESS-ER develop further from there into a big league contributor.
So, as I said, the 2023 season was really just about getting Canario to full health and back on a baseball diamond. I truly did not expect – or even let myself hope for – more than that.
Obviously Canario, himself, expected much more. He tore through the rehab process, and then the ramp up process, and here we are now, looking at a guy who is back to obliterating the ball at Triple-A. He is on the radar for a possible September call-up to the big leagues, and even if that doesn’t come, he is going to get more reps when the season ends:
Given that 2024 is Canario’s final option year – he’s been on the 40-man roster since the Cubs acquired him from the Giants – it makes all the more sense to ensure he gets as much development time this year as possible. I’m sure it also wouldn’t hurt to give other teams more time to evaluate his progress and project his future, in the event Canario’s name comes up in offseason trade talks.
Before you say it: the kind of injury Canario suffered last year in offseason ball could happen in any game on any play. It was a total fluke. By playing in the Arizona Fall League this year, he is not adding any more risk to his plate beyond the fact that each extra game comes with an attendant volume of risk. He needs the development time, though, so it’s worth it. I’m very glad to hear he’s been selected to be one of the Cubs’ participants, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to put up ridiculous numbers – though he’ll be there with some specific development directives, so maybe not.
In the meantime, Canario will finish out the year at Triple-A Iowa, unless he’s earlier summoned by the big league team to offer some thump off the bench.
