Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

28 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 

Last updated 3-26-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 15
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Looks Like Mr. Tiggy’s Goin’ to Wrigley

Jeff Vorva at The Daily Southtown reports that sources are claiming the Cubs will call-up 24-year LHP Carmen Pignatiello from AAA before tonight's game at Wrigley Field versus CIN, and that RHP Sean Gallagher will be optioned to Iowa, where he can get regular work as a rotation starter. Pignatiello was named Illinois Baseball Player of the Year by Gatorade and the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year in 2000, as he went 14-0 with a 0.79 ERA for Providence Catholic HS in New Lenox, before being selected by the Cubs in the 20th Round of the 2000 Rule 4 Draft. Tiggy led the Florida State League in strikeouts while pitching for the Daytona Cubs in 2003. The Cubs have been operating with one lefty in the pen (Scott Eyre) since Will Ohman was optioned to Iowa a week ago. As you can see by his stats at Iowa, Pignatiello is not just a LOOGY, but he is in fact more effective against left-handed hitters (.163 Opp BA and 0.80 WHIP) than he is versus right-handed hitters (.245 Opp BA and 1.28 WHIP). In his last eight appearances, Pignatiello has thrown 8.0 IP, allowing one run on six hits and one BB, while striking out eight. Tiggy is eligible to be a minor league FA on October 15th if he isn't added to the 40-man roster by that date, so doing it now merely keeps the Cubs from further postponing the inevitable. Pignatiello was eligible to be a six-year minor league FA after the 2006 season, too, but he opted to re-up with AAA Iowa after getting a Cubs slot in the Arizona Fall League and an NRI to Spring Training. To make room on the 40-man roster for Pignatiello, I would think the Cubs will likely transfer injured catcher Henry Blanco (neck) to the 60-day DL. Since Blanco has already spent 60+ days on the 15-day DL (and since time spent on the 15-day DL counts toward time spent on the 60), he can be reactivated at any time. UPDATE FROM ROB: Jake Fox is on his way up too, no word on the corresponding roster move.

Comments

Off topic, but here's an odd statistic. We know M. Barrett is not thriving in S.D., but did anyone else notice that he has one walk in 104 at bats? This is further evidence of what we saw with the Cubs, that he has lost his equilibrium for some reason.

I like lefties but not loogies, so Rapada can stay in Iowa for a while. Someone to keep an eye on next year is lefty reliever Casey Lambert, who graduated from U. of Va. and then skipped Boise to pitch at Peoria, where his ERA is 2.01. His last two outings (8/8 and 8/12) produced Blevins-like numbers: 3.0 inn, 0 h, 0 r, 1 bb, 3 k 2.0 inn, 1 h, 0 r, 0 bb, 5 k

Guess it does make sense to get another RH bat if we're seeing Dumatrait and Livingston in this series. 3 lefties in that Reds pen as well.

This is a repeat from the last thread, but what of AZ Phil's comments regarding not burning one of E. Patterson's options? Shouldn't the Cubs have sent E-Pat down yesterday in order to avoid burning the option? Or have they decided he's too valuable on the current team to send him back to AAA?

Two thumbs up on the title. Clever. As you can see by his stats at Iowa, Pignatiello is not just a LOOGY, but he is in fact more effective against left-handed hitters (.163 Opp BA and 0.80 WHIP vs left-handed hitters)... His numbers v. LHB are pretty bad ass for the PCL.

Virginia Phil: Off topic, but here’s an odd statistic. We know M. Barrett is not thriving in S.D., but did anyone else notice that he has one walk in 104 at bats? This is further evidence of what we saw with the Cubs, that he has lost his equilibrium for some reason. I've always said I'd rather have guys in the lineup who will put together good at-bats than guys who put up flashy numbers. While, in some ways, I miss having Barrett on the team, I really don't miss him in the lineup.

I’ve always said I’d rather have guys in the lineup who will put together good at-bats than guys who put up flashy numbers. Define good at-bats. I would say that before this year Barrett had many, many good at-bats.

Sheffield/Cornelia — August 14, 2007 @ 11:17 am This is a repeat from the last thread, but what of AZ Phil’s comments regarding not burning one of E. Patterson’s options? Shouldn’t the Cubs have sent E-Pat down yesterday in order to avoid burning the option? Or have they decided he’s too valuable on the current team to send him back to AAA? ============================== SHEFF: What I said last week was that if the Cubs could wait until AT LEAST Monday 8/13 to option Eric Patterson to Iowa, and then recall him right away when rosters expand on September 1st, that he would spend less than 20 days on option to the minors in 2007, and thus would not burn a minor league option and would still have three minor league options going into the 2008 season. (If a player spends less than 20 days on optional assignment to the minors in a given season, a minor league option is not used). Since it's already one day beyond Monday 8/13, the Cubs will not have to recall E-Pat on September 1st. As of today they could wait until September 2nd, or even later than that depending on how much longer he remains with the Cubs before getting optioned out. The main thing is for Patterson to spend less than 20 days on optional asignment once he gets sent down. If it's less than twenty days, he doesn't burn an option. BTW, if the Cubs recall Jake Fox today, he will have spent only 18 days on optional assignment in 2007, and if he doesn't get optioned out again this season, the Cubs won't burn one of Fox's options, either, and he will go into the '08 seasoin with three minor league options. . Keeping as many minor league options as possible available for each player on the 40-man roster is important, up until a player reaches five years of MLB service time (when he can refuse an optional assignment). The Cubs having an option available so that they could send Will Ohman to Iowa last week would be a good example of that.

God i got tired of how people pimped out Barrett because he won a silver slugger and how he was an integral part of the offense. Seriously if all your putting up is 60 RBI a year....you are not going to be missed at all if your traded. And Barrett hasnt been missed one single bit. Good riddance to an over-rated piece of garbage who got way too many props for winning a meaningless award.

I think that a good nickname for Pignatiello is: The Big Ragu Sure the guy on Laverne and Shirley was named Carmine but it think its still good.

Seriously if all your putting up is 60 RBI a year Right... because RBI are the only offensive contribution that means anything.

I personally hate judging players by awards, Mike, so my love for Barrett certainly didn't come from winning the Silver Slugger.

Rght... because RBI are the only offensive contribution that means anything. But, dave! That's what Joe Morgan told me!

Being a Catcher and only playing 70% of the games probably had alot to do with the lack of RBI's. That and the fact that Cubs hitters get on base less than the average AV geek from your local High school.

I would have gone with 'Cubs Bank on Piggy' or 'This Little Piggy Comes Home' on the titles. MikeC AIENTKILIMFYOFB forevah!

It's official ------------------------------------------------------------------ from Cubs Media Relations Aug 14, 2007 CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs today selected left-handed pitcher Carmen Pignatiello and recalled infielder/outfielder Jake Fox from Triple-A Iowa. In corresponding moves, right-handed pitcher Sean Gallagher and infielder Eric Patterson were optioned to Iowa. To make room for Pignatiello on the 40-man roster, catcher Henry Blanco has been transferred to the 60-day disabled list.

"I would say that before this year Barrett had many, many good at-bats." You're right - I can't think of a better offensive catcher for the Cubs (since Jody Davis) than Barrett had been over the past few years. Too bad everything went downhill so quickly for him this year - he was never good defensively, but he just looked terrible out there most of the time.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...