Cubs’ call-up savors ‘pretty cool moment’

DJ LeMahieu knew Sunday he was getting a call-up.

Only he thought he was going from Class AA Tennessee to Class AAA Iowa.

Fortunately for LeMahieu, the Cubs had better news. They promoted him all the way to the big-league club Monday as infielder Jeff Baker went on the disabled list with a strained left groin.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to get that call,” said the 22-year-old LeMahieu, a second-round pick out of LSU in 2009.

“You dream about it as a kid, like everyone says. Once you play in Double-A, you kind of know that the call might be coming, but I don’t know if you can really prepare yourself for the actual call. It was a great call. I’m really excited to be here.

“Brian Harper (Tennessee manager) called me and said, ‘You’re going to Iowa.’ I was really excited. I was pumped. Two hours later, I was actually fishing with a couple buddies on a lake in Tennessee. Oneri Fleita (the farm director) called me and said, ‘Change of plans; you’re going to go to Chicago.’ I was like, ‘Did I get traded?’ He said, ‘You ever hear of Wrigley Field?’ It was pretty cool, a pretty cool moment.”

LeMahieu is a second baseman and third baseman, but he’ll have a hard time finding playing time with Darwin Barney at second and Aramis Ramirez at third.

At Tennessee, LeMahieu had a hitting line of .358/.386/.492 with 15 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers and 27 RBI.

LeMahieu worked out in the off-season at the Cubs’ spring facility in Arizona.

“I put on about 15-20 pounds,” he said. “I’ve kept it on so far. I think it was really good just to get to know some of the guys up there — I became pretty close with Darwin Barney — and to get to know some of the guys and to really focus on nutrition and lifting. That’s something that I’ve always focused on but I really, really concentrated on it this off-season because I knew that’s what I really needed.”

Good for Garza:Pitcher Matt Garza threw on the outfield grass Monday morning, getting his distance up to about 120 feet. He reported good progress with his bruised right elbow. He is likely to do a side session off the mound Wednesday. The Cubs had hoped to have Garza back in a game this weekend in St. Louis. However, he may need one more side session after Wednesday. #147;I heard it was good,#148; manager Mike Quade said. #147;I heard it was real good. Great piece of news today. We#146;ll take a day. So in a few days, we#146;ll evaluate when we run him back out there.#147;(St. Louis is) not out of the question. We#146;ll keep our options open. I#146;d like him back as quick as I can get him back, but not so quick that I screw this thing up.#148;He#146;s fast: Rookie center fielder Tony Campana stole 4 bases, becoming the first Cub with 4 steals since Juan Pierre in 2006. The modern record is 5, set by Eric Young in 2000. Campana stole 2 bases in the second inning.#147;The pitcher today (Aneury Rodriguez) was pretty slow to the plate, and I was able to get on base a few times,#148; Campana said. #147;And a couple were kind of cheap ones, where they weren#146;t holding me on, and they really didn#146;t care.#148;Subbing for Soriano:Blake DeWitt, a career infielder, replaced the injured Alfonso Soriano in left field. He had 1 outfield assist, throwing out a runner at the plate. He also slipped and kicked what looked like a single to the side wall for a double.#147;I felt all right out there,#148; DeWitt said. #147;It#146;s unfortunate to see Sori go down like that.#148;Even though the Cubs have recently called up outfielders Lou Montanez and Brad Snyder from Iowa, DeWitt figures to get much of the playing time if Soriano (quad strain) is out for a while.