MESA, Ariz. — Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell couldn’t help but think of his late father Thursday afternoon at Sloan Park.
Counsell, sitting on a folding chair next to the dugout, watched his elder son, Brady, a 10th-round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks last year, step into the batter’s box for the first professional plate appearance of his career. Brady worked a five-pitch walk against lefty Luke Little in the eighth inning and was waiting on-deck for another at-bat when the Cubs closed out an 8-1 win.
“It was a thrill, I really wish my dad could have been here to see it for sure,” Counsell said of his father, John, who died in December at 83. “Probably thought of that first, honestly. But I’m happy for him and proud of him and thankful that I got to witness it.”
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Brady, 22, wanted to surprise his roommate with the news. He found out Wednesday night he would be part of the Diamondbacks’ travel roster Thursday and immediately told his mom, Michelle. He decided to hold off on sharing that with his dad, who is living with Brady this spring. Craig thought he was giving his wife good news Thursday morning when he texted her a photo of the Diamondbacks roster, but Michelle revealed she already knew.
The Cubs manager admitted to feeling a little nervous before the game and joked he wouldn’t watch Brady’s at-bat live, instead checking it out on video later. Of course, Counsell was locked in from his front-row seat. Counsell quipped that he’s going to get on bench coach Ryan Flaherty for having Little try to pick off Brady at first base.
“He’s awesome, I think he does a great job of differentiating, the baseball side of things, just the dad side of things,” Brady said. “Usually it’s brief conversation after games, just something he saw, kind of how it went after that. Just him being normal dad.”
The father and son met at the plate before the game to exchange the teams’ lineup cards. Brady entered in the bottom of the seventh at third base but didn’t get any balls hit his way. Third-base coach Quintin Berry gave Brady a hug as warmup throws finished.
“That’s made me the player that I am today, just being around big-leaguers and seeing how they operate and the life that it is,” Brady said of being around his dad’s teams. “That kind of makes the transition from college to pro definitely a little bit easier. But it’s a grind. It’s great going to field every day and playing baseball.”
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo had been watching Brady work out on the backfields at the team’s complex in Scottsdale when the idea came to him to put the young Counsell on the travel roster for Thursday’s game. He knew this kind of opportunity doesn’t often present itself and wanted to take advantage of it for the Counsells.
“I’ve had that moment, I know what it means to me — it’s very impactful,” Lovullo said before the game. “It’s probably more emotional for the parent than it is the son or the daughter in these situations. You go crashing all the way back to them in diapers and changing their diapers and throwing your first ball to him. I don’t care who you are, you reflect that far back and then you just proudly watch your son do his thing in his own element and make it his own way. And that’s where Brady is right now.”
Cubs manager Craig Counsell, right, talks with Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo before a Cactus League game Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Ross D. Franklin/AP)
Lovullo got to share a similar moment with his son, Nick, three years ago, exchanging lineup cards before a Diamondbacks-Cubs spring game at Sloan Park. Nick Lovullo has risen through the organization since joining the Cubs in 2022 as the Double-A bench coach. He took over as the Arizona Complex League manager the following season and then spent two years (2024-25) managing High A South Bend. Nick Lovullo, 32, will serve as the bench coach with Triple-A Iowa this season.
“I’m having that moment right now, as I’m reflecting on it, and I’m so proud of my son, and he’s just fought hard for everything that he knows and has gotten in this game,” Torey Lovullo said Thursday. “He’s in a great organization that’s taking great care of him and teaching him, and he’s willing to learn, and the sky’s the limit for him. I’ve always seen this potential in him. He’s a connector of people. He understands how to teach, and those are some really good keys to being a good instructor. I’m proud of him.”
Asked to compare his baseball attributes to his dad’s, Brady sees a lot of similarities: high baseball IQ and playing hard and the right way. There’s one notable difference between the two.
“I think I definitely have a lot more power than he did, just based on what I’ve done so far — I’m sure he’d agree with me,” Brady said.
Counsell didn’t contest Brady’s assessment.
“No doubt,” said Craig, who finished with 42 home runs in 16 seasons. “A couple of the Diamondbacks coaches said he’s pretty big, I’m not sure that’s your son.”