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 

 



 

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Rule 5 Draft 
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ABH - Anybody But Hamels

I think I'm taking the 2008 Cubs for granted. I headed to my car for my commute home last night just as the Phillies were scoring three runs in the sixth. And even with Cole Hamels carving up the lineup, I never thought we were out of it. I tuned into XM radio by that point and it had Pat and Ron going and Pat was carrying on that the Phils bullpen has been worked hard lately. If the Cubs could just work up  that pitch count up on Hamels. If he could go eight, the Phils would just go to Brad Lidge which probably wouldn't have done the Cubs much good considering he's a perfect 31 for 31 in save opportunities. The key was to get into the pen before that. After seven, Hamels was up to 108 pitches but due up third, and Charlie Manuel obliged by pinch hitting for him.

Boom. Mike Fontenot goes yard on Ryan Madson. As I heard Bob Brenly say on the replay, "ABH - Anybody but Hamels".

Next up, Soriano sounds like he just missed one for a double. After the Theriot single, Derrek Lee stepped up and I'm sure many the skeptical Cub fan were expecting the double play that he seems to be so prone to hitting to this year. But he already had two hits on the night and his one out sounded like a well-struck ball to the outfield. He's also managed a .923 OPS over the last 7 days. Chad Durbin left his control in the bullpen though and the bases were loaded for tonight's hero.

Whenever a Cub hits one deep, you can always tell with Pat if it's going out or not by the first or second word. He tries to put some excitement in any ball that looks like it has any chance but there's just this little extra inflection he puts in his voice when a ball is definitely going out. When Soriano hit his double, it wasn't there. When Fontenot and Ramirez hit there blasts, I could tell right away just by the subtle change in Pat's voice.

After missing on the first pitch to Ramirez and considering Durbin just walked Lee, I figured Ramirez would be taking. Instead I'm listening to Pat Hughes calling yet another Cubs comeback victory. 

Ramirez is certainly the game's hero, but let's be sure to give Kerry Wood his deserved praise. Working on his fourth straight game against the four best Phillies hitters was no small task. He had a bit of breathing room, but an outstanding outing by him as well to navigate the ninth inning for his 28th save.

The Win Probability chart after the jump...

phils_cubs fangraph

Not quite as impressive as Daryle Ward's shot in Florida a few weeks back (.647 WPA vs .414 for Aramis's home run), but impressive nonetheless.

Comments

Neat, that leadoff single in the 9th caused that little dip, and if you factor in who was coming up behind Rollins it probably should have been more pronounced. Kerry didn't look too sharp, but he got the job done, and Marmol can close it out today if necessary so all's good in Cubdom. Eyeballing the chart it looks like AramRam got about .4 of a WPA for that HR - that would move him from 6th to 5th among NL guys (not counting Carlos Lee). Still a ways behind Albert and Lance for the lead league, though. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&t…

Interesting...according to the graph, the Cubs were favorites after the walk to Lee, despite still trailing by two runs in the eighth. Very cool.

The Cubs are much better suited for the playoffs this year with a lineup that gets on base more and makes pitchers run up their pitch counts. Without that kind of lineup Hamels goes 9 innings on us.

[ ]

In reply to by 10man

Honestly, I think Hamels goes at least one more inning if this game is played in October, even with the pitch count. Mebbe we get to him in the 8th instead, but I don't think there's any way he doesn't start the 8th in a playoff series. I think most of the advantage of being able to get into bullpens is lost in October.

"Whenever a Cub hits one deep, you can always tell with Pat if it's going out or not by the first or second word." Very true and observant. Now if we can find how the Cubs are doing against #1 pitchers this year. :-)

It seems that Hamels always pitches lights - out against us, both here and in Philly. Hate to use an hoary sports cliche', but this team never seems to believe they're out of any game, despite the score, opposing pitcher, late innings, etc. Can't remember the last time a Cubs team showed this much confidence in their abilities - maybe 1984.

Cubs are the thousand pound gorilla in the NL. I cruised the Phillies blogs yesterday, and as hot as the Phils been this last week or so, their fans were just desparately hoping for the split. I'm so used to thinking as the Cubs as the underdogs, it's hard to picture them as the favorites. Cats and dogs, living together...

[ ]

In reply to by nohit

What's that line from? I am really enjoying the Cubs being the beast of the league - I think in yesterday's game post it said no one has a winning record against us now - which is pretty damned impressive. It would probably take a couple years of just kicking the crap out of everyone before I'd get tired of it, and start to feel a little embarrassed (assuming we do it with league leading payrolls - Yankees style).

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Ghostbusters. Here's Dero doing long interview with Waddle and Silvy here in Chicago yesterday- http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/espnradio1000/archive?id=3095454 Funny story in there- 2nd game of season last year Dero was not in lineup and he went to Lou's office. He opened door and Lou was doing crossword puzzle. Lou looked up saw Dero and said "This is why I didn't want to get back into managing." Dero said he should be the every day 2nd baseman, Lou said "Do you son?" Lou got up went to lineup erased Theriots name and put in Dero's. Dero said Theriot is mad at him and now the pressure is on for him to perform. Gotta to listen to it.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

great interview...

telling quote:

"Everybody snaps...I'm on my 4th helmet this year, just no one can see it when I snap."

good stuff about Z in there and his personality. And the Lou story is good too. 

the win probability chart has buried treasure under the "Big" W... it's a Mad, mad, mad, mad world. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057193/ Buddy Hackett, Sid Caesar, Jonathan Winters, Milton Berle, Jimmy Durante, Spencer Tracy, Ethyl Merman, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers, Mickey Rooney, Jim Backus ...all Cub fans (alive and mostly dead)

I just noticed this, but it seems Eyre is still on our side. I miss him even more: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5869/news So Chase Utley sat next to him on the flight to Chicago and asked for advice about how to attack the Cubs' pitchers. Eyre wasn't much help. "Chase was like, 'How's Dempster going to try to strike me out?'" Eyre said. "I was like, 'He's probably going to get you to swing and miss three times.' I said, 'I really don't know, man. I didn't watch that closely. I was in the bullpen. I didn't pay that close attention.'"...Three weeks ago, Eyre was designated for assignment by the Cubs and dealt to the Phillies. In 7 2/3 innings for the Phillies, he hasn't allowed a run. Opponents are batting .087 against him. "The best thing was to get this opportunity," Eyre said. "Jim Hendry didn't send me somewhere that doesn't mean anything. He sent me to a playoff contender, and I'll be forever grateful."

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.