​As Knoxville Smokies players fight for a spot at Wrigley Field, manager Lance Rymel is chasing the same destination.At 36 years old, Rymel is in his 11th year working in the Cubs’ organization, a decade removed from being a prospect in the same Chicago system. Since beginning his managerial career with the Dominican Summer League Cubs in 2017, he has climbed the organizational ladder, arriving with the Double-A Smokies in 2024.Now in his third season with the Smokies, who returned to Knoxville in 2025, Rymel is looking to lead the club to a title at Covenant Health Park. After losing Game 1 of the Southern League Divisional Series to the Rocket City Trash Pandas, the Smokies return home needing wins Sept. 17 and 18 to advance to the championship round.Buy Smokies playoff tickets here! Cubs gave Lance Rymel a second chance. He hasn’t looked back.When a game ends, players exit the Covenant Health Park dugout through a tunnel to the clubhouse. They drop off equipment, pass the laundry facility and make their way down the hallway toward the locker room.Just beyond the industrial-sized washers, a door on the right opens to Rymel’s office. He sits behind a sparse desk with a tablet in front of him, while a whiteboard covered in notes on the wall behind him.”It’s a blessing, man,” Rymel told Knox News. “You got players from all over the world trying to be a big league ball player. That was my goal one time as a player. I never got to achieve it. But I hope I can help these guys achieve their goals and change their lives and their family’s lives.”After a career at Division II Rogers State University, where he was later inducted into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame, Rymel was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 28th round of the 2012 MLB Draft. He spent three seasons playing minor league baseball, reaching as high as Triple-A with the Iowa Cubs.As a catcher, he played alongside and behind some of the best catchers in baseball, including Kyle Schwarber, Willson Contreras and Victor Caratini. Rymel made a professional All-Star team during his time in Single-A and reached three championship series. But he never reached Chicago.The Cubs released Rymel in January 2015. Three months later, after latching onto a minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies, he was released again. Rymel made the trek back to Oklahoma, trying to figure out what came next. For two weeks, he planned to return to Rogers State as a graduate assistant, uncertain whether his baseball career had truly ended. Then the Cubs called again.The organization needed a rehab coach on short notice. Alex Suarez from the Cubs’ front office and field/catching coordinator Tim Cousins offered Rymel the job, convinced the work ethic he displayed as a player would translate to coaching. Two weeks later, he was driving to Arizona to begin coaching.”I appreciate all the coaching I got through my playing days,” Rymel said. “I had a good run and I just wanted to give it back to the players.” Now in charge