Cubs Announce 2022 Minor League Coordinators

See below for the organization’s press release detailing its minor league coordinators for the coming season. Coaching staffs were announced earlier.

The Chicago Cubs today announced their minor league coordinators for the 2022 season.

Dustin Kelly is in his second season with the organization as minor league hitting coordinator after three campaigns as a hitting coach in the Dodgers farm system from 2018-20. He served as hitting coach for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2019-20 after handling hitting coach duties for Rookie League Ogden in 2018. Kelly was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 15th round of the 2004 Draft from Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and played three seasons in the Red Sox farm system, reaching Double-A.

Casey Jacobson starts his third season as the organization’s coordinator of pitching development. A former instructor at Driveline Baseball in Kent, Wash., Jacobson coached six seasons in the college ranks with Macalester College (pitching coach, 2014-18) in St. Paul, Minn., and Augustana University (assistant coach, 2019) in Sioux Falls, S.D. The former right-handed pitcher played collegiately at St. Mary’s in Winona, Minn., and Augustana prior to a stint with Roswell in the independent Pecos League in 2013. He graduated from Augustana University with a B.S. in Physics.

James Ogden begins his third season as the organization’s coordinator of pitching performance. He had a seven-year tenure as pitching coach for Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., where he helped the team to the 2015 Atlantic Sun championship. He graduated from Lipscomb with a B.A. in Oral Communications with a minor in Health in 2008 and earned his Master’s in Education with an emphasis on Instructional Leadership in 2010.

Mark Johnson enters his 12th year in the Cubs system and will serve as minor league catching coordinator for the fourth-straight season while also serving as assistant field coordinator. In nine seasons as a minor league manager, he earned a Midwest League title with Single-A Kane County in 2014 and a Carolina League title with Single-A Myrtle Beach in 2015 before he guided Double-A Tennessee from 2016-18. Johnson played 17 seasons (1994-2010), including 332 major league games with the White Sox (1998-2002), Oakland (2003), Milwaukee (2004) and St. Louis (2008).

Doug Dascenzo is in his eighth year as the organization’s minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator, bringing with him 23 years of coaching experience. He played parts of seven seasons in the majors, including five with the Cubs (1988-92). He coached in the Padres system from 1999-2011, including six seasons as a minor league manager. He also coached in the Braves system from 2012-14, including third base coach for the major league team in 2014.

Dave Keller begins his 19th year in the organization and his eighth as minor league Latin America field coordinator. He brings over 35 years of minor league coaching and managerial experience, managing three clubs to championship series appearances, including a Florida State League title with Single-A Daytona in 2013. The former first baseman played in the Reds chain for three seasons (1982-84) after Cincinnati selected him in the 28th round of the 1982 Draft.

Ryan Serena joins the Cubs as minor league infield coordinator coming from Rogue Baseball Performance in Englewood, Colo. The former shortstop played baseball at Lamar (Colo.) Community College and Colorado Christian University, where he earned National Christian College Athletic Association first-team all-region honors his senior year. He earned his degree in Social Science from Colorado Christian in 2011.

Tom Beyers starts his 23rd season in the Cubs organization and his eighth as assistant coordinator, hitting. He joined Chicago in 2000 following 21 seasons in the Dodgers minor league system as a player, coach and manager. Beyers managed nine seasons in the Dodgers and Cubs chains and he led Single-A Boise to a Northwest League title in 2004. Beyers, a former outfielder, was selected by the Dodgers in the 15th round of the 1979 Draft.

Steven Pollakov is in his third season with the Cubs and this year will serve as assistant hitting coordinator as well as a hitting coach for Low-A Myrtle Beach. He served as a hitting apprentice in the Houston Astros farm system in 2019, integrating technology and biometrics into hitting programs. In 2018, he served as catching coordinator in the Boston Red Sox Dominican Republic Academy. Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2016 by the Chicago White Sox, Pollakov is a graduate of Buffalo Grove High School in Illinois.

Mike Mason is in his 15th year in the system and brings over 25 years of coaching experience. In 2022, he will serve as an advisor to pitching development/reliever coordinator. He was in an advisory role for pitching development last year after he served as assistant coordinator, pitching in 2019-20. Mason was Triple-A Iowa’s pitching coach from 2008-13 after serving four seasons as the Royals minor league pitching coordinator from 2004-07. Mason played seven major league seasons with Texas (1982-87), the Cubs (1987) and Minnesota (1988), posting a 29-39 record with a 4.53 ERA.

Carlos Chantres is in his fourth season with the organization, and his third as assistant coordinator, pitching. The 2022 season will be his 17th as a coach, coordinator, or special assistant. He spent two years with Atlanta, including as a special assistant to player development in 2018, after stints coaching in the Tigers (2015) and Mariners (2016) chains. Chantres spent nine seasons coaching in the Yankees system (2006-14) after 12 minor league seasons (1994-2005) pitching with the White Sox (1994-2000), Brewers (2001), Devil Rays (2002), and Phillies (2004-05) organizations.

Josh Zeid is in his fourth season as pitching coach/rehab pitching coordinator following a nine-year pitching career that included 48 major league relief appearances with Houston in 2013-14. Originally selected by the Phillies in the 10th round of the 2009 Draft out of Tulane University, the righthander went 46-29 with a 4.39 ERA (317 ER/650.0 IP) in 291 career minor league contests (70 starts) in the Philadelphia (2009-11), Houston (2012-14), Detroit (2015), Mets (2016) and St. Louis (2017) farm systems.

Sam Chinitz joins the Cubs as coordinator, player development technology and video. He spent the 2021 season as a video and technology intern with the Boston Red Sox. Chinitz earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Franklin & Marshall College in 2019.

Andrew Craig has been named assistant minor league video coordinator/Mesa development coach after serving as a player development associate with the Phillies in 2021 and an affiliate intern with the Rays in 2020. Craig earned his degree in Business Administration and Management from Utah Valley University in 2021.

David Da Silva starts his fifth year as mental skills coordinator after nine years as a mental conditioning consultant for IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from New Hampshire College/Southern New Hampshire University in 2000 and earned a Master of Science in Movement Science from Barry University in 2003.

Javier Guerrero is in his third season as mental skills coordinator and his eighth season in the organization. He spent 2018-19 as a minor league mental skills assistant following three seasons as a Dominican Republic video operations assistant. He graduated with a B.S. in Clinical Psychology from Universidad Iberoamericana in 2006 and earned his graduate certificate in International Family & Community Studies from Clemson University in 2007.

James Edwards is in his sixth season in the Cubs organization and enters his first as minor league medical coordinator after he was minor league assistant medical coordinator in 2021. He handled athletic trainer duties with Double-A Tennessee (2020), Single-A South Bend (2018-19) and Single-A Eugene (2017), and also served as an intern with the Arizona League Cubs in 2016. He earned a B.S. in Athletic Training from Aurora University and a M.S. in Exercise Science from California University of Pennsylvania.

Cory Kennedy continues as head of minor league strength and conditioning and performance science for a third season. He earned his degree in Physical Education and Health at the University of Toronto. He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association and completed his Master of Science in Exercise Science with a focus on strength and conditioning from Edith Cowan University in Australia.

Sean Folan begins his eighth season with the Cubs and his first as the minor league assistant medical coordinator. In 2021, he served as a rehab athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach following three seasons as Single-A Eugene’s athletic trainer. Folan earned his Master’s in Athletic Training from Florida International University in Miami in 2014 after he graduated from Concordia University of Chicago in 2012 with a degree in Exercise Science.

Yimi Rodríguez has been named the organization’s head of minor league nutrition. Rodríguez, a former right-handed pitcher in the Dodgers chain (2010-11), has been the lead sports dietician at the University of Rochester Sports Medicine since 2018. He earned his B.S. in Clinical Nutrition from SUNY College at Buffalo in 2017.

Along with the minor league coordinators, Will Remillard has been named a hitting initiatives coach and George Thanopoulos has been named manager, minor league pitching development. Remillard is in his fourth season as a coach in the Cubs system after six seasons as a catcher in the organization (2013-18). Thanopoulos joined the Cubs as a minor league development coach last season and pitched two seasons in the Rockies system from 2016-17.