ROCKING A NEW "SB"
From Santa Barbara to South Bend, Ivan Brethowr and Ryan Gallagher still share the diamond
By: Tyler Reidy
During the afternoon of July 15, 2024, the Chicago Cubs in consecutive rounds drafted four players who currently call South Bend home. Fifth-round catcher Ariel Armas and eighth-round first baseman Edgar Alvarez bookended the group. Between the two of them was a pair of college teammates who had spent the previous three years together.
Right-handed pitcher Ryan Gallagher heard his name called in round six. Less than an hour later, outfielder Ivan Brethowr joined him in the Cubs organization as a seventh-rounder.
“It took me a while to put it together that me and Gally just went back-toback with the same org, and so that was pretty sweet,” Brethowr recalled. “We kind of had a little moment together calling after that, so that was pretty awesome.”
“It was exciting to know somebody showing up at a new place,” Gallagher added. “...We lived together in Arizona when we first got there. We live together now, so it's been cool having a friend like that here.”
The two buddies took very different paths to their first shared destination: the University of California, Santa
Barbara. An in-state kid from the Sacramento area, Gallagher grew up idolizing Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants’ dynasty, but he knew someday he wouldn’t mind pitching further down the Pacific coast.
“I actually lived down in Santa Barbara when I was younger for a little bit,” Gallagher said. “We were there for about a year, and I knew I loved the area a lot, and so when I started getting recruited to go out there [to UCSB], I kind of knew that if they gave me a shot, I was gonna commit for sure.”
Ivan Brethowr (left) and Ryan Gallagher (right) pose for a photo before a game at Four Winds Field in May, 2025. Credit: South Bend Cubs
UCSB ended up behind the school that offered Gallagher, and he fit in there just fine. He arrived in 2022 and became the Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year, going 8-0 in his first season. Tommy John surgery sidelined him in 2023, but he returned as a weekend starter and the Big West Pitcher of the Year in 2024.
Gallagher never dominated the college scene with high velocity or ridiculous metrics, but instead with craftiness and consistency.
“I've always described myself as a ‘pitchability’ type of guy,” Gallagher said.
“I take a lot of pride in my command and my stuff, being able to pitch backwards, throwing any pitch in any count.”
Gallagher wasn’t the only All-Big West First Team player on UCSB’s 2024 NCAA Tournament team. Ivan Brethowr earned such recognition as well, leading the conference with 15 home runs in his second year as a Gaucho.
Now, before you start to wonder about his baseball backstory, the first thing you’ll probably notice about Brethowr is his size. With an open stance at 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, he’s essentially the Aaron Judge of the Midwest League.
“I'm not sure where it came from, but I'm not complaining,” Brethowr said of his height. “It definitely took me a while to grow into my body. I think for a while I was kind of like a baby baby giraffe or a baby horse, just getting control of my body and putting on the weight.”
Brethowr’s altitude forced him to put aside his childhood position of catcher as he entered his college years.
Transitioning to the outfield, he left the Kansas City area to spend his freshman season in a warmer climate at Arizona State. However, a sweeping coaching change impacted his fit with the Sun Devils, sending him to Santa Barbara in the transfer portal after the 2022 season. The big man thrived with the Gauchos, hitting double-digit home runs in each of his two years and earning his call from the Cubs.
Upon entering the organization late last summer, Brethowr got his feet wet a Single-A Myrtle Beach, belting two home runs in 23 games.
“It was a really good taste for me just to have information of what the schedule is gonna look like, what's it gonna be like to play every day, how I'm gonna need to map out my routines going into my first full season,” Brethowr said. “I'm really grateful that I had that really big learning experience.”
Since debuting in South Bend on Opening Day 2025, Brethowr has put up good Midwest League numbers, posting an OPS close to .800 through the middle of May. His on-base percentage, which has consistently ranked within the league’s top 15, was a catalyst for manager Nick Lovullo moving him to the leadoff spot on April 30. Brethowr has stayed put there since, both getting on base and swinging as good a bat as anyone in High-A with runners in scoring position.
“The leadoff spot ends up coming up pretty frequently at the end of the game with runners on base, and so that's a moment that I want to be in,” Brethowr described. “And that's a moment that I think a leadoff hitter should be prepared for and want to be in – a guy who gets on base, a guy who knows the zone, a guy who puts the barrel on the ball.”
Gallagher works from the stretch as he goes against the Beloit Sky Carp in his second home start on April 26, 2025. Credit: Ethan Levy
... continued from previous page.
Gallagher, meanwhile, is getting his first glimpse of professional baseball this season. He has slotted in as South Bend’s starting pitcher, really hitting his groove in the middle part of May. On May 10 against the Fort Wayne TinCaps, he spun six hitless innings to earn Midwest League Pitcher of the Week honors. Seven days later in Lansing, he punched out 12 in six more innings.
In each start, Gallagher is learning more about what it takes to consistently retire Midwest League hitters.
“I think a lot of it has been the mental side,” he said. “I've definitely had my ups and downs so far, just kind of getting settled into professional baseball and competing again, but I think trusting your stuff and really attacking the hitters and not trying to pitch around them has given me the best results so far. But they're great hitters, so they're going to get hits. They're going to hit the ball hard, so it's not like everything is going to go your way.”
“It feels like I'm on a football schedule,” Gallagher added. “I know I'm going to play once a week, and that's my whole rest of the week is just preparing for that day. So I’m just trying to make sure my body feels as good as it can, and then on Saturdays, just go out there and compete with what I've got.”
Not too long ago, Brethowr and Gallagher teamed up to make postseason memories at UCSB. Having rearranged those four letters to spell out “Cubs,” they each hope to make a continued positive impact on their new shared organization.
After being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the sixth round of 2024, Gallagher makes his professional debut on April 12, 2025. Credit: Ethan Levy
Brethowr gives Drew Bowser a glove high five before the South Bend Cubs play their first game of the season on April 8, 2025. Credit: Ethan Levy
SCORE BIG.
The Cubs 1st Club Checking Account from 1st Source Bank is the ultimate choice for South Bend Cubs fans!
In addition to being a full-featured checking account from a toprated bank, you’ll score big with a 10% discount on Cubs tickets, team gear and concessions. Gain access to special events and more!
It’s a home run for your wallet – scan the QR code to learn more.
Check it out!
SOUTH BEND HOMECOMING
How Kohl Franklin’s road back from injury lead to reunion with the South Bend Cubs
By: Brendan King
April 13, 2024. St. Paul, Minnesota. That day was the Triple-A pitching debut for Chicago Cubs pitching and two-time South Bend Cubs Midwest League Champion Kohl Franklin. Just off of a dominant Double-A outing to open the season, Franklin was promoted to the Iowa Cubs in the hope that a good stretch at Triple-A could propel him to the Big Leagues.
The game had all the ingredients for one of the most momentous days in the life of Franklin, the former Chicago Cubs sixth-round pick out of Broken Arrow High School in Oklahoma. His parents, Jay and Carrie, were both on hand at CHS Field, home of the St. Paul Saints on a sunny and oddly warm early April day in Minnesota.
Franklin took the mound for his first taste of Triple-A baseball. One step away from the Major Leagues, after beginning his pro career with Chicago as a 19-year-old in 2018. The tall and slender Franklin took some confidence into that first game with the I-Cubs, because of the four perfect innings he had thrown with the Tennessee Smokies a week earlier against the Rocket City Trash Pandas.
Working around a pair of singles in the first inning, Franklin made it through
his initial AAA inning unscathed. He did the same thing in the bottom of the second, this time retiring the side in order. As he came out for his third inning of work to warmup, he felt something twitch in his elbow. No pain, just a nudge that something was off.
He was set to throw the next practice toss, this time a slider. He fired it in. And immediately Franklin knew, as he squatted down to the ground in riveting pain. He had just blown out his elbow.
“It felt like someone took a taser and put it right on the top of my elbow bone,” Franklin said. “It honestly didn’t feel real at the time what was happening. I feel like I let people down and my teammates down.”
Right away Franklin was helped off the field, as his parents watch him disappear into the dugout hallway. St. Paul is the affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, and with the AAA team being so close to Target Field in Minneapolis, a Twins team doctor was at CHS Field that day already doing other work. His attention turned
Franklin makes his pitching debut for the South Bend Cubs on August 31, 2019.
Credit: Casey McDonald
... continued from previous page.
right to Franklin.
An explanation wasn’t needed as to what happened from medical diagnosis. Franklin knew. A tear of his UCL in his pitching elbow, requiring reconstructive surgery. After seeing the Twins team doctor, Franklin’s first call was to his mom, still in the stands.
“I FaceTimed my mom as soon as I could,” Franklin said. “It was one of those calls where neither of us said anything at first, but we both knew what was going on. I saw her start crying, and then I starting bawling. Just knowing I was going to need to take a 12-month hiatus from the game I love. It was a tough thing to deal with, and way more mentally than physically.”
surgery is usually referred to as ‘Tommy John Surgery’. However, it was not fullblown Tommy John that Franklin had operated on him, but a different variation.
Sadly in his career, Franklin has been no-stranger to injuries. Once considered a top-10 Chicago Cubs prospect, Franklin is now 25-years-old. After the Minor League Baseball season was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19, Franklin missed all of 2021 due to an oblique injury. He then returned in 2022 and helped the South Bend Cubs win the Midwest League Championship. Although another injury wasn’t ideal in 2024, he was better prepared for what was to come in the grind back to the light.
Franklin’s 2024 season came to an end six innings through, in his first game at Triple-A. In order to get him ready for 2025, Franklin had surgery that same week on his elbow. UCL reconstructive
“You’re going to go through so many highs and lows during the rehab process and you can’t avoid the dark times,” Franklin said. “I’ve matured a lot since the 2021 injury. I was able to take myself
In his first ever start for South Bend in 2019, Franklin would go 3 innings, giving up 1 earned run and striking out 3. Credit: Casey McDonald
... continued from previous page.
out of my shell during the rehab process and rely on other people. And that helped me a ton more than I could have imagined.”
Franklin fought and battled through the summer of 2024 with rehab sessions and workouts, ultimately leading him to throwing off a mound at the Chicago Cubs Spring Training Complex in Arizona for the first time on January 9, 2025. It was time for things to start heating up, and Spring Training was right on the horizon. As he got ready for the long days of baseball in the desert, Franklin looked to his friend, Chicago Cubs right-hander and former South Bend Cub Cade Horton, as inspiration. Horton, the former Oklahoma Sooner, and Franklin, the once Oklahoma commit, have bonded into a strong friendship in their time with the Cubs.
Horton also missed most of the 2024 season due to injury, and fought back to eventually make his MLB debut against the New York Mets on May 10.
“The biggest thing to remember is there are brighter days ahead,” Franklin
added. “When you’re hurt and it feels lonely in a dark road, Cade’s story goes to show that there is a light at the end of the tunnel if you stay consistent and work hard to achieve your dreams.”
Eventually, it was time for Franklin to pitch competitively on a live mound, against real hitters. His dad, Jay, a certified MLB player agent, told us that when presented with the opportunity to rehab in the Minor Leagues, Kohl wanted to go back to South Bend, the place where his professional success stemmed from.
Franklin made his comeback to the Four Winds Field mound on May 7, facing the Fort Wayne TinCaps. The first time on a real mound, in a genuine game, against hitters that actually want to beat you in over a year.
Nerves? A few.
In his final start with South Bend in 2023, Franklin tossed 4 innings, striking out 6 batters on May 5.
Credit: Ethan Levy
“I was very anxious to get back out there,” Franklin explained. “I was playing catch before the start, and thought ‘man, this is the most nerves I’ve had in a while’. There were a lot more than I thought there would be, but it felt amazing to be back to doing what I love
Franklin warming up before his first game in 2022 vs. the Beloit Sky Carp. Credit: Dr. Tim Reilly
... continued from previous page.
and getting back into the pace of the game.”
Aside from the butterflies, as he took the mound in South Bend again, a place where he had spent parts of three seasons prior, memories started to circle.
From his Midwest League debut against the Bowling Green Hot Rods right before the 2019 playoffs, where he didn’t allow a hit in three innings as a 19-year-old. To leading the 2022 South Bend Cubs rotation with names like Jordan Wicks and Porter Hodge, starting Game 1 of the Midwest League Championship Series that September versus Lake County.
Franklin has got two South Bend Cubs rings, and a third too from the Tennessee Smokies 2023 championship. The rings are at his parent’s house in Oklahoma, but often when he returns home, it’s the 2022 diamonds that stand out.
“That team was special,” Franklin said. “We were such a close-knit group. Best friends. And more than anything, we would show up to the field and losing a game didn’t once cross our mind. We played the game like it was supposed to be played, in such a fun environment. I’ve been on a lot of winning teams, but that chemistry in the clubhouse was different. And it translated to the field.”
Although his time back in the Midwest League was short in 2025. If there is anyone out there who deserves
to have the term ‘South Bend Legend’ describe them. It’s Franklin. No player should have to miss two complete seasons worth of baseball in their career due to injury, but Franklin has rolled with the punches, continuing to put himself in striking range of the Big Leagues.
“Feeling so close is hard to put into words,” Franklin said. “I know how hard I have worked to be on the cusp of achieving my dream. It’s a blessing though. I’m exactly where I need to be.”
Credit: Christina Shadid
Franklin makes his 2025 season debut for the South Bend Cubs on a rehab assignment against the Fort Wayne TinCaps on May 7, 2025
AROUND THE BASES Andy Garriola
What is your favorite pre-game song/artists your currently listening to?
My favorite playlist is country. I listen to a lot of Koe Wetzel.
What is your favorite T.V. show to binge watch?
My favorite show to binge watch in my freetime is " You".
I'm currently watching Season 5.
Who is your favorite baseball player of all time?
My favorite baseball player of all time is Josh Hamilton. What is your go to pre-game meal/snack?
My go to pre-game snack is a banana with honey. Are you superstitous at all?
I am superstitous but I don't like to tell people why I'm superstitous, so no comment.
Favorite thing to do in the off-season?
My favorite thing to do in the off-season is going to the beach. I also enjoy spending time with my friends and family.
Fun fact that fans might not know about you?
My father was an FBI agent for 35 years and arrested a lot of people. A notable one being James Whitey Bulger.
Do you have any hobbies?
I play a lot of video games in my free time.
If you could travel to one place you've never been to, where would you go? If I could travel to one place I would go to Japan because it seems like a really clean country and they have good food.
What teammate(s) do you enjoy playing with the most?
My favorite teammate is Carter Trice. He was my former college teammate so we know each other very well.
If you could pick a different position to play, what position would you pick?
If I wasn't a outfielder, I would probably be a pitcher. I would want to be the funkiest pitcher in the league.
2025 SOUTH BEND CUBS COACHING STAFF
Nick Lovullo - Manager
Nick Lovullo returns for his second season as Manager. A former Boston Red Sox prospect, the 30-year-old was drafted in the 20th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by Boston, after a collegiate career at Holy Cross. He grew up and played his high school baseball in Thousand Oaks, California. In his first pro season, Lovullo was promoted as high as Double-A Portland. His professional career concluded in 2021, in a stop with the Miami Marlins organization, as well as independent baseball. The son of Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, Nick became the Double-A Tennessee Smokies bench coach in 2022 and managed the Arizona Complex League Cubs in 2023.
George Thanopoulos - Pitching Coach
George Thanopoulos who was an assistant coach in 2021, returns to South Bend as the pitching coach. Between 2021 and 2025, Thanopoulos spent time working at the Cubs Complex in Mesa, Arizona, before taking the Myrtle Beach Pelicans pitching coach job in 2024. Thanopoulos oversaw a Pelicans pitching staff that finished with 1178 strikeouts in 2024, and the Birds posted the second lowest opposing team batting average in the Carolina League at just .223. A former pitcher with the Colorado Rockies organization, Thanopoulos was a part of both the 2016 and 2017 teams with the Boise Hawks in the Northwest League.
Nate Spears - Hitting Coach
Nate Spears returns for his second season with the South Bend Cubs as the hitting coach. Spears began his playing career with the Baltimore Orioles, after they selected him in the fifth-round of the 2003 MLB Draft. The Fort Myers, Fla. native was traded by the Orioles to the Northsiders in the Corey Patterson deal in 2006. Spears played for former South Bend manager Buddy Bailey in 2008 with Double-A Tennessee, and made it to Triple-A Iowa. His career then took him to the Boston Red Sox, where he made his MLB debut. Spears played for Boston in 2011 and 2012. As a coach, he stayed with the Red Sox, and woundup coaching Nick Lovullo while he was a Red Sox prospect.
Daniel Wasinger Bench Coach
Nick Roberts Athletic Trainer
Allen Cooper Strength and Conditioning Coach
Collin Andrews Development Coach
Jose Zapata Assistant Pitching Coach
PITCHERS CATCHERS
Come see Daniel Tiger on June 22nd at Four Winds Field
THE SUMMER OF GEORGE
South Bend Cubs Pitching Coach
George Thanopoulos applies lessons from playing career to help next generation
By Brendan King
The grind that is a Minor League Baseball season is felt by all parties among a team, as the summer produces early days of practice to late nights of high leverage finishes. Thankfully today, every team and player receives nearly every Monday off to rest and recharge. For South Bend Cubs pitching coach George Thanopoulos, he remains eternally grateful for the weekly off-day, after a playing career spent in the travel-heavy Northwest League, in the Colorado Rockies system.
Let’s start here. This has been a story I’ve been looking forward to writing since the Chicago Cubs announced that Thanopoulos would return to Four Winds Field in the Winter. He’s no stranger to South Bend, after serving as an assistant coach on Michael Ryan’s staff in 2021. Plus, his dad is a Notre Dame alumni.
But even more so, I experienced the longest bus rides and travel days in Minor League Baseball with Thanopoulos in the summer of 2017. That season, I was the announcer for the Boise Hawks, with George playing on the team as a right-handed pitcher. At the time in the
Northwest League, which was ShortSeason A baseball, you played 76 games in 78 days, and had two days off through the entire summer.
Let’s add one more layer to it: Our shortest bus ride was six hours, to Spokane, Washington. Longest? 14. Up to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
“It was definitely a grind and players today, especially young players, don’t quite understand how much better they have it now,” Thanopoulos said. “All things, including meals, travel, hotel, and so many other things are a lot better. In those days, it was tough to manage the life of a Minor League Baseball player.”
The laborious days and nights may not have paid off from a career sense as a player for Thanopoulous, but on those long bus rights through the mountains on West Coast nights, he was able to
Brendan King (left) and South Bend Cubs Pitching Coach George Thanopoulos pose for a photo during South Bend's workout day at Wrigley Field on April 28, 2025. Credit: South Bend Cubs
... continued from previous page.
focus into a true passion; Teaching the game.
“As a player I was always pretty inquisitive about what it took to develop myself,” Thanopoulos said. “Those were the early days of technology really impacting the game, so I had an idea of wanting to explore that when I finished playing. Like a lot of players, I didn’t expect my playing career to finish as quickly as it did, but it provided me an opportunity to check out the other side, and I fell in love with it.”
In two seasons with the Boise Hawks in 2016 and 2017, Thanopoulos worked in 26 professional games, and in 32 innings struck out 27 batters. He was also part of one of the longest, and craziest, games in Minor League Baseball history.
July 4, 2017. The Hawks were on a short two-game road trip to play the Eugene Emeralds, the Short-Season A affiliate at the time of the Chicago Cubs. A young 18-year-old named Miguel Amaya was Eugene’s catcher.
The game went 20 innings. It took six-and-a-half hours to complete, and
Thanopoulos pitched in the game. It was so wild from a normal perspective, but also being on the call for it. I called all 20 innings (don’t ask how many bathroom breaks).
Both Amaya, and Boise catcher Sam Tidaback, both former South Bend Cubs players, caught all 20 innings. Former South Bend Cubs catcher, yes, catcher, Teddy Payne threw four scoreless innings of relief to keep the game tied during the middle innings of the game’s second half. Thanopoulos was called upon to throw two shutout innings, in a game where he wasn’t even supposed to be working.
“I remember I had taken my cleats off in the bullpen at one point,” Thanopoulos said. “Nobody expected the game to go as long as it did. I had to put my cleats back on to get loose and I threw two scoreless after basically being asleep.”
He also struck out two batters in the two innings, helping the game combine for an MiLB record 44 total strikeouts. Just insanity.
So from the playing career to the coaching career. Thanopoulos spent a number of years helping out as an assistant coach in the college ranks,
Thanopoulos throws a pitch for the Boise Hawks in 2016. Credit: Boise Hawks
Thanopoulos at first base during game one of double header against Quad Cities River Bandits on August 8, 2021. Credit: Casey McDonald
... continued from previous page.
as well as coaching younger players in facilities that are like the 1st Source Bank Performance Center. Then came the opportunity to join the Cubs organization, where he was assigned to South Bend, to become a development coach and the team’s first base coach in 2021.
“That being my first full year coaching in pro baseball I was able to see what coaches have to deal with on a day-to-day basis of how to approach managing personalities,” Thanopoulos said. “Guys like Eric Patterson and Tony Cougoule were very helpful in figuring out how players think and go about their work.”
After two years being in charge of all things development and rehab based at the Chicago Cubs Spring Training Complex in Mesa, Arizona in 2022 and 2023, Thanopoulos received the opportunity to work on Buddy Bailey’s staff with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in 2024 as the club’s pitching coach. Now in 2025, he gets the chance to reunite with the South Bend Cubs, leading the entire pitching department.
“It’s so awesome to be back,” Thanopoulos explained. “It felt like I
never left to be honest. Being out living in The Ivy again is really cool, and to be able to run the ship on the pitching side is a great challenge.”
If there is one thing that holds true that Thanopoulos has that other pitching coaches might now, it’s the experience to say ‘I’ve been there’. He experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows of what old-school Minor League Baseball was like. Now, he can take all of those lessons, either good or bad, and apply them to how he wants to operate a pitching staff. Plus, he’s got the same type of goal that the players do, after getting the chance to see Wrigley Field in person for the first time when the South Bend Cubs held a team workout at The Friendly Confines in April.
“Being on that field, you don’t realize how on top of you that the fans and seats are,” Thanopoulos said. “Being in that clubhouse, and getting to envision yourself there as a part of that staff while being able to work in front of 40,000 people a night was really cool. That’s what we all work for.”
Thanopoulos coaching at first base as the Cubs beat the Fort Wayne TinCaps 12-2 on May 30, 2021.
Credit: Casey McDonald
Thanopoulos (right) breaks down a recent outing with pitcher Nick Dean in the dugout April 25, 2025
Credit: Ethan Levy
The Trainer's Take
Nick
Roberts doing his part to keep the Cubs on the field.
By Tyler Reidy
During a baseball game, it’s usually a good sign when athletic trainers, like umpires, are less noticeable. You might only see them once or twice at most over the course of nine innings, stepping out from the dugout to check on a plunked hitter or evaluate a pitcher experiencing some tightness. The vast, vast majority of their work occurs off the field, anyway.
Third-year South Bend Cubs athletic trainer Nick Roberts does that work so well, he’s got an award for it. Last September, Roberts’ peers selected him as the 2024 Midwest League Athletic Trainer of the Year.
“It's obviously an honor and something that I don't take lightly,” Roberts said. “It's voted on by the other athletic trainers in the league, so it's nice to know that I've made at least a little bit of quote-unquote impact or relationship with the other athletic trainers in the Midwest League.”
Roberts’ career path dates back to his playing days, when an injury of his own piqued his interest in athletic training. A pitcher who grew up idolizing Hall of
Roberts runs to the dugout with manager Nick Lovullo during a game against the Beloit Sky Carp August 8, 2024. Credit: Ethan Levy
Famer Chipper Jones, Roberts confronted Tommy John Surgery in high school, an experience that opened his eyes to the sports medicine world. He enrolled within his home state at Florida State University, holding an initial interest in physical therapy before pivoting to athletic training through conversations with former coaches and academic advisors.
“It was definitely a rocky road,” Roberts said of his undergraduate life. “I definitely learned how to study in undergraduate school. It was a little bit of a learning curve for me, but once I got into the athletic training program, studying became a lot easier just because it was something I was truly interested in.”
Upon enrolling in FSU’s athletic training program, Roberts began working with teams and athletes among the nation’s best in their respective sports. During his first semester in the program, the Seminole football team he worked with won the Orange Bowl in December 2016. In the spring of 2018, he worked with Florida State’s powerhouse women’s soccer program, which would go on to capture a national championship in the fall of that year. His final semester in Tallahassee coincided with
... continued from previous page.
legendary FSU baseball coach Mike Martin’s last season, allowing Roberts to learn alongside another special Seminole team that reached the 2019 College World Series.
Roberts didn’t go to Omaha with the ‘Noles, though. Instead, professional baseball awaited him upon his graduation in 2019.
Up the East Coast went Roberts, who spent his first postgrad summer as an affiliate athletic trainer intern for the Brooklyn Cyclones, a New York Mets affiliate at the Class A Short Season level. Perhaps you remember the Eugene Emeralds, the Cubs’ Short Season affiliate until Minor League Baseball’s restructuring in 2021.
Beginning with that year, he’s now spent five years in the Chicago Cubs’ organization.
“It's a really good organization to work with,” Roberts said of the Cubs. “Top to bottom, I think we have the best athletic training staff in Major League Baseball right now, so it's a pretty cool place to work, and everybody’s challenging one another and really trying to push the envelope of what we can do as a sports medicine department.”
Credit: Ethan Levy
With the Cyclones, Roberts acquired his first full-season taste of baseball on the professional scale, leading him to his first full-time position within the Arizona Diamondbacks’ system in 2020. Roberts had also interviewed with the Cubs ahead of that season and held on to those connections as 2021 arrived.
During his first three Cubs years, Roberts experienced ballplayers at three different levels. In 2021, he worked with the Arizona Complex League’s Cubs out in Mesa, treating some of the organization’s freshest faces. The next season took him to Single-A Myrtle Beach, and now he’s been in High-A South Bend since 2023.
Roberts mentioned not only age, but also experience, as factors that differentiate player treatment on the organization ladder’s various rungs. For example, South Bend players walk into Roberts’
Nick Roberts walking back after checking in on a player for a possible injury. June 6, 2024.
office with less of a need for basic information and more of a developed routine than, say, rookie-ball Cubs would have.
“It's pretty cool because you can start to do maybe a little bit more specialized programming and actually try to create an impact with these guys as opposed to just teaching them a routine,” Roberts described. “It's like, ‘Hey, this is something that might actually be able to help your ability on the field.’”
Again, during the two or three hours of a Cubs game, you might only see Roberts’ face for a few minutes if you’re not looking for him. But his work begins several hours before first pitch, ensuring that South Bend’s boys of summer can perform at the highest level nearly every day for five months.
For a 7:05 PM game, Roberts will arrive at Four Winds Field in the late morning and have himself ready to go by about 12:30. Pitchers usually come to see him first, with position players following shortly thereafter. Throughout the afternoon, Roberts chats individually with players who might be banged up, determining when they’ll be available during the course of their pregame schedule.
For Roberts, the day-to-day work of keeping players available shapes the job’s most rewarding experiences.
“Sometimes, it's the little victories that you keep a guy on the field,” Roberts said. “So if someone comes in with low
back tightness or their hamstrings are tight or whatever – hey, maybe I did something in that day to where I alleviate the pain, and now it's not going to be a problem down the road.”
Of course, some injuries you can’t relieve in a single day or week. Players hit the long-term injured lists, often beginning a lengthy process through which they consult with numerous individuals on their road to recovery. It’s in these situations that athletic trainers can become the unsung heroes.
“I think that's a really unique aspect in terms of our profession – nobody else takes somebody from an acute injury on the field all the way back to playing again on the field,” Roberts said. “You have doctors and physical therapists and coaches that may help with those different time periods. The athletic trainer is the one that stays there the entirety of that time.”
And so while Nick Roberts himself might not make his presence known to fans very often – and he’d be the first to tell you that’s a good thing – his work appears in every South Bend Cub you see on the diamond. Whether it’s through the pitcher returning from arm troubles or the infielder who hasn’t missed a series from April to September, the Midwest League’s premier athletic trainer has made an impact.
PLAN YOUR 2025 GROUP OUTING
Are you looking for the perfect place to plan your next group outing? We have a variety of packages to suit your every need! Treat your group of 20 or more to a fun night of affordable entertainment! Four Winds Field is a great place to entertain employees, clients, team members, civic organizations, and even family reunions. Limited dates remain.
The U.S. Navy is on a once-in-a-generation journey to completely transform its nuclear-powered submarine fleet and maintain a critical undersea advantage. Achieving this ambitious goal will require adding more than 140,000 civilian professionals across every state—including skilled tradespeople, engineers, project managers, and many others with a vast array of talents.
If you or someone you know is ready to contribute your expertise to this critical mission, visit BuildSubmarines.com to learn how to make a difference.
AUTOGRAPHS
