Gonzalez Selected To Lead South Bend
SOUTH BEND – The Chicago Cubs announced Wednesday the South Bend Cubs coaching staff assignments for the upcoming 2015 campaign. Jimmy Gonzalez was named field manager. Rounding off the coaching staff will be pitching coach Brian Lawrence, hitting coach Jesus Feliciano, assistant coach Osmin Melendez and trainer Jonathan Fierro.
Gonzalez is set to begin his second season as a manager in the Chicago Cubs organization. The 41-year-old made his managerial debut last season in Mesa, Arizona for the Chicago Cubs Rookie League team after serving as hitting coach with the club in 2013. A former catcher, he played 14 minor league seasons after the Houston Astros selected him in the first round of the 1991 draft.
Lawrence enters his first season as South Bend’s pitching coach after serving in the same role with Boise in 2014. Lawrence made his coaching debut in 2012 in the Independent Frontier League and spent 2013 as the pitching coach of Single-A Lake Elsinore in the Padres system. The former right-hander went 50-63 with a 4.19 ERA during a six-year big league career with the San Diego Padres and New York Mets.
Feliciano moves up to South Bend after serving as the hitting coach last season at Boise in his debut year as a coach. He enjoyed a 16-year playing career from 1998-2013, including action in 54 games with the New York Mets in 2010.
Melendez will serve as an assistant coach after coaching with Mesa last season and managing the Cubs’ Venezuela rookie league team in 2013.
Fierro begins his third season as an athletic trainer in the organization after serving in Kane County in 2014 and Boise in 2013.
Opening day for South Bend is on April 9th, 2015.