Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus one player is on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, one player is on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 3-28-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# 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 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 1 
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 1 
Caleb Kilian, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs Drop Angels at Fitch Park

Logan Watkins had three hits and scored twice, leading the EXST Cubs to an 8-3 victory over the EXST Angels in a pre-planned ten-inning Extended Spring Training game at Fitch Park Field #3 this morning in hot & sunny Mesa, AZ.

Now 19, Watkins was the Cubs 21st round pick in the 2008 draft out of Goddard HS (Goddard, KS), where he starred on both the football team (played QB) and baseball team (played SS), and the Cubs were able to convince him to give up his baseball scholarship to Wichita State only because they offered him "3rd round money" to turn pro. 

While the left-handed hitting and right-handed throwing Watkins has played SS, 2B, LF, and CF since signing with the Cubs, he appears to be the protypical second-baseman, with a strong and accurate arm, but with an almost sidearm arm slot, perfect for slinging the ball to 1st base while straddling 2nd base as the middle-man in a DP.     

The extra inning was added to the game to allow Cubs and Angels pitchers to get extra work, since weekly EXST "Camp Day" intrasquad games are no longer being scheduled.

Also, it turns out Iowa Cubs RHP Justin Berg (on the DL with a right shoulder strain since mid-April) did not leave town yesterday. He is still at EXST, rehabbing his shoulder, and in fact he pitched another inning today (24 pitches), as a follow-up to his one-inning (16 pitches) of work at Papago Park in Phoenix on Thursday. Berg got ground balls with his hard-sinker again today (per usual), but his command was off, resulting in him allowing two runs on two hits and a walk in 2/3 of an inning (and the inning was terminated with only two outs when Berg reached his proscribed pitch count). 

While the Cubs were battling the Angels on Field #3, RHPs Carlos Rojas and Julio Castillo faced-off in a two-inning simulated game on Field #2, facing Jose Valdez, Sean Williams, Jesus Morelli, and Jericho Jones,

Castillo (AKA "Animal") is from the back jungles of the Dominican Republic (near the border with Haiti), and he is a legend among Cubs minor leaguers as the guy who captured a wild desert rat at the Padres minor league facility in Peoria, Arizona, a couple of years ago, and then kept the rodent as a pet for the summer while he pitched for the AZL Cubs.

Presently on the Restricted List while awaiting final disposition of criminal charges filed against him in Ohio as the result of throwing a baseball at a fan during a brawl in Dayton last August while a member of the Peoria Chiefs. Castillo is one of the hardest throwers in the Cubs system (with a fastball that routinely clocks at 95+), so the Cubs are not necessarily in a hurry to discharge Animal from the organization. He has the type of power stuff (fastball & slider) that could make him a potential big-time set-up man or closer someday (that is, as long as he isn't otherwise occupied serving a lengthy term--and throwing the 9th inning--at the Ohio State Penitentiary). 

The only other item of note is that C-3B-1B-DH John Contreras is missing from camp, perhaps because he has moved up to Peoria, which has only one healthy catcher available on its roster (that one being Michael Brenly). Contreras is already 23, and he was converted to catcher this season (he still plays 3B and 1B, too, however) after leading the AZL in home runs in 2008. So he would seem to be the type of player (probably too old for Boise, but needs an opportunity to play at a higher level) who would get the call as a mid-season injury replacement in Peoria or Daytona. (Daytona catcher Robinson Chirinos has a broken hand, and so Luis Flores has been moved up from Peoria to Daytona).   

Here is today's abridged box score (Cubs players only)...

LINEUP:
1. Hak-Ju Lee, DH #1: 1-5 (1B, L-4, 4-3, F-7 DP, K - 1 R, 1 SB)
2. Matt Cerda, C-DH: 2-4 (1B, 4-3, 2B, E-3 - 1 R)
3. Jae-Hoon Ha, CF: 0-4 (6-3, E-6, 6-3, K)
4. Chris Weimer, 1B: 0-4 (L-8, P-1, L-6, K)
5. Sean Hoorelbeke, LF: 2-3 (6-3, HBP, 1B, 1B - 2 R)
6. Jose Guevara, DH-C: 0-2 (5-3, K, BB, BB - 1 R)
7. Logan Watkins, SS: 3-4 (2B, 1B, 1B, 4-3 - 2 R)
8. Kevin Soto, RF: 2-3 (6-3, 1B, HBP, 1B - 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB)
9. Robert Bautista, 3B: 0-4 (1-3, K, 4-3, K - 1 RBI)
10. Jose Made, 2B: 0-3 (1-3, E-4, BB, 1-3)

PITCHERS:
1. Justin Berg - 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 0 K, 1 WP, 2/0 GO/FO, 24 pitches (16 strikes)
2. Miguel Sierra - 3.0 IP, 4 H,1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 1 K, 2 WP, 5/3 GO/FO
3. Toby Matchulat - 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 1/2 GO/FO
4. Su-Min Jung - 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 3/3 GO/FO
5. Manolin DeLeon - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 2/0 GO/FO

CATCHERS DEFENSE:
1. Matt Cerda - 0-2 CS, 1 PB
2. Jose Guevara - 1-2 CS

Comments

The Orioles' are playing a ridiculous amount of ex-Cubs tonight. Look at the lineup: Rich Hill pitching, Felix Pie in center, Cesar Izturis at short, and, of course, Brian Roberts at second.

Rich Hill update: Single to Choo, Bloomquist 463 DP, Butler K (17 pitches). Wicked curve for the K. Looked like the good Rich Hill again.

Rich Hill's night is over, leaving the game with a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 6th. Runners on 1st and 2nd. line: 5.2 IP, 7H, 2R/ER, 2BB, 6K. No sign of the yips. Nice curve, just as I remember but he was hittable. Dear Small Sample Size: I'd say it was a nice first outing.

Briefly a Cub, Mariner Garrett Olson has given up two 2-run HR's (Bay, Varitek) in his first two innings. Boston ahead 4-0 in Seattle.

AZ, your reports lately are getting lame. NO attendance figures, and I think this is the second time in a row. I had a third grade teacher, named Mrs. Patton, who slapped your hands with a ruler when you fucked up like that. I hope Rob G. is taking note of these deficiencies.

Vitters went 3/4 with his 4th HR yesterday and is hitting .342/.376/.496 now, sadly his strike zone judgement is typical of Cubs prospects (3 BB's to 17 K's). Ryan Butcher, who seems to be Peoria's closer has a 0.59 ERA and 22 K's in 15.1 innings. He's also had 8 BB's. Starlin Castro (SS) got 4 hits for Daytona to raise his BA to .292, which is pretty nice for that league. TN got rained out. Fox went 3/4 with a double to get his BA up to a cool .429 as the I Cubs got pummelled by the Salt Lake Prohibitionists.

According to Street&Smiths Sports Business Journal - "Chicago Cubs buyer Tom Ricketts is close to lining up three banks to arrange the $450 million financing necessary to complete his acquisition of the team, financial sources said, positioning him to clear a substantial hurdle in the long-running sale of the club" Good to see our bank bailout money helping multi-millionaires buy baseball teams.

What personal ritual did Rich Hill pick up from Ryan Dempster?

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

EXCEPT that Paul Sullivan misquotes the article. IT DOES NOT SAY he's lined up three banks. If you want to know what the article actually says, see post #22 above. I should explain that the Sports Business Journal article I quoted yesterday is the same one Sullivan thinks is new today, Monday. Yesterday it required a subscription to read it, today it's free.

Telander writes this today Theriot -- not a huge guy at 5-11, 180 pounds -- has seen 10 of his last 14 hits go for extra bases (four doubles, a triple and five home runs) and is second on the Cubs with 66 total bases (behind Alfonso Soriano). Two days ago, all that sudden power got me to thinking: Theriot had one home run last season, just seven in his career, and he has five already this year? You hate to do it, but what else can a skeptic think when numbers abruptly burgeon in this era of A-Fraud and Manny and major-league head-in-the-sand-ism? Performance-enhancing drugs. Now I know it's hard for a crackhead like Telander to remember all the way back to the 2006 season, but Ryan Theriot put up even more impressive numbers that year with the same number of at bats.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

Clearly this jerk is just drumming up some press. Small sample size, adjusted swing. Oh, and people can get better at things they do a lot. Who knew? I thought his initial point, that the steroid era has made our first reaction suspicion, was a good one. But he should have acknowledged that was only an unfounded and easily refuted first reaction, particularly in the Theriot case. Doesn't Albert Pujols actually make a better foundation for his argument? I mean, there is a guy against whom we have absolutely no evidence, yet his performance (and I suppose his somewhat amorphous bald head) has been reason enough to suspect him of using PEDs. There's your article, A-hole.

Going a bit braindead today, so was wondering if someone could remind me what happened to Carlos Perez again.

WSCR Reporting = Edward R. Murrow "A beam of accuracy in a sea of dreck reporting" lol "So, Antonio, how DID you get that sixth finger? Were you born like that, or...?" - Jesse Rodgers, WSCR

Recent comments

  • Charlie (view)

    I worry that Morel will lose starts at 3B as long as this roster lacks a compelling DH.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I think if you had ranked players by how much the team could ill afford to have them miss significant time, Steele would be right at the top of the list.

  • crunch (view)

    steele MRI on friday.  counsell expects an IL stint.

    no current plans for his rotation replacement.

  • hellfrozeover (view)

    I would say also in the bright side column is Busch looked pretty good overall at the plate. Alzolay…man, that hurts but most of the time he’s not giving up a homer to that guy. To me the worst was almonte hanging that pitch to Garcia. He hung another one to the next hitter too and got away with it on an 0-1. 

  • crunch (view)

    amaya blocked like 6-8 of smyly's pitches in the dirt very cleanly...not even an exaggeration, smyly threw a ton of pitches bouncing in tonight.

    neris looking like his old self was a relief (no pun), too.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    In looking for bright spots the defense was outstanding tonight. The “stars” are going to need to shine quite a bit brighter than they did tonight offensively though for this to be a successful season.

  • Eric S (view)

    Good baseball game. Hopefully Steele is pitching again in April (but I’m not counting on it). 

  • crunch (view)

    boo.

  • crunch (view)

    smyly to face the 2/3/4 hitters with a man on 2nd in extras.

    this doesn't seem like a 8 million dollar managerial decision.

  • crunch (view)

    i 100% agree with you, but i dunno how jed wants to run things.  the default is delay.  i would choose brown.

    like hellfrozeover says, could be smyly since he's technically fresh and stretched.

    anyway, on a pure talent basis....brown is the best option.