RAISING KANE
Top-five Cubs prospect Kane Kepley ignites the South Bend offense.
By: Tyler Reidy
Every ballplayer has an identity in the way they play the game. Some hit for tremendous power. Others work at-bats years beyond their experience level.
A select few can turn the field into their own personal playground. Kane Kepley is one of those guys. Take the 45 stolen bases at North Carolina last spring. How about the career on-base percentage approaching .500? And then there’s the countless defensive gems in center field.
Kepley plays the game on his terms, and he does it better than just about anybody in the Cubs’ Minor League circuit. Long before he brought those terms to South Bend’s center field to open the 2026 season, he established them at a young age with some advice from his father, Charles.
“I knew I wasn't the biggest. I wasn't the tallest. I wasn't the strongest,” Kepley said. “My dad told me, ‘You need to be elite at certain things,’ and that's running and running balls down in the outfield and stealing bags and getting on base. That's what I needed to be elite at to be able to get to where I
wanted to be.”
Kepley developed that identity in Salisbury, North Carolina, a town of about 35,000 situated just northeast of Charlotte. As a youngster there, he found himself among elite talent in the East Rowan Diamond Sports League and Little League. Kepley played alongside future superstar Vance Honeycutt, a First Team All-American in college and a firstround pick of the Baltimore Orioles, along with high-level collegiate arms like East Carolina’s Jake Hunter and North Carolina’s Cameron Padgett. Other sports, namely basketball and track, came and went for Kepley. But baseball remained. Kepley stuck with his mantra of frenzied play – stealing bags and running down every ball he could – and his body grew up concurrently. As a result, college offers came calling, and Kepley jumped the state line to his north to play at Liberty University beginning in 2023.
Kepley hustles around third base to score during a game on April 18, 2026. (Credit: M. Coppinger)
Kepley describes his two years at Liberty as integral to his off-thefield development, as he grew in his maturity and faith. He also made a real impact on the diamond, hitting .310 as a freshman before hitting .330 and raising his home run count from one to nine as a sophomore.
Having posted a sparkling 1.0002 on-base plus slugging in 2024, Kepley knew it was time to test his game at a higher level, and his timing couldn’t have been better. A premier transfer offer came from the University of North Carolina, which had just gone to the College World Series on the shoulders of Honeycutt, Kepley’s old teammate in Salisbury. It was his position in center field that Kepley inherited to begin 2025.
“I was extremely blessed,” Kepley said. “To be able to play center field after [Honeycutt], I had a lot of expectations to live up to with what he did there, and I was really just trying to fill my own shoes at that point and just play up to the standard that I know I can play at.”
“The Carolina fans really loved me and embraced me out there in center, so it was just a perfect situation for me, and I'm so glad it happened.”
With the Diamond Heels, Kepley played in the ACC, which contends year in and year out as one college baseball’s premier conferences. He experienced some of the nation’s top pitchers and environments, preparing himself for the professional stage while hitting leadoff for a Carolina team that hosted a Super Regional, the round preceding the College World Series. Kepley’s
45 stolen bases outnumbered the season total of 59 Division I programs, landing him on the All-ACC Second Team.
It was no surprise, then, that Kepley heard his name called on the first day of last summer’s MLB Draft. With the 56th overall pick, the Chicago Cubs selected him in the second round, marking the start of a new journey.
Kepley’s first stop as a pro? Single-A Myrtle Beach, only a fourhour drive south from Salisbury. The same cherished companions who celebrated Kepley’s draft day at the local American Legion Post could easily watch him take the first steps of his MiLB career.
“The friends and family we have back home is something I'm never gonna forget, and I love embracing them when they come and watch me play here,” Kepley said. “I truly am blessed to be walking this earth with the type of people I'm around, and I get to love them, and they get to love me.”
While Kepley experienced great team success in the final month
Kepley heaves a ball in from the outfield during a game on April 17, 2026. (Credit: M. Coppinger)
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of last season on the beach – the Pelicans made the Carolina League postseason with a second-half title – he also learned how to fail. After starting with 24 hits in his first 17 games, Kepley recorded only two across his next nine.
“The trials and tribulations coming with this game at this level, it's very hard,” Kepley described. “You’ve got to learn how to get through them… It's just not getting too high, not getting too low – that's what you learn.”
Once the postseason came around, Kepley heated back up. He finished his first professional stint with a .299 batting average, a .481 on-base percentage, and 16 stolen bases in 28 games, taking momentum into his offseason. That offseason wrapped up with his
first Spring Training experience in Mesa, where Kepley mingled with big-leaguers, observing their habits and instincts.
“That type of information is so valuable to a young player like me, and I took in every single moment,” Kepley said.
Kepley also made plenty of friends out in Arizona. He enjoyed chatting with Michael Busch, a fellow North Carolina Tar Heel who cranked 34 home runs in Chicago last year. Kepley also got to know Kade Snell, a fellow southeastern product, 2025 Cubs draft pick, and member of the 2026 South Bend outfield.
Kepley and Snell are now roommates here in Michiana, and fittingly enough, they play the game with the same “hair on fire” approach. For Kepley, that mindset won’t ever change, even as he works to improve his power and comfort with Midwest League pitching.
“I'm always going to try to get on first base no matter how and steal second and steal third because that's just who I am as a player,” he described. “That is what I bring to a team, and I think that's what a good table-setter does.”
His table-setting has helped the South Bend Cubs get off to a historic start, as the team opened a season with consecutive series wins for the
Kepley high-fives his teammates after a Cubs win on April 18, 2026. (Credit: Mandy Coppinger)
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first time in Cubs history. In those series, Kepley has made a mess of his row on the scorecard, tallying four doubles and five rows during opening week in Peoria. During the Cubs’ ensuing first home series against Beloit, he posted a ridiculous 12 walks, nine steals, and eight runs.
While Kepley’s performance certainly hasn’t been ordinary, winning is for the Cubs, whose business-like mentality appeals to their leadoff-hitting center fielder.
“When we get it done after a game, it's not all hooting and hollering. It's expected by us,” Kepley said. “I like being on those types of teams where it's not surprising that we win a couple of games in a row.”
if Kepley continues to wreak havoc the way he so far in both Myrtle Beach and South Bend, that dream might not remain a fantasy for very long.
“You think about that kid way back when and all the work that he put in, and you're able to live it now and and play out the dream that you've always wanted,” Kepley said. “That's what humbles you.”
For now, Kepley hopes to continue playing winning ball, representing his team and city in a positive manner, and making proud the younger version of himself – that scrappy little ballplayer from Salisbury.
As of late April, Kepley sits at No. 5 on the Cubs top prospects list. The dream he fell in love with baseball on – the dream of that Major League debut – hasn’t changed one bit, And
“That's what I think of when I put my head on the pillow is, ‘You know what – I get to play this game that's fun and just really put a smile on that little kid's face way back when,’” he described. “That's why I do it.”
Kepley heads into the dugout at the end of an inning on April 17, 2026. (Credit: Mandy Coppinger)
SOUTH BEND’S NEW SKIPPER
Both old and new baseball idealism shaped Daniel Wasinger as a manager
By: Brendan King
The 2014 Major League Baseball Draft was dwindling down to the final few rounds. Back then, the draft was 40 total rounds, as opposed to today’s 20. The late rounds of the old-school draft were all about trying to find needles in haystacks. Sometimes, a late selection could turn out to be a diamond in the rough, other times, not so much. In the 38th round of the 2014 draft, the Chicago Cubs picked a high school catcher from Eastlake High School in El Paso, Texas.
Many high schoolers who have college baseball commitments choose not to sign with a Major League team that selects them that late. That was the case with this Cubs pick. Business is business, no hard feelings on either side. But today, that 38th round high school draft is now the manager of the South Bend Cubs.
That selection was Daniel Wasinger.
Choosing not to sign with Chicago, Wasinger went on to play college baseball at Southeastern Louisiana University. His play in college propelled Wasinger to be drafted again, this time in the 31st round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. This time,
Wasinger poses and smiles for his 2026 South Bend Cubs headshot, his first season as a Minor League Manager in the Chicago Cubs Minor League system (Credit: Dr. Tim Reilly)
he signed the dotted line.
The inking of his first professional contract completed a lifetime goal that was first planted in the native Texan at a young age. Wasinger’s father, Mark, is a former Major League player with the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants. A longtime Minor League player who had a few cups of coffee at the Big-League level, Mark Wasinger instilled a work ethic in his son, teaching him how to be a professional in all aspects of the game. Mark spent time managing, but a good chunk of his life in the game came as a front office executive, serving as a scout with the Padres and the Boston Red Sox, eventually becoming a key cog in Boston’s Department of Player Development.
With strong roots sending him off on his own career, Wasinger’s time in college led to his first experiences in Minor League Baseball
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in the Diamondbacks. After a stop in Rookie Ball with Missoula in 2018, Wasinger spent time in the Northwest League with Hillsboro in short-season baseball, before getting his first opportunity at the full-season level in the Midwest League with the Kane County Cougars. Wasinger got seven games of playing experience in the league he would someday manage in.
Different teams and levels naturally come with new teammates, but also new managers and coaches. Every step of the way, Wasinger was taking notes.
like. To be able to take lessons from each of those sides and to mold it into my own style has been both fun and rewarding.”
“I’ve learned a lot from the people in my life and career that I have liked and those that have cared about me and my career,” Wasinger said. “But I learned even more from the coaches and managers that I didn’t want to be
Following his release from the Diamondbacks organization, Wasinger continued to play in both Independent Baseball and the Mexican League. His final action on the diamond was back with Kane County in 2023, after the Cougars became an independent franchise. All while that was occurring, the brain wheel was spinning with ideas. What was next? Follow his dad into the scouting world? Or something else? Looking at many Major League and Minor League managers, many of them are former catchers.
South Bend has had multiple former catchers as managers. 2019 South Bend championship manager, the late Buddy Bailey, was a former
Posing for a picture in the dugout at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro, Oregon, while playing for the Hillsboro Hops. (Credit: Hillsboro Hops)
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Minor League catcher, as was 2022 South Bend championship winning manager Lance Rymel. At Triple-A Iowa, Marty Pevey was a catcher when he was a player. Why do so many former backstops end up being managers?
“Simply put, we as catchers see the game differently,” Wasinger explained. “Catchers manage the game on the field, working with the pitching staff, hitting coaches, and game planning everything. They are involved in the game in all aspects. Being a catcher is servant position, and so is being a coach and manager. You are serving your players and staff, trying to put them in positions to succeed.”
Prior to first becoming a member of the South Bend coaching staff in 2025, Wasinger coached one season with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in 2024, working on Bailey’s staff in his final season managing prior to his retirement. South Bend Cubs fans knew Buddy well. In his own words following South Bend’s pennant victory over Great Lakes in 2019 “you can call me old school, but it’s right school.” Wasinger again paid close attention to how things operated with the Pelicans that season, and then again when he served as Nick Lovullo’s bench coach last season; Getting himself ready to become the Cubs organization’s newest manager.
“I have a lot of experience from playing so understanding the game itself comes naturally,” Wasinger said. “But when it comes to how a clubhouse cohesively operates from a managing standpoint, I learned a lot from Buddy Bailey. I learned a lot
from Nick Lovullo. And there’s a lot of people from the Cubs organization that I can rely on. The biggest thing day-to-day is getting into routines. We have to check the boxes every day to focus on everything running smoothly so our players can just play the game and not worry about anything else.”
With his family roots, Wasinger brings old school ways with him every day to the field. But he is also just 30-years-old, bringing the new age of analytics and technology with him too. That marriage of baseball idealism has led Wasinger and the South Bend Cubs to one of the best starts to a season they have ever had as a Chicago Cubs affiliate, 14 years after the Cubs first selected him out of Eastlake High School in El Paso.
“I’ve been really proud of this team,” Wasinger said. “We have done an excellent job of controlling the controllables and executing, and we have responded from adversity really well.”
As the South Bend Cubs host the Beloit Sky Carp, Wasinger takes notes on his lineup card in the Four Winds Field dugout. (Credit: Mandy Coppinger)
2026 SOUTH BEND CUBS COACHING STAFF
Anastasio Development Coach
Daniel Wasinger - Manager
Daniel Wasinger enters his first season as manager of the South Bend Cubs, after serving as South Bend’s bench coach in 2025. With South Bend last season, Wasinger also served as the first base coach. He began his coaching career in 2024, joining the Cubs organization as a Development Coach with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. He played two seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks system in 2018 and 2019. After his time with Arizona, Wasinger continued playing professionally in Independent Baseball and the Mexican Leagues. He was selected by Arizona in the 31st round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of Southeastern Louisiana University.
Nate Spears - Hitting Coach
Nate Spears returns for his third season with the South Bend Cubs as the hitting coach. Spears began his playing career with the Baltimore Orioles, after being selected in the fifth-round of the 2003 MLB Draft. The Fort Myers, Florida native was traded by the Orioles to the Chicago Cubs 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.
JC Bonilla - Pitching Coach
Jeancarlos Bonilla joins South Bend after serving as the assistant pitching coach with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in 2025. Bonilla began working for the Cubs as the assistant pitching coach for their Dominican Summer League team in 2023. He held the same role in the 2024 season. A Bronx, NY native, Bonilla played college baseball at both Lackawanna College and Grambling State University. Bonilla graduated from Grambling State with both a Bachelor’s of General Studies with a minor in History in 2020 and a Master’s degree in Sports Administration in 2022.
Henry Haack - Pitching Coach
Henry Haack played college baseball at Denison University from 2019-2022, where he was a data analytics major. The Evanston, Illinois native put up a 3.34 ERA in 51 total collegiate appearances. Last year, Haack spent the season in the Dominican Republic with the DSL Cubs Academy.
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Koen’s Comeback
How positivity during injury rehab and an Arizona Fall League opportunity helped get South Bend Cubs pitcher Koen Moreno back on the mound
By Brendan King
June 2, 2024 will always be a day that has a direct impact on South Bend Cubs right-hander Koen Moreno. The day that shifted the focus, and ultimately the path of his baseball career. Pitching with South Bend on the road at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, Iowa, Moreno was just beginning a relief outing versus the Quad Cities River Bandits. That’s when he started to notice a funny but painful feeling in his right elbow, which began the start of the next 14 months of grueling injury rehabilitation. Tommy John Surgery.
“Honestly I knew right away,” Moreno said. “Everyone is different when they have a UCL injury. But I noticed it from the start after throwing three pitches that day. I had to go get an MRI, went down to Texas to get surgery about a month later, and it’s something that is unfortunate but part of the game. When it happened, it flipped my mindset to say, ‘Let’s turn this into a positive’.”
Many pitchers discuss Tommy John Surgery rehab as a long, deso-
late, dark, and lonesome path. For Moreno, the Chicago Cubs fifthround selection in the 2020 MLB Draft, it has always been about the support that he has from those around him.
“My family and my faith were the two big ones that were by my side the whole way,” Moreno said. “All the trainers down in Arizona and strength coaches were awesome. Even (Andrew) Rueter who used to be here in South Bend too. They all communicated with me and created a plan to attack. Then it was about trusting my abilities to keep doing what I love.”
South Bend Cubs)
Rueter, the former South Bend Cubs assistant pitching coach, now runs all things pitching at the Chicago Cubs Spring Training Complex in Arizona. It is Rueter’s job to take in any and all pitchers who may be in Arizona at any given time, and help get them back on the field at a full-season affiliate. The job is a prestigious one, and has been held by multiple former head South Bend pitching coaches such as Tony Cougoule, Clayton Mortensen,
Pitching his first season with the South Bend Cubs in 2024 prior to Tommy John Surgery, Koen Moreno winds and delivers a changeup at Four Winds Field. (Credit:
and George Thanopoulous. With Moreno in the desert working on his elbow strength and getting back on the mound, 14 very quick months passed by, and it was time to return to the diamond.
Moreno’s return was set for August of 2025. Right in the middle of a South Bend Cubs second-half playoff chase. A key series was on the docket in Wisconsin, with South Bend battling the Beloit Sky Carp for first place. South Bend and Beloit had been teeter-tottering between first and second place, and the crucial six-game battle was set to see who would take the top spot in the West. Flying to Chicago from Phoenix, Moreno was scheduled to join the Cubs that week.
The anticipation to return to the mound was on Moreno’s mind the whole flight. Nerves sure, but even more excitement. The night finally came at ABC Supply Stadium, August 16. The return.
On that warm Saturday night in Beloit, South Bend needed crucial innings thrown by the bullpen. Starter Evan Aschenbeck was on a pitch limit, and Moreno was the first man to come in out of the bullpen. Facing a Beloit lineup packed with both of the 2025 Miami Marlins firstround picks Cam Cannarella and Aiva Arquette, Moreno was thrown
right into the fire.
In his first game back, Moreno went on to toss 2.1 shutout innings, working out of each of his innings dramatically with a man in scoring position, and twice with a runner at third base. He helped South Bend to a 5-3 victory, tying South Bend for first place in the West.
“It was one of those things where you step on the mound and it was just great to be able to compete,” Moreno said. “To be able to go out there in stress with runners on, it sent me right into compete mode. I had to put my arm and everything injury-wise on the back-burner. I just said ‘alright let’s go get these guys out’. That for me was huge to be in the baseball mindset because
Pitching with the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League, Moreno shows excitement on the mound. (Credit: Arizona Fall League)
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during rehab you’re constantly thinking of how good you feel, but in the live setting there in Beloit it’s all about competition.”
Moreno gave up just three runs in 12 innings with the Cubs in 2025, and following the conclusion of the regular season, was invited to pitch in the prestigious Arizona Fall League. Very similar to the normal baseball season, the Fall League allows specifically selected players by respective organizations to go play more baseball. For the Mesa Solar Sox, the team Moreno pitched for, the games are played at Sloan Park, Spring Training home of the Chicago Cubs.
“Essentially the Fall League is just like the regular season,” Moreno explained. “We really get treated like we’re in the Big Leagues which is amazing. The completion is second to none, especially with the guys you pitch against. Pitching against those type of guys gave me the confidence to come back to throw well this year.”
Becoming one of the most dominant pitchers last season in the Fall League, Moreno posted a 3.86 ERA in five games, and struck out 18 batters in 14 innings.
In a story we did last season on former Sound Bend Cubs pitcher Tyler Schlaffer, the Chicago Suburbs native and former Tommy John Surgery patient discussed at length that two years following surgery is when you really start to feel like yourself, pre-surgery, again.
For Moreno, the two-year date of going under the knife is coming up in June. And after solid outings early in the season, he’s ready to cruise the rest of this year, with rehab in the rear-view mirror.
“I feel like I’m getting back to my normal self and truly I feel even better than 2024,” Moreno said. “I just need to continue to clean things up with arm action and preparation, and with every outing I feel like I’m getting better. Once I hit that two year mark, I hope I can keep progressing.”
SOUTH BEND
A PITCHING PARTNERSHIP
Henry Haack and JC Bonilla lead the 2026 pitching department in South Bend
By Tyler Reidy
For the South Bend Cubs, 2026 has already been a year of newness. A new stadium experience and environment. A new standard of winning out of the gate in April. A new set of voices in and around the clubhouse.
In addition to first-year manager Daniel Wasinger, it’s year one with South Bend for four of the five men in the coaches’ office. That includes the two bright minds in the pitching department. With George Thanopoulos and Jose Zapata on to Double-A Knoxville after guiding South Bend’s pitching efforts in 2025, the reins belong to Henry Haack and JC Bonilla.
For Haack, the pitching coach, and Bonilla, the pitching development coach, their arrival in the Midwest League marks a reunification.
“Going into this season, I was pumped when I found out I was gonna be working with Henry,” Bonilla said. “We've worked together well in the past, back in 2022 and 2023, so I knew we were gonna have a great year this year and help these guys move on to the next level.”
Both Haack and Bonilla grew up in closer proximity to baseball. The
former hails from Evanston, Illinois, which sits about eight miles north of Wrigley Field. Haack’s father, Steve, is a diehard Cub fan who attended Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.
Henry vividly remembers the ups and downs of baseball on the North Side from his younger days.
“The Cubs have really been a part of my life in a lot of ways since I was born,” Haack said. “I'm just lucky enough now to get to do it as a living.”
The best part? Haack’s father now works as an usher at Wrigley, allowing for father-son time at the Friendly Confines whenever Henry’s coaching schedule slows down.
Bonilla was raised in the backyard of another iconic Major League venue. The Bronx native fell in love with the game living a block away from Yankee Stadium.
Bonilla (far left) and Haack (far right) walk with the Cubs' starting battery before the game on April 17, 2026. (Credit: Mandy Coppinger)
“I've been around the game I feel like all my life,” Bonilla said. “Just going to the field every day, seeing the players walk into the stadium – it just drove me into the game of baseball.”
The two right-handers each turned their upbringing into a colle-
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giate pitching opportunity – Haack at Denison University, Bonilla at Lackawanna College and Grambling State University. At Denison, Haack learned approaches to baseball that influence the way he coaches now.
“The biggest thing for me was always separating myself from the results and just focusing on making good pitches consistently,” Haack recalled. “It's the same thing I tell the guys now… Sometimes you're gonna make a good pitch, and they're gonna hit it, and that's okay. The point of the whole game is that you made a good pitch.”
One message in particular from longtime Denison coaches Mike Deegan and Ryne Romick still resonated with Haack.
“Next right play,” he repeated. “When you make a mistake, move on, flush it; we can talk about it after the game… But in that moment, just move on and make the next right play.”
As his college career went on, Haack’s physical maturation helped him make the right play more often. He joined the Big Red as a 140-pound freshman throwing 75
miles per hour. By the time he graduated, Haack weighed in at 180 with a fastball hitting 90; the transformation set in motion the wheels of coaching interest in his head.
“Going through that process made me realize how much players can change, and seeing myself change just made me want to help others change as well,” Haack described. “Adapt to whatever, whichever direction baseball is going next.”
Bonilla knows such development well, too. Before becoming the assistant pitching coach for Single-A Myrtle Beach last year, he worked with pitchers in the Dominican Summer League. There, international signings typically still halfway through their teenage years get their very first taste of professional ball before advancing to the Arizona Complex League, then Myrtle Beach, then South Bend.
For Bonilla, it’s an emotional experience to watch a player he worked with at the earliest stages
Bonilla runs onto the field during team introductions on April 3. (Credit: Mandy Coppinger)
Haack speaks with pitcher Kenten Egbert in the dugout on April 17. (Credit: Mandy Coppinger)
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climb the system.
“The biggest thing is helping others achieve their dream of one day making it to the big leagues,” Bonilla said. “But also, I try to blend the analytics and the culture and make it easier for [the pitchers], so they can just go out there and be prepared to do their job.
Haack was in the Dominican Republic just last season, overseeing some of the youngest arms in the Cubs organization. There, he inherited a greater appreciation for his players, where they’ve come from, and where they’re going.
“It was unbelievable,” Haack said. “When I was in the moment, I thought I was doing terrible. And looking back on it, I came out of it a completely different person, both professionally and as an individual.”
In South Bend, Haack and Bonilla describe their dynamic as one that fills in the margins. When one coach covers 80 percent, the other is all over the remaining 20. Through it all,
they lead with authenticity, honesty, and consistency.
“As long as you allow the player to be authentically themselves and you yourself as a coach is authentically yourself, that relationship will build naturally,” Haack said.
“[It’s about] being consistent day in and day out, so they know what to expect from you every day,” Bonilla added. “This game is hard, and they're gonna fail, but as long as you stick with them… I think the relationships will always be good.”
Of course, the relationships are always better in a winning culture, and that’s exactly what South Bend has early in 2026. The team became the first in Cubs history to open a season with consecutive series wins, and coaches and players alike envision much more success in store.
“This team is really vibing well right now, and everyone's executing the plan,” Bonilla said. “... I just enjoy coming to the field every day.”
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