Cubs prospect Alexander Canario is seriously injured in a winter league game

Alexander Canario was acquired by the Cubs, along with Caleb Kilian, from the Giants in the July 2021 deal that sent Kris Bryant to San Francisco.

He began 2022 playing at High-A South Bend, but was promoted to Double-A Tennessee mid-season and then to Triple-A Iowa in August. Combined at the three levels, Canario batted .252/.343/.556 with 26 doubles, 37 home runs and 23 stolen bases. He’s on the Cubs’ 40-man roster and seemed on target to get some playing time in Spring Training in 2023 and possibly even make the Cubs’ Opening Day roster.

That all appears to be in jeopardy after this injury he suffered Thursday night in the Dominican winter league. Warning, this is tough to watch:

Here’s another view:

And it’s more than just his ankle that was injured in that fall:

This National Institute of Health page describes such a fracture this way:

Bimalleolar ankle fracture is a fracture that occurs in both the lateral and medial malleoli at the distal end of the tibia and fibula bones that articulate with talus bone to form the ankle joint or tibiotalar joint.

It sounds pretty bad, and while I’m sure this can be surgically repaired, I would guess this calls into question whether Canario will be ready for Spring Training. I’m sure the Cubs will give him all the time and support he needs to get back into playing shape. The photo of Canario above is from Spring Training last March; he played in four spring games for the Cubs in 2022 and went 3-for-10 with two home runs. Here’s one of those homers, hit April 3 against the Guardians [VIDEO].

Canario is 22 (turns 23 next May). He played in only eight games in the winter league and went 5-for-24 (.208), but four of the hits were for extra bases (two doubles, a triple and a home run) for a SLG of .500.

Here’s hoping for a full recovery for Canario and a return to playing baseball next year.