The road to the Major Leagues is a long journey that is full of roadblocks and overwhelming challenges. As players jump from one level to the next, the stakes get higher, the talent level becomes elite and the need for great instruction gets put at a premium. High A Great Lakes manager, Austin Chubb, is entering his 2nd year at the helm of the Loons and checks all the boxes as he has a world of experience, is known as a “players coach”, and is the model for how to pay your dues, how to “Get to Work”, and how to earn each step.
Worldwide of Experience
Chubb has an amazing journey in the game of baseball, so let’s start at the beginning, in the Sunshine State of Florida, at Division II powerhouse Florida Southern after a 2-year JUCO career at Manatee Community College. Florida Southern, at the time, was led by Pete Myer who was both the Athletic Director and the Baseball coach. The program has won 9 Division II National titles, has been runners-up on 4 other occasions, and, under Myer, produced over 30 Draft picks. So, while it may not be a Division I school, it certainly is a powerhouse, and after a great career as a Mocassin, Chubb got drafted by Washington in the 2012 Draft. Chubb spent 3 years in the Nationals organization before electing Free Agency where, in 2015, his Dodgers career began, and, “as they say”, the rest is history.
The current Loons manager made it all the way to AAA OKC as a player before retiring after the 2015 season and entering the coaching ranks the next year. Chubb started his coaching journey as the Ogden Raptors hitting coach in 2016, then became the manager of the DSL Dodgers in 2017 and 2018 before going back to Ogden as the manager in 2019. He then got promoted to Low A Rancho in 2020 before the season got canceled then, this past year in 2021, he managed High A Great Lakes. This is the 2nd time in his Coaching career that he will be at the same place for the 2nd year in a row, so he is excited to reach out to the community in Midland to connect them even further with the Loons.
Influences
Chubb has been with the Dodgers either as a player or a Manager since 2015, so he has become a Dodger Blue and Blue, pun intended. He has had some really incredible people to learn from since becoming a Dodger and none more influential than the legendary Tommy Lasorda.
So my first year in 2016 I was the hitting coach in Ogden, and Tommy managed in Ogden which I wasn’t really aware of. He made 2 or 3 trips to Ogden that year and loved coming to Ogden so I have fond memories of him just sitting in the locker room after games and telling some of his legendary stories. Then I got the chance to manage Ogden in 2019 and had some visits from him then too and he would sit in the managers office and I was amazed at how, as an iconic figure, he really treated Minor League coaches so well. He didn’t have to do that and we were pretty star struck and the way he tells stories, and he remembered my name, so for him to do that was pretty impressive. He’s an iconic figure and to get to be around him was very special.
Managing in the Minors
Managing in the Minor Leagues can be a very tricky endeavor on many different fronts. For one, a manager is tasked with promoting a “team-first environment” amongst a world full of prospects that are playing for personal promotion. When asked how he deals with that dynamic, Chubb had this to say:
That’s a good question and it’s not always easy. As a manager and as a staff we try to sell to the guys that being an unselfish player will bring out the best in them which I truly believe. But when it comes down to it, that’s what makes the Minor Leagues so unique is that guys are, to some degree, playing for themselves and their families and they want to be able to make money and it is a business, so that’s obviously a hard thing. But, I think, more than anything, we want to see all the guys reach the big leagues with the Dodgers, but I think one thing you can sell to players is that every time you step on the field it’s an audition because there are always scouts in the stands and there’s 30 other teams. So, while I want the guys to reach the Big Leagues in L.A., and I want them to help the organization win another World Series, that’s just not the case for everyone. So you see guys like Donovan Casey, or Keibert Ruiz get opportunities elsewhere so I think every time a player steps on the field they are auditioning to advance whether it’s with L.A. or somewhere else.
Another interesting dynamic to managing in the Minor Leagues is, while you are trying to win a Division, players get moved up during the latter part of the season, so you lose your best players. Chubb has the perfect take on that, and acknowledges that situation as being a challenge, but notes that the Dodgers are so deep in talent at all levels that it is next man up.
Yeah, so that’s a tough one. You know it’s expected and it’s gonna happen and I think, from a coaching standpoint, we take pride in the fact that we helped players get to the next level because ultimately that is the number one job for us. But, I would be lying if I said we didn’t want to win. From our standpoint we know there are good players at Low A that will step right in, so, from a culture standpoint, it’s just next man up. That sounds cliche, but, that really is how it is and I think we have the best scouts and the best talent in the game all the way up from the DSL league so there really isn’t an excuse.
Chubb is a manager who lets his players play, as long as they are playing hard every day. He’s able to get his players to “buy-in” because he is considered a “players coach”
I was fortunate enough to have good coaches and mentors growing up. One person that comes to mind is Bill Haselman because he was my manager in 2015 and has been a mentor and I feel like I’ve taken a lot of things from his style and that is to view the players as professionals and just to let them play. Obviously, when they need a kick in the butt I’m gonna give it to them, but I think, more than anything, I try to never forget that baseball is really hard and players are going to respect that. Players are going to make mistakes so finding the right moments to talk to players about certain things is important, but players, for the most part, really know when they screw up or when they do good, so that’s kind of my style is to let guys do their thing. I just expect them to play hard and to play to win so if they do those things I feel like I’m pretty easy going.
2022
Chubb is entering 2022 as the manager in the same location for the 2nd time in his career and is looking forward to mentoring the next crop of highly talented Dodgers. He knows many of them as some will be returners, but he also spent this last winter in Puerto Rico coaching in the Puerto Rican winter league. In fact, he just recently got back home from that experience, just in time to get ready for Spring training, so it’s pretty easy to see that he is a “gym rat” when it comes to baseball. He loves the game, loves managing it, loves helping players advance, and loves when it’s “Time to Get To Work”.
