like old times

This time a year ago, Chris Coghlan was on the disabled list with one of the many injuries that have dogged his career (see previous posts). The former Ole Miss star had to be wondering about his future with the Miami Marlins, if not his future in baseball. Flash forward to Sunday. Coghlan, playing left field for the Chicago Cubs, produced his fifth straight two-hit game, including a home run, to help the Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-3. Coghlan, a lefty hitter, batted .376 in July and is 6-for-14 so far in August. For the year, he is at .292 with six home runs, 19 RBIs and 31 runs in 73 games since the Cubs brought him to the majors in early May. Coghlan, the 2009 National League rookie of the year who is only 29, may well have played his way into the Cubs’ plans for 2015. “He really plays the game with a lot of heart,” Cubs manager Rick Renteria told mlb.com. Heart, or something like it, has carried Coghlan a long way in a year’s time. Miami let him walk after last season; he batted .215 in September and wound up at .256 with one homer in 70 games for the year. The Cubs signed him to a minor league deal in December and invited him to spring training, but Coghlan didn’t make their 25-man roster. (Considering the state of the Cubs that had to be a letdown.) An opportunity arose when Ryan Sweeney went on the disabled list a month into the season. Summoned from Triple-A Iowa, Coghlan started slowly but gradually took off, looking more and more like his 2009 self. Now if he can just stay healthy.