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

Some Good News...

Aramis Ramirez should be able to play Friday and the Pittsburgh Pirates are coming to town...and we're on day 10,256,753(est.) of the last apocalyptic asteroid hitting the Earth.

That's all I got...hey, you get what you pay for here at TCR.

Okay fine, more ranting, raving and rumbling after the jump...

- I guess when the team is playing so bad, it's easy to set your sights elsewhere, but the guy turning himself in who threw the beer at Shane Victorino is "breaking news?"  Really? Sun-Times had not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 articles (cue Feist ) on it last night.

- Justin Berg was perfectly adequate in his 2 inning major league debut last night, throwing 17 strikes on 26 pitches inducing 3 ground-balls outs including a double play with his sinker/change combo.

- The answer to the Cubs second base problem apparently is hoping that Jeff Baker stays hot. Why not?

- Somehow the writer of this "rumor" for Yahoo got "The word is that Cubs executives are not amused." and that "The rumor going around is that the team may be losing patience with Piniella, according to the Chicago Tribune." If you look at the actual Trib article, there's no mention of any Cubs executives and it's just a piece by Paul Sullivan trying to stir the pot that Lou is beginning to receive some heat, but it doesn't specify from whom and most likely he's just trying to compare it how the fans turned on Dusty Baker if you examine the quotes from players. Nothing to see here...move along.

- There was a request to create an open thread and discuss how to fix the team. Here's my take...keep Aramis healthy. The team is 26-17 when he' s played...32-38 without. In somewhat seriosness though, they'll be more time for what the Cubs should do this offseason, but if you're gonna play that game now, just try to keep in the mind the difficulty in trading players and then multiply by 1,000 when you take into account most of these guys contracts. No one is going to touch Alfonso Soriano right now, so if you think the Cubs need to move money, your best trade bets are Derrek Lee and Ted Lilly in the lasy year's of their deal or maybe Kosuke Fukudome if he keeps up the hitting the rest of the year.

- Randy Wells vs. Charlie Morton today, Tom Gorzelanny against his old teammates and Zach Duke on Saturday and Russ Ohlendorf and Rich Harden on Sunday.

Enjoy the weekend....

Comments

Good news: our record is still better than the southsiders. If that means anything to you. Me? I just want to stay ahead of the Brewers and asstrolls.

[ ]

In reply to by Mike Vail

Actually, if the Cubs don't win it I'd love it if the Brewers did. Anybody other than the Cardinals, who I despise at the depth of my soul. And the White Sox, I'm indifferent about. Too many family members who like them. Anybody but the Cardinals is my only mantra.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

I only really completely "hate" the White Sox when they play the Cubs. Otherwise I could give a shit. I like some of their players, and my nephew has met Gordon Beckham in social situations and said really complimentary things about the young guy.

"There was a request to create an open thread and discuss how to fix the team." ha ha, thanks, Rob, and my apologies to my fellow sufferers for my cantankerousness. How that word didn't end up getting squiggled is beyond me. But really, Rob G. started it all with his RIP too early post and I say, no, not too early. It's going to take all the great minds here to fix this club and if you think the incoming GM is not reading forums, at least to check the pulse of his customers, I say you're nuts. I make a ton of money working for a company that is in the news a lot and we look at forums all the time. We think most of the people are cranks but there are a LOT of educated people out there and especially here. I actually qualify as a crank. Most of you are experts. I'm sorry but I've been watching baseball too long to think this team has any life in it. Pray I'm wrong but I'm not.

Ram scratched w/flu. Bradley injured his "hammy" yesterday and also is scratched. He did it needlessly running through the bullpen and hitting the home plate there after a catch. He ran like 30-40 yards extra after his nice catch.

I like Sam Fuld. I think he is a positive for this team. Cheery thoughts, people!

And the extra point is good!! :) also...what is the Cubs record when Sam Fuld starts?

Way to use up all of the season's remaining runs in one game against the Pirates.

Oh yeah, it's almost like clockwork that they look so miserable against the Phillies, like making you question why you follow this ridiculous game of baseball and is there a God and will anybody notice when I punt the dog into the hedge and then, then they come out the very next day and just murderlize a team and there are rainbows and chocolate sprinkles raining from the sky and you can read the paper again tomorrow morning thinking, OK, all they have to do is get within 2 of the Cards by mid-September and all bets are off. Soriano still sucks it though.

The Cubs found their missing offense! Color me not too excited lol...lets go Padres!

How many times do we get to play the Bucs in 2009? This is such Bullshit. It only proves how overmatched the Cubs are against the better clubs in the NL. False bravado for the team. Its the same as Montana State Community College playing Texas in College Football. The Pirates as Rob G states are a AAA team. BFD!

Well that is nice for them. On another note, did you discuss how wretched our starting pitching has been since we got two pitchers from the Pirates?

Hahahaa, that Becker is so grumpy. That's why he's so charming, because he's predictably grumpy. lol lol lol

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I still think Felix Pie has the ability to be a fine ML centerfielder. He got hurt halfway through 2005, but still put up decent AAA numbers in 06. I think he, like Corey Patterson, was screwed up by "batting coaches" who said "OK, you're a speedy black left-hander, we're not sure you're going to make it as a power hitter, so we want you to start slapping at the ball and be a leadoff hitter." As Bill James showed almost 20 years ago, this almost never works, and Pie is probably finished as a big-league hitter. There were rumors that Pie enjoyed the Chicago nightlife too much; if so, whoever played Billy Martin to his Mickey Mantle should burn in Hell, but it's still his responsibility. My official position on this is that Felix Pie, by now, isn't going to make it, but I for one would be very happy if he made a MLB All-Star team some day.

[ ]

In reply to by fullykräusened

You think Corey Patterson would have been successful at the major league level if he was told to just keep swinging for the fences? I was as optimistic as just about anyone when it came to Corey, but I don't think it was just batting coaches who screwed him up. Or are you talking about some batting coaches during his minor league time that attempted to alter his swing in ways I'm not aware of?

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

If I recall correctly, it started with Don Baylor. Baylor fancied himself a batting expert, but it seemed to me his theory was "hey, you look like so-and-so, so that's how you should hit." He thought Corey looked like a speedy leadoff man; I remember him talking about Corey "going to the opposite field." He did the same thing with Julio Zuleta. He was a big guy with a closed stance, looked like he'd get tied up by inside pitches, but was doing all right. Baylor noticed the resemblance to Andres Gallaraga, who opened up his stance with good results, so, in the middle of the season, got Zuleta to open his stance too. You can imagine what this did to his view of the ball, so he started to struggle, which reduced his playing time, which led to the death spiral of Zuleta's career. (Which wasn't much, but he had some potential.) I don't know whether Patterson would have been successful if he had been left alone at the big-league level. I do think that the only way he could have been successful would have been as a low-OBP, high-strikeout power hitter, which, combined with good defense in center field, would have been enough to make a career. The fact that he didn't really progress as he moved up through the minors is a sign that he might not have made it, but I keep thinking about 2003 before he got hurt.

[ ]

In reply to by fullykräusened

I heard a great interview with a long-time Cubs scout (Don Something-or-Other)on Nashville radio. He talked about a wide range of topics, but one of the things that he talked about that really stuck with me was what he had to say about the Cubs rushing prospects through the system. The scout admitted that rushing prospects to the big leagues was a league-wide problem and that the Cubs were no exception. The talk then turned to Corey Patterson and Felix Pie. The scout was very complimentary of Felix Pie and lamented the fact that he had been rushed. He blamed the organization for Pie's lack of success. But when he talked about Patterson, you could just hear the venom in his voice. Although he was politically correct in what he said, he basically blamed Patterson for his own problems, said that he wouldn't listen to anyone that worked with him, and predicted he would never realize his potential.

[ ]

In reply to by Sweet Lou

I always liked Patterson and wanted him to succeed. I loved the way he looked roaming the outfield and thought he played with a lot of effort. However, I never got the sense that, even if the organization was trying to make him a slap hitter, he listened much to batting coaches. He did the same thing everyday he played with the Cubs. He had one swing and one swing only. I guess I can't say that he didn't try to adjust, but I didn't see the adjustments when game time came.

[ ]

In reply to by Sweet Lou

I don't recall Pie being rushed. They almost called him up out of AA in June or July 2005, but he had injured his ankle. Adam Greenberg got that gig instead. That was the problem with the organization back then. It was either Felix Pie or Adam Greenberg. By the time Pie got to Chicago, he had done pretty well at every level. He was never going to hit till he was twenty-six, anyway. Von Joshua used to refer to him as "just a baby." That was last year!

BP's Kevin Goldstein takes notice... Brett Jackson, OF, Cubs (Low-A Peoria) Wednesday's stats: 3-for-4, 2 HR (4), 3 R, 4 RBI, BB The Cubs first-round pick in June, Jackson is a big, toolsy athlete who has a lot of swing-and-miss in him. While he's now hitting .338 across three levels, the power hasn't showed up until recently. After hitting just one home run in his first 116 pro at-bats, he has now slugged four in his last nine games. An outstanding defensive centerfielder who also features plus speed, he has the tools to make a lot of teams look silly for passing on him. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9384

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Sooner or later, the Cubs are bound to draft a positional college player with their first pick in the draft that actually develops into a bona fide, regular ML starter. That would go back to Doug Glanville (UPenn) in 1991. Kevin Orie did play in 114 and 112 games in '97 and '98 - don't know how many starts... Was surprised to see that the Cubs have only drafted two college position players with their 1st pk since 1991: Brooks Kieschnick (1993 - 10th overall pk) and Tyler Colvin (2006 - 13th pk). Including compensatory 1st rd picks, you get Kevin Orie (1993 - 29th pk), Josh Donaldson (2007 - 48th pk), and Ryan Flaherty (2008 - 41st pk). Nice to see Flaherty flashing some power at Peoria the 2nd half of this season. Last 1st rd college pitcher - regular Cub starter: Mark Prior (2001) Last 1st rd HS position player - regular Cub starter: K-Pat (1998) Last 1st rd HS pitcher - regular Cub starter: Kerry Wood (1995); John Garland was selected in 1997 The Cubs have drafted 3 HS position players in the 1st rd since 1998: Montanez, Harvey and Vitters (all high selections) Cubs have selected 3 HS pitchers in the 1st rd since Wood: Garland, Todd Noel, Mark Pawelek. Cubs have selected 5 college pitchers in the 1st rd since Prior: Bobby Brownlie, Luke Hagerty, Chadd Blasko, Matt Clanton (all 4 taken in 2002 - not a kind year) and Cashner last year .... FWIW: last Cub 1st Rd HS position player to play in the All-Star game: Shawon Dunston in 1990. Last Cub 1st Rd college position player to play in the All-Star game: Raffy Palmeiro in 1988.

So Cedeno almost throws away a routine groundout by Theriot. Then he almost nails Bradley on a near-highlight reel play. Such drama.

Wow. Thanks umps. D Lee leaves the base line to avoid a tag and the ump calls him safe anyways.

Then... Jeff Baker drives in Bradley and D Lee nailed at the plate. That inning was a big bag of "what the fuck?"

Gorz better stop walking guys or he'll be moved to 8th inning duties in close games.

heh...in the past week baker's added about 100 points to his average. crappy protection for jake fox, but it's not like soriano is protecting anyone lately...worked out. no walks from marmol and no homers from gregg. too bad this is PIT...you pretty much expect these wins. blowing into LA next week should be fun.

missed the game, btw... why was gorz removed after 5 and 83 pitches? just cuz? injury? something?

why was gorz removed after 5 and 83 pitches? --- Lou on postgame said it was because he had injured his foot in the colorado start and hadn't had the typical amount of prep between starts, so they planned on holding him to a lower pitch count (or something to that effect)

Thank you to the baseball gods for sending the Pirates right after getting swept by the Phillies. It would be great if Gorzo continued to develop as a valuable lefty for our rotation.

"too bad this is PIT...you pretty much expect these wins. blowing into LA next week should be fun." LA isn't playing well lately, but the real problem for west coast games is staying up late. If they are losing it's trouble sleeping due to anxiety, if they win it's trouble sleeping due to singing Go Cubs GO. It's all fun.

in Sept. auggie ojeda (ARZ) has his own bobblehead night. how about that? awesome.

Kuroda nailed by a liner in the head, don't look good....

Went to a Gary Railcats game tonight and saw Andy Shipman come in the 9th as the closer to nail down a 4-3 win over league-leading Winnipeg Goldeyes, pulling the 'Cats into a tie for first place with the Goldeyes in the Northern League (Independent minor league). If you recall, Andy was with the Cubs system from 2004-06, last pitching with Iowa in 2006 before moving on to the A's in 2007-08 and being released part way through 2008 and landing in the Northern League after that. Looked pretty effective, popping a fastball up to 92 mph and striking out the Goldeye's 3 & 4 hitters to nail down the save.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

it happens too much, and i hate it when the writers team up to call out someone who's not giving them their stories...as if it's owed to them or they need shaking down. years of Z giving them stories and soundbites? whatever... what you done for me lately? meh. waaah...we can't get our story. let's lean on the manager to sell him out and make excuses for him. oh, that don't work. let's implicate the cubs training staff (seen this before?) and force hendry out to make a comment. yeesh. some people appreciate this...as readers/fans. myself, i could care less about Z's back except when it's ready to get back on the mound.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

I don't know if it will help Z's current predicament, but it seems to be commonly held belief among personal fitness trainers and workout regiments that working your abs will also strengthen your lower back, I'm sure that's where Z is getting this from.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

My understanding is that the idea is that strengthening your abs improves posture and creates balanced strength, taking stress off of your back. We've got to have a personal trainer who reads the blog though...

pretty much as Charlie said... the abdominal muscles are farther away from the arc of movement of the spine, so if they are stronger can have more leverage to support the spine (Work = Force x Distance), compared to the muscles that run along the spine. in the old days, a back brace was standard rx for acute symptoms because it reinforces and supports the abdomen as well as the lumbar spine, but the downside is if one doesn't strengthen the abdominals the brace does the work and the abdominals weaken ultimately not helping the situation. So a brace is useful only as a short term solution. --- taken from this link below: The abdominal muscles work with the back muscles to stabilize the spine so that the spine is kept in a neutral position. So, if your abdominal muscles are weak, you may overcompensate with your back muscles when lifting or playing sports, leading to the danger of a back sprain. http://www.besthealth.com/Health+Centers/Wellness+Center/wellness26.html --- typical exercises recommended for low back pain treatment: http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00302

I'm pretty sure Pie didn't get rushed...but a full season of playing time and working at the MLB level may have been a nice idea instead of yanking him around AAA - MLB...starting...sitting...etc. Meh...moving forward...

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.