After TJ, former two-way player Mathis leads Cubs crop in Arizona Fall League

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – For two years at the College of Charleston, Cole Mathis lived every young ballplayer’s dream: he pitched, he hit, and he did both well.

After standing out in the Georgia high school ranks, Mathis spent his freshman year on campus predominantly coming out of the club’s bullpen. As a sophomore, he moved into the starting rotation while simultaneously becoming an anchor of the starting nine. But in 2024, as a junior, an elbow injury -- which turned into Tommy John surgery -- kept him off the hill, even as he mashed in the box (.335 average, 1.122 OPS).

Life as a student-athlete means hitting the books as well as hitting in the cage. Mathis was a mathematics major, one who cited a desire to become a high school math teacher once his playing days were over.

Do the math and the results are conclusive: being a two-way player at the next level is nearly impossible. For as effortless as three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani can make things seem, it’s a tremendous grind for young players to come up through a Minor League system preparing to both pitch and hit. So when the Cubs popped Mathis in the second round of the 2024 Draft, they announced him as a third baseman. His days on the mound were over, even if the dividends were still to be reaped.

“I understood how to pitch at the college level,” Mathis said. “But even just talking to pitchers [in pro ball] ... I think it's definitely a tool that you can use to go up there and have an approach and understanding of what the pitcher's trying to do to you.”

Trying to understand how pitchers were attacking him in the batter’s box was pretty much all Mathis could do during his first taste of pro ball this year. The aforementioned TJ surgery he underwent kept him off the field defensively during his 29-game stint with Single-A Myrtle Beach, where he was a full-time designated hitter. He has already appeared at both infield corners in the Arizona Fall League for the Mesa Solar Sox and says he feels good about the procedure moving forward.

But those first steps of development can often be the most important. That time away from the game helped provide Mathis with clarity for how important the game really was.

“Enjoy it while you're on the field because you never know,” he said. “The next day, if you get injured, you're gonna miss a lot of time. For me, it was the time away that taught me just to enjoy it that much more when I actually get on the field.”

The Cubs are excited to see what he can do, too. Mathis led the wood-bat Cape Cod League with 11 homers during his 38-game stint back in 2023 despite a swing largely geared toward peppering line drives. He also has the professional pedigree, with his father, Sammie, having been drafted three times before spending two seasons in Cleveland’s system.

Mathis opened his Fall League stint with a three-hit game for Mesa on Oct. 8. He added another knock two days later, with both his balls in play registering north of 98 mph exit velocities off the bat. The 22-year-old may not be snapping off sliders or peppering fastballs at the top of the zone anymore, but he’s back to the thing he missed most: playing the game.

Other Cubs hitters in the Fall League:

Owen Ayers, C: After missing the final month and a half of the regular season due to a broken hand, Ayers made a splash by homering in his AFL debut on Oct. 7 and he went on to Fall League Week 1 top hitter honors. A 19th-round selection by the Cubs in '24 out of Marshall, the switch-hitting backstop posted a 126 wRC+ in 65 games for Single-A Myrtle Beach. A MLB Draft League alum, Ayers will benefit from catching a variety of hurlers in the Fall League before his age-25 campaign next year.

Ed Howard, SS: A first-round selection in 2020 out of the Illinois prep ranks, Howard has seen his pro career beset by a severe left hip injury he sustained in May 2022. He was limited to just 21 contests this season across three levels, with the Fall League offering the 23-year-old an opportunity to get some much-needed in-game reps, while staying close to the club’s complex in Mesa.

Logan Poteet, C: Less than five months ago, Poteet was a member of the UNC Charlotte lineup. Selected in the 17th round, and after a brief five-game stint with High-A South Bend, he's the rare player to hit the Fall League during his Draft year. A well-regarded receiver, Poteet has extensive summer circuit experience, including in the Appy League and Cape Cod League in '24.

Cubs pitchers in the Fall League:

Thomas Mangus, RHP: After starring for Navarro (Texas) JC in 2024, the Cubs snagged Mangus in the 18th round of the Draft. Injuries have since kept him largely out of in-game action, but in an albeit small sample size, Single-A batters hit just .118 against Mangus across 11 innings down the stretch. At 6-foot-3, he works with a clean, repeatable delivery and shows flashes of three solid offerings in his fastball, slider and changeup.

Luis Martinez-Gomez, RHP: Temple College, a two-year program in Temple, Texas, has yet to produce a big leaguer. Martinez-Gomez became the school’s first drafted player in a decade back in 2023 and he has put himself on a fast track through the club’s system after posting a 1.46 ERA in 55 1/3 innings across two A ball levels this year. He ranked in the top 10 of nearly every major metric among Cubs Minor Leaguers to toss at least 50 frames this season, including ranking third in left-on-base percentage (79.4 percent). Statcast credited him with throwing six different offerings – sinker, splitter, sweeper, four-seam fastball, slider and changeup – during his first outing for Mesa in which he got four whiffs on nine swings.

Koen Moreno, RHP: A fifth-round selection by the Cubs during the pandemic-shortened 2020 Draft out of the North Carolina high school ranks, Moreno got nearly 2.5 times slot to forgo a UCLA commitment. Injuries have been a road block for the 24-year-old, who has combined to throw just 35 1/3 innings over the past two seasons. His heater sat 90-92 mph over a four-outing spin with South Bend down the stretch this year but he struck out 15 of 50 batters faced and held opponents to a .564 OPS in that span.

Mathew Peters, RHP: Indiana Tech has produced just one big leaguer (Josh Judy) in program history with Peters having the raw stuff to potentially join that group. It’s been the harnessing of said repertoire that has proven difficult. Armed with a fastball that routinely flirts with triple digits, and a swing-and-miss-geared slider/splitter combo to go along with it, Peters walked 37 batters in 37 innings this year across two levels in the Arizona Complex League and Single-A.

J.P. Wheat, RHP: In terms of pure stuff, Wheat boasts one of the Fall League’s most exciting one-two punches with his 98-100 mph heater and 88-91 mph slider. He appeared in just seven contests this year for Myrtle Beach due to injury, the last coming on May 18. If he can rein in the walks (58 in 55 1/3 frames of pro ball), he has the look of an arm that could move quickly in a relief role.