South Bend Cubs Gameday Program - May 2021 by SBCubs

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MAY 2021

BASEBALL IS BACK!

We’ve all been through a lot over the last thirteen months, but things are looking up. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We’re excited to welcome the return of South Bend Cubs baseball in 2021. As someone who cares a lot about your experience in this stadium, I want you to know how proud I am to provide a safe, clean, outdoor space for you and your friends. Please enjoy yourselves when visiting Four Winds Field. You deserve to.

South Bend Cubs Chairman & Owner Andrew Berlin

Without a 2020 season, we never had a chance to honor our 2019 team for having won the Midwest League Championship. It’s hard to believe that championship game, way back in September of 2019, was the last one we played.

So without baseball, we switched gears to provide as much comfort to our friends in the community as we could. We provided over 8,000 meals to frontline workers – the heroes of this pandemic. Many of them were from Memorial, Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center and Elkhart General hospitals. And when we weren’t delivering meals directly to the hospitals, we were providing those same meals from this very stadium through a distribution center we established. The South Bend Cubs also helped raise money for local charities – at a time when they needed it the most. We provided supplies to workers at Senior Living Centers and hospitals. We made public service announcements to support food delivery services, encourage our fellow citizens to adopt social distancing guidelines, and created a hand washing guide as a way to stay safe. Even though the South Bend Cubs didn’t play ball last year, there were other wonderful things happening in this stadium. Four Winds Field hosted South Bend Schools’ graduation ceremonies, movie nights, travel baseball tournaments, socially distanced events at the Tiki Hut, and Chicago Cubs baseball watch parties. This region is our home too! Like so many of you over the past year, we were determined to do whatever we could to help our friends and neighbors. The 2019 season may be ancient history now. But let’s face it, winning the championship game was a tremendous lift. We simply couldn’t have done it without the support that you and all the other fans give us in this ballpark. We’re grateful and I hope you know it. Continued on page 2... Twitter @SBCubs

FIRST PITCH GAME PROGRAM

... Continued from page 1

To show my gratitude to the players and staff, I had a Championship ring designed for every player, coach, front office staff and many of our gameday staff, over 300 rings total. You’ll know when you see it, because it’s the largest ring in the history of Minor League Baseball. As we look toward the 2021 season, a new era of baseball begins in South Bend. The South Bend Cubs have been elevated to the High-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs and welcome an exciting new manager. His name is Michael Ryan. Michael is something of a star himself. As a manager in the Pittsburgh Pirates system, he led his team to be Champions of the league on three separate occasions.

South Bend Cubs 2019 League Championship Ring

This is going to be a great year for South Bend Cubs Baseball. You’re going to love the quality of play on the field, as much as the experience with your friends, here in the stadium. Am I optimistic? You bet I am. Baseball’s back. The world’s not coming to an end. It’s not all gloom and doom – not anymore. Sure, we still need to be careful. The pandemic isn’t over. But there’s life… at the end of the tunnel. And it’s here in this ballpark for all to see. So, when I hear someone say that baseball’s just a game, I want to bring them to South Bend – a place where children chase bubbles and hug furry mascots. Here, buddies talk sports for hours over a beer at the Tiki Hut. Here, dads still put their arms around mom’s shoulder. Here, the only thing you hear more often than the crack of a bat, is laughter from friends and neighbors having the time of their lives. Baseball’s more than a game. This is important stuff and South Bend is proof. This is where work meets play, neighbors meet neighbors, and families make memories that last generations. Thank goodness it’s back. We’ve missed all the smiles and the laughter. We’ve missed the hot dogs and even the smell of fresh cut grass. But now it’s back. It’s more than a game. It’s the time of our lives. Welcome back to Four Winds Field. Now, let’s play ball!

Andrew Berlin

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HOW THE MIDWEST WAS WON THE STORY OF THE 2019 SOUTH BEND CUBS CHAMPIONSHIP RUN By Max Thoma

“

Please don’t drop this ball, please god don’t let my glove break, don’t let me trip, don’t blink, don’t sneeze, don’t cough, please for the love of god catch this ball… That was all that was going through my mind.” 144 games. 161 days. A perfect postseason. The season ended when Cole Roederer peered up into the Clinton night sky and squeezed a flyball in center field. For the first time since 2005, South Bend had won the Midwest League Championship. But how did this team get there? Before a single bottle of champagne was popped, the 2019 South Bend Cubs was a group of young men fighting just to scrape its way into the postseason. The Cubs finished the first half of the 2019 campaign with a 39-32 record, putting them in fourth place in the Eastern Division, not good enough for a postseason berth. The Cubs started the second half weakly. Going into game two of a doubleheader in Beloit on July 21 the team was just 12-16, the furthest below .500 they had been all year. Jeff Passantino, one of the teams five all-stars, had already been promoted to Myrtle Beach, and South Bend’s highest rated prospect (and fellow all-star) Brailyn Marquez would be promoted to Myrtle Beach in just a couple weeks on August 6. So, with 46 games left they needed to make a run, and that’s exactly what Buddy Bailey’s men did. A couple familiar faces rejoined the fray: South Bend’s 2018 closer, Brian Glowicki, and

fellow right-handed reliever, Brendan King. “I just had a chip on my shoulder,” Glowicki said. I could either let this affect me for the rest of the year or I could just go out there, compete, and get back to who I am and what I do on the mound, and that’s what I did.” Glowicki and King locked down the backend of the bullpen down the stretch and South Bend not only won game two of that doubleheader vs. Beloit but won nine of their next ten games to close out July. The Cubs clinched a wildcard playoff spot on August 30 and rattled off a 27-14 run to end the regular season. Two days after clinching a spot in the postseason, on the penultimate day of the regular season, the team activated Brennen Davis and Levi Jordan from the IL. “To be out for close to two months I just kept itching to get back and start doing baseball stuff again,” Jordan said. “And following the team knowing they were making a playoff run it was even more exciting for me to start getting healthy again to try to get back and contribute at the right time.” The Cubs first round matchup pitted them against the team they just beat twice consecutively to end the season, the Bowling Green Hot Rods. Game one was an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel at Four Winds Field. The first inning ended with the Cubs up 2-0, but they wouldn’t score again the rest of the night. Faustino Carrera tossed five scoreless frames and the Hot Rods didn’t plate a run until the eighth. With the lead cut to one, Glowicki retired the last four batters he faced and punched out Nick Schnell to pick up his 23rd career save with South Bend, moving him into a tie for seventh on the all-time franchise record list. After the win the men hopped aboard the team bus and traveled 368 miles to southern Kentucky for game two. South Bend fell behind 2-0 and came back to tie the score twice but headed into the

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MAY 2021 ninth inning down 4-3. Bailey’s team hadn’t recorded a single ninth inning come-from-behind victory all season long. Not yet. Nelson Maldonado’s infield single tied it, and Jake Slaughter, who drove in what wound up being the game-winning run in the first inning of game one, delivered the game-winning run again, this time in the ninth. The Cubs finally had their first lead. The offense added two more runs and King retired all nine batters he faced in the final three frames, earning the win and advancing the Cubs to the Division Championship. South Bend returned home to start another best-of-three series. “In some ways it made it better for us,” said Bailey. “We got to play the first game of the series for us at home… in the playoffs if you can get up in the series it takes a little bit of heat off of you and your players and puts more on the other team.” Bailey entered the next round as the

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active leader in wins among MiLB managers; his opponent, John Shoemaker, entered fifth. The Cubs never trailed Great Lakes in the SemiFinals. A fourspot in the second inning South Bend manager Buddy Bailey looks out at home plate of game one got South Bend before the Eastern Division Championship, game one. going and even Credit: Dr. Tim Reilly though the Loons cut the deficit to one, Glowicki picked up a five-out save and the Cubs won 6-4. This time the team took a 1-0 series advantage northeast, traveling 228 miles to the heart of Michigan and Dow Diamond.

Continued on page 6...

FIRST PITCH GAME PROGRAM ... Continued from page 5 Game two of the series wasn’t much of a contest. South Bend plated at least one run in four of the first five innings and Derek Casey and Fauris Guerrero combined to allow just one run in the first six frames. King came on and retired all seven batters he faced, picking up the save as the Cubs won 7-3 and clinched a berth in the Championship. Two days later South Bend hosted game one for the third straight series. Now the opponent was Clinton. Chicago Cub reliever Kendall Graveman, rehabbing from Tommy Kendall Graveman warms up prior to his rehab start in John surgery, got Game 1 of the Midwest League the starting nod, Championship on September making his first 11. Credit: Clinton Cole. career appearance with the ballclub. Six pitches into the Championship Series the Cubs fell behind 1-0. But Graveman grew into the game, allowing only one more hit, and the bullpen stymied the Lumberjacks offense, tossing 5.1 scoreless innings. Maldonado unleashed his second homer of the season in the seventh, giving the Cubs a 2-1 edge. After South Bend added another run, Clinton brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth but Glowicki induced a groundout and the Cubs picked up their fifth straight postseason victory. The good guys led the whole way in game two, until Clinton was down to their final strike. With rain falling hard and the South Bend faithful on their feet, the Lumberjacks tied it up. As the game headed for extras, the rain proved too much to continue and the tarp came out. A one-hour and thirty-eight-minute rain delay ensued, and a game that started on

September 12 would finish in the early hours of September 13. “We knew we had to stay composed and we ended up finishing that game at like 12:30,” Davis said. “I remember staying so ready to go and mentally prepared… if you can come out on top and then win one more game, it’s what kept everybody together and ready to go.” With two outs in the tenth, a breaking ball skipped away from the catcher and Roederer slid in safely from third. Walk. It. Off. The Cubs took a commanding 2-0 series lead and would head 230 miles west to the eastern edge of Iowa with a chance to clinch the Championship in game three. Riley Thompson took the mound for his second start of the postseason. “Coming into that game, you know it’s the Championship Series, last game, I just want to absolutely give it to them,” Thompson said. “That’s the only thing on my mind.” And give it to them he did. Thompson struck out the first five batters he faced and the Cubs offense staked him an early lead; Jordan crushed his second homer of the season, his first since April 28, and Riley Thompson reacts to put them up 2-0 in his 10th strikeout in Game the second. 3 of the Midwest League “It was a great Championship. Credit: feeling, not for Casey McDonald myself, but to be able to contribute and be a part of the team’s success,” Jordan Said. Thompson continued to groove, tossing five no-hit innings, striking out ten batters for the first time in his career and facing the minimum. The only runner that reached he picked off of first.

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MAY 2021 Guerrero, Eugenio Palma and Glowicki got the final 12 outs without allowing a single run. And with one out to go Glowicki induced a flyball to end the game. “Man, as soon as he caught that I was so hyped I just turned and looked at the dugout, everyone’s running at me, you live for those moments,” Glowicki said. “I’ll remember that ‘til I die, that was so much fun.” The red-hat-wearing, mustache-mayhemrocking men from South Bend got to pop champagne on their opponents’ field, for the third straight time. South Bend captured its first title since 2005 and its first as a Chicago Cubs affiliate. They ended on a 34-14 run, including a perfect 7-0 postseason. What made this team so unbeatable in their quest to bring a trophy back to South Bend? Bailey cited everyone doing their job and getting hot at the right time; Davis said it was holding each other accountable and

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taking no days off; while team owner Andrew Berlin talked about the guys playing their hearts out and showing tremendous grit and resolve. No one answer is correct, but when a team makes such an incredible run to end the season, sometimes credit can lie with a superstition that brought them all together. When asked what clicked for the team down the stretch, Roederer’s answer was swift and succinct... “Mustache mayhem, 100%.”

Red hats and mustaches carried the South Bend Cubs through the 2019 post-season. Credit: @SBCubs

FIRST PITCH GAME PROGRAM

FROM A CHAMPIONSHIP IN '19 TO COVID-19 THE STORY OF THE COVID SHUTDOWN THROUGH THE EYES OF THE SOUTH BEND CUBS By: Josh Sperber

ix hundred and one days. That is how long it was between game two of the Midwest League Championship, the last game in South Bend in 2019, and Opening Night of the 2021 season. It seems like just yesterday that Cole Roederer scored on a wild pitch to end the 2019 home slate on the highest possible note. Two days later the Cubs would capture their fourth Midwest League Championship, first as a Chicago Cubs Affiliate. Six months later the club was preparing to defend their league title and readying the stadium for the best fans in Minor League Baseball. Then, everything stopped. “Going into Spring Training, I was ready for a full year. Everybody was amped up, especially coming off a championship… When it got shut down, we were all kind of bummed, but there was nothing you could really do about it, everybody was going through the same struggles,” said Cubs top outfield prospect Brennen Davis. All of a sudden, the excitement of a new season came to a grinding halt. Everyone had questions, but no one had answers. Public gatherings of any kind, including professional sports were canceled. “I’d be lying to tell you the first month wasn’t really tough, not really knowing what I was going to do, after that, you know, we got everything canceled and didn’t know when

we were going to play again,” said South Bend Cubs outfielder Cole Roederer. While plans were forming to bring back other major sports leagues without fans or in a bubble, no such plans were coming for Minor League Baseball. A minor league season was not financially viable and couldn’t be sustained without fans in the stands. As a response, minor league organizations at every level were forced to furlough some of their staff, a difficult decision that was not lost on Team President, Joe Hart. “These were colleagues of yours, friends of yours, people that you worked with. And it was no fault of their own, we were just letting them know that this is what we had to do. Really the harder part was just not having answers… we just didn’t know how long it was going to last.” It was the uncertainty that surrounded this entire period which forced the hands of front offices around the country to find ways to survive until baseball returned.

While normally buzzing with baseball excitement, Four Winds Field would sit dormant in April and May of 2020. The only choice was to move forward and think creatively about ways to maintain the team’s role in the South Bend community without baseball. It began by posting supportive messages on social media, encouraging the community that everyone would get through this difficult time together and ensuring them that they would be back in the stands soon. Continued on page 10...

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FIRST PITCH GAME PROGRAM ...Continued from page 8 While there was still hope of a season and fans were craving any kind of sports content, the team would showcase past games on Facebook, even going as far as developing a couple virtual gamedays, bringing the experience of Four Winds Field into the homes of fans everywhere. As the pandemic overloaded the region’s healthcare systems, the South Bend Cubs shifted their efforts to supporting frontline workers by delivering food to nurses, doctors, and other local hospital employees to try and ease the heavy burden Covid-19 forced on their shoulders. When recommended isolation moved to physical distancing, the remaining South Bend Cubs staff came up with various ways to provide the community with a social outlet for fans. “Evenings at the Four Winds Field Tiki Hut” became one of the few activities in the region people could gather safely.

Families of John Adams High School students watch seniors receive their diplomas. (July 24, 2020) Once larger groups were permitted, events like the South Bend Community School Corporation graduations gave high school seniors their moment of walking across that stage and ending an important chapter of their lives in front of their friends and family. While providing these experiences and opportunities to create memories is part of

the South Bend Cubs credo, it was not an easy task without a full staff for these events. It became necessary for the remaining staff members to step out of their comfort zone and work jobs they had never done before. Vice President and General Manager Nick Brown described 2020 as a resumé builder.

Fans gather on the field to watch "The Sandlot" on the video board. (August 14, 2020) “There were no tasks that we couldn’t do as a group. Everyone had to pitch in regardless of your position. We all had to wear different hats, and there were more hats to be worn than we had bodies.” That may have meant cooking in the stadium kitchen during a movie night and repairing a pitcher’s mound for the Chicago Cubs Alternate Site team the next day. Everyone needed to help keep the facility pristine. Regardless of the shorthanded staff, the South Bend Cubs were eager to cater to fans as soon as it was allowed by the health department. A big part of the summer and fall revolved around events utilizing the Four Winds Field video board. Four movie nights and three Chicago Cubs watch parties provided fans an opportunity to get the family out of the house and safely enjoy the company of others.

...Continued on page 12

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FIRST PITCH GAME PROGRAM ...continued from page 10

crushing not to see a stadium full of smiles and hear the roar of the best fans in baseball night in and night out during the summer. But the South Bend Cubs wanted to continue to demonstrate their passion for the community and fan base, along with their commitment to bring fun, joy, and of course, Cubs baseball to the people of South Bend.

A limited number of free tickets were distributed to families across South Bend to attend the safe trickor-treating event put on by the South Bend Police Department. (October 26, 2020) In conjunction with the South Bend Police Department, the third annual Cops and Goblins event provided a place for kids in the community to have a fun and safe trick-ortreating experience. Throughout the fall and into winter, additional watch parties focused on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, including the ACC Championship game. And in the spring, March Madness came to the Pepsi Stadium Club. While still hosting events at the stadium, the South Bend Cubs would continue to help those in need. Partnering with the Food Bank of Northern Indiana and Meijer, the organization helped distribute 2,000 frozen turkeys and 1,000 food boxes from the Four Winds Field parking lot on February 25. On March 21, the club hosted the fifth annual Polar Plunge to support Special Olympics Indiana. 2020 was bleak for everyone. The lack of a season was difficult, and it was especially

Four Notre Dame students pose for a photo after participating in the Special Olympics Polar Plunge. (March 21, 2021) With the organization of the minor leagues changing due to the pandemic and resulting contraction, South Bend was fortunate enough to be moved up a level to High-A baseball, one step closer to Wrigley Field on the organization’s minor league ladder. But one of the most exciting pieces of news came in January when the South Bend Cubs extended their stadium agreement through 2041 with the City of South Bend, ensuring that professional baseball would remain at Four Winds Field for many years to come. Now that baseball is back and 2020 is in the rear-view mirror, there is plenty to be optimistic about in 2021.

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MAY 2021

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2021 SOUTH BEND CUBS COACHING STAFF Michael Ryan - Manager

Ryan is the new manager the South Bend Cubs after joining the organization in 2020. Prior to that, he spent seven seasons as a manager in the Pittsburgh Pirates system, including 2017-2019 at the helm of Double-A Altoona. He led the Curve to the Eastern League championship in 2017, the first of twostraight campaigns with Western Division titles. A former outfielder, Ryan compiled a .258 batting average, seven home runs and 35 RBI in 149 major league games with the Minnesota Twins and the Los Angeles Angels.

Tony Cougoule - Pitching Coach

Cougoule takes over the pitching coach duties in South Bend after joining the Cubs organization in 2020. 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 and completing his master’s degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific University in 2007.

Paul McAnulty - Hitting Coach

McAnulty returns to South Bend to serve as the team’s hitting coach. In 2019, he helped guide the club to their fourth Midwest League Championship in the same role. Beginning his tenure with the Cubs organization as a South Bend assistant coach in 2018, McAnulty was a hitting coach in the Angels farm system from 2014-2016. A former outfielder, he appeared in five major league seasons with the San Diego Padres from 2005-2008 and Angels in 2010.

Eric Patterson - Assistant Hitting Coach

Patterson begins his second year with the Cubs organization and assumes the duties of assistant hitting coach for South Bend. In 2019, he served as head coach of the Gwinnett Tides in the Sunbelt League (Georgia collegiate summer baseball). In 226 major league games, he batted .217 with 20 doubles, seven triples, 10 homers and 50 RBI. Patterson was selected by the Cubs in the eighth round of the 2004 draft out of Georgia Tech.

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SOUTH BEND CUBS TEAM ROSTER CURRENT AS OF MAY 2, 2021

PITCHERS

MAX BAIN

MATTEO BOCCHI

BURL CARRAWAY

DEREK CASEY

BRANDON HUGHES

RYAN JENSEN

TANNER JESSON-DALTON

CHRIS KACHMAR

GARRETT KELLY

GRAHAM LAWSON

BEN LEEPER

EURY RAMOS

CATCHERS

PEYTON REMY

SAMUEL REYES

INFIELDERS

TYLER DURNA

SCOTT MCKEON

CAYNE UEKERT

CAM BALEGO

CHASE STRUMPF

JAKE WASHER

BRYCE WINDHAM

LUIS VAZQUEZ

DELVIN ZINN

NELSON VELAZQUEZ

DJ WILSON

OUTFIELDERS

JACOB OLSON 17

YONATHAN PERLAZA

COLE ROEDERER

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TAXI! TAXI! READ ALL ABOUT IT! 2020 SAW FOUR WINDS FIELD AS THE HOST OF THE CHICAGO CUBS "TAXI-SQUAD" By Max Thoma

round here, people like to say the road to Wrigley starts in South Bend. Well in 2020 that road was much more direct and experienced a lot more traffic. On March 12, 2020 Major League Baseball announced that the remainder of Spring Training games would be cancelled and that the season, originally scheduled to start March 26, would be pushed back at least two weeks. Two weeks turned into almost four months and the MLB season finally started up on July 23. The Covid pandemic delayed and shortened the MLB season, but it cancelled the Minor League Baseball season entirely. Major league franchises were forced into creating so called “Taxi-Squads”, a group of top prospects and players with big-league experience for the clubs to pluck from, in order to continue to train guys who may need to be called up during the season. There was no outlined criteria for the Chicago Cubs in finding a destination for this group of players; however, naturally they weighed two major factors, proximity and quality of facilities. “When we heard that that was going to be an option, we absolutely put a presentation together and showed everything that we could do for the Cubs, and really that started with obviously the facilities that we have here with the Performance Center and locker room,” said South Bend Cubs President Joe

Hart. “But I think the biggest selling point was that we have the Ivy at Berlin Place, the apartments right out beyond the outfield wall, in which we could house the players.” That sentiment was echoed by Cubs President of Baseball Operations, Jed Hoyer... “Players can literally walk from their room right down to the field.” And on June 28 the Cubs announced Four Winds Field would be the site of the Taxi-Squad, or ‘Alternate Site’. Less than a two-hour drive from the Friendly Confines and with a strong track record of rehabbing top-level talent, the ballpark at the corner of Taylor Street and South Street was the most logical choice. Within the next 10 days the players were selected. The original group consisted of 11 players, including the Cubs top three prospects: left-handed starting pitcher Brailyn Marquez, catcher Miguel Amaya and outfielder Brennen Davis. A strange summer of baseball would officially kick off on a hot and sunny July 7 day in downtown South Bend. With every team creating their own ‘bubble’ there was no other team for this group of young men to play. Guys would show up to the field for three to five hours a day for standard drills, workouts and practice. But the key at any level of baseball, especially for younger players close to the MLB-level, is to continue to develop. And to develop, simply put, you need to play live games.

Continued on page 26...

Brennen Davis makes a running catch during a Taxi Squad workout. (July 23, 2020) Instagram @SBCubs

FIRST PITCH GAME PROGRAM ...Continued from page 24 And so live games were played, though they were not exactly what you’d expect a July baseball game to look like. No fans. No opposing team. Often coaches playing in the field defensively. Maybe even Cubs’ manager David Ross on a live Zoom call watching the action on the scoreboard.

Chicago Cubs Manager David Ross watches a team scrimmage while on the road with the Major League club. (August 24, 2020) Cubs Triple-A manager Marty Pevey would write out lineup cards for intersquad scrimmages every day, games usually in the middle of a long season. But in this scenario, they were rendered meaningless in the sense that wins and losses didn’t matter, it was baseball played for the sole purpose of getting reps in and continuing to improve. Baseball stripped down to its simplest form; nothing but the game itself. The players lived within a couple hundred feet of the ballpark and when you’re playing each other every single day and then going back and staying in your apartment complex

the rest of the day, days tend to blend together and it can be hard to maintain a certain level of sanity. “It was like Groundhog Day, every day,” said Pevey, the winningest coach in Iowa Cubs history. “It was definitely different. It was tough.” Going through the same routine day after day and facing the same competition all the time still proved to be of vital importance to the guys on the field. “I was fortunate to be a part of that,” said the Cubs 2019 Minor League Player of the Year, Brennen Davis. “That really was a big step in my development. To get to play guys from double-a, triple-a, guys who are up and down from the big leagues, day in and day out. To be able to face that competition, the experience, the way they sequence pitching and are able to pick the hitters brain, is way more valuable than what I would’ve gotten in high-a or wherever I would’ve gone.” Due to these strange circumstances, players could get as many as eight at-bats in a single game against the best Miguel Amaya poses for a competition photo during batting practice. outside of an MLB (August 5, 2020) stadium. In an unprecedented time, these were truly bizarre scenes.

The Radio Home of the South Bend Cubs 26

Continued on page 28...

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FIRST PITCH GAME PROGRAM ...Continued from page 26 “Probably one of the funniest stories was that with a very limited staff and a few coaches, a day in the afternoon when it rained, we tried to get the tarp on the field,” said Hart. “It’s pouring rain, we’re soaking wet, and we just couldn’t get it all the way across the field. The players weren’t allowed to come out because we were on the field... So I’m just standing out there talking to Marty as we’re getting pounded by rain and realizing that this thing is not moving anymore.” The hard work was paying dividends on and off the field. Young guys were getting both high quality and vast quantities of game-style action; and they would get a chance to observe Cubs stars, like Kris Bryant, at a close distance.

routine... he doesn’t take any reps for granted and everything is so strategical. It’s just, it’s awesome to watch.” And once again the improvement on the field at Four Winds field was echoed from the top of the Cubs organization. “I was really proud of the all the work we did in player development this year,” said Hoyer. “And I have no question that we made significant gains over our competition this year, judging by the improvements our guys made at South Bend and the improvements I know guys made on their own in these odd settings." And off the field, the attention to detail and navigating the nuances of maintaining everyone's health and safety could be measured tangibly, as the Chicago Cubs were the only team in the MLB without a single positive test. The Taxi Squad in South Bend never produced a positive test either. The sentiment across the board from players, coaches, executives and staff members who were on hand in South Bend was best characterized by Head Groundskeeper Jairo Rubio... “It was a unique experience unlike anything I’ve had in my 17 years in baseball. With that said, god I hope we never have to do it again.”

Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant digs in for an at-bat during a simulated game at Four Winds Field. (September 9, 2020) “You watch how they go through their early work and how they go about their business and you take notes,” said the twenty one year old Davis. “You build off of what you see from him and work it into your daily

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FIRST PITCH GAME PROGRAM

DESTINATION WRIGLEY

WHO WILL BE NEXT TO MAKE THE JUMP FROM THE BEND TO THE BIGS? By Josh Sperber

ason Vosler, Zack Short, Justin Steele, and Brailyn Marquez. These are the four most recent South Bend Cubs that made their MLB debuts. It’s a goal that any player you will see this season is striving to achieve, and South Bend is where it starts. Some of the top players in the game today, like Gleyber Torres, played their first full season of professional baseball at Four Winds Field. Now there is a new wave of young talent ready to prove they belong. The Cubs farm system isn’t the most admired in the majors, but they are certainly making improvements. Over the past 2 years they have jumped seven spots in MLB Pipeline’s rankings and landed three prospects in this year’s top 100. They are in the middle of the pack in terms of young talent, ranking 18th in 21-and-under minor league talent. And it is that contingent of younger talent that is leading the Cubs minor league system in its rise back to the prominence. You may remember a Championship victory last season right here in South Bend, where over 150 players who went on to the Major Leagues began their journeys. Steele became one of the first players to make his MLB debut in the 2021 season back in April. He struck out four batters in three and a third innings during his threegame stint in Chicago. Steele last played in South Bend in 2016, but there are plenty of Cubs prospects who played here as recently as the 2019 championship season who may be ready to make that jump. This begs the question that is on the mind of every person

involved in Minor League Baseball, as a fan or employee: who’s next? Here are four former South Bend Cubs who have a shot at becoming a Chicago Cub this year.

Miguel Amaya, C (Cubs #3 Prospect, MLB Top 100: #81): Miguel Amaya has been a known entity in the Cubs system and throughout the minor leagues since he came in as a highly touted 16-year-old. Though the power-hitting catcher turned 22 less than two months before Opening Day, the 2018 Midwest League Midseason All-Star selection has played in the Futures Game and was named a Cubs Organizational All-Star in each of the two years he has played full-season minor league ball. Of those two seasons, Amaya played his best in South Bend, exhibiting power at the plate and skill in the field. He played most of his innings behind the plate, but he showed strong athleticism in the field in nine starts at first base. Amaya hit .256 with 12 home runs and 52 RBIs in South Bend and threw out 34 percent of potential base stealers. He left South bend with three different All-Star selections, as he was named a Midseason All-Star in conjunction with his organizational and futures game nods. At every level of the minor leagues, Amaya was praised for his maturity and advanced skill set for a young player. He has shown the ability to survive the daily wear and tear that is standard among catchers at all levels, consistently starting and putting up solid numbers behind the plate. He is still improving and steadily becoming more polished in all facets of the game, but Amaya has shown that he has all the tools to become a solid catcher at the major league level one day.

Continued on page 32... Facebook.com/SouthBendCubs

MAY 2021

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FIRST PITCH GAME PROGRAM ...Continued from page 30

Kohl Franklin, RHP (Cubs #6 Prospect):

Listed as the Cubs’ top pitching prospect after Brailyn Marquez, the 21 year old Kohl Franklin showed great improvement after a challenging year of rookie ball in 2018. Franklin went right from high school to the pro’s despite recovering from a broken foot that caused him to miss most of his senior season. After extended spring training, he rebounded in a big way, striking out 49 batters in 10 starts for shortseason/single-a Eugene and allowing just one earned run per start in the process. Franklin’s strong stint with the Emeralds earned him a promotion to South Bend, where he allowed one earned run and struck out three in three innings before leaving with an injury. While Franklin is still a raw talent, he has shown signs of serious promise, increasing the velocity on his fastball in every season as a pro, getting it as high as 97 miles per hour. He is developing his support pitches as well, adding a knuckle-curve to his off-speed arsenal last season to go along with a mid-80s mph changeup that is graded as the best in the Cubs system by Baseball America. The changeup sinks well to fool hitters and some scouts say it is his best pitch, even better than his rapidly improving fastball. Franklin was not added to the alternate site roster in 2020, but he spent the season working on his conditioning, his

athleticism, and his pitching arsenal. He is still adding muscle and filling out his 6’4 frame, and his long, athletic body is exactly what scouts look for in a major league pitcher. Adding muscle means he could add even more velocity to his fastball, which has already improved by an average of five miles per hour since the Cubs drafted him in 2018. Opponents have hit under .200 against him in his two minor league seasons, during which Franklin has averaged over one strikeout per inning. An aggressive pitcher who attacks hitters with pitches in the strike zone, Franklin is quickly improving his command while still managing a strikeout to walk ratio of 2:1. Franklin has drastically improved in each year he’s spent in the minors and is expected to make an even bigger jump in 2021.

Brennen Davis, CF (Cubs #2 Prospect, MLB Top 100: #53): The youth movement continues with 2018 second-round pick Brennen Davis, who was instrumental in last season’s championship run. Another 20-year-old in the Cubs’ big three of young prospects, Davis made great strides with his bat, bashing eight home runs in 50 games with South Bend after failing to homer in the Arizona League. Despite missing some time due to injury, Davis set career highs across the board in his first full season of professional baseball, with those eight home runs, 30 RBIs, nine doubles, and .907 OPS. A rock-solid all-around season earned Davis the Cubs’ Minor League Player of the Year for his efforts. Continued on page 34...

MICHIANA'S MORNING NEWS

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FIRST PITCH GAME PROGRAM ...Continued from page 32 Davis was a later addition to the South Bend roster last season, beginning 2019 in extended spring training and not making it to South Bend until the end of May. But Davis made an impact from the get-go, recording a hit in each of his first six games at Four Winds Field and quickly becoming a regular for Buddy Bailey’s squad. Almost half of his extra base hits left the ballpark, and he finished the season with an impressive slash line of .305/.381/.525. He added four stolen bases on five attempts, showing flashes of the speed and athleticism that made him a talented basketball player in high school. Cubs scouts and coaches were impressed by Davis’ athleticism coming out of high school but thought he would take longer to put it all together on the baseball field. He has a lot of raw talent and it's really starting to show. An athletic, 6’4 outfielder, Brennen Davis clearly has a lot more baseball ahead of him in his career. He excelled at the alternate site in 2020 and jumped 25 spots in the MLB’s Top 100 prospect rankings over the past year. If his 2021 looks anything like his time in South Bend (hopefully excluding the injuries), there’s no telling how high Davis can climb.

Riley Thompson, RHP (Cubs #17 Prospect): Riley Thompson was a staple of South Bend’s starting rotation last season, earning an 8-6 record in 21 starts with an era of 3.06 in his first full season as a pro. He was crucial down the stretch of South Bend’s 2019 Championship run, striking out 13 in two playoff starts, including a dominant showing in game three of the Championship series in which he struck out 10 LumberKings in five innings to earn the decisive victory. Thompson has been a flamethrower since high school, with his heater topping out at 96 miles per hour before he went down with an elbow injury. Scouts saw so much promise in Thompson’s fastball and overall ability as a starter that he was selected by the Reds in the 37th round of the 2015 MLB draft shortly after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Thompson was highly regarded as having first round stuff, and likely would have been a higher pick if he didn’t need the surgery. Once he recuperated, Thompson struck out 23 batters in 15.2 innings during his first active season at Louisville and was drafted by the Yankees in the 17th round of the 2017 draft.

Continued on page 36... www.SouthBendCubs.MiLBstore.com

FIRST PITCH GAME PROGRAM ...Continued from page 34 While Thompson has brought his fastball back up to its pre-surgery effectiveness, he brings a chan-

that he’s trending in the right direction. Thompson still needs to polish up his pitches

geup and a dipping curveball to the table as well. His

and sure up his command of his breaking stuff,

fastball averages between 92 and 95 miles an hour

but the Cubs believe he could be a rotation starter

and has hit as high as 97 on the gun, while his curve

or possibly a closer. He certainly showed off his

is graded just as highly with speed in the mid-80s

clutch gene last season, throwing five innings of

and one of the best spin rates in the Cubs minor

no-hit ball to help clinch the 2019 Midwest League

league system.

Championship. With a season away to recuperate

Thompson’s control is a focal point of his development, as he likes to spin his breaking stuff out of the zone to fool hitters. A high heater and a nasty

during the pandemic, expect Thompson to come back in a big way in 2021. The Cubs system is young, continually

dip on his curveball make for a nice one-two punch

improving, and has a balanced group of prospects

for this strikeout pitcher. His split-finger grip on the

with a lot of upside. But it’s hard to tell where the

changeup helps with the downward movement that

direction of a prospect or a team’s system is going

makes opposing hitters chase. This deep arsenal

until you see them play.

helps Thompson strikeout more than double the

Every year since becoming a Cubs affiliate, there

number of batters he walks, walking 31 and striking

has been a prospect that played in South Bend that

out 87 with South Bend in 2019.

has made the jump to the big leagues. Guys like Ian

An issue with Thompson is his health, as

Happ and David Bote are now everyday players for

Tommy John is always difficult to fully recover from,

the Cubs, and the next man up may be on the field

and Riley also had some shoulder issues during

right now. Whoever that star may be, whether it’s

his time at Louisville. His fastball is back at its

one of these four or someone who will make their

pre-surgery speed and a full season as South Bend’s

professional debut this season, the road to Wrigley

number two starter, the ace of the staff once Brailyn

Field starts right here in South Bend.

Marquez was promoted to Myrtle Beach, is a sign

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2021 January 8 Winter Wonderland February 5 Fire & Ice March 5 ShamRock & Roll April 2 Tap into Spring May 7 Fringe Fest June 4 Kids’ Night Out July 2 Urban Picnic August 6 Flashback Friday September 3 Dog Days of Summer October 1 Downtown Oktoberfest November 5 Football Fridays December 3 Downtown for the Holidasy

DTSB First Fridays is an immersive community experience showcasing the best of what downtown South Bend has to offer. Taking place the first Friday of each month all year long, with a different theme each month, First Fridays features live music, dining & retail specials, art receptions, kid-friendly activities, and much more.