As mentioned in the Arizona Fall League update earlier today, we are fortunate that Kate Preusser, manager of our sister site for the Mariners Lookout Landing, was down in Arizona to do some interviews. She kindly offered to interview a Cubs prospect for us and this past weekend, she spoke with outfielder Kade Snell.
Snell was the Cubs’ fifth-round pick in 2025 out of Alabama and he spent all of this past season with High-A South Bend, which had a kind of magical season until they got a rude awakening in the first round of the playoffs. That happens. But Snell was a key player for South Bend all season, hitting .269/.350/.426 with nine home runs and 19 steals in 81 games for the Cubs. I should say “all season except for the seven weeks he lost to a wrist injury,” which Kate addresses in the interview.
I gave Kate several questions to ask and she picked a few of them to ask him. I think she did a terrific job and if you’re over at Lookout Landing, thank her.
Here’s the audio file of her interview.
For those of you who don’t want to listen, we have a transcript.
Kate:
About the Mariners, but I’m here doing some legwork for my friend who runs the Cubs site for SB Nation. So asking questions by proxy. So if they suck, they’re not my questions. Okay. So your wrist injury. What was the rehab process like? How frustrating was it, and what’d you learn from going through that? Yeah,
Kade Snell:
I’m actually I’m super glad that they kept me in South Bend for the most part. Because I mean we had a good team. We clinched. I was able to stay there for that and I was able to stay there with my boys and that meant the world to me. I didn’t want to, we were kind of on a roll and broke my wrist. And it is what it is but I was able I was glad I was able to stay
Kate:
Kind of a freak accident, right? It was like an outfield collision.
Kade Snell:
Yeah.
Kate:
Does that is that in the back of your mind sometimes when you’re out there, you just can’t let that affect how you play?
Kade Snell:
No. I’ve always played kind of like my hair’s on fire, and I can’t let that stuff creep in, or that’s just not who I am. And you know, good Lord’s blessed me with a with a good mentality, and I normally don’t think about stuff like that, whenever I come back.
Kate:
How much did it help the rehab process along to just be there with it instead of being sent back to Arizona? And you know, it can be such a grind.
Kade Snell:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it helped me out a ton, especially just being around the guys. And you know, Josiah [Hartshorn] came up that week. I broke my wrist, so I was able to kind of talk to him, kind of see how his brain works, and I was able to stay close with Kep [Kane Kepley], and then he ended up getting moved to Double A. But yeah, just staying close and being like a glue guy, still being in the clubhouse, not able to hit or do anything, but try and make a difference when you’re not on the field.
Kate:
Maybe it helped you work on that aspect of your game a little bit.
Kade Snell:
100% Yeah. I think you can always bring something to the table, and for me, in that moment, was just be a good teammate and go work my tail off, and I think I did that.
Kate:
You feel like it could help you develop some leadership skills?
Kade Snell:
For sure. Yeah, and just figuring out how guys work. You know, everybody’s a little different, and you have to talk to everybody a little different. But yeah, the fact that they kept me in South Bend kind of shows me what they think about me and what I meant to that clubhouse. And man, I don’t take that stuff for granted.
Kate:
What have you enjoyed so far about being here in Fall League?
Kade Snell:
A lot of good players, a lot of good arms, a lot of good players. Like I said, picking their brain. I mean, we got studs all all across this team and just sharing a locker room with them. I think it’s the best.
Kate:
Now that you’re able to be back, like, what have you realized about maybe the gift of kind of having baseball taken away for a while?
Kade Snell:
Yeah, I mean for sure. I try not to take it for granted being out there, and you know God always works in weird ways. And if it took Him pulling me off the field to appreciate the game more, I think it did. And yeah, I don’t take it for granted at all anytime I’m out there.
Kate:
Has it changed at all? Like what you’re proudest of as far as like what you take pride in in your game? ,
Kade Snell:
Yeah, them seeing me as a good teammate, I think that that kind of helped me out a ton. Just because, like I said before, there’s always way to impact the game, whether you’re on the field or off the field. You can always be doing something for your boys, and I think that meant a lot to me personally that they wanted to keep me there. And man, I’m so thankful that they did.
Kate:
Does it kind of round you off off the field as well as on the field. What do you most want Cubs fans to know about you?
Kade Snell:
I have a firm faith in Jesus Christ, and I like. I need people to see that when I play, and also I’m a fierce competitor, and I love to go out there. And like I said before, I love to play like my head’s on fire, and yeah, I work my tail off.
Kate:
Great, thanks so much. Thank you for talking.
So again, thank you to Kate Preusser for doing this. I fed her some questions and she picked the ones she liked and changed them and put them in her own words. She did a great job.
This interview just reaffirms what I’ve already thought about Snell. He’s an older prospect with skills that are solid but don’t jump out at you. But he’s also what we call a “baseball rat” who eats, drinks and sleeps the game and those guys often seem to find a way to get the most of what they have. No one is going to beat Snell because they outworked him. In any game I watched Snell play this past year in South Bend he was never not hustling, and he was always trying to be better. His walk-off home run in September was one of the highlights of the year for me.
Snell is also a player who takes as much pride being a good teammate as he does in being a great player. He has a chance to be a solid major leaguer but even if he falls short of that, he’s likely to make other players around him better. That type of mentality is good for everyone in the organization.