How Jeimer Candelario went from a $5 million player to a $15 million player in just a year

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — At the end of the 2022 season, Jeimer Candelario said the Detroit Tigers gave him an ultimatum. Either he was going to accept a pay cut, avoid arbitration and agree to a new one-year contract, or he was going to get cut.

Candelario was only a year removed from leading MLB in doubles and ranking in the top-100 in Wins Above Replacement. He thought that he still had a place in the Tigers young core, but the Tigers didn’t view him as worth more than the projected $7 million he could have received in arbitration.

Candelario bet on himself and didn’t take the pay cut. Then the Tigers non-tendered him. Just one year later, he signed a three-year deal with the Reds for $45 million.

“I know the kind of player that I am, and I know what I can bring to the table,” Candelario said. “When you know you can do it, you’ll always have confidence. You’ll always bounce back. If you’re a good player and you know what it takes to have success, you’ll do it no matter what.”

Now, the Reds are counting on Candelario as their starting third baseman and a middle of the order bat. With Noelvi Marte serving an 80-game suspension, Candelario plays an even bigger role in the Reds’ plans for 2024.

Candelario is confident that he isn’t the hitter he was with the Tigers in 2022, when his OPS plummeted to a meager .633, he struggled against fastballs and he didn’t hit for much power. So are the Reds.

“He’s a professional hitter,” Reds manager David Bell said. “To have him in the middle of the order, he’s at a different point in his career and has become a different kind of hitter than some of our other hitters. He has a different kind of presence because of the success he has had. That was the biggest reason we acquired him.”

Candelario’s career turnaround started with a conversation with his dad. Rogelio Candelario has been coaching Jeimer since he could walk.

Rogelio, who played in the Dominican Republic, took Jeimer to games and helped him fall in love with the sport. Rogelio was a bat-to-ball line drive hitter, and he helped Jeimer develop a similar approach.

“My love for baseball comes from him,” Jeimer said. “He put that in my blood. The love that he had for baseball, he put that in my heart.”

For decades, Rogelio threw batting practice to Jeimer and coached him up on his swing. Rogelio studied up on modern trends and dove into analytics to help give Jeimer better feedback.

Every time they worked out together, Rogelio told Jeimer, “Be early. Be early. Be early.”

“Since we did that, snap, that’s it,” Candelario said. “I separated myself. “My dad helped me recognize pitches even better. No matter what, he’ll help me get better. He told me stuff I didn’t see. I practiced with him every day.  He’s always there for me.”

Jeimer Candelario also got some help from a close friend of the family. Rogelio played baseball with Jose Cano. Jose’s son, eight-time All-Star Robinson Cano, has known Jeimer Candelario for about 20 years.

Robinson Cano, who played his final MLB game in 2022, has built a second career as a private hitting coach, working with players like Candelario and Elly De La Cruz. Along with Rogelio Candelario, Robinson Cano helped Jeimer Candelario get back on track heading into the 2023 season.

During that offseason, Jeimer Candelario put more of a focus on being a hitter who drove the ball into the gaps. He improved his approach and went from a hitter who chased way too many pitches to a hitter who chased pitches at a league average rate. He also planned to elevate the ball in the air more in 2023.

During that offseason, he signed a one-year deal with the Washington Nationals for $5 million, Then Candelario had the biggest season of his career. He posted a .807 OPS, hit 39 doubles and 22 homers, drove in 70 runs and earned a big contract from the Reds.

“He’s just a good pure hitter,” Reds outfielder Spencer Steer said. “Through his routine, you can tell how he really focuses and pays attention to detail. And he has a knack for the barrel. He’s always squaring pitches up. He’s a fun guy to watch.”

The Reds signed Candelario because they were confident that Candelario isn’t the player that he looked like in 2022. The Reds’ new third baseman feels the same way.

The slump, the lowball contract offer from the Tigers and getting cut by the Tigers at the end of the year put more of a chip on Candelario’s shoulder.

“You’ve got to prove people wrong,” Candelario said. “I knew that my numbers would be there the next year. It’s all worked out. It’s all about confidence.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds infielder Jeimer Candelario got his career back on track in 2023