Chicago Cubs: Jeimer Candelario rejoins team; Jason Heyward drops in ASG voting

Rookie Jeimer Candelario will rejoin the Chicago Cubs this week as Addison Russell battles an injury; meanwhile, a new All-Star Game voting update was released.

With yet another piece sidelined with an injury, the Chicago Cubs will reportedly bring back prospect Jeimer Candelario for the start of the series against Washington.

In a high-stakes showdown against the NL East-leading Nationals, the Cubs are opting for position player depth – a smart move given the bevy of injuries the team faces. With Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward already sidelined, the team now loses Addison Russell – at least for the time being.

Russell, who played his best ball of the year over the last two-plus weeks, described the pain following Sunday’s loss to Miami.

“I definitely know when I can go and when I need to shut it down,” Russell said. “There’s a difference between whenever you’re trying to work through something or you’re working against something.

Chicago Cubs

The young infielder owned an average pushing .360 in his last 12 games – a stark contrast from earlier in the year. May represented one of the worst months of his big-league career and his lack of production left a hole in the Cubs lineup.

With Triple-A Iowa this month, Candelario is batting .250/.337/388 and has cooled considerably since the start of the season.

Still, he has a lot of upside and gives Chicago options. The team’s use (or lack thereof) of the 10-day DL is an altogether different story. For now, Russell rides the pine as Candelario returns.

Last ASG voting update

With just three days left to vote for July’s All-Star Game at Marlins Park, only one Cubs player is in line to start.

Reigning NL MVP Kris Bryant takes the starting honors at third base over Nolan Arenado – at least for the time being. But Jason Heyward, who had been projected to start in the outfield, fell in voting. As of Monday morning, the National League projected outfield consists of Bryce Harper, Charlie Blackmon and Marcell Ozuna.

The fervent manner in which Cubs fans voted last year is completely gone in 2017. The fiery passion surrounding the reigning World Series champions has since been replaced with a sort of despondent wariness, despite the team being mere games out of first in the division.

Next: Happ proving his worth to Cubs in first-half

To vote for other Cubs, including Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo and others fans can visit MLB.com over the next few days to cast their ballots.