Assad family's big full circle moment in San Diego

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.

SAN DIEGO -- The mural stretches across an entire wall under an overpass. An image of Cubs pitcher Javier Assad is looking skyward -- his arms raised, his expression stoic -- while wearing Team Mexico’s uniform from the World Baseball Classic. The word "Tijuana" is painted in bold green lettering behind him.

Assad’s dad, Javier Sr., gets to see it every time he commutes to work.

“I'm super proud,” the elder Assad said via Cubs team translator Fredy Quevedo Jr. earlier this week in San Diego. “It’s something really special.”

During the Cubs’ recent visit to Petco Park, a host of Javier Assad’s family and friends made the trek up from their hometown of Tijuana, Mexico, to watch him start against the Padres. That included Assad’s parents, Javier Sr. and María Isabel Ramírez, who have had a handful of opportunities to see him pitch in person.

On Monday, though, Assad was able to make his first career start in San Diego, where he used to come to watch games as a kid.

“It's a dream come true,” Assad said via Quevedo.

Asked for his favorite memory of attending Padres games as a youngster, Assad cracked a smile. He was a Dodgers fan growing up, because that was who most of his family cheered on since Fernando Valenzuela pitched for Los Angeles. Assad’s father, however, cheered for the Padres, so he made his son don a San Diego jersey when they went to a game.

As Assad told the story, his dad stood nearby listening, grinning ear to ear.

“Every time the other team scored, I would be rooting, but I had a Padres jersey on,” Assad said. “He told me, ‘The only way I'm taking you to the game is if you wear the Padres jersey.’”

Now, Javier Sr. proudly wears a Cubs jersey bearing their family name and his son’s No. 72. Assad’s dad spoke of always believing that his son could make it professionally, especially when scouts started inquiring about his son. But Assad said his dad also played an important role when the aspiring pitcher was 15 years old.

“There came a point where my dad told me, ‘Hey, what do you want to do?’” Assad said. “‘Do you want to pursue baseball? Do you want to keep studying?’ He told me, ‘If you choose to pursue baseball, though, you've got to focus and really go all in on it.’”

Assad signed with the Cubs in 2015 and was a steady performer before posting a 5.32 ERA over 93 innings at Double-A Tennessee in 2021. Rather than letting that slow his trajectory, Assad dedicated himself to a velocity training program and put himself on the Major League map with a stellar ‘22 (2.66 ERA in 108 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A Iowa).

By the end of 2022, Assad was in the big leagues with the Cubs. In ‘23, the righty made a name for himself with Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, and followed it up with an impressive campaign between the rotation and bullpen with the Cubs. That set the stage for the right-hander to earn a starting job in Chicago's rotation this spring.

“He's always been very good since he was younger,” Javier Sr. said. “But it definitely does surprise me, seeing him out there on the mound and just seeing him pitch against these big names, these talented players in the big leagues. It's just really exciting.”

Assad’s journey led to Tijuana mayor Montserrat Caballero reaching out to the pitcher’s family to tell them about the plans for the mural. At first, Javier Sr. thought the message they received was a scam. It was very real, and now he gets to drive by his son’s image regularly in their hometown.

That brings a smile to Assad’s face.

“It's something really neat,” said the Cubs pitcher. “I've got so many friends and family just sending me messages and videos randomly that they see it. It's something really cool that my family and my loved ones and friends get to experience.”