Earlier this week, the Cubs announced their coaching staff for the 2025 season. As part of the announcement, the club revealed former major league pitch coordinator Mark Strittmatter will succeed Darren Holmes as bullpen coach, while AJ Lewis He serves as an assistant coach.
The Cubs also confirmed the previously reported hirings of first base coach Jose Javier, third base coach Quentin Berry and assistant pitching coach Casey Jacobson. Finally, head coach Craig Counsell’s staff also includes returning coaches Ryan Flaherty (bench coach), Tommy Hottoway (pitching coach), Dustin Kelly (hitting coach) ), Juan Cabreja (Assistant Hitting Coach), John Malley (Assistant Hitting Coach), Jonathan Mota (Head Coach, League Coach) and Alex Smith (Major League Strategy Coach) .
Streetmatter, 55, has extensive experience as a bullpen pitcher. He served as a bullpen catcher for the Rockies from 2003-10. He returned to the Rockies in 2013 after a brief stint on the Pirates’ major league coaching staff. Prior to his coaching career, Streetmatter played nine seasons in the minor leagues as a catcher in the Rockies and Padres systems. In 1998, he made several MLB appearances for Colorado.
Lewis, 26, is also from the Rockies. After signing with the club as an undrafted free agent in 2020, he spent four seasons in the minor league system, appearing at every level from Low-A to Triple-A. While he primarily played catcher in college, he made a handful of appearances at several positions during his minor league tenure, including catcher, first base, second base, third base and left field. Back in 2022, he told Thomas Hardin of MLB.com that he wanted to join a major league front office when his playing career was over. If that’s still his goal, this could be a step in the right direction.
In further news from the Cubs, the team announced that two members of its minor league strength and conditioning staff have been promoted to major league roles. Kevin Poppe will serve as major league strength coach and Mark Weisman will serve as major league assistant strength coach. Poppe and Weisman both joined the organization in 2022.
