MESA, Ariz. – Cubs director of pitching Ryan Otero could easily be mistaken for a player. Coaches, coordinators and instructors also walk around the Cubs spring training complex in uniform pants and Cubs hoodies. But when Otero, in his early 30’s and a former college pitcher, goes to work in the same getup, he blends right in.
A casual observer would never pick out Otero as the man who has helped shape the Cubs’ pitching infrastructure since Craig Breslow led its overhaul beginning in 2020. Now, with Breslow in charge of the Red Sox’ baseball operations, Otero is entering his second season heading up the pitching department.
“Ryan’s super-talented, work ethic, pitching mind,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said last year after Otero’s promotion. “He and Bres hit it off. Breslow really took him under his wing, so it was really the obvious next step for him when Bres left. And, frankly, had Bres stayed I think he would be in the same role he is now. Bres was trying to move out of the pitching stuff and let Ryan spread his wings.”
The Cubs have yet to return to the playoffs in this cycle, aiming to end a four-year drought. But Hoyer has been adamant that the goal is “sustained success.” And to achieve that, the club’s pitching infrastructure has to be producing at all levels.
In the Cubs’ last championship window – though it brought a World Series title and five postseason berths in six years – homegrown pitching was infamously lacking.
“At the end of the day, what we’re solving for is building major-league value, giving our big-league team the best assets we can from a pitching perspective,” Otero said a year ago. “Goal No. 2: want to make sure our entire organization is unified in everything we’re doing. Pitching isn’t this siloed thing. Everyone should be collaborating, working together. We can learn so much from the hitting and defense side and vice versa.”
The “Spring Breakout” prospect games this week in Arizona, while the major-league team is in Japan, will showcase the talent the Cubs have coming up the pipeline. On the pitching side, that group is headlined by Cade Horton, a 2022 first-round pick who is expected to debut this season.
On the big-league side, non-roster invitee Brad Keller’s inclusion on the Tokyo Series travel roster represented progress toward another small victory. The Cubs have high hopes for Keller’s upside as he reinvents himself mid-career.
“I think we’re in a really good place with it,” Counsell said of the pitching infrastructure. “[Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy] and Ryan Otero, as two people that have been here through the whole thing, have played a significant impact in it. And we’ve built kind of around them.”
Otero’s perspective on player development was shaped early in his life as he watched his brother Dan Otero – who played eight major-league seasons for San Francisco, Oakland and Cleveland; and pitched against the Cubs in the 2016 World Series – achieve his major-league dream.
“He wasn’t all that highly regarded, he was drafted in the twenty-something round, very little signing bonus, didn’t throw hard, just steadily worked up the system – was probably pretty close to calling it quits and just moving on with his life,” Otero said. “You just look at what accomplishing that dream does for his life: how much fun he had, how he’s able to provide for his family, the joy it brought my family and my parents being able to watch him pitch in the World Series. It’s the coolest thing ever.”
Otero was on a tech track out of college when he heard from Kenny Socorro, now the Cubs assistant director of international scouting, that the Cubs had an opening in player development. Socorro and Otero’s brothers played together at Duke.
Otero still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his career, but his skillset – bilingual former college player with an analyst background – fit. So, he took a shot at a job he knew wouldn’t pay much for the amount of time it demanded.
“I’m very glad I took that chance,” he said. “Because my first year in player development, I didn’t realize how much I was going to like it.”
Otero worked in player development and research & development for a few years before Breslow made him a pitching analyst and eventually his right-hand man.
“His ability to speak very technically, and then also in everyday language that resonates with players and coaches was something that I was drawn to,” Breslow said. “And so, I was like, this is a guy that I need to pull close and give significant responsibility to.”
Otero was excited by how much they aligned from the jump, and how enthusiastic Breslow was about pushing boundaries.
“I learned a lot,” Otero said. “He just pushed my belief that these things could be done with just how committed he was to process.”
When Breslow left for Boston, Otero provided continuity for a department clearly on the upswing. He now has a chance to put his own imprint on their process, at a critical time for the organization.
