Jared Young has waited all his life for what happened to him this week.
The 26-year-old Prince George native joined the Chicago Cubs’ five-player taxi squad earlier this week in Pittsburgh and is with the team for the Cubs’ season-ending three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis.
The Cubs have run into injuries to infielders Patrick Wisdom and David Bote and catcher Austin Romine and sent the call out to their triple-A farm team, the Iowa Cubs, to send in the replacements.
Joining Young on the taxi squad are catcher Tyler Payne, infielder Tyler Ladendorf, and right-handed pitchers Dakota Mekkes and Joe Biagini.
They are traveling with the team and are available only in the case of an injury or COVID-related issue.
“They’re here for us out of an abundance of caution,” Cubs manager David Ross told the Chicago Sun-Times. “You gotta have some backup [plans] in case something is more serious.”
Young started the season at the double-A level with the Tennessee Smokies and was called up to Iowa in Aug. 10. In 37 games with the I-Cubs, he hit .254 with five home runs, four doubles and 18 runs batted in. This is his fourth professional season. The former Prince George Knight has been with the Cubs’ organization since he was drafted from Old Dominion University in Virginia in 2017.
