Cubs MLB Roster

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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

Cari-DOH!

Nearly 7 innings of great baseball from the pitching and defense, ruined in 4 batters. That was a debacle deep-fried in a disaster served with a chaser of Cubbery. 

20/20 Hindsight: After 6 innings of one run ball, 71 pitches and retiring 14 of 16 since the 2nd inning, Lou lifts Carlos Silva. Silva apparently did have some right shoulder tightness. Fair enough.  Lou replaces him with another sinker baller in Justin Berg, who takes 7 pitches to get through the 7th. I think it's safe to say the Reds weren't handling the sinker too good by this point. Lou even double switched Marlon Byrd so the pitcher's spot in the lineup wouldn't come up in the top of the 8th. Naturally, you still must replace Berg because he worked an entire inning. He cannot possbly handle the rigors of sitting on the bench for 10 minutes to face the bottom of the lineup after retiring the Reds 4-5-6 hitters. Not when such bullpen lynchpins like Esmailin Caridad and John Grabow can be called upon. Lou goes with Caridad, working for the third straight day and Caridad takes Gomes 0-2 and then loses him on a walk. He does the same with Ramon Hernandez(hint to Lou that he might not have it tonight) and then him and Ramirez get confused on how to take an out when the other team gives it to you, followed by throwing a pitch up and over the plate when Koyie sets-up low and inside on Drew Stubbs. Game over.

This idea of defined roles in the bullpen is neat and all, when you actually have players worth defining. The Cubs have Marmol to close and 6 other guys. Play the match-ups and ride the hot hand. Nobody in that pen besides Marmol is deserving of the benefit of the doubt or entitled to any set role at the moment.

The Good: Carlos Silva was...um...brilliant! Who expected that? The defense did make some fine plays behind him. Ryan Theriot is off the schnide. Mike Fontenot goes 4/5.

Minor League Watch: Jay Jackson got the start for Iowa and goes 5 innings, but gives up 3 runs on 2 home runs. He does strike out 4. Hoffpauir and Dubois go deep in the 5-2 loss. John Gaub gives up 2 runs in an inning of work. At AA, Tony Campana goes 3/4 with a BB and 2 stolen bases out of the leadoff spot and Brandon Guyer goes 2/4 with 2 SB's. Castro goes 1/5. On the pitching side, Ryan Buchter strikes out the side in his inning of work and Jake Muyco picks up the save as Tennessee wins 5-4. Vitters, LeMahieu and Burke each go 1/4 for Daytona with Vitters making an error and getting picked off. Chris Rusin gets tagged for 6 runs in 4 innings in a 7-0 loss. I don't believe Daytona has an extra base hit yet. Jose Valdez goes 3/4 with 2 SB's, plus getting caught once and getting picked off after going 2/4 on Opening night. Peoria loses 5-4 though, although Jeff Antigua strikes out 5 in 5 innings, giving up 2 runs.

Next Up: Z tries to redeem himself against Aaron Harang.

Comments

On the bright side, this will keep Marmol from being overused.

I'm already in assume-the-worst mode. Silva looked extremely uncomfortable after throwing one of those pitches to Votto. Expecting to learn today or tomorrow that there is problem beyond tightness in the shoulder. Hell of an effort by him last night, however. Also wondering if Ricketts's recent declaration that Lou's fate is squarely in Hendry's hands would make Hendry more or less likely to replace him if the Cubs get off to a dismal start.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubnut

I thought it looked on TV like he was a little ticked when Larry came and told him he was coming out. And he told the paper he was fine: "His shoulder stiffened," Piniella said and then repeated twice. When asked how his shoulder was, Silva replied: "Good. I was ready to go out. They took me out. I was ready to go out." He added that the only time he felt stiffness was when he tried to field a groundball earlier in the game and fell to the ground.

That homerun must have been so bittersweet for dusty. He got the hr, but the damn bases were clogged.

Not only was it clear Caridad didn't have it, but he was throwing a tantrum out there on the mound. And from what I saw, the pitches he was complaining about WERE balls. Gameday shows the same thing, all of his strikes were called strikes (or hit) and all of his balls called balls: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2010_04_09_chnmlb_cinmlb_1… Then today the newspaper has this: Caridad seemed to blame home-plate umpire Doug Eddings. "He didn't call strikes," Caridad said. "I throw a strike, and he doesn't call it a strike. I don't know why." Yep, all Eddings fault. Keep telling yourself that...

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

It's always a good idea to piss off or alienate the umpires when you're just starting off in the bigs. This where Maddux could be useful in tutoring the youngsters on the fine art of patronizing the umps. The Reds did everything they could to try and give us this game. This bullpen will be the epitaph of the 2010 team unless changes are made early enough. Disappointing...but predictable. Let's get a win today.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Not sure Caridad will be the first to leave. He is an 8th-inning reliever, after all. Berg pitched the 7th. When does Samardzija come in, when the starter gets knocked out in the 3rd? It's less demoralizing to have a young guy blow a save than an older guy like Gregg, who isn't going to get better.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

If taking out Berg was necessary, Samardzija would've been a reasonable choice, given how poorly the Reds had done against Silva and Berg. Samardzija would've been basically more of the same, and he hasn't pitched since Monday. He does seem to be our long reliever at the moment (since Marshall has been so dominant and pitched himself into a high stakes role).

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

why was taking out Berg necessary? he threw 7 pitches, that's not even an warm-up.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I don't think it was. I think Lou forgot that he'd used Caridad two days in a row, and he forgot that pitchers can go more than one inning when they are pitching well. Have I mentioned that I think Lou is dumb or at least doesn't put that much energy into managing?

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

I know feel better after that loss than when Grabow blew it. Nope, not all.

Everything is all screwy, Theriot is not hitting much, but playing brilliant D. Fontenot is hitting. All very silly. I'm thinking "Caribad" for a nickname, but it's almost too obvious. I'm not real pleased with it. Any other good nicknames we could use for him?

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

S-"mail in"...Is Mile Long...Hairy Nads? That's all I got

I'm not very optimistic about this team and wasn't even though they had a decent spring training record. They're pretty weak up the middle (although Theriot seems to have discovered his inner Castro), which is never good, they don't have the explosive offense that can quickly turn a game around, and they really pretty much appear to have almost no viable relief pitching other than Marshall and Marmol. And even Marmol reminds me too much of The Wild Thing sometimes, although he's got better stuff and could be a really dominant reliever if he could harness it completely. That said, if they can manage a nice little 2 game winning streak they go home with a .500 road trip.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

The lineup is less than awe-inspiring to begin with, but they've also underperformed this week. You're not likely to score many runs when your leadoff hitter has a .118 OBP and your number 3 hitter isn't doing much with the bad (Lee really didn't get on the board until last night). Meanwhile, our #5 hitter does have 2 homeruns, but they are his only two hits, and the guy behind him is Soriano. Most of these guys are going to put up better overall numbers than they have right now (except Lee, whose OPS looks good after last night's game). We've got a lot more guys underperforming this week than overperforming (Fontenot? Nady?), so the losses shouldn't be surprising. The bullpen is worrisome, but I expect to see guys like Cashner, Grey, Stephens, Schlitter, and Patton mixed and matched in there until they find the most effective bunch (I'd still prefer that to trading for any overpriced relievers). I also wonder whether Silva or Gorzo could be dependable out of the pen, since Lilly should be back soon. And did anyone else think what Len and Bob had to say about Soto sitting on the bench last night was ridiculous? Soto has to hit or he'll be replaced by Hill because he can't perform as poorly as last year and stay in the lineup? Did anyone mention his .240-ish BABIP to Lou last year? Does everybody else have the same deal? Riot's not hitting either, right now--will he be replaced by Castro on Monday if he doesn't get his average up to .300 this weekend?

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

I didn't hear what Len and Bob said but today Lou was quoted, "Look, let's just leave it that we need Soto to swing the bat, and we'll leave it at that," he said. Lou overall seems impatient this year -- he already seems ready to give up on Grabow as a set up man, probably not a bad thing, just sayin'.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

Lou is impatient for a good reason. He's fighting for his job, he's going to make other people, including rich pampered free agents, fight for theirs. I like this competition stuff. Theriot/Castro, Piniella/Sandberg, Soto/Hill, Mesa/Naples, Fukudome/Nady, Soriano/Colvin. Only good can come of this.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

Lou is impatient for a good reason... I like this competition stuff... Only good can come of this. Impatience rarely leads to good decisions. So some bad can come of this "competition" if Lou is impatient.

SS Theriot, RF Fukudome, 1B Lee, 3B Ramirez, CF Byrd, LF Soriano, 2B Fontenot, C Soto, P Zambrano

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

With Nady apparently ready to play the OF (sort of--he didn't look all that good in RF last night), Colvin isn't going to get all that much playing time. Lou isn't going to rotate two outfielders in there that much. Nady gets the start last night, so Lou won't play Colvin today--doesn't want to sit Fukudome two games in a row. Might be time soon to send Colvin back to AAA so he can get his ABs and Adduci or Fuld can begin their 5th outfielder careers.

Soriano still can't play left field

Time for Grabow to kick us in the nads.

Marmol had a wicked slider today. Nice to get in the win column for Z. Also interesting that Lou went all defense in the bottom 9th, including Hill for Soto and Colvin for Soriano. I wonder if he'll do the Hill switch with any regularity?

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

11 sliders, 2 fastballs...he's relying very heavy on it early this year. at least 1 of the 2 fastballs he threw he had control over.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Hill caught Marmol eleven out thirteen appearances last September. In three of those, Hill came off the bench to "relieve" Soto. It's why I thought the Cubs needed a third catcher--there's nobody behind Hill when he comes in to "close." Last year they had Fox. In any case, it's a tough situation for Soto, being first-string but playing second fiddle. What other first-string catcher comes out when the closer comes in? I hope Soto bounces back, and he probably will, but I don't think his future with this team is long term.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

Is Jeff Baker the emergency catcher? Fontenot? Marmol?

Today's fun fact: Cubs Left on Base: 0

Frank Thomas blame the Sox loss on the early start today and extra inning game the night before. Which the Twins, who won today, were in last night also. Keep up the good work, big skirt.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

I'll blame it on countering the Twins ace with Freddy Garcia. I don't care how many innings they played last night, that dog just ain't gonna hunt.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

Twins started Mauer at catcher this morning after last night's game as well...guess they're not messing around early.

nice! 2-3 But more importantly, at the moment Milton Bradley is 1/19 with one home run his only hit, same as last year but worse, he's struck out 8 times. And, oh, the irony, he's been dropped to fifth in the order. And...was accused by Ranger fans of giving them the finger yesterday.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

Milton Bradley can go on to win the MVP, triple crown, and cy young for all I care.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

yeah, more important than a win is how Milton Bradley is doing in the AL. of all the stupid things that have been said in the comments.

a you-know-what through 7 against the Rays

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

7.2 ip, first batter hit one off Sabathia's hand but Cano got him.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

and a single by Shoppach to left....

no-no no-mo, shoppach single Twins started Mauer at catcher this morning after last night's game as well. ---- Mauer didn't start last night, he came into the game as a ph for Butera in the 11th and walked and scored the winning run (now that's how legends are made)

from Paul Sullivan on sunday...Cari-bad just might be the umpire's nickname for him:
As for Caridad, Piniella had to explain to the rookie that it's not in his best interest to accuse the umpire of squeezing him on the two walks that led to the Drew Stubbs' game-winning grand slam. Umpires don't take kindly to rookies questioning their strike zones in the media.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0411-brite-cu…

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

more Sullivan...Marmol's now the wise veteran.
Marmol has only three-plus years of big league experience, but he spent Saturday morning counseling Esmailin Caridad after the rookie blew Friday night's game. It was his first big failure as a big leaguer, and Marmol played the role of a wise veteran.
"He learned from that," Marmol said. "We learn from our mistakes. We have tomorrow. He needs to forget stuff."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0411-cubs-red…

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.