Cubs have MLB's 'Iron Horse' in Coghlan
Saturday's game vs. Twins marked outfielder's 130th straight game
MINNEAPOLIS -- Cubs outfielder Chris Coghlan is Major League Baseball's iron man.
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Saturday was Coghlan's 130th consecutive game played, the longest current streak in MLB. The stretch began last July 23, and next on the list is Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson at 102.
"He's the new 'I.H.' -- Iron Horse," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.
Coghlan entered Saturday's game batting .249, but Maddon said the outfielder has done better than that and has had a lot of hard-hit balls that were caught.
"Don't look at his batting average," Maddon said. "He's really hit the ball better than that."
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• Maddon watched Jorge Soler take batting practice on the field Friday for the first time, and he thought the outfielder was still favoring his sprained left ankle. Soler has been on the disabled list since June 3.
"He's getting close [to a rehab assignment]," Maddon said. "From what I saw, he's still a couple days away before we actually do something. I was encouraged."
• Sabermetricians created the Wins Above Replacement stat (WAR) as a way to summarize a player's total contributions to the team. Could managers someday be judged on WAR?
"I think they actually could, but I don't know what would go into the equation," Maddon said. "There's a lot of things managers do behind the scenes, and you can't quantify it."