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

Fitch Parking

As most of you know, Cubs pitchers and catchers have reported to Fitch Park, and a number of infielders and outfielders are also in camp.

The pitchers are presently working in four groups, with the four groups rotating periodically from the batting cage, to the ten pac (pitch and catch), to Field #2 for PFP (Pitchers Fielding Practice), and to Field #3 for pick-off drills. A loud blaring horn alerts the pitchers when it's time to move to another location. 

GROUP 1:
Andrew Cashner
Ryan Dempster
John Gaub
Tom Gorzelanny
Sean Marshall
Carlos Silva
Carlos Zambrano

GROUP 2:
Mitch Atkins
Casey Coleman
J. R. Mathes
Mike Parisi
David Patton
Jeff Stevens 

GROUP 3:
Justin Berg
Esmailin Caridad
Rafael Dolis
John Grabow
Carlos Marmol
Jeff Samardzija
Randy Wells

GROUP 4:
Thomas Diamond
Jeff Kennard
Marcos Mateo
Blake Parker
Vince Perkins
James Russell

Jeff Gray (strained groin), Angel Guzman (knee surgery rehab), and Ted Lilly (shoulder surgery rehab and a sore knee) did not participate in drills today.

And Carlos Silva is hopelessly out of shape, barely able to move, although he is participating in PFP & pick-off drills. I suspect Silva might end up spending much of the next two seasons on the 60-day DL. 

The seven catchers in camp (Geovany Soto, Welington Castillo, Koyie Hill, Robinson Chirinos, Steve Clevenger, Blake Lalli, and Chris Robinson) spend most of their morning catching pitchers throwing in the ten pac pit (six or seven pitchers throw simultaneously), and then after the pitchers have completed their work, the catchers break up into two groups and take BP (with coaches throwing) on Field #3 (Soto, K. Hill, W. Castillo, and Chirinos) and Field #2 (Clevenger Lalli, and Robinson). So far, Geovany Soto has been the Star of Camp, hitting a number of balls out onto 8th Street in BP. He also has lost a lot of weight and looks to be in great shape

Meanwhile, the non-catcher position players who have arrived take BP and fielding practice on Field #1. Non-Roster Invitee 1B-OF Bryan Lahair (ex-SEA) has been wowing Fitch Park onlookers with prodigious BP power demonstrations, and NRI 1B-3B Chad Tracy (ex-AZ) looks to finally be 100% healthy after battling knee problems (including microfracture surgery) the last couple of years. Tracy has been taking lots of grounders at both 1B and 3B and shows good mobility. (Tracy is also one of the best pinch-hitters in baseball). New hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo has been spending a lot of time working with "pet project" Andres Blanco.

In addition to the big league coaching staff in camp, a number of minor league managers and coaches and Spring Training instructors are also present, including Special Instructor Billy Williams, Special Instructor Greg Maddux, Minor League Field Coordinator Dave Bialas, Latin American Field Coordinator Carmelo Martinez, Minor League Hitting Coordinator Dave Keller, Minor League Pitching Coordinator Mark Riggins, Minor League Infield & Bunting Instructor Franklin Font, Minor League Outfield & Baserunning Instructor Bobby Dernier, Minor League Catching Instructor Marty Pevey, Iowa Manager Ryne Sandberg, Iowa Pitching Coach Mike Mason, Iowa Hitting Coach Von Joshua, Tennessee Manager Bill Dancy, Tennessee Pitching Coach Dennis Lewallyn, Tennessee hitting coach Tom Beyers, and Fitch Park Rehab Pitching Coach Brad Kelley.

And veteran SK Wyverns (KBO - South Korea) reliever Woong-Chun Cho is a Special Guest Spring Training Instructor at Fitch Park. (The Cubs might be checking him out to see if they want to hire him as a full-time minor league coach, since the Cubs have signed a lot of the best young players out of South Korea the past couple of years).

Also, note that there has been one late Spring Training number change, as NRI 1B-OF Kevin Millar has been assigned #15, bumping Bobby Scales to #19. Otherwise the Spring Training numbers remain the same as they have been for the past few weeks (see right side-bar).

Comments

Excellent. Has Maddux taken on any "pet projects", AZPhil?

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

Submitted by Stevens on Fri, 02/19/2010 - 2:29pm. Excellent. Has Maddux taken on any "pet projects", AZPhil? ==================================== STEVENS: Not that I've noticed, but he probably will. Although I wonder if he will contuinue to wait for guys to approach him before he offers advice, or if he will take the initiative and approach them without being asked first. BTW, I would LOVE to see Mad Dog be the Cubs Minor League Pitching Coordinator (not that he would necessarily want the job), with Mark Riggins moving up to be Cubs Pitching Coach. Riggins is a smart cookie.

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

Interesting idea about Riggins. Welcome to the Dump-LR club, Cousin, at any rate. I just don't think Maddux will want to go near the minor leagues. He's no Sandberg. He may just want to get in line ahead of Randy Bush.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

milton bradley bad...carlos silva and kevin millar good. 2010 offseason here we come. SEA gets a LF who can play RF in a pinch (i think ichiro's got that job down, imo)...we get a DL roster spot holder and a couple million in payroll flexibility over the next 2 years.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

well, they do got a guy in RF named ichiro. that's what LF is about...nothing's changed about his arm this offseason. they got a .350+ ob% guy with pop who can play both corners in milton. we got one of the worst pitchers in the game and 2m bucks extra to spend on a 140m roster. cute.

So happy to be getting on-the-scene reports from Arizona Phil again! I have to say I like the possibility of Tracy as a lefty off the bench. Of course, that assumes that the last two years were an aberration rather than a trend. But we're allowed to think like that in Februrary, right?

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 02/19/2010 - 3:48pm. Phil, on the video at cubs.com it showed what looked like some covered batting cages...did you notice if they built them as was rumored earlier in the offseason? or have these been there for awhile? =============================================================== ROB G: These are the same covered batting cages they've had at Fitch Park since it was renovated in the mid-1990's. The Mesa City Council allocated funds (about $700K) to build a new batting cages complex at Fitch (to be used mainly by minor leaguers), but decided to wait to begin construction until the Cubs made a commitment to stay in Mesa. I don't know why they're waiting now, though, unless Mesa thinks they still might lose the Cubs. But the Cubs are not going to be at Fitch Park past 2011 even if they remain in Mesa, so the $700K cage complex probably won't be used by the Cubs for more than a couple of seasons (and actually only one Spring Training), which never made much sense to me. That is, unless the City of Mesa is serious when they say they believe they can entice another MLB club to take the Cubs place at Fitch/HoHoKam in 2012. Personally, I suspect offering the Cubs new Fitch Park batting cages was just an attempt by the Mesa City Council to show the Cubs that the city was serious about wanting the Cubs to stay in Mesa. They never really expected that the Cubs would ultimately require the cages to be built as a pre-requisite for the Cubs staying in Mesa long-term.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

for future reference feel free to delete stuff like that if it crosses a line you don't want crossed...or add a warning like you did. i'll try to be less shitty in the future and a lot more clear about what i'm posting.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

made my head spin... also don't necessarily trust Pitch F/x on some of their pitch identities...but assuming all that is accurate. the charts from the catcher's point of view? doesn't the cutter move inside on lefties, so what's the point of reference on the vertical line? release point? middle of the plate? wouldn't it have been easier to break out the slash lines against each pitch and swing and miss rates than whatever rv100 and rv100e? I'm sure the math is all wonderful and I read the explanation, but it sure would have made it a lot easier to understand.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

To go with his new attitude, Zambrano said he plans to ditch the cut fastball from his repertoire. He hasn't displayed enough control of it to keep throwing it regularly so he decided to go back to what made him successful in the past.
http://bit.ly/c2cwgm

Now if you told me Joe West was retiring, I would throw a party. Don't get me started on "umpires".

Hi AZ PHIL: Thanks again, sir! So, can we expect to see Soto attempting stolen bases this year, PHIL? lol Seriously, can you notice better footwork or more zip on his throws due to the weight loss? And, do you still feel that Castillo still has the "arm" edge on Gio?

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Submitted by The E-Man on Fri, 02/19/2010 - 7:38pm. Hi AZ PHIL: Thanks again, sir! So, can we expect to see Soto attempting stolen bases this year, PHIL? lol Seriously, can you notice better footwork or more zip on his throws due to the weight loss? And, do you still feel that Castillo still has the "arm" edge on Gio? ====================================== E-MAN: I haven't seen Soto make any throws in anger yet (that is, to try and catch a base-runner trying to steal a base). We'll probably have to wait for Cactus League games to see how he looks. As for Welington Castillo, he absolutely has the #1 best arm among catchers in the Cubs organization (44% CS in 2009). His big problem is that he still needs work on his receiving, although he showed improvement in 2009 (cut his PB in half). He needs to show more improvement in 2010, though. But he's only 22. I can tell you that Castillo is better than Soto was at that age.

Sounds like terrible news for Micah Hoffpauir, especially with LaHair showing off power too. Jaramillo spending time on Blanco's hitting lends a little more credence (along with AZ Phil's comments in the previous thread) to the theory that Blanco still has some offensive upside beyond being a .250/.300/.320 guy. What OBP would he have to manage to equal Theriot's overall value? .330? .340? (Guess that depends a bit on what Theriot hits.) Too early to start believing that Soto will return to his .280/.360 20+ HR form?

cj wilson (TEX) is being a little outspoken this spring... "It's no secret I don't think I should be limited to the set-up role. I have too many weapons," said Wilson. "Here is the reality. It is real simple. There are not very many guys that have the stuff that I do that would be willing to sign here if they were free agents. There is no experienced pitcher that has my stuff that would sign here, historically." ...way to say you really really really really want to be that 5th starter, dude.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    yeah, for me this isn't about who's better at 3rd.  it's madrigal, period.  for me it's about who's not hitting in the lineup because madrigal is in the lineup.

    occasional play at 3rd for madrigal, okay.  going with the steele/ground-ball matchup...meh, but okay, whatever.

    seeing madrigal get significant starting time...no thanks.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Yeah I am very disappointed Madrigal is starting. He has no business as a starter. He is AAA insurance, a back up at best. Sure his defense looks fine because he plays far enough in that his noodle arm isn’t totally exposed. It comes at the cost of 3B range.

    He’s garbage, and a team serious about winning would NOT have him starting opening day.

  • crunch (view)

    in other news, it took 3 PA before a.rizzo got his 1st HBP of the season.

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • 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.