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

Release the Hounds! Friday Night Foxhunt...

Ahh, opening night at the ballpark. The aromas of the stadium grills. The energy of the gathering crowd. The intense greenness of the diamond. The excitement in the PA announcer's voice. The flowers in the restrooms!?

Even the national anthem singer last night at Principal Park in Des Moines couldn't wait to get the Iowa Cubs' home season started. She zipped through a snappy rendition in a minute or so and away we went.

Alas, once the game was put in the hands of professional ballplayers it ground nearly to a halt right out of the blocks.

A nearly 40-minute first inning saw both starting pitchers walk in a run and get paid a visit from their respective dugouts on the mound.

When the I-Cubs finally got to hit, leadoff man Sam Fuld popped one foul down the third baseline and headed for first. A hustling batboy sprinted from the home team's dugout and grabbed at Fuld's bat, by then in the grip of Round Rock's catcher. Only the catcher wouldn't let go. The confused batboy looked up at him pleadingly and the catcher pointed his attention to the stands where the ball had landed. Fuld was on his way back to the batter's box and wasn't yet done with his bat.

The first inning might never have ended had the sizzling Jake Fox not swung at the first pitch he saw and grounded into a fielder's choice that broke up an otherwise monotonous, if profitable, stretch of four straight walks by Round Rock's impostorous southpaw hurler.

Later on Fox would fire a run scoring single and launch a towering solo homer to maintain his per game RBI average at precisely two and the I-Cubs eased to an 8-3 win in front of an unusually large and comfortable opening night crowd of nearly ten grand.

By the second inning the renewed joy of baseball had already worn off for many and the scoreboard was inviting children to the playground under the first base grandstands. Such are the times we live in.

First game kinks were fairly minimal. There were a few pitches clocking in on the scoreboard radar screen at 50 mph, but the whole operation was otherwise in mid-season form.

I'll be back there tonight to have a look at the Notre Dame receiver turned thrower. If, that is, I can keep myself out of the playground. Tonight's promo is an earmuff giveaway; they shouldn't be necessary if the weather holds. Tomorrow afternoon is Samardzija jersey-shirt day. I'll check to see if they spell it right...MW

Comments

A little elaboration [had to hurry this morning to my son's ballgame; he knocked in the gamewinner in a seesaw 18-17 comedy of errors]: Fuld had a hustling triple to the right-field corner & is the kind of ballplayer I enjoy watching & rooting for...Bobby Scales stroked three doubles, is a switch-hitter and seems prospective...Randy Wells shrugged off his uneven first inning and lasted another four during which he fanned six and walked no more...Fox wears #50, tucks his pants @ Ruthian length & really looks menacing @ the plate right now - his manager [Bobby Dickerson] says, "there isn't a fastball he can't turn around..."

Ok, I'm in Seattle. I can't expect Fox to show the Cubs game out here...of course it's also blacked out so I can't watch it online either. That makes total fucking sense. But, what pisses me off is that there's also a Dodgers/Rockies game and a D-Bags/Giants game. But wait, which game are they broadcasting here? Yankees/Indians. What the mother fuck? I hate MLB, I hate Fox and I hate fucking Joe Buck. Fuck all. [EDIT] Yes, Joe Buck, thanks for that analysis: "No one likes to see their ERA at over 28". Nothing like mailing in your knowledge of baseball.

...at least temporarily, in a tie with 15 after hitting his second home run today in a record setting 20-2 romp (and still playing) vs the NY Yankees. (insert second guessing Hendry here)

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

I know it's early and some guys (MB, Soto) haven't gotten going yet, but it really seems like this team is nowhere near as good as last year's. We really miss DeRosa's power/versatility. The bullpen has been pretty brutal so far. The starting pitching has been very inconsistent, and for as much depth as we supposedly had I have no idea who our 6th starter will be when Harden gets injured. Give them credit for winning more often than they're losing so far, but unless the bullpen starts throwing strikes and Bradley starts hitting (and stays on the field) I'm really nervous that we'll be looking up at STL at the end of the year.

[ ]

In reply to by Doug Dascenzo

Yeah, it's way too early, bro. This team has thunder unmatched in the league besides maybe the Cards or Dodgers. I was a huge Derosa fan and I'm totally with you on that, but if you look at his numbers year to year '08 is way out of whack. I don't think he'll be able to repeat. The bullpen definitely is troubling and as long as you have the likes of Neil Cotts out there, it will continue to be troubling; Neil Cotts is not a good pitcher. The team needs a LOOGY that can throw strikes in a bad way. Give Cotts another week or so, but if he doesn't start nailing things down I'm cool with seeing if Waddell or Papelbon can step up. It's not like they'll be able to do much worse.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

I agree that DeRo probably won't quite get to his numbers from 2008, but I'd say he's very likely to hit 12-18 homers with a .350+ OBP. Not an elite slugger by any stretch, but a good bat with decent power who can play a lot of different positions well. Fontenot might be able to put up similar numbers, but the problem is Aaron Miles. When Rammy goes down with his annual 15-20 game injury we're replacing his bat with Miles. Last year, DeRo just slid over and Fonty came in put up good offensive numbers. It just feels like our bench is incredibly weak this year. I love the Hoffpauir addition, but with Miles and Gathright we're really struggling to come up with decent pinch hitters late in the game. I also think we need a much more versatile 25th man than Gathright. He's way too one-dimensional to take up a roster spot. And the point I made in my original post about not knowing who our 6th starter would be is a legitimate concern, I think. Last year, Marshall was a very capable 6th man. This year, he's in the rotation and our 6th man is who? Kevin Hart? Please no.

[ ]

In reply to by Doug Dascenzo

Yes, well, the Fox guys were handing the Indians their 2009 rings already after 12 games. Give the AL hurlers some time to adjust to DeRo, just as KC did to Hamilton last night. Looks like Josh already misses MB. As far as Hendry, have you looked at what Pie and Isturis are doing in Baltimore? Kudos, JH! BTW, Brian Roberts is still tearing it up at leadoff. Let's start some trade talk rumors! Miles hit with 2 outs, RISP was a big lift. Miles is moving in. Sorry, Font. Bullpen: If they Start throwing strikes, the "out of option" guys will be switching to Padres uni's. Not that we can't take it all WITH these guys. Gooozzz has experience but doesn't, if you know what I mean. And Marmol clunking Pujols was, to me, in the Spirit of Championship Baseball. Carlos The Matador standing tall in front of the menacing horns! Great wins last 2! Don't let them get up today!

Lou is handling the bullpen like it consists of Marmol, Marmol, Marmol and maybe Gregg.

BTW.... Soriano takes a lot of shit on here (and other places) for his D, but he deserves some credit for turning that double play late in the game today. That was a huge play.

[ ]

In reply to by Little Nate Lewis

Sori doesn't have a particularly strong arm, but it's deadly accurate, he's been at the top of the league in outfield assists (adjusted for games missed due to injury) ever since he was moved to the OF. If only he knew how to go back on a ball hit over his head, he'd actually be a pretty damn good defensive OF. Mini-rant: when Gathright came up, both Pujols and Barden were playing back, behind the bags. Why doesn't Lou have Joey drop a drag bunt in that situation down one of the lines? If he keeps it fair, he'd definitely beat it out and the Cubs win. Mini-rant 2: Neal Cotts. Go away. Yeah, there'd be no lefty in the pen, but I'd rather have a RH reliever that can throw strikes than a deadbeat who keeps his job just because he's LH. Send him to Iowa, recall Chad Fox, and have Hendry start looking for a lefty middle reliever via trade.

I hadn't seen it mentioned, but nice clutch performance by Gregg in bailing out Marmol, and not a bad job by Marmol in the previous inning against the heart of the lineup.

Agreed, Gregg looked great out there. Nice to see him finally look dominant instead of average. If he can pitch like that 9 times out of 10, I think he'll be perfectly fine.

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)

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  • Arizona Phil (view)

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  • Arizona Phil (view)

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  • Arizona Phil (view)

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  • Arizona Phil (view)

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  • crunch (view)

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  • 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...