The Cubs Double-A franchise makes a big move in 2025.
The Knoxville Smokies, the Double-A minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, take the field Friday night in Birmingham, followed by a six-game series at Rocket City. But the real excitement starts on April 15, when the Smokies will have their home opener against the Chattanooga Lookouts.
In my preview of the Iowa Cubs, I noted that the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate is loaded with top 100 prospects and Top 30 Cubs prospects. There’s a price to be paid for that, and the Knoxville Smokies are definitely not loaded with top 100 prospects. But there are some Top 30 Cubs prospects and lots of interesting arms that could end up pitching at Wrigley Field one day.
Knoxville? The Tennessee Smokies have been the Cubs Double-A affiliate since 2007. But since 2000, the Smokies played their games out in Kodak/Sevierville, which is about a half an hour east of Knoxville. But when MLB took over the minors in 2021, they made teams meet certain stadium requirements a condition for keeping a minor league franchise. The Smokies got the city of Knoxville and Knox County to build them a brand-new stadium in downtown Knoxville, Covenant Health Park. As part of the deal, the Smokies rebranded themselves as the Knoxville Smokies, which was their name before they moved east in 2000.
Here’s a piece on Covenant Health Park if you are interested.
Who is in charge? Lance Rymel is a rising star in the Cubs system and is back for his second season managing the Smokies. Rymel previously managed Cubs affiliates in the Dominican Summer League in 2017-18 (yes, he’s bilingual), Eugene (2019), the Cubs ACL team in Mesa (2021) and South Bend (2022-23). He won league titles with Eugene, Mesa and South Bend.
Jamie Vermilyea is back for his fifth year as the Smokies pitching coach. He must have done something right. Vermilyea’s major league career was six innings with the Blue Jays in 2007.
Guillermo Martinez is the Smokies new hitting coach after spending 2019 to 2024 in Toronto as the Blue Jays hitting coach. He’s not new to the Cubs system, however, as he was a hitting coach or assistant hitting coach in the Cubs minor league system from 2014 to 2017, including 2015 as the Smokies assistant hitting coach. Martinez was in infielder in the Marlins minor league system from 2006 to 2008.
Derron Davis returns for a second season as the Smokies bench coach. Davis played professionally in the Czech Republic, which is cool.
Who are the Pitchers? Like with the I-Cubs, I’m just going to list the Cubs Opening Day pitching staff and then make some comments about certain pitchers afterwards.
RHP Sam Armstrong
RHP Brad Deppermann
RHP Nick Hull
RHP Wil Jensen
RHP Chris Kachmar
RHP Grant Kipp
RHP Robert Kwiatkowski
RHP Ben Leeper
RHP Zac Leigh
RHP A.J. Puckett
LHP Will Sanders
RHP Tyler Santana
RHP Frankie Scalzo Jr.
LHP Mitchell Tyranski
RHP Cayne Ueckert
This list should sound familiar to Smokies fans, as 10 of the 15 pitchers pitched in Tennessee last year. (Although some, like Will Sanders, just got a cup of coffee at the end of the 2024 season in Double-A.) Most of the six that didn’t pitch in Tennessee last year are new to the Cubs organization: Wil Jensen, Robert Kwiatkowski, A.J. Puckett.
The top arm in Knoxville is probably right-hander Brody McCullough, who is starting the season on the injured list. He has a 92-94 mph fastball that plays better than that because of very good movement. He also has a solid slider and curveball and good control. He has starter potential, but he’ll have to stay healthy. He’s on the 60-day IL with a lat strain, so we probably won’t see him until mid-season.
The aforementioned Will Sanders is another interesting pitching prospect on the Smokies this year. He’s a big (6’6”) right-hander who was the Cubs’ fourth-round pick in 2023. His best pitch is a changeup and he has the size and arsenal to be a back-end starter in the majors.
Sam Armstrong is another interesting arm with potential in Knoxville this year. He was a 13th-round pick out of Old Dominion in 2023 and has a deep arsenal where his sweeper/slider is his best pitch. He also has back-end potential but could be more if he can improve his command.
Frankie Scalzo Jr. is perhaps best-known for his big seventies-style mustache, but he was lights-out as a reliever for the Smokies last season, not allowing an earned run over 26 innings. He struggled to throw strikes in Iowa after his promotion, but it’s more of a numbers issue that has him back in Double-A this year rather than his performance in Iowa last year. I’d expect him to get promoted back to Iowa when there is a vacancy.
Who are the catchers?
Pablo Aliendo
Ethan Hearn
Casey Opitz
Aliendo returns for his third season in Tennessee. He’s a terrific defensive catcher with some home run pop. His big issue is making enough contact to get on base a reasonable amount. He certainly has the skills to be a defense-first major-league backup if he can make more contact.
It seems like Hearn has been around forever, but he’s still just 24 years old after having been taken in the sixth round of the 2019 draft out of high school in Alabama. He had his best season ever last year in South Bend, hitting ten home runs in just 56 games. His .231 batting average in 2024 may not sound like much, but it was a career-high for him. It’s an adage that catchers sometimes take longer to develop. Maybe Hearn is finally coming around.
Opitz is a great defender who doesn’t hit much, either for average or power. He’s still a guy that people love having in their organization.
Who are the infielders?
2B Hayden Cantrelle
SS Ed Howard
1B/C Hayden McGeary
1B/3B BJ Murray Jr.
2B/3B Pedro Ramirez
Before we get started, the top prospect in Tennessee this year is likely to be shortstop Jefferson Rojas, who is starting the year on the injured list. But it’s not considered serious and he could be back as soon as the home opener on April 15. Rojas has above-average contact skills and he generally makes a lot of hard contact, which makes some scouts think he’s going to hit for power one day. His defense at short is decent, although some think he would be better suited to play second or third, and his arm is good enough for third base. Rojas doesn’t turn 20 until the end of the month.
As far as those who will actually be on the roster, Pedro Ramirez is the top prospect. He just turned 21 two days ago, so he’s still quite young for this level. Ramirez is a switch-hitter whose strength is making contact and putting the ball in play. He hit .284 with a .348 OBP as a 20-year-old in South Bend last year. He also has good speed and can steal a base. His power is below average, however. He hits the ball hard, but doesn’t get a lot of loft on it.
The Cubs’ 2020 first-round pick Ed Howard finally reaches Double-A. There’s no doubt he’s been a disappointment, but the glove is still there and maybe he could have a career as a glove-first utility infielder.
BJ Murray Jr. was a prospect once upon a time, but his career seemingly stalled out in Triple-A. He’ll be playing to get another crack at Iowa. McGeary is a slugger who returns to Tennessee after struggling in 2024. Cantrelle started last season in Tennessee before joining Iowa and then getting hurt.
Who are the outfielders?
Parker Chavers
Jordan Nwogu
Jaylen Palmer
Felix Stevens
Felix Stevens is the interesting name here, even though the 25-year-old Cuban is returning to Tennessee after struggling after a mid-season promotion from South Bend. He has some impressive power if he can ever gets to it consistently.
Parker Chavers is a speedster who struggled in a short stint (just 17 games) in Tennessee after being promoted from South Bend. Nwogu struggled in Double-A in 2023 and 2024. He’s getting another chance in 2025 because his underlying athleticism says there might be something there. Palmer joins the Cubs organization after spending 2018 to 2024 in the Mets organization.