Another season is upon us! This year brings a change at the helm with Jeff Isom, who took over midway through July, replacing Lamarr Rogers. The question circling for the 2026 season is: what expectations should we have for Manager Jeff Isom, and will the fan base be patient?

Before we go forward, we have to take a step back and look at the past. We start with the 2018 season, the last time the RailCats made the postseason. They finished with a record of 59–41, were 1st in the North Division, and lost to the St. Paul Saints in four games. Ever since that season, the RailCats have ended up either 5th or 6th in their division. Over the past three years, they have been at the bottom of the entire league.

After the 2021 season, legendary manager Greg Tagert left the organization to join the San Francisco Giants rookie-ball team. Tagert’s departure came in early March of the 2022 season, after he had built most of the RailCats roster, before the RailCats hired Lamarr Rogers, whose experience was in the Houston Astros organization, where he won the Appalachian League Championship in his first year and was named Co-Manager of the Year. The RailCats ended the season 42-58 which landed them 5th in the East division and was the first year the American Association went to the top 4 teams in each division made the playoffs, this was also the best season Lamarr rogers had with the team.

In the 2023 season, the RailCats went through an ownership change as the Salvi family sold the team to current owner Joseph Eng. That season, the RailCats had a 41–58 record, playing only 99 games, as one of their games against the Kansas City Monarchs was canceled due to a rainout that was never rescheduled. This was the first full year Rogers had with his own team, and owner Joe Eng still had patience with Manager Rogers. Lamarr had a good team on paper for all four seasons he managed, but in 2024 the team set the worst record in franchise history with a record of 30–70 and a winning percentage of .300, which surpassed the previous worst record of 33–55 (.300) from the franchise’s first year of existence in 2002. Faith in Lamarr among the fanbase was starting to fade.

In 2025, it was a surprise to most of the fan base that Lamarr was brought back to Gary. For those who spoke with owner Joe Eng, it was clear why: Joe was focused on the off‑field aspects of the team, working with the City of Gary on getting a new suite in the stadium and creating a better family atmosphere at the ballpark. He’s also the type of person who understood the situation Lamarr was put in. In Lamarr’s first year, he took over a roster that really wasn’t his, so his second year was effectively his first year of recruiting and managing. Joe understood this, but he also has a passion for winning, so when the team didn’t start well in 2025, the search for a new manager came into play.

On July 18th of the 2025 season, the RailCats announced that manager Lamarr Rogers was relieved of his duties and that they would be bringing in Jeff Isom, who had previously managed the Chicago Dogs in 2024. In his first game with the RailCats, the team won big over the Kane County Cougars, with the final score 13–6. Being at the game, you could feel a difference with Isom at the helm. Some might call it the ‘new coach bump.’ The first thing I noticed was that he let the players play and didn’t script the game. He put his trust in his pitching staff and position players to go out and just play baseball—which they did, as the team went 19–18 over the final 37 games. Before Isom arrived, the RailCats were on pace to finish with an even worse record than they had the previous year.

What does Manager Jeff Isom bring to the table, you may ask? Beyond pitching for Purdue, being drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and pitching for the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, he brings plenty of independent league managing experience. Before he returned to what is now called partner league baseball, he spent time managing in the Milwaukee Brewers system from 2007 to 2012. He then managed in the Frontier League from 2013 to 2018. In the 2013 season, he led the Lake Erie Crushers to the finals, and in 2018 he won the Frontier League Championship with the Joliet Slammers. He took a break from managing until the 2024 season, when he led the Chicago Dogs to the East Division Championship Series.

Now to answer the question we all have for the 2026 season: how patient should the fan base be with new manager Jeff Isom? To me, the clock has been reset—partially. We got a taste of what Jeff could do with a roster that wasn’t his and saw how the players responded and the success the team had. Was it a small sample size? Yes. But it was an above-.500 record, and the team was enjoyable to watch. I’m not saying that if, at the end of the 2026 season, the team’s record has not improved, fans—or even the organization—should be okay with that. But if things get rocky at the beginning, it’s not time to panic; it’s a time to understand that we have a new guy running the team. Jeff Isom has the resume of producing a winning team.

Now a second question may pop into your head: what is different about Jeff’s team compared to Lamarr’s team? The answer is simpler than you might think. Lamarr comes strictly from affiliated ball, where managers rely on the bigger club to make player decisions and lean heavily on analytics. To me, Lamarr struggled to get the players he needed throughout the season and tended to script the games. Now, that doesn’t take away from Lamarr being a good manager, but he tried to make partner league baseball operate like affiliated ball. He had a good coaching staff with him—so much so that Jeff kept all but one coach from Lamarr’s staff. If Lamarr takes another crack at partner league baseball, he’ll need to avoid being a one-man show, allow himself time to recruit during the season, and put more trust in his pitching staff.

With Jeff, there are still a lot of unknowns, but what I can tell you is that he has been a proven winner in partner league baseball. In his first season in the American Association, he took the Dogs to the East Division Final. Yes, some may argue that he was gifted that team because most of the players were returning, but he still had to manage that roster and improve it over the course of the year. But here is what I’ve seen and come to know: Jeff will instill trust in his players by not basing his decisions solely on analytics, but on feel. Will he use analytics? Yes, he will, but that won’t be why he changes pitchers or uses a tactic in a high‑pressure situation. He has brought in his own analytics guy, who will be reaching out to other clubs or players that might fit the mold Jeff needs.

My expectation for this year is the playoffs, but if we miss and it comes down to the final series of the season, given the history of the franchise I won’t be completely disappointed. I have faith in Jeff, and I believe the rest of the fan base should feel the same.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for taking time out of your day to read this article I’ve put together. I’d love to hear your feedback on the start of the 2026 season and what your expectations are for the team. Go ’Cats!