South Bend Cubs Gameday Program - June 2022

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JUNE 2022

CHAMPIONS CALL UP FORMER SOUTH BEND CUBS ETHAN ROBERTS, BRANDON HUGHES, AND CHRISTOPHER MOREL EARN THE CALL TO WRIGLEY FIELD

By Brendan King

I

n the middle of a sweltering heat wave, and with multiple Chicago Cubs rehab appearances, plus an All-Star Festival being put in the books, the dog days of summer in 2019 for the South Bend Cubs was a ubiquitous period of time.

On their eventual path to a Midwest League Championship under manager Buddy Bailey, the South Bend roster during those summer days changed often with many players being called up from the short-season Eugene Emeralds, or being sent to the High-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans. In South Bend’s case, they were the benefactors of many useful pieces.

One move in particular did impact the back end of the bullpen for the Cubs. After a stellar first half, closer Ethan Roberts was promoted to the Pelicans. It was an even trade however, as the Cubs got back their 2018 closer Brian Glowicki. Still, the ambiance and calmness that Roberts brought to the mound late in games would be missed.

In 26 games with the South Bend Cubs, Roberts nailed down nine saves and posted a 2.57 ERA. At the time, Roberts was a young and promising righty selected in the 4th-round of the MLB Draft by the Cubs in 2018 out of Tennessee Tech.

“The most I learned from my time in South Bend was trying to develop me and understanding myself,” Roberts said. “In college you

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kind of just go out and pitch with no method to the madness. In 2019, I was learning the etiquette of being a pro baseball player from a lot of older guys like Scott Effross.”

Roberts pitched in some big time collegiate games while with the Golden Eagles. But all of his success reaches back to his roots.

Specifically his hometown, Sparta, Tennessee.

Yep. Sparta. Population, 4925.

Roberts met his high school sweetheart and now wife, Hopelyn there. Ethan and Hopelyn are now parents, twice. Their son Bryson was just a newborn when Roberts was assigned to the South Bend Cubs in 2019. The couple’s daughter, Hallie, was welcomed to their growing family in the last year. Through it all, Roberts credits his family for why he has been able to escalate through the Minor Leagues.

“There’s nothing that I can do without my wife,” Roberts said. “It’s something that weighs heavy on my heart because I can’t do it without her or my dad. She’s been with me since sophomore year of high school. There have been huge moments for us these last four years. Getting to do this all as a family is special, like taking our daughter on her first flight this year.”

Oddly enough, Roberts isn’t the first Big Leaguer to come from Sparta. He’s not the second either, or even the third. The former all-state pitcher at White County High School is the fourth guy to make it to the MLB coming

Ethan Roberts makes his Major League Debut at Wrigley Field with the Chicago Cubs against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 9.

Credit: Chicago Cubs.

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... continued from previous page. from the small town housed nearby the Smoky Mountains.

Roberts joins Tom ‘Shotgun’ Rogers, who pitched a perfect game with the Chattanooga Lookouts in 1916 on two days’ rest, Lefty Stewart, who gave up one of Babe Ruth’s 60 home runs in 1927, and Earl Webb, who still holds the MLB record for doubles in a season with 67 in 1931 with the Boston Red Sox. Eight decades later, Roberts got to join that list of Sparta men that got the call.

Only for Ethan, he didn’t need to receive a phone call. His manager straight up told him in the dugout. In a clip that went viral, David Ross approached Roberts at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona after one of his outings. With a firm handshake, ironically after Roberts took a ground ball to his right hand to end an inning, Ross told Roberts that he made the team. With tears streaming down his face after, Roberts knew that everything, in that one moment, had paid off.

“It all comes full circle when moments like that happen,” Roberts said. “If somebody saw me walking down the street they’d be like why is that dude smiling so much? It’s almost like your draft day all over again. I called my family right away and everything was at peace in the world at that moment.”

Roberts made his debut with the Cubs at Wrigley Field on April 9 versus the Milwaukee Brewers. Donning the classic Chicago Cubs white jersey with the blue pinstripes all over, and adjusting his bright blue cap perfectly on top of his head, Roberts worked with batterymate Willson Contreras to get the final three outs to beat the Brewers that day.

As the handshake line started to celebrate the victory, Roberts was greeted by another new guy in Chicago, free agent signing Marcus Stroman. The two right-handers, Roberts and Stroman, were always connected. Stroman just never knew it until he met one of his biggest fans in Spring Training.

Roberts had always looked up to Stroman as his favorite Major League pitcher. The idolization was so passionate that Roberts had

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a Mike Stud song featuring Stroman as his walk-up music with the South Bend Cubs in 2019. When the Cubs signed their new prized pitcher, Roberts was giddy with excitement.

“He has given me so much,” Roberts said.

“When he signed with the Cubs I ran across the house and showed my wife and said that Marcus is going to be a Cub. I let him have space the first few days of Spring Training but he actually came up to me at stretch and introduced himself. We help out each other’s pitch grips and he also showed me some books that help him. He’s nothing but positive.”

After pitching in nine games with the Cubs, Roberts landed on the 10-day injured list and talked to me from the Cubs Complex in Arizona after his workouts ended on one particular day. He’ll soon jog out to the mound at Wrigley again wearing the famous number 21 on his back again.

Now, over to the lefty.

Returning to the Cubs was a member of the 2018 squad, outfielder Brandon Hughes.

The only difference? No longer was the former Michigan State Spartan an outfielder. He had transitioned to a left-handed pitcher. We (as in the public) had later learned that Hughes was given a choice by the organization. That choice would eventually change his life forever. More on that later.

Hughes’ journey in the Cubs organization started with promise as a guy who could play any of the three outfield spots, and could take you out if you were Brandon Hughes pitches in his advancing first MLB game at Wrigley Field a base. A as the Cubs host the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 17.

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Michigan State, his career started strong with the short-season Eugene Emeralds in 2017. In 41 games, he hit .248 with 16 RBI. Both Hughes and I were in the Northwest League at the same time, as I was announcing for the Boise Hawks. I only called one game that Hughes appeared in though. And he went 0/4. Sorry Hughesy.

The next step was being a member of the South Bend Cubs opening day roster in 2018.

Once again, things started on a strong note.

There are just things in life you never forget, and I’ll always remember that Hughes was my first ever guest on the Zolman’s Best One Tire and Autocare Pregame Show on the field before the South Bend home opener that year on April 7. He was on base four times with two hits and two walks in the season opener against West Michigan.

As the year went along, however, Hughes started to struggle at the plate. He worked nearly every day in extra practice with hitting coach Ricardo Medina and bench coach Paul McAnulty that year. But something wasn’t clicking. He finished with a .237 average and 35 RBI in 110 games.

Remember the life altering decision from earlier? Here’s where that occurred. The Cubs approached Hughes and gave him a choice.

The proposition was either he becomes a full-time pitcher, or him and the organization would go their separate ways.

He chose to continue grinding in the game of baseball. Ultimately, that was the right one.

The bright lights of Wrigley Field were in the crystal ball when he looked at his future, but he had to be patient. After arriving to Mesa

for Spring Training in 2019, he was kept in Arizona at extended spring training to get his first real reps as a pitcher. But first came the mechanical transition.

“The first thing I had to do was build my arm up with consistent catch play,” Hughes said. “Once I felt comfortable with flat ground throwing, I moved to the mound and then it was all about getting those reps and finding the strike zone in my bullpen sessions. Then that continued into facing live hitters. That part felt very long. When I first got into a game in extended spring training against a different team, it then felt a lot quicker than what it actually was, which was about a month and half. They had a plan, and I trusted it.”

Following the stay at extended spring training, it became time for Hughes to show what he could do with an affiliated minor league club. That team ended up being the South Bend Cubs. What is ironic in him returning to South Bend as a pitcher is his first appearance in 2019 was not the first time he pitched with South Bend in his career. He got one out on the mound in emergency fashion on August 8, 2018.

His 2019 debut on the mound for the Cubs was a lot more thought out. Hughes arrived in Midland, Michigan in August and threw against the Great Lakes Loons. In 1.1 innings, he allowed two runs. But after that appearance, the zeroes started coming in. After the game versus the Loons, Hughes did not give up a run for the rest of the regular season.

That totaled up to 5.1 consecutive scoreless innings.

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time. The southpaw ended up being a part of the active roster that won the Cubs their 2019 Midwest League Title. Hughes pitched multiple times in the playoffs, and has the ring to signify his dominance out of Buddy Bailey’s bullpen. When asked what he remembered most about the squad, he immediately thought back to the Championship Series against Clinton.

“That team was just fun and it was ridiculous how good we were,” Hughes said. “One of the things that I remembered most is Kendall Graveman doing the entire playoffs with us.

It was cool to see him connect on a level with us when he already went through all of this.

He came back just to have fun again. And I remember him saying that this was the most fun he had playing baseball in a while. That just speaks to that team of how good we were and how much fun we were having.”

Graveman showed that South Bend Cubs team how to win. And Hughes took that advice to heart. From that point on in the Minor Leagues, hitters could barely touch what he was throwing. Hughes pitched eight times with South Bend in 2021 before earning the call-up to the Tennessee Smokies. This year, he started the campaign with Tennessee and pitched exclusively scoreless work. Then the Cubs sent him to Triple-A Iowa, where that shutout work carried on during his entire stay in Des Moines.

Eventually, Hughes would get the phone call he always dreamt of. The one that told him he was heading to be a Major League Baseball player. What’s special about Hughes’ road, is a third 2019 South Bend Cub to make their MLB debut early this season joined him.

And they shared a history making night at The Friendly Confines.

A slender but strong third baseman named Christopher Morel was welcomed into the South Bend Cubs clubhouse midway through 2019. As easy going as they come, Morel seemed to always have a smile on his face.

And it didn’t take awfully long either for the

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native of the Dominican Republic to become a fan favorite at Four Winds Field.

A walk-off base hit against the West Michigan Whitecaps during 4th of July week told everyone, whether close to or far from South Bend, that a future star had officially arrived in the 574.

Many knew the multi-talented international free agent signing of the Cubs could be destined for big things. Scouts rolling through South Bend from other Major League organizations would gush and rave about Morel’s potential while making some rather hefty comparisons. The likes of Javier Baez was brought up as a guy that Morel’s style of play is similar to.

If there were tickets sold to batting practice at Four Winds Field, Morel would be the sole reason why. The guy swung out of his cleats every single time he stepped in the BP cage. It wasn’t a bad thing either. That’s who he is. I quickly nicknamed him ‘The Energizer Bunny’ from the first time I saw him play.

Not only did he swing as hard as he could, but at third base, he rifled throws over from the hot corner quicker than anybody we’ve ever seen at Four Winds Field. If you were Tyler Durna or Jake Slaughter over at first base, you had to be ready for a zipping line drive coming your way on an ordinary 5-3 putout.

Morel’s dynamic ability impressed the Cubs so much that he was put on the 40-man roster before he even graduated from Single-A. That praise was warranted.

Clearly, the Cubs love him too. On Cubs INF Christopher Morel the same day takes a swing in his first MLB in the month of game vs the Pirates on May May, Hughes was

17 . Credit: Chicago Cubs.

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... continued from previous page. promoted from Iowa, and Morel was called up all the way from Double-A Tennessee. Rarely in the history of the Chicago Cubs have they promoted a player from Double-A. What happened on the night of both Hughes’ and Morel’s MLB debut, however, was something not even Jed Hoyer could have predicted.

May 17, 2022 will be a day remembered in Wrigleyville for a long time. Hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates in an NL Central clash, the Cubs hammered the Buccos 7-0. Keegan Thompson started the game and gave way to the bullpen after five shutout frames. The second man out of the bullpen? Number-47, left-hander, Brandon Hughes.

Set for his first MLB appearance on the mound, Hughes officially made the Big Leagues less than three years after becoming a full time pitcher. Remarkable. With one out already in the 6th inning, Hughes punched out both Bryan Reynolds (first career K) and Ben Gamel to end the frame.

While on the mound at Wrigley, Hughes was locked in on each hitter that came up.

When you’re that focused, instinct kicks in.

That pure instinct for Hughes all went back to that month and a half of preparation to face live hitters for the first time.

“You’ve got to be consistent and repeatable on the mound”, Hughes said. “Me being athletic always helped in learning that process. There’s so much more than goes into it as a professional pitcher. It’s a lot more than just throwing the ball. It’s actually thinking about how to approach hitters and what specific pitches work in different counts.”

Continuing into the 7th, Hughes kept on piling on the strikeouts. Every out he recorded came way of the K. Daniel Vogelbach went downs swinging, Yoshi Tsutsugo was called out on strikes, and Rodolfo Castro waved and missed. Hughes had gotten a standing ovation at Wrigley. In those short 1.2 innings, everything that Hughes had ever achieved or even struggled with had come full circle. He had

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done it, in big fashion too.

“It was a very emotional night for myself and the team,” Hughes said. “I feel like everybody at Wrigley had a good time at that game.

It was a blast out there.”

The pandemonium in the stands at Wrigley erupted once again when Christopher Morel took his first MLB at-bat. Many Cubs players were on the top step of the dugout, fans were standing. Even in a game that was a 6-0 Cubs lead felt emotional due to one of the most electric prospects in the organization set to make his debut.

Coming in as a pinch-hitter for Patrick Wisdom, Morel was facing right-hander Chase De Jong. The veteran De Jong got ahead in the count 0-2 right away, but the often smiling Morel did not let that bother him even a bit.

The former South Bend Cub then took three straight balls, getting the Wrigley crowd on their feet cheering.

The 3-2 offering to Morel was fired in, and the pitch was crushed. Belted deep over the left field wall, and even close to a Waveland Avenue shot, Morel went yard in his first MLB at-bat. He joined the likes of Willson Contreras to do the same exact thing. Contreras was waiting for Morel in the dugout to celebrate after the round tripper. With the level of bat flip we saw from Morel too, you would’ve thought it was a David Bote walk-off grand slam. Nope, just extending the lead to 7-0. But with all the same emotion as a game winning slam.

“I told (Contreras) that I’m going to hit a homer in my first at-bat just like you,” Morel told Taylor McGregor on Marquee Sports Network after the dramatic moment and Cubs win. “(Alfonso) Rivas told me that you’re going to do it and I did. Thank you God for this.”

The slogan at Wrigley Field in 2022 is #ItsDifferentHere. The same could be said about those that become South Bend Cubs players. After all, the road to the World Series starts in South Bend.

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#HERZDAY SOUTH BEND CUBS LEFTY DJ HERZ WORKING TO RETAIN CHICAGO CUBS MINOR LEAGUE PITCHER OF THE YEAR AWARD By: Brendan King

T

he athletic career of South Bend Cubs left-landed pitcher DJ Herz started in a similar way to how most kids begin playing sports. Pack mom or dad’s car with equipment for multiple sports, go to school, head to practice, rush home in order to not miss dinner, and then prepare for an early morning of try-out’s for whatever is on tap in the fall or spring.

Growing up in a place like Fayetteville, North Carolina, it’s always sports season.

There is never a time where you can’t be doing something on the field, gridiron, court, rink, or any other playing surface.

“I wouldn’t be here without my mom and dad,” Herz said. “They’re my personal heroes.

All the money they spent in travel ball for basketball, football and baseball, plus with all the time my dad spent with me practicing while I was younger, if I’m looking at my heroes, it has to be both of them.”

Herz nearly got a taste of it all. An 8th-round selection by the Chicago Cubs out of Terry Sanford High School in 2019, Herz was proving the Cubs with a multi-sport-talented body, with a live arm, along with a drive for success. Herz hates losing; That includes putting his past athletic achievements in the memory bank. The life of a pro baseball player is wildly different from what he was used to in the entirety of his teenage years.

When the school year starts in August, it’s all about football. The hot, humid, and sweltering conditions of a two-a-day practice

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DJ Herz makes his 2022 debut at Four Winds Field on April 9 against the Quad Cities River Bandits.

Credit: Dr. Tim Reilly. period when a big time Friday night is coming up is what the southpaw lived for. When things cool down a tad, it’s time to hit the hardwood. Herz’s shot gave defenders problems from the post, three-point arc, and inside the lane.

But the bread and butter was always baseball. From the time he entered high school, people were talking about a slender lefty with the name of Davidjohn. Shortened to DJ, Herz has always had the ability to keep hitters off-balanced. In his deceptive delivery as he works off the first-base side of the rubber, Herz nearly shows his uniform number-7 to the batter as he gets ready to fire the pitch in.

While leading Sanford High School to a handful of conference championships, as well as two straight regional appearances, Herz finished his senior season on the bump with a 0.50 ERA. It wasn’t just on the mound either.

Like so many pitchers in pro baseball, many of them were the best all-around players on their high school team. Herz hit over .400 to end his high school career.

There are few athletes in the world who aspire to be a superstar in multiple avenues of their career. Bo Jackson comes to mind, as does Deion Sanders from their work in Major League Baseball and the National Football League. Herz nearly joined them in that base-

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ball and football combo, as he was committed to the University of North Carolina to play on the diamond for the Tar Heels, but he also had heavy interest in joining the football team, coached by College Football Hall of Famer, Mack Brown.

In what is a wild thing to say, considering how dominant he is on the mound in professional baseball, football may have been Herz’s best high school sport. His senior season featured a surgical dual-threat stat line that had Herz throwing for 1815 yards and 12 touchdowns. On the ground though, Herz rushed for nearly 1000 yards of his own and scored 13 touchdowns. He also rattled off three sprints of over 100 yards in one play.

Brown could have had Herz as a potenHerz pitches in a game tial quarterback of played on Mother's Day. the future. Ultimately, Credit: Casey McDonald he chose to sign with the Cubs, but one football decision at North Carolina did have a play in his choice to book his ticket to Chicago.

“My dad and I were talking about football at North Carolina because we thought I could do something at the quarterback position (in college) based on the way I played,” Herz said. “UNC then got a five-star transfer from Florida State named Sam Howell. Even though I stopped, Football was the most fun sport I ever played.”

Yes. Sam Howell. The same guy who just

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got picked by the Washington Commanders in the 5th round of the 2022 NFL Draft. That guy’s decision to go play at Chapel Hill was one of the pinpoint reasons of why Herz decided to sign the dotted line with the Cubs. If and when Herz eventually makes it to Wrigley Field, Jed Hoyer may have to write a thank you letter to Coach Brown.

If football was the fun, baseball was the love. Herz is a pure competitor, and he hates losing. So much so, that he made it his goal at the start of the year to go back-to-back on earning the Chicago Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award. While receiving that honor last year while pitching for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and South Bend Cubs, Herz posted a 3.31 ERA while batters hit just .157 against him in 20 combined starts.

“The big difference was getting guys to 0-2 or 1-2 and finishing them off right away,” Herz said. “Pitch efficiency has been a big focus.

It’s about establishing the fastball in the zone right away and not trying to be too cute. We want less pitches to each batter and quicker outs.”

Currently ranked as the number-nine prospect in the Chicago Cubs organization, Herz possesses a trait that not many 21-yearolds have. It’s not from a physical perspective either. Herz is blessed with any and all body necessities to become a pitcher in the Big Leagues. A keen ability for him comes from his mental game.

There have been starts in 2022 where Herz has been unhittable. He has gone outings of four innings with no-hits allowed, but he has also battles through starts where one could

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JUNE 2022

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CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM ... continued from previous page. notice from afar that he did not have his best stuff on the mound. The biggest difference in Herz? When he does not bring his best arsenal onto the rubber, he doesn’t stop attacking hitters. While remaining confident, and grinding through an outing, Herz has shown the Cubs that if he gets into trouble, he can fight back.

“That’s a big key to being a good pitcher,” Herz said. “That’s what I learned most in Myrtle Beach. Find ways to get outs when you don’t have your best stuff or when your fastball isn’t on. Fake it until you make it and you have it on. That’s one of the strongest part of my game, the mental game. I don’t let that effect me on the mound and I pride myself on my body language on the mound when I’m facing adversity.”

If Herz keeps that mindset through the rest of 2022, 2023, and into 2024, there is no reason why you cannot see him pitching in blue pinstripes by the middle of this decade.

But whenever he does make it all the way to Chicago, he’ll join the likes of lefties like Justin Steele, Brendon Little, and others who have first grinded away in South Bend before making it to Triple-A or the Big Leagues. His first game in the dugout at Wrigley will also be his first MLB game.

Yep, the guy that has known nothing but athletics in his life has never been to a Major League Baseball game. Before he was drafted, the Cubs invited Herz to a showcase in The Friendly Confines. But that was an empty ballpark. While never going to a game, he watched plenty, and two guys on opposite coastlines always stuck out to him as he watched from

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Fayetteville.

“One guy that I always looked up to was Clayton Kershaw,” Herz said. “He’s always been my favorite pitcher. But on the hitting side, my favorite player ever has got to be Big Papi. David Ortiz is a legend.”

No surprise there that Herz went with a favorite player on both sides of the ball.

Considering the work he did on the Sanford High School diamond, he lived his dream to strike guys out and then crush the opposing pitcher. When he is out on the mound every five days, however, it is still an adjustment for the guy that is used to having duties and plans pointing in every direction.

“It was definitely very different going from basketball, football, and baseball all the time and then just focusing on one sport,” Herz said. “I was always so active and doing something everyday. Now I only get one game a week, or two! It is very relaxing and chill here.

And you can focus on one game at a time, while taking a whole week to prepare.”

Herz strikes out five Fort Wayne TinCaps on 'Star Wars Night', May 14, at Four Winds Field.

Credit: John Mersits.

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2022 SOUTH BEND CUBS COACHING STAFF Lance Rymel - Manager

Rymel is in his first season as manager for South Bend Cubs after guiding the Rookie League Mesa Cubs in 2021. Rymel also managed the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League in 2021 and won the league title. This will be his seventh season as a coach or manager in the Cubs organization, where he also managed Single-A Eugene in 2019 following two seasons at the helm of the Cubs Dominican Summer League squad in 2017-18. He began his coaching career in 2016 following a three-year minor league playing career as a catcher.

Tony Cougoule - Pitching Coach

Cougoule is back for year two as the team’s pitching coach. Cougoule enters his third year with the Chicago Cubs altogether. Previously, he coached in the same role at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA from 2010-2019, Southeastern Community College from 2008-2009, and Azusa Pacific University from 2006-2007. Cougoule played collegiate baseball at Mount Mercy in Cedar Rapids, IA, earning team MVP and all-conference honors in 2003 & completed his master’s degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific University in 2007.

Dan Puente - Hitting Coach

Puente is in his first season as the South Bend hitting coach. This marks Puente’s third season in the Cubs farm system; he was the hitting coach for low-A Myrtle Beach in 2021. Puente has been a hitting and catching instructor at Elite Baseball Training since 2012, a technology-infused baseball and softball instructional company created by the Cubs Director of Hitting Justin Stone. Puente also served as an associate scout for the Houston Astros and from 200812 was the Manager of Youth Baseball Initiatives for the Chicago White Sox.

D’Angelo Jiménez - Bench Coach

Jiménez is on the South Bend Cubs staff for the first time in his career and handles the bench coach duties. Lance Rymel coaches third base and Jiménez coaches first. He held the role of hitting coach for the DSL Cubs in 2021 and this will be his fifth season overall in the organization. Jiménez rose through the New York Yankees minor league system and spent eight years playing in the MLB from 1999 to 2007 with the Yankees, Padres, White Sox, Reds, Rangers, Athletics, and Nationals. He hit 36 Big League home runs and totaled 228 RBI.

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SOUTH BEND CUBS 2022 ROSTER

PITCHERS

HUNTER BIGGE

BRADFORD DEPPERMANN

MANUEL ESPINOZA

JEREMIAH ESTRADA

KOHL FRANKLIN

DJ HERZ

ZACH LEIGH

RILEY MARTIN

JOE NAHAS

EDUARNIEL NUNEZ

DANIEL PALENCIA

WALKER POWELL

SHELDON REED

BAILEY REID

DIDIER VARGAS

JORDAN WICKS

SCOTT MCKEON

FABIAN PERTUZ

YEISON SANTANA

PABLO ALIENDO

INFIELDERS

GRAYSON BYRD JAKE SLAUGHTER

CATCHERS

LUIS VERDUGO JAKE WASHER

OUTFIELDERS

OWEN CAISSIE 22

CASEY OPITZ

PETE CROWARMSTRONG

JORDAN NWOGU

YOHENDRICK JONATHAN PINANGO SIERRA Roster updated as of May 31 31,, 2022

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CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM

WOELESS NWOGU

THE SECOND-YEAR PLAYER FROM MICHIGAN IS PLAYING LOOSER THAN EVER BEFORE

By Max Thoma

J

une 26, 2019 saw the Vanderbilt Commodores crowned the College World Series champs on a picturesque, sunny day in downtown Omaha. Vandy needed to win back-to-back games over the Michigan Wolverines to take the title and get their 59th win of the season in front of over 20,000 fans at TD Ameritrade Park.

The Michigan side they were facing hadn’t been to the CWS in 35 years, not since they made it their five times in the span of seven years in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.

But the Wolverines weren’t at full strength for the final game of the season.

Injured in the prior game against Vanderbilt was outfielder and designated hitter Jordan Nwogu.

Nwogu’s aggressiveness, raw power, and ability to get on base set the tone at the top of the Wolverine’s batting order. It was an offense designed to put pressure on opposing defenses, and no one did that better than their homegrown leadoff hitter.

Nwogu was born in Ottawa, Canada.

His Parents, Okey Nwogu and Uche GeorgeNwogu, immigrated there from Nigeria.

But his family moved to Ann Arbor, Mich. and Jordan always dreamed of going to the University of Michigan.

“I got my academic scholarship my sophomore year of high school when I went to an engineering camp,” Nwogu said. “I was going to go to Michigan regardless of whether I

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could play baseball or not and I told the coach that. He gave me a spot to be a preferred walk-on, from there it was just a matter of working hard enough to stay.”

Nwogu was recruited as a defensive end and walked on to the baseball team, but that engineering camp, featuring mini projects, college essays and more, is what got him his scholarship to Michigan, as a sophomore in high school no less.

Being a walk-on at a power five school is an absolute grind. On top of that grind and pressure, Nwogu didn’t perform well in the fall of his freshman year. His coach told him he was basically the 36th man on the roster and Nwogu thought that come February he would be cut from the team.

“The hardest part was knowing you’re the last man on the roster,” Nwogu said when I spoke to him in the dugout in Appleton, Wis. “But I ended up coming back and I worked really hard, got really close to my faith, and came back that winter break and ended up performing at least well enough to be on the roster as a pinch runner. Then we struggled

Jordan Nwogue poses for a picture for a fan followlowing a Cubs victory over Great Lakes on May 26.

Credit: Langston Johnson

... continued on next page.

JUNE 2022

Twitter @SBCubs

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CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM ... continued from previous page. my freshman spring, we were like 4-11 and we had a really good left fielder that wasn’t performing as well as he should, and I got a chance to start and took off with it.”

Took off indeed.

That freshman season in 2018 Nwogu slashed .349/.442/.571. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice, selected on the All-Big Ten Freshman Team and All-Big Ten Second Team, plus named a Freshman All-America selection by Collegiate Baseball

a position where they needed to beat Vandy once and just not lose back-to-back to win the title. However, the number two team in the land limited the Wolverines offense to three total runs the final two games and brough another championship back to Nashville.

But Nwogu proved that his freshman campaign was no fluke. He finished with a slash line very consistent with his first year, .321/.435/.557. He led the Wolverines in on-base percentage, slugging, and runs

News.

Then came the Wolverines magical run in 2019. The Ann Arbor kid was the offensive catalyst for a Michigan side that finished the regular season with 50 wins, 13 more than any other Big Ten side. They did however lose their final two conference games and finished half a game behind first place Indiana.

An at large big to the Corvallis regional hosted by Oregon State awaited. Michigan was forced into a win or go home game against Creighton after the Blue Jays scored seven runs in the ninth the night before. The maize and blue wiped the floor with the Blue Jays in a 17-6 victory to go to a Super Regional in Los Angeles against the number one team in the county in UCLA. In the most competitive Super Regional in the country, Michigan won game one 3-2, dropped game two 5-4 in 12 innings, and won the decisive third game 4-2 at Jackie Robinson Stadium (a series that included current Cubs infield prospect and second rounder from 2019, Chase Strumpf).

Michigan started the CWS 4-0 and was in

scored. When the season ended he was announced a Second Team All-America selection. At one point during the season he reached in 30-straight contests and on the year tallied 22 multi-hit games.

2020 followed suit with more bonkers numbers for the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Junior.

He was raking to the tune of a .353 batting average 15 games into the season when the season was cancelled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The roller coaster spring was in full swing.

A stellar season ended suddenly and then it was time for the MLB Draft.

“I remember we did the draft at my house,” Nwogu said. “It was me and Jeff Criswell, who went to the A’s. It was our families and our coaches, close friends, and it was a pretty stressful day. You never know what’s going to happen… I had a feeling of what teams were interested but the range was very big. Once it hit like pick 70 it could’ve been from there ‘til the end.”

There had never been an MLB Draft like the one we witnessed in 2020. Instead of the

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... continued on next page.

Downtown South Bend

Celebrate Summer

JUNE

June 2: Nitro Circus at Four Winds Field* June 2: Riverdance (Morris Performing Arts Center)* June 3: First Fridays: Kids’ Night Out June 3: SJCPL Summer Reading Club Kickoff Event June 3: Meet Me on the Island with Motown Machine* June 3-5: An Officer and a Gentleman National Broadway Tour (Morris Performing Arts Center)* June 4: Sunburst Races* June 5: U93’s Operation Duck Drop (East Race) June 10: Pulse FM presents: For King and Country with special guest CeCe Winans* June 10-19: August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone (South Bend Civic Theatre)* June 11: Outdoor Film Series: The Sandlot June 11: Bike to Work South Bend Brew Werks Bike Ride June 14: Bike to Work Pancake Breakfast June 16: Bert Kreischer at Four Winds Field* June 17: Leanne Morgan “Big Panty Tour” (Morris Performing Arts Center)* June 17: Symphony Under the Stars (Four Wind Field)* June 18-19: Leeper Park Art Fair June 18: Keith Sweat “Juneteenth Concert” (Morris Performing Arts Center)* June 18: Father’s Day/Juneteenth Comedy Explosion (Century Center)* June 18: Lauber 3rd Anniversary & Pride Night, plus Rhinegeist Summer Concert Series Kick-off June 19: The Garden Tea Party: A Juneteenth Celebration (Howard Park) June 22: Pride Night w/South Bend Cubs (Four Winds Field)* June 23-26: South Bend Fringe Festival (South Bend Civic Theatre)* June 24-26: Anastasia National Broadway Tour (Morris Performing Arts Center)*

JULY

July 1: First Fridays: Star-Spangled Downtown July 1: Meet Me on the Island: Blue Lunch Band w/fireworks* July 6-10: Mural Mania July 8 & 9: Vibes Music Festival (Island Park & Howard Park) July 9: Concours d’Elegance at Copshaholm* July 9: Outdoor Film Series: The Mitchells vs. the Machines July 14: Big Growl at Four Winds Field* July 15-31: Something Rotten (South Bend Civic Theatre)* July 29: Music in the Gardens* July 30: Urban Adventure Games*

AUGUST

August 5: First Fridays: Totally 80s August 5: Meet Me on the Island: Darryl Buchanan* August 12-28: Classics in the Courtyard (Pfeil Family Courtyard, SJC Public Library) August 13: Outdoor Film Series: Encanto August 13: U93 Party in the Park* August 20: Art Beat August 20: U93’s In the River August 25: Moonlight & Merlot at the Mansion* August 27: Studebaker Brewing Co. Summer Brewfest

SEPTEMBER

Sept 2: First Fridays: Dog Days of the Summer Sept 22: Meet Me on the Island* Sept 24-Oct 1: Best. Week. Ever.

Sept 25: Recover Michiana Fest Sept 30-Oct 1: Morris 100 Fest

EVENT SERIES

Yoga for EveryBODY: May 9 – September 28 (Mon - Wed) Barnes & Thornburg Food Truck Philanthropy: May 19, June 9, June 23, July 14, July 21, Aug 5, Aug 18, Sept 15 Tap into the Flow: a yoga + beer summer series with Bend Yoga & South Bend Brew Werks*: May 20, June 17, July 15, Aug 19, Sept 16 (third Fridays) Downtown South Bend Architecture Walking Tours*: May 6 – Oct 7 (First Fridays) Wednesday Wine Walks*: June 8, July 13, August 10, Sept 14 (second Wednesdays) Red Table Plaza Concert Series: May 31 - Sept 1 (Mon -Thurs) Purple Porch Co-op Market: June 1 – Sept 28 (Wednesdays) Howard Park Summer Concert Series: June 2 - Sept 29 (Thursdays) Latin Dance Fridays at Howard Park*: June 3 - Sept 30 (Fridays) Fridays by the Fountain: June 3 - Aug 26 (Fridays) Summer Fitness Series: June 4- Aug 27 (Saturdays, excluding Aug 20 for Art Beat) Arts on the Race: June 11, July 9, Aug 13 East Race Rafting*: June 5 - Sept 25 (Saturdays and Sundays) South Bend Cubs Fireworks Series*: June 8, June 10, June 24, July 4, July 8, July 22, July 29, Aug 19, Sept 3, Sept 4 Summer Restaurant Week: July 25 - August 7

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CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM

... continued from previous page. standard 40 rounds, the draft was cut down to His rookie season didn’t start with flying five rounds. colors. In the first two months with low-A This required teams to be uber selective Myrtle Beach the third rounder hit just .148 and fastidious when it came to scouting prosand struck out in 41% of his at-bats. Perhaps a pects, because they bit overwhelmed out of only had a few shots. the gate Nwogu shined Criswell went in and adjusted the rest the second round with of the way, posting a the 58th overall pick. .285 average and .451 33 picks later, and in slugging the rest of the the third round, Nwogu season and cutting his heard his name called strikeout rate nearly by the Chicago Cubs. in half.

An outfielder with He started this tons of raw potential, season in South Bend Nwogu contemplated and joined a loaded returning to finish outfield filled with school or going to the other top prospects South Bend Cubs outfielder Jordan Nwogu steps pros. like Owen Caissie, into the batter's box at Four Winds Field against “It was always Alexander Canario and the Great Lakes Loons on May 24. Credit: Chris academics first,” Yohendrick Pinango Hagstrom-Jones Nwogu said. “Both my and then later joined parents immigrated here and made their way

by Cole Roederer and Pete Crow-Armstrong. by working really hard in the classroom, so Even with all the competitiveness in they always said academics first no matter the outfield, Nwogu seems so at ease and what my athletics ability were. Baseball destressed, even after another slow start. was more on the backburner until it flipped Through May 10, 14 games into his season when I realized I had a chance to make it Nwogu was batting .176 and slugging .275, and started getting a lot better. But it’s still with just 2 RBIs and a 1-for-14 start to May. important, my parents want me to finish After that slump he finished out May hitting school and I want to finish school, I have two .319 with an on-base percentage over .400 and classes left to graduate and I’ll probably do 8 RBIs (even though hitting primarily out of that the next opportunity I get.” the leadoff spot).

Nwogu, a computer science engineering “I’ve always been a stiff guy, you know major, plans to go back and complete his football player, always big and strong so I college degree in person. But 2021 and 2022 didn’t really need to do a lot to hit the ball have been all about his work on the diamond. hard,” Nwogu said. “But now I’ve found a

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... continued on next page.

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... continued from previous page. rhythm I really like that keeps me looser and I think that’ll help me get the results that I want for the rest of the season.”

Unlike last year, the 23-year-old is not letting any one slump get him too down on his own abilities.

“The biggest thing I’ve realized from Myrtle Beach to South Bend is how long the season is, I think in Myrtle when I was struggling I panicked and I was taking everything way too seriously and hard on myself and not trying to learn the game because I was in such a bad spot,” he said. “And now it’s like whatever is going to happen, will, and I just got to trust in god and if it works out it works out. I’m trying not to press too hard.”

The Cubs number 24 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, isn’t pressing at all right now and his bat is producing the exit velocities and eye-popping trajectories that made him a highly touted draft pick.

I asked Jordan hypothetically what he would be doing if he wasn’t playing baseball.

He told me that his answer a few years ago would’ve been grinding away for a software company doing front-end development and interface work.

But his answer has changed.

“Now I want to stay in baseball. Even if I wasn’t playing I’d be using those same skills I learned in the classroom and be applying them to baseball, whether in analytics or coaching hitting or something else along those lines.”

Nwogu’s background is undoubtedly unique. There aren’t many professional athletes, or people for that matter, that

CUBS CONNECTION GAME PROGRAM garnered an academic scholarship from a prestigious school like Michigan when they were not even halfway through high school.

He’s got a work ethic in the weight room that’s carried over from his football days and he’s letting his incredible athleticism take over at the plate, instead of trying to fit into what he calls a mold that he thought he needed to mirror.

Now it’s just about grinding away the rest of the season and getting better. He’s only in year two and continuing to climb and reach the next rung on the ladder of his development. The potential is unquestionable, the raw power and agility is robust, and the mind is finely tuned and focused.

“We all know we have what it takes to make it, it’s just a matter of taking care of your own business.”

Nwogu sporing a South Bend Cubs Military Appreciation Jersey worn by the team on May 28.

Credit: Langston Johnson

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