Fresh look at the 2017 South Bend Cubs
The South Bend Cubs look very different than the team that took the field last season.
Of the 25 players on the roster, only five return from last year, including Jared Cheek and Vimael Machin. The rest of the roster is primarily made of players who played for the Eugene Emeralds last season. The Emeralds had a record breaking season which included a 15 game winning streak, and a season that ended in a championship.
"Yeah it was record breaking year, won 15 games in a row, finally won a ring for the Eugene Emeralds for the first time in 47 years I believe so it was a lot to learn for the new guys who were drafted at the same time which was really nice," Pitcher Tyson Miller said.
For a team with so many fresh faces, the chemistry shouldn't take long considering 17 of these guys played together last year at Eugene.
"You know with the team we had last year, it was lot of guys who had chemistry together, we played together all extended all year last year and now we're here again, we just know how to play the game hard and play to have fun too," Infielder D.J. Wilson said.
Click here for a full look at the 2017 South Bend Cubs roster.
The South Bend Cubs will open their season Thursday on the road against West Michigan with the home opener coming Saturday. Make sure you tune into ABC 57's special live coverage of the opener starting Saturday at 5 pm.