While his ultimate dream was to play baseball in the MLB, Ruben Niebla ’96 is living his new dream as the San Diego Padres pitching coach. He is dedicated to helping pitchers achieve their full potential and ensuring players are in tune with their body. Niebla credits Azusa Pacific University’s baseball program with helping him advance in his career into the MLB as both a player and as a coach.
Raised in the border town of Calexico, California, Niebla grew up playing multiple sports but he fell in love with baseball. His passion for the game began as a child who became a fan from watching the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres. “Watching it on TV, it was the sport I followed most, so I chose to invest most of my time in it.” For Niebla, baseball was a year-round sport. Not only would he play in his hometown, but would play across the border in Mexicali, Mexico.
After graduating from Calexico High School in 1990, Niebla started his collegiate career playing for Imperial Valley College. After his second year, APU’s head coach, Tony Barbone, reached out with a potential spot in his line up for Niebla. After earning enough credits, he transferred to APU in fall 1993. Niebla played two seasons for APU in 1994 and 1995 with a stellar 2.57 ERA.
The feeling of family stands out when Niebla thinks of his time at APU. For Niebla, it was very easy to build relationships and be comfortable in the APU community. “It's the environment that APU created on and off the baseball field of this feeling of family. This camaraderie that we were able to build because we were always together.” The tough love from Coach Barbone was what kept Niebla improving and what ultimately sparked a passion for coaching. Niebla still keeps in touch with Barbone today, talking after games and offering advice.
Niebla received an offer from an independent professional league to play after college, so once he wrapped up his final semester and graduated, he transitioned from APU to playing professionally. Niebla signed with the Montreal Expos in 1997 and bounced around the minor leagues until 2000. In his six years playing in independent and minor leagues, he had a combined 4.11 ERA but unfortunately, never quite broke through to the MLB as a player.
However, Niebla has always had a heart for coaching, and with an excellent eye for pitching, that's what he went on to do. In the 2000 offseason, Niebla received multiple calls from different organizations who were interested in hiring him as a coach. He signed on with the Cleveland Indians as their minor league pitching coach from 2001-09 before making his MLB coaching debut in 2010. The decision to leave the minor leagues as a player was a hard one to make. Regret started to set in during his first year coaching when his friends and teammates started to get called up to the big league, “but that didn’t last long, because I grew such a strong passion for coaching.”
In the 2021 offseason, a pitching position opened up with the San Diego Padres, close to where he grew up. Niebla recalls the interview process with excitement. “It was close to home, my daughter had just got accepted at San Diego State University, and the Padres were a team close to their first World Series ring.” He started the 2022 season as the Padres pitching coach.
In the last three seasons, the team had two postseason runs in 2022 and 2024. Niebla not only brought experience and expertise in playing the game but also knowledge from his APU major in kinesiology. “I chose to study kinesiology because I wanted to understand body movements. This allowed me to see where things weren’t moving correctly which could help me move forward.” Kinesiology plays a big impact on his career because it allows Niebla to effectively communicate and partner with the strength and conditioning group about what is going on with players and what mechanics need to be altered for better performance. “It helps me understand how the sequencing is impacted and evolves and communicate with them in a mutual language we both understand.”
Niebla has two primary goals as a coach. “I aim to bring all domains in different dimensions together to help the pitcher grow, and to educate the player so he can understand what makes him good and keeps him from what keeps him from being better.” Digging into the pitcher in a holistic view is something he does to help improve the player to the best he can be. The repeatability of ability is a focus of Niebea’s coaching plans.
A standout from Nieblas 2024 season was helping Padres ace Dylan Cease achieve his first no-hitter against the Washington Nationals in June. It was the first time one of Nieblas players pitched a no-hitter at the major league level. The game started with a 90-minute rain delay and Niebla was challenged with keeping the starting pitcher warmed up while not exhausting his arm before the game. After seven innings, the pitch count was low and hopes for a no-hitter were high. Niebla recalled thinking “it’s going to happen.” For Niebla, there wasn’t a feeling of success for himself, but for Cease. “Watching him jump around, hug the guys and give high-fives, I was overjoyed for him. Watching him celebrate brought me so much joy.”
Part of APU’s mission is to prepare students for their future roles and careers. Niebla feels that APU gave him a home away from home, comfort in being himself and helped him grow in his faith. It helped him know that he was someone others could lean on and taught him the power of prayer. “My APU experience brought the small town boy out in the best way.” Niebla said “I loved the small community that really cares for you.”
As a major league pitching coach, he doesn’t have much free time, but Niebla makes sure to keep an active faith. Niebla gives thanks to the Lord during the national anthem before every game, believes strongly in the power of prayer, and asks for calmness in a high stress game. Understanding that it's out of his hands and in the hands of God gives Niebla peace no matter the outcome. To make up for the missed mass services on Sundays, each organization has a traveling chapel team, to have a service before the game every Sunday.
Outside of coaching the Padres, Niebla is the president of Imperial Valley Baseball, a nonprofit organization in El Centro “created to promote the game of baseball in the Imperial Valley.” It encourages youth to play baseball while also promoting the game within the community, not just with kids but with the decision makers to create more fields. They give out scholarships and gather the best players in the Imperial Valley for tournaments.
In his college days, Niebla faced a few challenges, the biggest being away from home. Responsibility and accountability of being on your own, being self-reliant, and learning how to be a man were the biggest challenges Niebla faced, but he saw them as helping shape who he would become.
Even though his playing career didn’t go as planned, Niebla has no regrets. “I look at the path I've had and I feel like I have the best job in baseball. I’m close to home, working with the San Diego Padres, the best fan base, and the best stadium in the MLB. I wouldn’t change a thing if it would change where I’m at now.” In the coming years, Niebla wants to stay in San Diego and win multiple World Series titles with the Padres.