2023 Cubs player profiles: Alexander Canario

Dominican native Alexander Canario got a cuppa and breakfast, one at-bat, and some good paychecks in 2023. 2024 will look brighter for him. He’s slated to play in the Arizona Fall League and might be in the major-league mix next year, as he’s on the 40-man roster and will presumably be at Spring Training.

Canario was acquired by the Cubs from San Francisco, part of the Kris Bryant trade, and he has some big-time power and good wheels. He’s not a base-stealer but he can man all three outfield positions creditably. He did club 37 home runs in 464 at-bats over three different minor-league assignments last year, to lead the organization, while slashing .252/.343/.556. That’s not bad, though his 147 strikeouts indicate that his plate judgement needs work, and he does chase out of the zone fairly often.

The most-likely scenario is that Canario will start at Triple-A Iowa next year and will be a candidate for promotion depending on need. It’s very possible that he’ll be the starting center fielder, with Pete Crow-Armstrong remaining with the major-league club. That’s all going to depend on how the offseason markets treat the roster — Canario is mostly a corner OF.

He’s come a long way back from the horrific injuries he suffered in winter ball in 2022, and continued good health will help shed light on his bright future in the game.

Iowa’s going to be a good team next year, with a ton of power, and Canario will be right in the middle of the order. He’s just 23 and will have many years to be a productive major-leaguer once he reaches The Show for good.

Check out this footage of a big day for Canario, and you can see what the Cubs see.

This is likely the last player profile for 2023. I’ll do a look-back post-season and see who went where and how the predictions went. Thanks for reading.