Yovanny Cuevas - Manager

Yovanny Cuevas will manage the Birds in 2025. Following a series of coaching assignments within the Cubs’ organization, 2025 will mark Cuevas’ inaugural season as a manager.

Cuevas joined the Chicago Cubs organization as a player in 2015. His minor league career ran through 2021 with stops in the Dominican Summer League (DSL), the Arizona Complex League (ACL), and the Northwest League with the Eugene Emeralds. Overall, Cuevas’ minor league slash line was .241/.369/.356 over 272 games. In 2022 Cuevas transitioned into a coach. His first assignment was with the ACL Cubs. The following season Cuevas was the hitting coach for the DSL Cubs Red squad, the Cubs affiliate in the Dominican Summer League. Last season he returned to the ACL Cubs as the hitting coach.

Bruce Billings - Pitching Coach

Bruce Billings returns to the Birds for the 2025 season. Billings was the pitching coach for Pelicans in 2023, and served the South Bend Cubs in the same role last year. Billings, originally from San Diego, CA, was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in 2007. He later played for Oakland Athletics, the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Washington Nationals. From 2016-2018, he pitched in the Chinese Professional Baseball League for the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions and the Fubon Guardians. In 2019, he returned to America and joined the Phillies as a minor league coach.

Roberto Vaz - Hitting Coach

Roberto Vaz returns as the Myrtle Beach Pelicans hitting coach for his third season. In 2014, Vaz began his eight-year assistant coaching stint with LSU-Eunice Baseball. He also served as an Assistant Coach for the USA Baseball U18 team in 2022. Vaz, originally from Brooklyn, NY, was drafted by Oakland Athletics in 1997. He spent his seven-year playing career with the Oakland A’s and Texas Rangers organizations. In 1999, Vaz helped the Vancouver Canadians win the Triple-A World Series.

D’Angelo Jimenez - Bench Coach

Bench Coach D’Angelo Jimenez returns to the Pelicans for his second season. Jimenez’s professional playing career began in 1994 when he was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees. While he made his MLB debut the Yankees, the infielder went on to play for six other teams (Padres, White Sox, Reds, Rangers, A’s, and Nationals) and throughout his 8-year MLB career recorded 2,159 at-bats with a .263 career batting average. Jimenez joined the Cubs organization as a hitting coach with the DSL Cubs (2018-19, 2021) and served as the bench coach for the South Bend Cubs in the 2022-23 seasons. Prior to joining Chicago’s coaching staff, he spent several years coaching in the Dominican League, namely with the Tigres del Licey.

Kyle Sutherland - Developmental Coach

Kyle Sutherland joins the Pelicans staff as the development coach for the 2025 season. Sutherland spent the 2024 season as the bench coach for the ACL Cubs, working alongside Cuevas. He played baseball at Virginia Commonwealth University and graduated in 2012 with a degree in Psychology. After college, Sutherland started “Catchers Compass”, where he works with players to develop their skills as a catcher.

JC Bonilla - Assisiant Pitching Coach

JC Bonilla joins the 2025 season as the assistant pitching coach for the Pelicans. 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.

Tanner Costine - Athletic Trainer

The athletic trainer for the 2025 season will be Tanner Costine. Costine spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons as the athletic trainer for the Cubs at the Arizona Complex League. He graduated from Eastern Carolina University with a Bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training/Trainer in 2020 and obtained his Masters of Kinesiology and Exercise Science from Liberty University in 2022. While at Liberty University, Costine was the graduate assistant athletic trainer.

Luis Gutierrez - Strength & Conditioning Coach

The Pelicans add Luis Gutierrez as the strength and conditioning coach for the 2025 season. Gutierrez started his career within the Cubs organization in 2023 at the Dominican Summer League as the strength and conditioning fellow. He returned to the DSL as the strength and conditioning coach the following season. Gutierrez is a 2020 graduate from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science -Kinesiology and Exercise Science. He later earned his Masters of Health and Physical Education/Fitness in 2024 from the same university.