2025 Season Preview04/27/2025 7:41 AM
Spring training for the 2025 season is underway and the season begins in under two weeks! Interim Manager Toby Hall will evaluate a packed spring training roster of 38 that includes 18 pitchers. Here's a complete look at our spring training roster in addition to some news and notes as we prepare for a fantastic summer on the Southside at Ozinga Field! Coaches Manager Bobby Jenks is taking an indefinite leave of absence as he undergoes treatment for stomach cancer. Jenks was coming off his first season as ThunderBolts manager and had nearly completed assembling his 2025 roster when he received his diagnosis. Jenks is expected to return to his managerial role as soon as his health allows. Interm Manager/Bench Coach Toby Hall joined the ThunderBolts coaching staff in 2025 as Bench Coach before being named Interim Manager on February 20, 2025 after Bobby Jenks announced his leave of absence. This summer will be Hall's second year coaching at a professional level after working under Bobby Jenks as Hitting Coach of the Grand Junction Rockies (Pioneer League) during the 2022 season. That Rockies squad finished with a 62-33 record, winning the league championship. While Hall has not been in the dugout since, he has had an active role in shaping segments of the ThunderBolts roster since Jenks took over as manager in 2024. Hall enjoyed a nine year Major League career hitting .262 with 46 home runs and 269 RBI's. The vast majority of his career was spent as a catcher with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2000-06), but he also suited up for the Los Angeles Dodgers (2006) and Chicago White Sox (2007-08). Hall is the Rays' all-time leader in games played as a catcher. Hitting Coach Kevin Santiago returns to the ThunderBolts in 2025 as Hitting Coach. This will be his fifth year with the ThunderBolts and tenth coaching at a professional level. Santiago’s first professional coaching position was with the Joliet Jackhammers (Northern League) as an assistant from 2002-04 before leaving baseball. He returned to the sport in 2018 as an assistant for the Joliet Slammers (Frontier League) helping the club win the league title. Santiago served as Hitting Coach of the ThunderBolts in 2019 and 2021-22 under former manager Brian Smith. After the 2019 season in Crestwood, Santiago spent the COVID affected 2020 in Joliet with the Tully Monsters squad as part of the City of Champions Cup. Santiago returned to the ThunderBolts staff in 2024 when Bobby Jenks joined the club. Catchers Zach Beadle joins the ThunderBolts after being a two-year member of the United Shore League. In 63 career games, he’s got four homers and 29 RBIs. Collegiately, he played five years for Madonna University in Michigan. JJ Figueroa is in his second season with the ThunderBolts and third as a professional in 2025. He signed with the team on May 13, 2024 and appeared in 46 games for the '24 Bolts, hitting .193 with 16 RBIs. As a rookie with Cleburne in the American Association, he played in 44 games and batted .267 with five home runs. Tyler Hill is a veteran catcher who has played for six different teams across four different Partner Leagues over a six-year career. He enters 2025 with 248 pro games under his belt and 102 career RBIs. Kyle Harbison is in his second season with the ThunderBolts and second overall in 2025. He signed with the team on June 7, 2024 after his senior season at Western Carolina University and finished his rookie campaign with a .171 batting average in 22 games. He hit .242 with a .326 on-base percentage as a college senior and threw out 40 percent of attempted base stealers. He was a .235 hitter over two years as a Catamount and drove in 35 runs in 79 games. Infielders Garrett Broussard is in his second season overall and second with the ThunderBolts in 2025. He signed as a free agent on June 9, 2024 after completing his senior season at Utah Valley University. In 18 games for the Bolts, he hit .316 with a .452 on-base percentage as a rookie. As a senior for the Wolverines, he hit .319 with an .874 OPS, seven home runs and 47 RBIs. Jose Curpa is a seven-year pro, who spent six seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks system. Most recently, he played for the Cleburne Railroaders in the American Association. He enters 2025 with 297 career games played and a .252 batting average. Winder Diaz brings four years of pro experience to the ThunderBolts. He hit .231 with a .383 on-base percentage over his four years in the Washington Nationals organization and has advanced as far as High-A Wilmington. Anders Green hit .311 in 44 games last season for the Marysville Drakes of the Pecos League. 2025 will be his third pro season after getting a cup of coffee in the Pioneer League in 2022. Jalen Greer is getting his second taste of action in Crestwood. He was a 2022 member of the ThunderBolts and has also played games in the Australian League and the MLB Draft League. Jalen was a fifth-round pick of the Oakland A’s in 2019. Christian Kuzemka enters his second year with the ThunderBolts and third as a professional in 2025. He signed with the team on January 7, 2024 and enjoyed an all-star campaign with the Bolts, hitting .254 with 11 homers and 59 RBIs over 90 games. He spent the 2023 campaign in the Canadian semi-professional Intercounty Baseball League, where he hit .322 over 42 games. His pro experience also includes six games with the Schaumburg Boomers in 2021, when he went 4-for-13 with an RBI. David Maberry is a veteran of the Frontier League and the Partner League circuit. He’s played for four leagues in the U.S. and one in Mexico since 2021. In 2022, he hit .295 with a .370 on-base percentage for the Sussex County Miners. Donivan Williams is in his second go-round with the ThunderBolts after hitting .273 in 25 games in 2021. Since then, he has played for five Partner League teams. He also spent five years in the St. Louis Cardinals system. Outfielders Ashton Creal was a Frontier League draft pick after playing 23 games for Florence last year. Originally a Cincinnati Reds draft pick, Ashton spent five years in the Reds system, reaching as high as Triple A. Josh Elvir played for Bobby Jenks and Toby Hall on the 2022 Pioneer League champion Grand Junction Rockies. In four Pioneer League seasons, he hit .318 with a .418 on-base percentage. Anthony Herron is a local product out of Mount Carmel High School. After a two-year college career at the University of New Orleans, he played two years in the Pioneer League, hitting .292 with eight homers in 76 games. Dakota Kotowski joins the ThunderBolts after playing three years in the Philadelphia Phillies system. He hit .253 with an .832 OPS across 124 career games. Dakota attended Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox. Cameron Phelts is in his second year with the ThunderBolts and fifth as a professional in 2025. He signed with the Bolts as a free agent on November 21, 2023 and finished second in the Frontier League in his first season with 53 stolen bases. Previously, he had played for two years in the Pioneer League - one with Northern Colorado and one with Ogden. In 171 total games there, he hit .308 with 91 stolen bases, including a league-leading 51 in 2022. He led the league in triples both years, with ten in '22 and eight in '23. He began his pro career in the Frontier league, playing 36 games for the Washington Wild Things in 2021. Ethan Roberts is a rookie out of Truett McConnell University. He was a .328 career hitter there and set school records with 28 stolen bases in his senior season and 102 in his career. Michael Sandle is a veteran of the Houston Astros system and also played briefly in the Frontier League for the Gateway Grizzlies last year. He enters 2025 with 26 career home runs and 51 career stolen bases in four years. Oscar Serratos was a rookie last year for the Great Falls Voyagers in the Pioneer League. He hit .325 with 40 runs scored and 32 stolen bases. He is a product of Biola University in California. Pitchers Nick Agacki is a rookie out of the University of Hawaii at Hilo. He appeared in 20 games (17 starts) over two years there following stints at Phoenix College and Yavapai College. Dan Brown enters his second season with the ThunderBolts and second as a professional in 2025. He signed with the Bolts as a free agent on June 22, 2024. In his first year with the team, he won two games and posted a 4.94 ERA in 22 appearances. He struck out 38 batters over 27.1 innings. Ronny Dominguez spent four seasons as part of the Cleveland Indians system as a position player. He hit .243 over 143 career games. This year, he’ll be making his first go at being a professional pitcher. Greg Duncan begins his second year with the ThunderBolts and fourth as a pro in 2025. He originally signed on February 10, 2024. He had a 1.50 ERA and five saves in 13 games for the 2024 Bolts before splitting his second half of the season amongst the Mexican League, American Association and Atlantic League. Before joining the ThunderBolts, Greg pitched for three other Partner League teams, including the Gateway Grizzlies in 2021. He appeared in nine games for them (two starts) and had a 5.46 ERA. He also pitched in five combined games between stints with the Gary SouthShore RailCats and Winnipeg Goldeyes - both of the American Association - between 2021 and 2023. Aaron Evers is a second-year pro out of Oakland University, where he had a 4.18 ERA as a senior last year. In his first pro season, Aaron pitched for the Westside Woolly Mammoths in the United Shore League. Jordan Goldmann is a second-year pro who spent last season in the Pecos League, pitching in five games for the Tucson Saguaros. He attended Le Moyne College, where he won seven games in two seasons. Bryce Hellgeth is in his second season with the ThunderBolts and second as a pro in 2025. He signed as a free agent on June 17, 2024 and posted a 2.02 ERA over 27 relief appearances for the Bolts. He played for Central Michigan University in the spring of 2024, going 1-4 with a 6.75 ERA as a graduate transfer. He appeared in 22 games (one start) and finished with 28 strikeouts and 14 walks over 33.1 innings. Heath Mann joined the ThunderBolts out of the Frontier League tryout and draft. He pitched collegiately at nearby Saint Xavier, posting four wins, two saves and a 4.61 ERA over two years. Tyler Naumann is in his second professional season and second with the ThunderBolts in 2025. He signed as a free agent on June 7, 2024 and appeared in 15 games (three starts) down the stretch. He spent the spring of 2024 completing his college career at the University of Illinois Springfield, where he went 4-5 with a 6.91 ERA over 14 games (13 starts) and struck out 65 in 54.2 innings. He tossed five innings as a junior for the Prairie Stars. Buddie Pindel is in his second year with the ThunderBolts and fourth as a pro in 2025. He was acquired in a trade with the Boise Hawks in exchange for Micah Yonamine on November 8, 2023. In his first year with the ThunderBolts, Buddie set a franchise record with a 2.00 ERA over 121.2 innings. He finished the season with a 9-7 record. In his first two professional seasons with Boise, he went 7-9 with a 6.17 ERA. He had 121 strikeouts to just 33 walks in 121 innings. Trevin Reynolds is new to the ThunderBolts as a pitcher but he’s in his second year with the organization after serving as the assistant pitching coach last year. In three years as a pro hurler, he’s 3-7 with a 4.03 ERA and 17 saves. Caleb Riedel is in his second season as a professional and second with the ThunderBolts in 2025. He signed as a free agent on June 25, 2024 out of the University of Nebraska Omaha and went 3-3 with a 3.48 ERA in 18 relief appearances for the Bolts. Jeff Rotz has pitched in three different pro leagues aver the first six years of his career, including a stint in the Frontier League with Empire State in 2022. He had three wins over 36 games entering 2025. Kristian Scalf was a first-round Frontier League draft selection. He played collegiately at Cleary University and Ashland University. Primarily a hitter in college, he hit .282 over three years. Kristian pitched just four games total. Josh Simmons was a Frontier League draft pick and is a rookie out of Tennessee Southern. He appeared in 55 games there over four years, finishing with four wins and seven saves. Noah Stants is a rookie out of Oakland University. He had a 4.39 ERA and two saves over two years as a Golden Grizzlie. He also pitched for two years at Jackson College, where he struck out 127 batters in 76.1 innings. Bobby Vath pitched in the Atlantic League last year and in the Pioneer League the year before. He was an NAIA All-American in 2023 and went 24-2 with a 2.63 ERA overall in two years at LSU-Shreveport. Luke Williamson can count the ThunderBolts as his third Frontier League team after pitching in 2022 for the Florence Y’alls and in 2024 for the New England Knockouts. In 20 career games, he has 20 strikeouts over 17.1 innings. Exhibition Schedule While the spring will be filled with intersquad games, the Bolts will play only two official exhibition game and both will be on the road. Schedule below... Friday, May 2 at 6:45 pm at Gary Railcats (American Association) Saturday, May 3 at 7 pm at Milwaukee Milkman (American Association) Regular Season Schedule The ThunderBolts will start the season on the road for the first time in seven years. The 96-game schedule will open up in Schaumburg on Thursday, May 8th against the Boomers followed by the home opener at Ozinga Field the next night on Friday, May 9th against the Washington Wild Things. This summer's slate includes unusually long periods both at and away from Ozinga Field.
As usual, the month of May is very home heavy with 11 of the first 13 games played in Crestwood. July of 2025 is cut almost down the middle with both a very long road trip and homestand all in one month. The first half of July will tie a club record (2017) with 13 straight road games making stops in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Mississippi before finishing in Joliet after the all-star break. The 3,156 mile trip will set club record for distance traveled. Immediately following this trip will be an 11 game homestand that will take up the second half of the month. The July 19-31 stay at Ozinga Field will be the longest homestand since the Bolts played 15 straight in 2013.
Standard gametimes for the 2025 season will not change as we keep the 6:35 pm starts Tuesday through Friday, 6:05 pm Saturday and 1:05 pm on Sundays. Also not changing is the nine 10:35 am morning weekday games between School & Splash Days. A noteable quirk is the scheduled day/night split doubleheader vs. Quebec on Friday, May 16th. The Bolts and Capitales will play a 10:35 am School Day and 6:35 pm fireworks night all on one date! 2025 Season Info Links |
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