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

Harden Goes to DL So Randy Wells Isn't Going Anywhere

Reader Osiris flagged this bad news by way of Paul Sullivan in the Tribune:

The Cubs placed Rich Harden on the 15-day disabled list with a back strain on Friday, and inserted Randy Wells into the rotation for Saturday's game.

This will allow the Cubs to activate Carlos Zambrano without having to make another roster move, i.e., demote Wells. Harden felt "a twinge" when he pitched last Sunday against the Astros.

You may vomit as you see fit.

Comments

I don't know about you, but knowing we could have picked him up for Uncle Milty money, I die a little bit every time Raul Ibanez hits a home run. And he just crushed his MLB leading 16th (41st RBI) of the year off the Yanks.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I'm not sure this is true. Living in Philadelphia and watching several Phillies games this year, Ibanez has seemed fine (and even good) in LF. Of course, we're used to watching Pat Burrell out there (who could barely move), so almost anyone would seem an improvement. But I think Ibanez's defense is totally adequate, and NO LIE his offense would DEFINITELY be better than the shit Bradley is doing. Plus, Ibanez is a COOL DUDE. As of right now, Ibanez is actually a hero in Philadelphia and has already become above and beyond one of the city's favorite players (can Chicago say this of Milton Bradley?). Loooong way to go, but Ibanez has far and away been better than Bradley this year. Better hitter (by far), better fielder (perhaps), better baserunner (by far) and, of course, better health-wise. I actually had hoped the Cubs would have signed Ibanez over Bradley despite the fact that Ibanez is 7-8 years older and because of his reputed/alleged poor outfield defense (I didn't expect the Phillies to sign Ibanez for whatever reason). I reading about Ibanez's workout regimen last year, which includes lots of stretching and core work, and it totally demonstrated a really enlightened and smart effort/approach to staying strong physically and mentally. In short, Ibanez seems to "get it" and I would be really surprised if Bradley comes close to outplaying Ibanez over the next three years. Just sayin.

Harden to DL? And the ugliness just keeps coming. This getting ugly fast. I said this for weeks, we need to get healthy. If this team is not healthy it is not deep enough nor good enough to win. And as bad as the minors are, you can't expect any real help from there.

There are many cases on this team of players really struggling offensively, but a couple players we haven't had to worry about are now ice cold. Both Soriano and Theriot started off the season great, really carrying this team early on. But now they have been struggling for a awhile. Soriano since April 24: 24-105 (.229) Theriot since April 26: 20-89 (.225) Really right now the only regular hitting well is Fukudome (pleasant surprise to me). If you look at the numbers it really is surprising they are still over .500. We really need ARam back and some of these players finally get out of the bad funks (Bradley, Lee, Fonty, Soto).

I don't think I've seen the Cubs offense struggle this much in a very very long time. I don't know if there is a solution, you can't just plug in Fox and think he's going to do something when the other guys aren't doing squat. It sucks to be a Cubs fan right now, lets hope beyond hope that they can turn it around somehow.

that's all I got... 2004 redux...great team on paper, can't stay healthy.

Last year's OBP for the Cubs: .354 This year's, so far, .329, just above Pittsburgh. Last year almost all the hitters worked the count consistently. This year Fukodome is working the count consistently. That's the big difference I'm seeing.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

is that Hendry will offer any and all top prospects for marginal talent. We don't have much in the minors, but I really don't want to lose what we do have to acquire a Steve Trachsel-esque pitcher or a hitter of such level. My reasoning is based on two points. First we are not struggling because we have lesser talent. Thus we are not likely to put anyone currently in our lineup on the bench (with the exception of Fontenot and Marshall). Thus anyone we acquire will be either to fill on for injured players or be a minor player; in either case, we will likely overpay for what the player will bring. Unless we are willing/able to bench Bradley (if he doesn't come around) or a starter is out for the year, I think a trade is not going to be the impetus to win. We need to be healthy and playing at expected levels, not trade to hope for some magic. Second we finally are beginning to develop some players on whom we can base our future. The team is getting old in many places and Hendry's back-loaded contracts make any major free agent acquisitions less likely. Finally we have a few players who are either giving us high hopes (Thomas, Jay Jackson and particularly Vitters, for example) or can project to be good (Cashner, Castro or Searle for example). I want to retain these possibilities, even at a lesser level; I like that we have a group of pitchers that look like they will at least be serviceable middle relievers in Blake Parker, Jeff Stevens, John Gaub and Alex Maestri. Mainly I want to win or lose with what we have; if we are not good enough, I don't think a trade will help us enough to make a difference. And any such trade will likely hurt us more in the future than any help we receive now.

[ ]

In reply to by springs

That's why I am not that concerned with the record. If they end up stinking up the joint then maybe they become sellers in July and it would be interesting to see them restock the minor leagues a bit. The question then becomes, has Hendry developed a minor league scouting structure capable of making the right choices there. Right now I don't have a lot of faith that he has. As we start to complain more and the boos begin to fill Wrigley, naturally Piniella and others will start to complain about us fans not having any patience. He missed the first 96 years of that patience, so I'll have no sympathy when the boos do start coming. Frankly, I just hope that if the team sucks this year that the fans would stop coming, then the team can begin to wonder which they'd rather have. An empty stadium or a stadium full of boo birds. Either way the only answer is winning. Hendry and Piniella raised the bar and if they can't finish what they started the Cubs management should do what the Bulls did when Doug Collins couldn't get to the next level.

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In reply to by navigator

Last year we were ranked first in bases on balls, this year tenth. OPB is a function of batting average + walks, which is why our ranking in the league has fallen to about the same levels for OPB and walks. They're not working the count this year like they did last year. Which is one of the reasons why the power is down. That and Ramirez is AWOL this year and Bradley is nothing more than a caricature of himself and Lee has turned into a contact hitter and DeRosa is gone and nobody in their right mind serves up a fastball to Soriano and ... the list goes on I guess. I agree with you about Hendry that he's screwed the pooch in order to stock the team with has beens but the only way around that is to remove Hendry. He's not gonna get rid of himself. Which is why my mantra lately is that I'm ready for a reboot. I just wish the sale would get finished because despite any happy talk you hear from Hendry and/or Ricketts, any time new management comes in there is a re-org. That's just how things work in business. I'm just waiting for Hendry's next move to move the few prospects we have for Peavy and then watch Peavy go down as another overpriced, hurt pitcher.

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In reply to by Old and Blue

OPB? I thought we were talking about OBP. Look, you aren't just a little bit wrong. You're totally wrong. The Cubs walk rate per plate appearance last year was 9.96%. This year it's actually a little bit HIGHER -- 10.03%. You need to rethink your theory that they're not working the count like they did last year when the 2009 Cubs are actually walking at the same rate as last year's edition. As I said earlier OBP is mostly a measure of batting average. Lower team batting average means fewer plate appearances and that's why total walks are down even though the walk rate is up.

You guys crack me up. At the beginning of the season someone says to you. "Soto,Lee, Fontenaught and Bradley are not hitting and AramRam is on the DL, predict how the Cubs will be doing." What would you have said 'probably playing .650 baseball'? The bats are struggling. With the possible exception of Lee, there's no reason to think those struggules are anything more than a temporary blip (though Lee has been doing better as noted). I didn't watch much of last night's game, but Wainwright and Carpenter are pretty damned good pitchers who were pretty sharp when they beat the Cubs. I assume Peavy was the same. So the 5 game losing streak is summed up by a Soto line drive that was a foot two short, one good start by a mid-range starter and 3 ace caliber pitchers shutting down a team that's in a bit of a funk, and missing it's most well rounded hitter. Shrug. It's a long season.

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)

    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...