Iowa Cubs Announce 2022 Field Staff

DES MOINES, IA - Marty Pevey will return for his 10th season as manager of the Iowa Cubs, the Chicago Cubs announced today. Pevey is the longest-tenured manager in franchise history, while his 530 victories are also a franchise record.

Entering his 14th season in the organization, he has over 30 years of professional experience, beginning with 13 seasons as a player. All told, Pevey owns a 1,174-1,208 minor league managerial record. His 1,174 victories are 10th-most among active minor league skippers. In 2019, he led Iowa to its first postseason appearance since 2008.

Pevey began his coaching career in the Blue Jays organization (1996-2008) and was Toronto’s bullpen coach in 1999, the team’s first base coach from 2006-07, and the club’s third base coach in 2008. His Cubs career began in 2009 as the manager of Single-A Peoria. Pevey’s career accolades include 1998 Atlantic League Manager of the Year honors and 2009 Midwest League Co-Manager of the Year respects.

Joining Pevey’s staff for 2022 will be pitching coach Ron Villone, hitting coach Desi Wilson, bench coach Griffin Benedict, development coach Thomas Boucher, athletic trainers Ed Halbur and Logan Severson and strength and conditioning coach Matt Hall.

Villone enters his third season with Iowa and his 11th season in his second stint with the Cubs’ organization. The 15-year major league veteran was the Cubs Single-A pitching coach from 2012-13, and the Advanced-A Daytona pitching coach in 2014. After getting selected 14th overall by the Mariners in 1992, Villone went on to play for 13 organizations over 18 seasons. The lefty complied a career 61-65 record and a 4.73 ERA in 717 major league games.

Wilson returns for his sixth full season with the I-Cubs and his 15th in the Cubs’ organization. He also served as Iowa's hitting coach for part of 2009. Wilson began his Cubs career working in a similar role for Rookie League Mesa (2010), before logging time with Chicago's Single-A affiliate (2011-12) and Double-A Tennessee (2013-16). Wilson played 11 minor league seasons and followed with five seasons of unaffiliated baseball. He appeared in 41 games for the San Francisco Giants in 1996 in his only big-league stint.

Benedict returns to Iowa’s coaching staff for his second season as the bench coach in his second year with the Chicago Cubs organization. Prior to the 2021 season, Benedict spent 10 seasons (2011-2020) with the San Diego Padres, joining their Major League staff as a bullpen catcher in Spring Training of 2011. Over those 10 seasons, he also spent time as a part of the Padres’ scouting department and served as a Major League instructor in 2020. Benedict played in parts of two minor league seasons (2009-10). He played in a total of 98 games with Single-A Fort Wayne (67), Short-A Eugene (30) and Triple-A Portland (1) hitting .240 with three home runs over that span.

Boucher will return for his second season as Iowa’s development coach in his second year in the Cubs’ organization. Prior to joining the Cubs, Boucher was a development coach with the Milwaukee Brewers’ organization in 2019 and a graduate assistant at Dallas Baptist University from 2016-2019.

Halbur enters his 20th season with the Cubs’ organization and fifth with Iowa. The Iowa resident was with Iowa from 2003-04 and began his second stint with the club in 2018. Halbur acted as an assistant athletic trainer for Chicago from 2005-17. In 2008, Halbur and the Cubs Director of Athletic Training Mark O’Neal were awarded the Major League Athletic Training Staff of the Year at the annual Winter Meetings. Prior to joining the Cubs, Halbur worked in the Tigers' organization from 1999-2002.

In his seventh season as a trainer in the Cubs’ organization, Severson joins Iowa’s staff for the first time. Severson began his professional career as an intern with Iowa in 2012 and was a graduate assistant athletic trainer at Western Illinois University from 2013-15. He spent 2016 with Single-A Eugene, 2017 with Single-A South Bend and his next three years with Myrtle Beach. In 2021, Severson was the athletic trainer for Double-A Tennessee. He earned his degree in athletic training from Illinois State University and his masters in Sports Management from Western Illinois University.

In his first season in the Cubs’ organization, Hall will be the I-Cubs strength and conditioning coach for the 2022 season. Prior to joining the Cubs, Hall was the strength and conditioning coach for MLB China for five years and served as a strength and conditioning coach in the Cincinnati Reds’ organization for eight years, from 2012-2020. He earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Cincinnati in 2010 and his Masters in Kinesiology and Exercise Science from the University of Texas at Tyler in 2015.

Iowa opens the 2022 campaign in Buffalo on April 5 and will play its first home game on April 12 against Toledo. For more information, visit www.iowacubs.com or call 515-243-6111.