Cubs MLB Roster

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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 

 



 

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Dempster Wins, Theriot Continues to Embarrass Bigger, Stronger Teammates

With Aramis Ramirez back in the starting lineup, the Cubs won their fourth in a row, defeating the Giants, 4-2, on Monday night at Wrigley. The Cubs will have a chance to finish a 5-1 homestand when the teams meet Tuesday afternoon.

Why the Cubs won: Ryan Dempster, coming off his first loss and poorest start of the young season last week in Phoenix, earned his second victory with his best start of 2009. Dempster kept the Giants off the board until the sixth inning and allowed just 5 hits and 2 walks over seven.

Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg preserved the lead over the final two innings. Marmol looked great, fanning two and allowing just an infield single in his inning of work. (I imagine that Edgar Renteria will be seeing those three, nasty sliders in his sleep.)

On offense, once again, the big blow came from little Ryan Theriot, who cracked his third home run in four games. Theriot's two-run shot in the second inning gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead. The homer was fortuitous, considering that the Cubs blew a couple chances to break the game open, including a bases-loaded, none-out situation in the fifth inning, which yielded just one run.

Ramirez, by the way, went 0-for-3 plus a walk in his return.

On the move: Iowa infielder Bobby Scales, who would have replaced Ramirez on the roster if Rammy had been disabled last week, was summoned before the game to take the place of injured Carlos Zambrano. According to Cubs.com, the team will call up righthander Randy Wells to take Zambrano's next scheduled turn in the rotation, on Friday at Milwaukee. 

 

 

Comments

So if Scales shows ANYTHING between now and Friday, there is a chance that when Wells gets called up, Gathright gets cut. Right?? Hendry has already shown he's willing to eat millions to dump dead wood, so eating the million bucks he dumbly guaranteed to Gathright should be no problem now.

While you wonder about Gath (and rightly so), I wonder WTF with Bradley?! HAs he just forgotten how to hit? Pressing beyond belief? Just bad? It seems as if he is just freaked out, and doesn't know what hit him. If he ever gets on a roll - we'll have something really special. AZ PHIL is spot on: "...trade him."

"...Cubs will most likely call up righthander Randy Wells." Again, if you read my post last thread, Jim Hendry during the game stated, "Randy will be starting in Milwaukee Friday night..." so, unless it is a fake-out, or he gets hurt between now and then, I'd think the GM would be pretty accurate on the personnel move.

but made the play of the night tonight... Dbacks turn a triple play tonight versus Dodgers. 1st/2nd running when Casey Blake lines one to short.

ERA at 7.20 at the moment...did look the LF'er took a terrible route to let the game tying single drop. Indians still won though.

So, what was the net "savings" with trading Marquis for nothing? Will Marshall be the 2009 tough luck guy? Will Marquis continue his success in the 2nd half? Could not have had expected any more from a #5 starter. But in Colorado he is a 3.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Submitted by Ryno on Tue, 03/24/2009 - 9:19pm. I'll bet 5 virtual bucks Jason Marquis wins more games than Sean Marshall this year. Any takers? Submitted by The Joe on Tue, 03/24/2009 - 9:42pm. You're on! Submitted by Andrew on Wed, 03/25/2009 - 2:07am. It's not really fair odds as Marquis is probably the Rockies' 3rd starter and Marshall's a clear 5th. Still, I'll take that action as well. Submitted by Doug Dascenzo on Wed, 03/25/2009 - 9:48am. Sure, but by virtue of playing on a (hopefully) better team, Marshall ought to get more wins. Kind of like how Dice-K won a shitload of games last year while only throwing 5 1/3 innings per game. Too early to collect? =) Look, the thing is Marshall is so inconsistent. Way more inconsistent than Marquis. He'll probably get a little better with a couple years under his belt, but as things stand now Marquis is the better pitcher. Marquis for all his flaws is a workhorse and at a place like Coors Field where sinkerballers are like gold, he'll do pretty well. In the grand scheme of things, though, I don't think it matters if the Cubs have Marquis OR Marshall as their 5th starter.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Seriously... are you really talking trash after 5 Marquis starts, and 3 Marshall starts? Especially when they guy you are supporting is notorious for hot starts, and then huge crashes? As for Marshall being inconsistent, this is just odd. Marshall has three starts this year, and has given up 3, 3, and 1 run(s). Last year, in his 7 starts, he gave up 4 or more runs just twice - once in his first start. Marquis gave up 4 runs or more in 10 of his 28 starts. How is Marshall more inconsistent? As a starter last year, Marshall averaged 5.5 innings/start, with a 4.15 ERA, even though he was moved in and out of the rotation. Marquis averaged 5.9 innings/start, with a 4.43 ERA, and he knew exactly when he would be starting and didn't have to deal with getting moved around. Where are you getting this idea that Marshall is less consistent than Marquis?

I think Wells is the right way to go to replace Z's spot. With off days the next two Mondays we might be able to pass Z's spot until he gets back if it is only 2 weeks or so. Theriot is a behemoth, Sammy Sosa reincarnated...:) But it is nice to see someone step up and carry the team when all their big bats are struggling or hurt. Cubs will be facing Lincecum today. A win today + everyone getting healthy (minus Z of course) = a real winning run? Hopefully!! Go Cubs!

Anyone pay attention to how the bill on Ankiel's hat crumpled? I enjoyed Reed Johnson's highlight catch last year in Toronto when his bill flipped up and he ran off the field with it up. Nearly a scrappy guy fashion statement. The crumpled bill look as a fashion statement? Hmmm.

Submitted by jacos on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 6:38am.
Can Scales play outfield at all?

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JACOS: Yes and no.

Bobby Scales is the proverbial "Jack of all trades, Master of none." He's one of those "Crash Davis" type players whose primary value is as a mentor to younger players moving up through the system, but he also has a good knowledge of the game and could very well become a coach or a manager when he retires.

Scales figured out a few years ago that he needed to be able to play multiple positions if he was ever going to get a chance to play in the big leagues, so he has indeed attempted to learn every position except pitcher and catcher. Unfortunately, he is a defensive liability no matter where he plays. His best position is 2B (his natural position), but he's below average there, too.

I saw Scales when he was a young player in the Padres system a few years ago, and back then he was an offensive-first athletic second-baseman with plus speed and some pop. He has lost a step or two since then, however, but he still is a pretty good hitter with some XBH power. He could be a guy who might excel as a PH.

Barring an injury to an infielder, Scales will almost certainly head back to Iowa after Thursday's game, but at least he'll pick up a quick $9,000 (four days of MLB minimum salary pay) and a few days of MLB Service Time before he goes back to AAA. And now rhat he is on the 40-man roster, the Cubs would probably be more-inclined to bring him back up again if they need an extra position player sometime during the season, and as long as he has a decent year at Iowa, he should get recalled on September 1st.

Submitted by The Real Neal on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 9:34am. If it was the 6th game of the year I may agree with you, but the problem is that Heilman hasn't thrown 30 pitches in a game since April 7th and Wells has been starting all year (though he got a short start last time due to rain I think).

===================================

REAL NEAL: Esmailin Caridad's start on Sunday at Memphis was limited to three innings (and 45 pitches) before the game was suspended due to rain.

As for Randy Wells, he was intentionally limited to three innings & 39 pitches in his start last night for Iowa, because he will be pitching Friday on three days rest. The Cubs could have skipped his scheduled start last night completely, but then he would be starting on ten days rest on Friday, and Wells is a sinkerball pitcher who would probably be adversely affected by too much rest.

Submitted by jacos on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 10:13am. Thanks Phil. Why not make him Dero lite and get rid of pretend MLBer Gatwright?

=================================

JACOS: I think Gathright will probably eventually be replaced on the 25-man roster later this season by a more-versatile player (IF-OF), but I doubt that it would be Bobby Scales.

If the Cubs look inside their own organization, a more likely candidate to replace Gathright would be Matt Camp, a versatile and athletic player who can play 2B-CF-LF-3B-SS (although like Scales, he is below-average defensively no matter where he plays). But Camp would definitely be a better PR option than Scales (who has lost a step or two over the years) and probably would be even a better PR option than Gathright, because while Gathright is one of the fastest players in baseball, he is not especially good at stealing bases or baserunning. Camp isn't much of a hitter (but then neither is Gathright), but Camp is a good baserunner and base-stealer, and he can bunt, too, and he can play infield, which Gathright can't.  

Recent comments

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    For sure. This lineup isn’t exactly stacked as is, and subbing out a Cooper or even a Tauchman for Madrigal won’t do it any favors.

  • crunch (view)

    the ESPN bottom graphic taking up 1/8th of the screen sucks.

    i only use ESPN during baseball season and i'm forced to watch a baseball broadcast designed to be broadcast in sports bars and betting parlors where the news/scores of other games is as important as what you're actually tuned in to watch.

  • crunch (view)

    morel triple to start the season....yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    LHP Blake Weiman appears to have been the last cut from the AAA Iowa roster. He is with the Tennessee group at Minor League Camp.

     

  • crunch (view)

    bruce bochy is hobbling rather badly for a guy who's had 2 hip replacements.  his gait is extremely wonky taking the lineup card to the ump.

  • crunch (view)

    yeah, for me this isn't about who's better at 3rd.  it's madrigal, period.  for me it's about who's not hitting in the lineup because madrigal is in the lineup.

    occasional play at 3rd for madrigal, okay.  going with the steele/ground-ball matchup...meh, but okay, whatever.

    seeing madrigal get significant starting time...no thanks.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Yeah I am very disappointed Madrigal is starting. He has no business as a starter. He is AAA insurance, a back up at best. Sure his defense looks fine because he plays far enough in that his noodle arm isn’t totally exposed. It comes at the cost of 3B range.

    He’s garbage, and a team serious about winning would NOT have him starting opening day.

  • crunch (view)

    in other news, it took 3 PA before a.rizzo got his 1st HBP of the season.

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.