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

These Are the Roster Moves You've Been Waiting For...

Wittenmyer tweets that Sam Fuld and Kevin Hart have been optioned to Iowa and David Patton will go on the disabled list with a groin injury. The Cubs will carry 11 pitchers for the time being and Patton will certainly take the full rehab time before rejoining the team.

Comments

David Patton will go on the disabled list with a groin injury. Heh. That is ... uh... convenient? I think I would rather see Hoffpauir sent down than Fuld, but oh well. I am pretty content with Fukudome in the leadoff spot.

AZ Phil, I need a Rule 5 update on DL time, stat! I assume Patton is not on the 60-day DL, right? Can Rule 5 guys go on the 60-day? Is there a limit to the amount of time they can spend on the DL during their 25-man-roster season? Glad Hoffpauir and Fox are still with the team.

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

all your roster answers in one handy place...

http://thecubreporter.com/cubs-40-man-roster

A Rule 5 player must remain on an MLB 25-man Active List (or 15-day or 60-day DL) for the entire MLB regular season following selection and must accrue at least 90 days on an MLB Active List (25-man roster) before the Rule 5 restrictions are removed. (If the service time accrued on the MLB Active List is less than 90 days in the season following selection, the player remains a Rule 5 player into the next season).

So yes, Patton can go on the 60-day DL, which they haven't done yet. I believe Patton just passed the 90 days on the active list, so with some roster shenanigans, the Cubs should have his rights for next season. He doesn't need to go on the 60-day DL though unless the Cubs need a spot on the 40-man and they're only at 38 right now. 

The maximum Patton can be on a rehab assignment is 30 days, but it depends on when he goes on that rehab assignment and he could reinjure himself or discover a new injury and start over again. I doubt we'll see him again until rosters expand.

A real shame about that groin, did Hendry order the clubhouse attendants to ice the shower floor yesterday?

That is pretty sweet about Patton's groin, groins take a long time to heal and often get reinjured, so he could be on the DL for a while - maybe until Sep. 1 even. The beauty is, I assume next season he would then have options left, so he could spend time in the minors before coming back up again in 2010 and he would basically be another prospect in the system.

Erik Estrada on with Len and Bob talking about his fellow castmates on Celebrity House whatever, and he was talking about Ron Jeremy playing piano and being special ed teacher. Erik said- "Ron Jeremy is blessed." Yes he is.

5-1 in July. 2 out of first, 1 out of second and tied in the loss column with both the Brewers and Cards, who face each other the next 3 games. Cards this weekend... right now, it's Harden vs. B. Thompson, Lilly vs Carpenter and Wainwright vs. Wells.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Who will start the 4th game of the series, since we have a day/night DH on Sunday to make up a rainout? Must be Zambrano. Come on, Z - go up and in 4 straight times on Pujols and get that SOB off the plate!! F the Cards, Brewers and Reds! The Cubs were 2.5 games out when Aramis went down, they played like shit for 2 months, and they were still only 2.5 games out when he came back. Look out, NL Central! If Harden, Bradley and Sorryano shape up and play to their career norms, we should be in business. As a cherry on top, we got to unveil our secret weapon on the world - Jake Fox, dropping bombs!! I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl now!! Tee hee!!

[ ]

In reply to by Ahone Ahtwo Ahthree

totally forgot about the DH...

Cubs have an off-day Thursday conveniently, so Dempster and Wells can go..not sure who they'll match-up against now for Cardinals. Wainwright will go one game, not sure about the other starter for them.

On WSCR Terry Boers said "his source" with Cubs said Cubs will not be adding any pay roll this year even with new ownership. Usually pretty reliable.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

I can't see the Cubs sale moving through the bankruptcy approval and MLB approval in time for the trade deadline. More realistically it will still likely drag out until the end of the season, all things Cubbery. And as Hendry said anyway, if these sacks of crap we call ballplayers would just play around their career averages we wouldn't have any obvious holes to fill via trade (other than the horrendous bullpen our glorious GM built). On another note, it's around time for Harden to miss another month or more on the D.L., isn't it? Watch Hendry go pick someone who is dirt cheap off the scrap heap again like Trachsel. Although if they are dead set on keeping Marshall in the bullpen I would like to see Mitch Atkins get a shot the next time Harden or Z get hurt.

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

The bankruptcy approval doesn't have any impact on the Cubs operations. All that matters is when the new owner 'non-officially' takes over the Cubs, so that he can give the nod on adding payroll. It's not like there is a judge pouring over the Cubs' balance sheets on a daily basis deciding whether or not they can hire more people. $900 million for the Cubs is going to be a slam dunk with the owners.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

If the current payroll were around $60 mil I might be upset about this, but the Cubs have enough money on the payroll to win. They just need to execute. And for guys like Soriano and Milton Bradley execution could mean couple different things (eye roll).

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

When I think of Soriano and Bradley, the word "mutts" comes to mind, I don't know why. I think of them affectionately as mutts. We have mutts in the corner outfield positions. When Bradley is hitting, he spends more time looking at the ump than at the pitcher. The ump should say to him, You want me to pitch?

MIKE FONTENOT: You suck, dude. Too small to grab line drives over your head that 27 other team's players would get to - mediocre range, in my opinion to the left or right - and you manager to not get the ball out of the infield these days with RISP and less than 2 outs. I am sorry that the manager is playing you instead of Blanco regularly - if you are going to continue to hit .225, I'd rather have killer defense.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

That is a given. I'd rather have his stellar defense than Fontenot's RISP line of: .196 .313 .294 Here is the "deaf, blind and dumb" guy's same RISP stats: .217 .333 .261 The Cubs have not had a truly "spectacular" middle infielder like Blanco in a long, long time. Even Brenly mentioned it might be ten years since the team has had a player with his fielding hands. And, my point is if Fontenot is marginally better - and not even as good right now with RISP - why bother at this point? LEt Blanco have the playing time.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

"Spectacular middle infielders are much more valuable at short than at second." Really? And why are they "much" more valuable, Real Neal? Qualify this? There are several very good second "sackers" that save runs for their teams with great defense, have speed and range, and can make double-plays that other guys can't. Blanco is one of those. IF Fontenot continues to suck, I'd just as soon live with his D over Fontenot's crappy bat. Lou will keep playing Fonty, and Miles when he returns anyway so all of this will not matter.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

If you don't know the value and the placement of players on the defensive spectrum, I am not going to bother illustrating it to you. "There are several very good second "sackers" that save runs for their teams with great defense, have speed and range, and can make double-plays that other guys can't. Blanco is one of those." Find one guy, just one, who has been a starter for two or more years with an OPS of 55 at second base. The worst Ozzie Smith did over a two year period was 60. So when the best shortstop ever who everyone acknowledged was a horrendous hitter was playing because of his defense he was still 9% more valuable at the plate than Blanco. Jose Lind, Bill Mazeroski, Frank White, Orlando Hudson - all of these guys were better hitters than Blanco. The average MLB second basemen hits .267 .332 .408 (the average shortstop .265.321.381). Blanco's hitting .225 .279 .275. It's not 1968, you can't get away with playing a guy like that anywhere on the diamond.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

So, if you cannot see the difference is marginal right now, than I don't know what to tell you. MAybe in Houston, things are slower there. Mike Fontenot .236 .314 .369 Andres Blanco .225 .279 .275 So, RIGHT NOW (save for four games in July), they both suck at the plate. IF FONTENOT continues this torrid pace - I'd just as soon see Blanco get the innings. I HOPE HE DOES NOT. But IF he continues to struggle, and production is improving from other parts of the lineup, I would be fine to see Blanco there UNTIL SOMEONE WHO PLAYS 2B on the team can hit better than these two. Who on this team will do this? Jeff Baker Aaron Miles? Ronny Cedeno?

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

E-Man, Fontenot has hit .421 .450 .526 over the last seven days. As a second basemen he's hit .263 .336 .358, which is way better than Blanco. There's not many people who expect Fontenot to continue to hit .236 for the remainder of the season. You're one of them, great. But the occasional extra out that Blanco gets at second isn't going to be worth the extra outs he makes at the plate (and the lack of XBH's he produces). Fontenot's got a tangible track record you can point to and say 'look, this guy has hit major league pitching before, and he's a pretty solid second basemen'. You can't say that about Blanco. Blanco has never, and by all indications never will be able to hit major league pitching.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

" There's not many people who expect Fontenot to continue to hit .236 for the remainder of the season. You're one of them, great." There you go again, spreading lies for your own sake. I used the word : "IF", in the context of the phrase, "IF he [Fontenot] continues..." That is my whole point. You are giving him credit for the last "seven days", but you are not looking at his suckage for the rest of March, April, May and June? I agree he has a track record of limited MLB hitting success, but this year up until July, has been pretty bad. Unfortunately, Blanco really sucks too at the plate. Boy - if he only COULD hit... Look - I really HOPE Fontenot continues to hit from now -October. But his glove is average at best. Last night, two more inches more of height and he has a line drive that most of the other 2B in the league makes - which leads to a run. On another play - to his right - he fails to get to ground ball that Blanco gets to. So again, IF HE CANNOT RAISE HIS STATS, who should get the time there? I wish we still had DeRosa - but that pony left...

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Shouldn't you build a lineup on what you expect to happen, not what has happened? If Fontenot goes back into a slump, we should trade for another second basemen, unless Miles comes back and starts hitting again. I just can't see any scenario where Blanco playing more than once a week is a good thing for the Cubs. I think you're over reacting based on two balls that Fontenot didn't get yesterday, and imagining this vast gulf of defensive value between the two players. There is a difference in defensive value, but it's not that great.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

"I think you're over reacting based on two balls that Fontenot didn't get yesterday..." I will admit that is probably true to an extent, that and his poor RISP success - however, in fairness this is something shared by many of his teammates unfortunately. One of the reasons DeRosa was trades was the GM's (and manager no doubt) felt that Fontenot would put up similar numbers projected over a full season. MAny people here felt that way too post-trade in order to justify it. Perhaps you were one of those - I don't remember. Maybe Hendry can trade for Pacido Palanco (whom the Cubs could have had 2006-2007)?

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

As I recall I expected Fontenot to hit about his career average numbers coming into the season. Not as well as in 2008, but better than 2007. I think Polanco is just about done, plus his team is in first so it's unlikely they want to shake things up. Adam Kennedy is having a good season and Beane is always willing to trade, but BP says his fielding has fallen on hard times. Freddy Sanchez bats wrong-handed, and I don't see any upside to him, that is he's probably hitting as well right now as he ever will. Then there's Brian Roberts... he would fit on the Cubs, though I think that Angelos has mistakenly identified him as a 'franchise' player.

So much for my Cincinnati-2nd place predictions this year. I'm thinking that isn't happening. Beat 22-1 today by the Phillies. For the record... I don't want anyone claiming that I don't own up to shitty predictions. Anyways, watching the Cubs game tonight I was struck by how different the lineup is, top to bottom, with A-Ram in it. It seems obvious it's a way better lineup with A-Ram, but until you watch 2 months without A-Ram, then see him back in the lineup you just don't understand HOW different it is. Even if he's not hitting for power right away. Welcome back and try to keep the shoulder attached this time.

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

I think putting him at leadoff or 2 could help because he might feel less pressure to hit for power. I think when guys aren't hitting for power like they normally do they start pressing and swinging harder, which just leads to more misses and pop-ups. He's always been good at taking walks and working counts, but as a run producer maybe he feels like he shouldn't be doing those things as much. If he's hitting in front of the other power hitters, he'll probably feel more comfortable taking his walks, working counts, and not swinging for the fences. Hopefully by shortening his stroke a bit he'll start hitting more line drives, which will inevitably lead to some of those balls leaving the yard.

On ESPN talking about the return of Aramis (paraphrasing) "He will help the team because he is a Gold Glove caliber 3b. Good hitter, too" Aram has improved a ton defensively, but I don't know if he's GG level. I know nothing of defensive stats and how he ranks.

[ ]

In reply to by Jumbo

It's an optical illusion. A-Ram only looks like a gold glover after watching Fox & Fontenot try to play third.

Submitted by Ahone Ahtwo Ahthree on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 3:31pm.
Wiki says that the Rule 5 draftee must be active for 90 days (which I assume Patton has already met), in order to prevent a team from taking a player and immediately putting him on the DL for most or all of the season.

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

AHONE: Wiki is wrong. A Rule 5 player can be placed on the DL at any time, just like any other player on a club's 40-man roster.

For example, LHP Edward Campusano (selected from the Cubs by MIL in the 2006 Rule 5 Draft and then traded to DET) suffered a season ending elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery in Spring Training 2007, and the Tigers placed him on the DL prior to the start of the season. Then Campusano spent the entire 2007 season on the 60-day DL.

Another example... The Pirates placed Rule 5 LHP Donald Veal (selected from the Cubs in last December's Rule 5 Draft) on the 15-day DL on 5/31, after he had spent only 56 days on the Pirates MLB Active List (25-man roster). So he will need to spend another 34 days on the Pirates MLB Active List in 2009 in order to have the Rule 5 restrictions lifted after the season. The Pirates can accomplish this by activating Veal from the DL on September 1st, because the MLB regular season runs through October 4th this year, and that's 34 days right there.

As for David Patton, he spent 91 days on the Cubs Active List (25-man roster) prior to being placed on the DL, so he is clear as far as accruing 90 days on an MLB Active List. But even though he has accrued the required 90 days, the Rule 5 restrictions will still apply to Patton through the 2009 season.

So the way a club is prevented from stashing a Rule 5 player on the DL is that a Rule 5 player must spend one full season on an MLB Active List (25-man roster) and/or MLB 15-day or 60-day DL, AND MUST ALSO accrue at least 90 days on an MLB Active List, before the Rule 5 restrictions are lifted.

So if a player has not accrued at least 90 days on an MLB Active List by the end of the season following selection in the Rule 5 Draft, the player remains a Rule 5 player into the next season (or could be even the season after that), until he has accrued 90 days on an MLB Active List.

proof that stats lie: Aaron Heilman has a 1.93 earned-run average since May 28. --- Matchups and Stl stuff: both papers say the rotation vs Stl this weekend will be Harden (Fri) vs Thompson, Lilly (Sat) vs Carpenter, Sunday day/night DH, Dempster and Wells (vs Wellemeyer, Wainwright or Piniero...can't tell from their schedule yet... Piniella hasn't decided on the pitching order of day night DH)...and Z will be available in the bullpen during the weekend (he goes Wed vs Atl --- DeRosa's wrist injury, should hear about a wrist MRI today: (from stl's mlb.com website) On Monday's off-day, DeRosa will return to St. Louis to get the injury looked at and see how to progress. "I'm going to fly back to St. Louis [on Monday] and have an MRI, just to kind of figure out what is the problem," DeRosa said on Sunday. "But I hit today, and as I continued to hit, it progressively got better, not worse, which is a good thing." DeRosa took swings off of a tee on Saturday, and on Sunday he progressed to taking soft-toss. He has yet to take full batting practice, either in the batting cage or on the field.

the toughest part for ARam... "The worst thing is going to be swinging," he said. "I finish with my left arm over my head. That's when it's tough sometimes. "That's the way I hit. Even if I tried to, I can't change, so I'm going to have to live with it." http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-07-cubs-ramirez-… --- I've posted on this before but...because he's a right handed hitter his left (injured) shoulder/arm is in front and it's the follow through in his swing that puts the left shoulder in extension, especially if he uppercuts a bit rather than a completely level swing. Extension and external rotation is typically the position where instability can become an issue. This doesn't mean it will dislocate from swinging but it might create some discomfort if he does get some subtle instability, so the above ARam quote makes sense.

C Kahrl from Baseball Prospectus was at the Sunday game vs Brewers and had this writeup. Apparently liking the acquisition of Jeff Baker: I'm generally impressed with what they've done here. Now, sure, a lot of this is easy to like, in that anything that involves absenting Miles is improvement, and I've been a noisy Jeff Baker fan going back almost a decade ago, when I spoke with him and his father for a piece for militarylifestyle.com about Baker pere doing things like starting t-ball leagues for his son in Saudi Arabia during assignments there in the early '80s. (Baker's father also played for West Point.) Baker's utility is as a multi-positional reserve who can play anywhere but center or short well, while providing some power, especially against left-handers, who he's battered for a (Coors-aided) .278/.342/.556. It's hard to see exactly where he'll fit in over the course of the season, because the Cubs are due for a roster crunch... He's certainly a major upgrade on Freel, who isn't really much of an infielder any more, on those odd occasions when Freel's healthy enough to employ. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9179

[ ]

In reply to by allinginge

It actually says they didn't have enough to land Peavy without adding a third team... which I don't think was true. They started talking about trading DeRosa with the Peavy rumors. Part of the third team part may have been for the Cubs to shed payroll. If the Cubs were to offer Vitters, Fox and Wells/Jackson, the Blue Jays would be hard pressed to find a better offer. They are a team that could probably use Fox (Kevin Millar getting a lot of at bats for them). If I were the Cubs GM, that would be a tough decision to make. Personally, I really like Halladay.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I'm not sure that would get you Halliday. In fact, I'm having trouble finding a way the Cubs COULD get him. So the BJs will say to themselves... is Vitters, Fox, and Wells (and paying them next to nothing) a better value than Roy Halliday for 2 years at $20 mil? I don't think so. Roy Halliday for 2 years at $20 mil is some insanely good value. I think it would take a Pedroia-caliber player plus. On the other hand, times are tough and teams are looking for ways to dump salary, so who knows.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.