Cougars ready to open 25th season
Twenty-four years ago, minor league baseball came to Geneva.
On Thursday evening, the Kane County Cougars, now affiliated with the Arizona Diamondbacks after their association with the Cubs, will open their 25th season against Cedar Rapids.
Mark Grudzielanek, who played with six different MLB teams during his 15-year playing career, is the Cougars' manager this season.
"There's no question that I saw myself being involved (in the game after my playing career ended)," Grudzielanek said Tuesday afternoon during the Cougars' annual media day. "I needed that break (after retiring in 2010). We're suited to do some good things here."
The Cougars have five players from the Dominican Republic are on the opening-day roster. But Markus Solbach is certainly the first German-born player on the Cougars' roster.
The starting pitcher, one of eight players to help Hillsboro, Oregon to a short season Class A national championship last season, lived in Detroit for two years as his father was an auto executive.
"I played a little bit of baseball when I lived in Detroit," Solbach said. "Once I came back to Germany, there was a team right around the corner (in suburban Cologne). I never stopped playing. Baseball is getting bigger in Germany."
The Cougars have produced almost 130 big leaguers in its history, including Edgar Renteria, Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Dempster and Adrian Gonzalez.
New Mexico native Brent Jones, one of 13 pitchers on the roster, will be the opening-night starter for Kane County on Thursday at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark.
"This is my first pro season, my first full season," Jones said. "I feel honored to get the nod. It will be the same as any other start."
The Cougars returned to Geneva after spending their spring training in Scottsdale.
"It's going to be a lot of fun," Grudzielanek said of the upcoming season, which is split in two championship halves. "It's going to be a good adjustment (moving from the desert to the Midwest). (The players) are learning as they go."
Of the Cougars' 12 position players, catcher Stryker Trahan, a No. 1 pick in the 2012 MLB draft, is the top-rated prospect this year.
"(I am) trying to be a much more consistent hitter this year," Trahan said. "Spring was pretty good. I felt comfortable at the plate, was seeing the ball well."