Get to Know Your 2011 Daytona Cubs Position Players

The 2011 Daytona Cubs will be led by Buddy Bailey who returns for his third full season at the helm. With the Cubs organization since 2006, Bailey has guided Daytona to a 139-135 (.507) record in his first two full years as manager. The Norristown, PA native enters his 30th season as a manager, coach or instructor, and the 2011 season marks the 23rd year as a minor league manager. Bailey's credentials also include managing Venezuela's Tigres de Aragua to the 2009 Caribbean World Series Title and managing the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox from 1993-96 and 2002-04. Joining Bailey on the bench for 2011 will be Pitching Coach Tom Pratt and Hitting Coach Barbaro Garbey. Pratt begins his third stint as Single-A Daytona's hitting coach after handling the same duties for Single-A Boise in 2008. The Oceanside, CA native previously served as Daytona's pitching coach from 2000-04, 2006, and 2009. Pratt was also a coach on the 2009 Caribbean World Series champion Tigres de Aragua squad alongside Buddy Bailey. Barbaro Garbey begins his first season as Daytona's hitting coach after serving in the same position with the Peoria Chiefs for the past two seasons. Back in his playing days, Garbey was the first Cuban-born player to defect to the United States and was named Detroit Sports Broadcasters' Association Tigers Rookie of the Year after hitting .287 with 110 RBIs in 1984 for the World Champion Detroit Tigers.

INF Justin Bour (22) is a big left-handed hitting and right-handed throwing first baseman who stands a 6'4" in height and weighs 260lbs. Bour was selected by the Cubs in the 25th round of the 2009 MLB Draft. In 2010, Bour finished second in the Midwest League with 87 runs driven in. He attended George Mason University and was named First-Team All-CAA after starting 55 games for the Patriots. He hit .339 with 17 home runs and 66 RBIs. He also compiled 75 hits, including 14 doubles, while slugging .633 with a .420 on-base percentage. Bour's 17 home runs and 66 RBIs rank in the top-ten in George Mason history. He a native of Washington, D.C..

C Michael Brenly (24) returns to Daytona in 2011 and was selected by the Cubs in the 36th round of the 2008 MLB draft. In 2010 he compiled a 20-game hit streak and was named a FSL Mid-Season All-Star. In 2009, Brenly set the Midwest League single-season record for a catcher with a .997 fielding percentage. In 2008, he was named first-team Arizona All-State at Notre Dame Prep School. Brenly is 6'3" tall and weighs 250lbs. The right-hander is the son of Bob Brenly who played 9 Major League seasons, managed the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2001-04 and is currently a TV color analyst for the Chicago Cubs.

OF Michael Burgess (22) was traded to Chicago along with right-hander A.J. Morris and left-hander Graham Hicks from the Washington Nationals in exchange for Tom Gorzelanny on 1/19/11. Burgess was born in Tampa, FL and graduated from Hillsborough High School. At 5'11" and 195lbs., Burgess both bats and throws left-handed. He was selected by the Nationals sandwhich round ( 49th overall) of the 2007 draft. In 2010, Burgess was named to the Carolina League All-Star Team, and entered that year ranked as the Nationals no. 9 prospect by Baseball America. In 2010, Burgess was named an Arizona Fall League Rising Star.

INF Matt Cerda (20) was selected by the Cubs in the fourth round of the 2008 draft. He was named to the 2010 Midwest All-Star Team when he played for Peoria-A. In 2008, Cerda was named North County and San Diego Player of the Year in High School. Cerda bats from the left side and throws right-handed and is listed at 5'9" tall and weighs 180 lbs. Born in Oceanside, CA, Cerda actually played in the Little League World Series.

OF Evan Crawford (22) was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 9th round of the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft. In 2010, Crawford played for (Augusta-A and Daytona-A+). The St. Louis, MO native was acquired from the Giants in a trade that sent Mike Fontenot to San Francisco on 8/11/10. Crawford is 6'2" tall, weighs 185lbs. and bats and throws right-handed. Crawford attended Indiana University where he hit .320 or higher in each of his three seasons and racked up 63 career stolen bases.

OF Jae Hoon-Ha (goes by Ha) (20) hails from Jin Ju City Koria. In two minor league seasons, Ha has hit .283 with 9 home runs and 83 runs batted in. He has appeared in 142 games for Boise-A and Peoria -A. The 6'1" 185lbs. right-hander was signed as Non-drafted Free Agent in 2008. Ha appeared in 4 Spring Training games in 2011, going 2-3 with a double and a run batted in.

INF Junior Lake (21) played 120 games for the Daytona Cubs-A+ in 2010, where he compiled 394 AB and hit .264, with 9 home runs, drove in 46 runs and stole 13 bases. Lake is 6'2" tall and weighs 215lbs. He bats and throws right-handed and was signed by the Cubs as a non-drafted free agent on 2/2/07.

INF/OF David Macias (25) returns to Daytona in 2011 for the second time. The right-handed throwing switch-hitter was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 19th round of the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft. Macias graduated from Vanderbilt University where as a senior, he lead the Commodores with a .356 average, hitting 9 HR, 15 doubles and 40 RBIs in 2008. He was named to the 2008 First-Team All-SEC team. In 2010 Macias played in 93 games for Daytona-A+ (CF- 25 G, LF-30 G, SS- 4 G, 3B- 5 G, 2B- 28 G) and in 13 games for Tennessee-AA (SS-1, 3B-2 and 2B-6).

C Chad Noble (23) was selected by the Cubs in 37th round of the 2010 draft. He attended Northwestern University where he appeared in 49 games, starting all but one. Noble missed seven games early in the season due to a hand injury. Noble ranked second on the Wildcats with a .355 batting average and 23 multi-hit games. His four triples and 42 runs scored ranked first. Behind the dish, Noble threw out 22 of 47 baserunners attempting to steal (46.8 percent). He was named to the "watch list" for the Johnny Bench Award which honors the nation's top catcher. In 2010, Noble appeared in three games with Boisie-A. The right-hander is listed at 6'1", 195lbs..

Infielder Jake Opitz returns in 2011 for his third stint in Daytona. He was selected by the Cubs in 12th round of the 2008 draft. Playing his college ball at Nebraska, he was selected to the First-Team All Big-12 Team. Opitz was a four-year starter at second base who ranks in the top 10 on NU's career lists for both games played (225, seventh) and assists (569, fourth) became the first Husker to earn First-Team All-Conference honors at second base since 1972. He started all 58 games his senior year, and hit .339, with 11 home runs and 50 RBIs, leading the Huskers in all three triple crown categories, as well as runs scored (51), multi-hit (22) and multi-RBI (16) games while ranking second in stolen bases and walks. Opitz was also drafted out of high school in 2004 by the Seattle Mariners. In 2010, the Englewood, MO native played for both Daytona-A+ and Tennessee-AA.

OF Nelson Perez (23) was acquired as non-drafted free agent on 10/5/06. Returning to Daytona for the second time, Perez bats left-handed and throws right-handed and is listed as 6'3" 240lbs. In 2008, Perez led the Arizona State League with a .656 slugging percentage and tied for the league lead with 26 extra-base hits, 10 triples and nine home runs. Perez was born in Villa Riva, D.R..

INF John Urick (29) was drafted in the 22nd round of the 2003 draft by the New York Yankees. Urick stands at 6'2" 210lbs., and bats and throws left-handed. In 2010, Urick played with Chico in the Golden Baseball League. In 2006, he was named Phillies Player of the Month for May and is the Grandson of former major league manager and Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog. For his career, Urick has hit .257 in 575 career Minor-League games. He was acquired as a Minor League free agent on 1/11/11 (lucky?).

INF Logan Watkins (21) was selected by the Cubs in the 21st round of 2008 draft. Watkins is listed at 5'11" and 175 lbs. and also bats left-handed and throws right-handed. In 2010, Watkins was named by Baseball America as the 9th ninth-best Cubs prospect heading into the season. He split time between CF, LF, SS and 2B for Peoria-A where he stole 19 bases and scored 69 runs in 440 at-bats. In 2009, he put together a 17-game hitting streak in August and finished second in the Northwest League with 91 hits. Watkins hails from Wichita, KS.