Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are 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 4-18-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 
* Justin Steele, P   

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs Drop Angels at Fitch Park

Submitted by Arizona Phil on

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

Tags
Logan Watkins
Justin Berg
EXST Cubs
Julio Castillo

Comments

Submitted by Brian on Sat, 05/16/2009 - 05:18 pm

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.

Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 05/16/2009 - 05:39 pm

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.

Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 05/16/2009 - 05:04 pm

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.

Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 05/16/2009 - 05:40 pm

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.

Submitted by Old and Blue on Sat, 05/16/2009 - 05:28 pm

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.

Submitted by The Real Neal on Sun, 05/17/2009 - 05:01 pm

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.

Submitted by navigator on Sun, 05/17/2009 - 05:48 pm

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.

Submitted by navigator on Sun, 05/17/2009 - 05:14 pm

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

[ ]

Submitted by navigator on Mon, 05/18/2009 - 05:45 am

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.

Submitted by navigator on Mon, 05/18/2009 - 05:56 am

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.

[ ]

Submitted by Charlie on Mon, 05/18/2009 - 05:09 pm

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.

Submitted by toonsterwu on Mon, 05/18/2009 - 05:39 pm

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

Submitted by The E-Man on Mon, 05/18/2009 - 05:23 pm

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

  • crunch (view)

    happ, right hamstring tightness, day-to-day (hopefully 0 days).

    he will be reevaluated tomorrow.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I guess I'm not looking for that type of AB 

    Just a difference of opinion

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I don’t see Tauchman as a weak link in any position. He simply adds his value in a different way.

    I don’t know that we gain much by putting him in the outfield - Happ, Bellinger and Suzuki and Tauchman all field their positions well. If you’re looking for Taucnman’s kind of AB in a particular game I don’t see why it can’t come from DH.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Tauchman gets a pinch hit RBI single with a liner to RF. This is his spot. He's a solid 4th OF. But he isn't a DH. 

    He takes pitches. Useful. I still believe in having good hitters.

    You don't want your DH to be your weak link (other than your C maybe)

  • crunch (view)

    bit of a hot take here, but i'm gonna say it.

    the 2024 marlins don't seem to be good at doing baseballs.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Phil, will the call up for a double header restart that 15 days on assignment for a pitcher? Like will wesneski’s 15 days start yesterday, or if he’s the 27th man, will that mean 15 days from tomorrow?

    I hope that makes sense. It sounds clearer in my head.

  • Charlie (view)

    Tauchman obviously brings value to the roster as a 4th outfielder who can and should play frequently. Him appearing frequently at DH indicated that the team lacks a valuable DH. 

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally onboard with your thoughts concerning today’s lineup. Not sure about your take on Tauchman though.

    The guy typically doesn’t pound the ball out out of the park, and his BA is quite unimpressive. But he brings something unique to the table that the undisciplined batters of the past didn’t. He always provides a quality at bat and he makes the opposing pitcher work because he has a great eye for the zone and protects the plate with two strikes exceptionally well. In addition to making him a base runner more often than it seems through his walks, that kind of at bat wears a pitcher down both mentally and physically so that the other guys who may hit the ball harder are more apt to take advantage of subsequent mistakes and do their damage.

    I can’t remember a time when the Cubs valued this kind of contribution but this year they have a couple of guys doing it, with Happ being the other. It doesn’t make for gaudy stats but it definitely contributes to winning ball games. I do believe that’s why Tauchman has garnered so much playing time.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Miles Mastrobuoni cannot be recalled until he has spent at least ten days on optional assignment, unless he is recalled to replace a position player who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And for a pitcher it's 15 days on optional assignment before he can be recalled, unless he is replacing a pitcher who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, or Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And a pitcher (or a position player, but almost always it's a pitcher) can be recalled as the 27th man for a doubleheader regardless of how many days he has been on optional assignment, but then he must be sent back down again the next day. 

     

    That's why the Cubs had to wait as long as they did to send Jose Cuas down and recall Keegan Thompson. Thompson needed to spend the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he could be recalled (and he spent EXACTLY the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he was recalled). 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Indeed they do TJW!

    For the record I’m not in favor of solely building a team through paying big to free agents. But I’m also of the mind that when you develop really good players, get them signed to extensions that buy out a couple years of free agency, including with team options. And supplement the home grown players with free agent splashes or using excess prospects to trade for stars under team control for a few years. Sort of what Atlanta does, basically. Everyone talks about the dodgers but I feel that Atlanta is the peak organization at the current moment.

    That said, the constant roster churn is very Rays- ish. What they do is incredible, but it’s extremely hard to do which is why they’re the only ones frequently successful that employ that strategy. I definitely do not want to see a large market team like ours follow that model closely. But I don’t think free agent frenzies is always the answer. It’s really only the Dodgers that play in that realm. I could see an argument for the Mets too. The Yankees don’t really operate like that anymore since the elder Steinbrenner passed. Though I would say the reigning champions built a good deal of that team through free agent spending.

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