One of the toughest things in sports is to create a club culture that maximizes the potential of every player. It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of favoring the top prospects at the expense of those that are yet to develop. The Chicago Cubs are the only team that has avoided this pitfall. In an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, the Cubs’ senior pitching coordinator, Casey Jacobson, shared how the culture of equality functions on the North Side.
The Cubbies have consistently improved their clubhouse culture in the past few years. With a farm that is growing stronger every year, it has become imperative for the Cubs to foster a climate of cooperation. They certainly are succeeding if one listens to the accounts of Jacobson.
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The developing culture of the Chicago Cubs
In the past few years, the Cubs have turned themselves into a well-oiled machine. Regularly churning out prospects, it has been a collective endeavor to prepare this breeding ground of talents. In an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports’ Abhay Agrawal, Casey Jacobson revealed how they managed to create a culture of equality in the Cubs.
“There is a stigma that only the prospects are the ones that get resources or are the ones that matter. As I was joining the organization, there was a strong push to make sure that every player whether he’s the top-ranked prospect or the kind who’s not getting any kind of love or notoriety from the public space.” Jacobson shared the core philosophy, “That each one of them matters the same and that we need to treat them as such.”
This has fostered an environment where every player gets treated equally irrespective of their star power. Jacobson explained, “I think it’s important to treat everybody with the same amount of respect, the same amount of attention, and the same amount of care. Regardless of whether or not they got a big signing bonus when they joined the organization.”
Finally, Jacobson shared how the Cubs have a giant family culture present in their squad. “They’re still part of this family; we need to treat them with the same amount of respect that they deserve. They’re putting in all that effort to make their dreams come true; it’s our job to match that.” Jacobson then talked about how this has helped them create a culture that helps the players’ growth.
Clearly, something is working for the Cubs. The latest MLB Pipeline list of top prospects had seven players from the Cubs, the highest from any team. With a culture that fosters the development of talents, it’s no wonder that the future of this Chi-town team looks brighter than ever.
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Edited by
Riya Singhal