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 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

TCR Tuesday Notes

Some stuff I've been meaning to mention...

- Scout.com's top 5 hitting prospects at the moment...

  1. Jake Fox
  2. Josh Harrison
  3. Tony Thomas
  4. Brad Snyder
  5. Rebel Ridling

and on the pitching side...

  1. Dan McDaniel
  2. Jose Ascanio
  3. Ryan Searle
  4. Chris Archer
  5. Chris Carpenter

 - This article is a couple weeks old, but Craig Brown has figured out what is wrong wtih Derrek Lee from the comfort of his computer. While the data he presents courtesy of Fangraphs is interesting in of itself, you have to love the conclusion he conjured up.

For starters, he needs to lay off all pitches outside the strike zone and focus only on those pitches that are over the plate - the pitches where he can actually accomplish something productive.  Then, he needs to concentrate on making solid contact.

So swing at strikes Derrek and make sure it's good contact when you do swing...a hitting coach in the making.

- Most of you have probably seen this one already, but History Channel did some morose show about life on Earth after all the people died. They imagined what would happen to Wrigley Field in the process.

 - Joe Aiello at VFTB  is asking Cubs fans to fill out his "Cubs Confidence Survey".

- Want all your Cubs news in one place (or any other team?), try Baseball Tribune.

Tags

Comments

"For starters, he needs to lay off all pitches outside the strike zone and focus only on those pitches that are over the plate - the pitches where he can actually accomplish something productive. Then, he needs to concentrate on making solid contact." bwhahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahhahahaha. oh man...wow.

I watched Rebel Ridling hit last Friday here in Ft. Wayne. He kind of reminds me of that guy nobody liked on that movie Supertroopers. I forget his name. Of course he wasn't quite as big. Anyways, man he pounced on a couple. The ball really jumps off his bat. And I'm no scout, so I can't say if he's going to be any good or not, but Flaherty is a very well-built creature. He has a very baseball-ish build with muscly legs and forearms.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

I just love the name. Rebel Ridling. Just an awesome athlete's name. He's showing better discipline this year ... well, today's 0 is bleh, but bad days happen. If he can get on a hot streak, I'd sure love to see what he can do in the upper levels. It'd be nice to have a power prospect ...

He has a very baseball-ish build with muscly legs and forearms. --- ...not going there. (link deleted)

Josh Vitters is not in the top 5? Brad Snyder is a better hitting prospect?

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

per their explanation, they only use raw numbers of performance (no age, ceiling, etc)...it's more of a "hot list" "The fourth installment in our 2009 Prospect Power Rankings, these rankings are compiled and updated on a weekly basis throughout the season and are based solely on player performances (read: not age)."

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

as noted, it's more of a hot list. As for Snyder, I can't take him too seriously yet. Happy for the guy, but the K/BB is bleh and makes me think PCL (remember Jason Dubois struggling in the IL for, I think, Columbus, before coming back).

If Dempster gets suspended for not throwing at Braun's head, does that mean he gets a free pass to drill Braun in the noggin later? Wouldn't double jeopardy apply?

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

Did I just hear that right, Jenks is also being investigated for not hitting Ian Kinsler. He threw it right behind him. I mean if you are going to get in trouble for NOT hitting someone, next time you might as well just plunk him in the helmet and give 'em the ol' Adam Greenberg treatment. I'd be alright ridding the league of Ryan Braun for a few years.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

So is Hawk going to admit he doesn't know what the devil is going on? I guess he's still waiting for that Cubs/White Sox game to be turned over on appeal. But yeah it seemed logical that they wouldn't want to hit Kinsler as the tying run, so they were probably just going with 'conventional wisdom' on that one.

Question: Anyone else agree with these statements? Fukudome isn't just average in CF; he is GOOD Fontenot isn't a crap fielder; he is DECENT Our best pitcher out of the 'pen right now is ANGEL GUZMAN. Tell me I am wrong, but I hope GEO SOTO doesn't join the long list of rookies who had a career year out of the box.....Jerome Walton, Bobby Crosby, Angel Berroa, Ben Grieve, Pat Listach, and who could forget Joe Charboneau

[ ]

In reply to by Q-Ball

If Soto doesn't pull it together it's because he forgets how to swing the bat. There was no magic about what he did the last two years; he swung at pitches in the zone, took pitches out of the zone, and when he swung, he drove the bat with his legs and extended it through the zone.

Soriano, Theriot, Fukudome, Lee, Bradley, Fontenot, Soto, Miles, Harden tonight Z will open series next Friday at San Diego, rehab start this weekend with Daytona. Dempster tomorrow, then Wells and Marshall on Saturday.

The hot list is interesting, but it is what it is. Overall, I think the most pleasant surprise this year has been how awesome Tony Thomas has been offensively. I think he's sort of gone under the radar a bit. He's been flat out awesome, outside of the SB%, but it was clear that he wasn't a prototypical leadoff type (if he makes it, I like him better as a 6/7 type hitter, but 2 I could live with ... if he makes it). Granted, gametracker isn't the best to make a deep assessment, but it seems like he's battling on pitches and showing more patience and judgment. His partner in crime, Darwin Barney, has had a very solid offensive season. I haven't been able to follow closely enough, but the errors for both those guys stands out, so that is worrisome, but gotta be pleased with those two. I think Harrison is somewhat similar to Mike Fontenot, but as a college bat, I'm not sure how much we should read on his numbers. He should do well at Peoria. I'd love to see him up a level. That said, so many 2nd baseman options (Flaherty, Thomas, Lake perhaps - he's gotten it going a bit of late as well) in the system, and not sure he can handle CF. I'm decently pleased with the pitching side of the equation. I'm a big fan of our last class, and it looks like Jay Jackson maybe rounding into form (knock on wood). Casey Coleman had a couple rough starts, but showed well against WTN. I love McDaniel and hope he can continue developing (we sure did push a lot of arms, Leverton's hit a rough patch, as has Russell). Searle's been nice - I didn't know what to make of him after the harsh BA critique of him. Carpenter and Archer both have to get more control, but while this isn't 2003 pitching depth, I think we're slowly rebuilding that side of the system, which had fallen but wasn't as noticed due to our system's positional issues.

[ ]

In reply to by Romero

yeah, he's been solid. I remember some folks thought, out of college, that he would be a pen arm. I like the fact that we tried him as a starter. Just somewhat disappointed that, so far, it didn't seem to take, although I can't help but think he was rushed. That said, I'm just a guy typing on a msg board.

Recent comments

  • 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...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.