This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian's Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CHICAGO – Cubs lefty Ryan Rolison first met Cade Townsend when the pitching prospect was just getting his Ole Miss journey started as a freshman two offseasons ago. Rolison already had some Major League experience under his belt, so the young righty wanted to tap into that resource.
Also an Ole Miss product, Rolison has trained in Oxford, Miss., for the past two winters with his wife working within the university’s athletic department. And as Rolison connected and chatted with Townsend during the offseasons, the 29-year-old lefty was blown away by the younger pitcher.
Townsend picked his brain on recovery and routine. They dove into pitching specifics, discussing how certain pitches can play off each other. Townsend talked through how he tried to set up hitters. Rolison almost forgot he was talking to a college freshman.
“When I was a freshman coming in, I wasn’t anywhere near that,” Rolison said. “The biggest thing about Cade is, in all of our talks, we talked about how to be successful at the big league level. And he had kind of a broader vision. In college, you can get carried away with whatever’s going on in the moment.
“His eyes were already on how he could be the best pitcher he could be in the big leagues. I was impressed.”
Last week, the Cubs selected the 21-year-old Townsend with the 23rd overall pick in the first round of the MLB Draft. The right-hander said hearing Chicago call his name was a “dream” for him and his family, and he mentioned having already heard great things about the Cubs’ organization and the team’s pitching infrastructure from Rolison.
Townsend hit it off with Tyler Zombro, the Cubs vice president of pitching strategy, and others in the team’s player development arm in a pre-Draft Zoom call and at the Draft combine. Zombro also chatted with Rolison throughout the process, especially as it became clearer that Townsend might be there for the Cubs with the 23rd pick.
“I was able to shed some light on his work ethic and off-the-field stuff, how good of a guy he is,” Rolison said. “And then on Draft day, just being in contact with Zombro, he was like, ‘He might be in play for us today.’ To see it come to fruition was really exciting.”
Similar to Townsend, Rolison was a first-round pick out of Ole Miss in 2018, when the Rockies selected him 22nd overall. The lefty’s road to the Majors took several turns, leading to parts of seven years spent in the Minors. There were injuries and setbacks, a tough first MLB tour (7.02 ERA in ‘25 for Colorado), and then three offseason transactions that ended with Rolison being claimed off waivers by the Cubs in January.
Rolison joined a Chicago bullpen in need in mid-April and has since grown into one of the standout arms in the relief corps this season, posting a 2.72 ERA through 33 outings. It has been a success story for the Cubs’ pitching group, and offers a reason why the lefty believes Townsend is in good hands.
“He’s willing to do whatever it takes to be successful,” Rolison said. “I just texted him and said, ‘Congratulations, I know you've got a lot going on. I’m just super happy for you. It’s a super great organization you're getting into. And they're going to help you get the full potential out of yourself.’”