fun times

Chris Coghlan is not exactly tearing up the league, but you have to think he’s having fun. The Ole Miss product is part of a Chicago Cubs team that has been one of this season’s most riveting stories. The Cubs have a roster of blossoming young stars and a colorful, well-respected manager. And they are winning, which is something they were not doing when Coghlan joined the club in May of 2014. Those Cubs were stuck in the basement of the National League Central, where they had practically taken up residence. Coghlan, cut loose by Miami after the ’13 season, had signed with Chicago as a minor league free agent. He didn’t make the club out of spring training and was shipped to Triple-A. He got the call to Chicago to take the place of an injured player. Expectations were, uh, muted. But then the young players began to arrive … and to produce. Coghlan got hot, too. He wound up at .283 with nine homers, 41 RBIs and 50 runs in 125 games. The Cubs finished 73-89, their best record since 2010. Excitement grew in the off-season as they signed lefty Jon Lester, then hired Joe Maddon as skipper. Coghlan also was re-signed. The team has ridden the wave to a 33-27 record; they got their MLB-best seventh walk-off win on Saturday, beating Cincinnati 4-3 at Wrigley Field. They’re third in the NL Central, 7 games back of leader St. Louis. Coghlan, a lefty hitter, plays regularly in left field. He is batting just .243 but has hit at a .326 clip over his last 15 games. Eight of his 43 hits are home runs. He has driven in 18 runs, scored 21. Coghlan isn’t old — he’ll turn 30 on June 18 — but in the Cubs’ clubhouse, he may feel that way, surrounded by so many young players: Rizzo, Bryant, Russell, Hendricks, Castro, Alcantara, Soler, et al. Coghlan, drafted out of Ole Miss in 2006, has been in the big leagues, off and on, since 2009, when he was the NL’s rookie of the year for the Marlins. Five years and many injuries later, he was without an MLB job until the Cubs gave him that shot last May. “In six years, I’ve had a full realm,” Coghlan told the Chicago Sun-Times. Part of his role now is to spread that perspective to a young team that appears full of energy and hope. It has to be fun. P.S. Also having a jolly old time: Mitch Moreland and the Texas Rangers, who’ve won 10 of 14 to get to 33-29, nipping at the heels of Houston in the American League West. Former Mississippi State star Moreland, who has been raking since coming off a stint on the disabled list, is batting .310 with eight homers and 30 RBIs. His latest bomb came Saturday, a three-run shot that helped beat Minnesota 11-7 at Globe Life Park in Arlington.