South Bend Cubs Release 2023 Roster

SOUTH BEND, IN - The South Bend Cubs, in conjunction with the Chicago Cubs, have announced their initial 2023 roster. The team is compiled of 31 players, featuring 16 pitchers, 4 catchers, 6 infielders, and 5 outfielders.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW 2023 ROSTER

After managing the club to the 2022 Midwest League Championship in his first campaign, Lance Rymel begins his second season at the helm of the South Bend Cubs. The 32-year-old Rymel, who previously managed in the Arizona Fall League, as well as with short-season Eugene in the Northwest League, was a catcher with the Chicago Cubs minor league system from 2012-2014. Rymel played with the likes of Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras, and David Bote. The second-year bench boss is joined by new Pitching Coach Clayton Mortensen, and two returners, Hitting Coach Dan Puente, and Bench Coach D’Angelo Jimenez. For more information on the 2023 Coaching Staff, click here.

The headliner of the 2023 South Bend Cubs Roster is the Chicago Cubs number-two overall prospect, Kevin Alcántara. At six-foot-six, Alcántara is a towering outfielder with a ton of power. Acquired by Chicago from the Yankees in exchange for Anthony Rizzo in 2021, Alcántara just wrapped up his first full season in the Cubs organization with Low-A Myrtle Beach in 2022. The 20-year-old from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic hit .273 with the Pelicans and smashed 15 home runs, along with 85 RBI. MLB.com writes, “Few players as tall as Alcantara move as well as he does. He has twitchy athleticism, solid speed and good instincts on the bases and in the outfield. As he continues to add strength and learns to pull and lift pitches more frequently, he could develop into a 30-homer threat.”

As part of South Bend’s championship celebration on Opening Night at Four Winds Field on April 11, the new roster has plenty of familiar names on it; That includes 15 2022 Midwest League Champions.

Pitchers Brad Deppermann, Kohl Franklin, Richard Gallardo, Adam Laskey, Luke Little, Joe Nahas, Sheldon Reed, Didier Vargas, and Jarod Wright are back in South Bend after being part of the Championship team. Additionally, position players Casey Opitz, Kevin Made, Scott McKeon, Fabian Pertuz, Bradlee Beesley, and Yohendrick Pinango all return. Made is regarded as the number-16 overall Chicago Cubs prospect.

Franklin (the #26 Cubs prospect), a two-time Midwest League Champion, is joined by outfielder D.J. Artis, who also received a 2019 Midwest League Championship Ring.

Other names of note include right-handed pitchers Brandon Birdsell, Carlos Guzman, and Connor Noland.

Birdsell was drafted in the fifth round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Cubs. The former star hurler for the Texas Tech Red Raiders struck out 106 batters in 85 innings this past season, along with a career best 2.75 ERA. Just in 2022, Birdsell was named a Collegiate Baseball Second Team All-American, the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, All-Big 12 First Team, Perfect Game Third Team All-American, and was top-30 in the entire country in NCAA wins. Watching Birdsell’s collegiate starts were at times mesmerizing. The big righty had a 15 strikeout game against Rice on March 12, 2022. That included punching out eight straight batters through a sequence of the game. As he left Texas Tech following his junior year, he still finished top-10 all time in lowest ERA in Red Raiders history.

Guzman was acquired by the Chicago Cubs from the Detroit Tigers just this past week in exchange for infielder Zach McKinstry. Guzman, who will now pitch in a South Bend Cubs uniform, has normally been regarded as familiar foe in the Midwest League. Guzman has pitched against South Bend numerous times as a member of the West Michigan Whitecaps. In 2019, on the fourth day of the season in Grand Rapids, Guzman fired five shutout innings against the Cubs. He pitched against South Bend again at home for the Whitecaps on August 24, 2022, this time with six scoreless innings. However, he has never pitched a game at Four Winds Field.

Noland is another popular name from College Baseball in the last number of years at the University of Arkansas. He joins his former college teammate Casey Opitz as part of the South Bend Opening Night roster. Noland was a 9th round selection of the Cubs in 2022, and last year was a member of the College World Series All-Tournament Team. In 19 starts with the Razorbacks last year, Noland finished with a 3.65 ERA in 116 innings. He totaled 113 strikeouts, and was the only Razorback to have 100 or more punch outs. As well, he was the lone SEC pitcher to throw more than 100 innings on the mound. Noland was a massive part of Arkansas setting a new school record with 674 K’s as a pitching staff.

The new roster released is only a prefatory listing and subject to change. South Bend will begin defending their Midwest League Championship on the road in 2023, visiting the Quad Cities River Bandits in a three-game set starting Friday night at 7:30 PM EST. The Cubs will play their first game at Four Winds Field the following Tuesday, April 11, with first pitch set for 7:05 PM against the Beloit Sky Carp.

For tickets, visit SouthBendCubs.com or call (574) 235-9988.