Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Garrett Cooper
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Brewers Beat Cubs and Suddenly, Ron Santo Seems Quite Articulate

Submitted by Cubnut on

Things have gotten so bad with the Cubs that Ron Santo's heavy sighs and plaintive wails and exclamations of "C'mon!" and "No!" actually capture precisely the way I now feel while listening to or watching the action.

Tuesday night the Cubs fell to a season-worst 15 games under .500, losing their seventh in a row, 4-3, to the Brewers. (Lest we forget, the Brewers had lost five in a row before this series began.)

Thomas Diamond, the starting and losing pitcher for the Cubs, was making his first Major League start and wound up tying Mark Prior's franchise record for strikeouts by a pitcher making his Cub debut with 10. Diamond also managed to keep the Cub bullpen on the sidelines until the 7th inning, throwing 122 pitches in the process, which was the highest pitch count by a player making his first MLB appearance since 2001.

The Cub offense provided the usual mix of flat-out failure—1-for-11 with RISP—and comic ineptitude. The game essentially ended right after Starlin Castro drove in Mike Fontenot with the Cubs' third run in the final inning. Castro slipped while trying to stretch his single into a double and was thrown out in a rundown between first and second. Derrek Lee then fanned for the final out. 

Aside from dropping seven games in a row, the Cubs have now gone 49 innings without even having a lead.

Tags
Starlin Castro
Thomas Diamond

Comments

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 08:26 am

I haven't been paying that close attention, but wasn't Wellman saying Diamond had been on a pretty strict pitch count his last few outings? so wtf if that's true?

Submitted by Rob Richardson on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 08:24 pm

"Carlos Zambrano will return to the Chicago Cubs' starting rotation on Monday against the San Francisco Giants, manager Lou Piniella said on Wednesday." ... "I've been in this game for nine years," Zambrano said. "For seven years, I've been doing a good job and the last few years unfortuiantely I haven't. But it's not [too] late. It's not [too] late. We still have two months to go to try to finish over .500." http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=5437025

Submitted by MikeC on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 08:17 pm

Ohh geez dude he has a goal of wanting to help the team win more games. What would you like him to say to be more Politically Correct for you? He kinda did that when he yelled out Lee. The team is playing like horseshit and we haven't got a shot in hell of doing anything? So i am just gonna play half-ass baseball because no one gives a fuck anymore? For a 140 million they should sack up and try and play for some fucking pride. But with sleepy Lee, and dopey Ramirez the Cubs will be stuck in "I don't give a fuck" mode for awhile. Remember we tried to add a little fire to the clubhouse in adding Bradley because our two-current team leaders are about as boring and lifeless as the baseball they currently play. I am just saying the old blood of the Clubhouse is the shrug your shoulders type of guys who say, "Ohh well we will get them tomorrow," as they hop in their limo.

Submitted by big_lowitzki on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 08:13 pm

For some positive news... - Soto is a damn good hitter, with a higher OBP and SLUG than any qualifying catcher, though Soto doesn't qualify. With unqualified folks, he has a higher OPS than everyone but Posey. - Castro and Colvin are looking more and more legit every day. - The Cubs just scored some runs. By the way... do people still really think that the Cubs are not better off with Castro at SS rather than Theriot?

[ ]

Submitted by Old and Blue on Thu, 08/05/2010 - 08:38 am

I don't remember seeing the comment about Castro either but maybe some clown jumped to conclusions when he struggled in June. I remember early on it seemed like he wasn't hitting anything at all to left field, outs or not, and now, after his own adjustment maybe, he is. I dunno about everyone else but I like this kid a lot. I'm even positive right now about DeWitt, who, if he was just coming up from the minors, I'd say is can't miss just based on what little I've seen. Nice swing, good instincts in the field. He's 24 and appeared in just a little more than a season's worth of MLB games, and of course was a first rounder. So I'm really interested to see how he does from here on out.

[ ]

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Thu, 08/05/2010 - 08:25 pm

Ryan Howard played just 88 games in 2005 and won, Raul Mondesi played 112, Bob Hamelin 101 games - so it happens. Castro will probably end up at around 110 games played. Posey will be behind that in games so I doubt he gets much consideration. Jay, Johnson, and Walker won't have even close to enough. Venters, as a middle reliever, probably won't get much consideration either. I can't see Niese getting any more than a stray one or two votes. Leake will get a few back-end votes because of his W-L, but he hasn't really impressed that much. Strasburg will get some votes just because of this dominance, but with only 9 starts, many voters will shy away and he won't likely get many first place votes. But he will get a couple just because voters are stupid like that. Haywerd figures to finish with a low average, but 15-20 homers, and 75-80 runs and RBI. Colvin's average will be about the same, and he will have more HR (20-25?), but probably 15 fewer runs and RBI. Sanchez will have similar runs and RBI to Heyward, and a much higher average, but fewer homers than either Heyward or Colvin. When compared to those three, Castro will have the highest average and will get credit for defense, but falls well short on HR, RBI, and Runs, and doesn't have any stolen bases to make up for it. Garcia will finish with 12-15 wins and a solid ERA and I think gets a lot of consideration. In two months a lot can happen, but I see something like: 1. Heyward 2. Garcia 3. Sanchez 4. Strasburg 5. Colvin 6. Castro Others with a few votes - Posey, Leake, etc. mainly from the writers who cover those teams.

[ ]

Submitted by Old and Blue on Thu, 08/05/2010 - 08:46 am

It's complicated. from the article: "The F.C.C., meanwhile, favors a level playing field, but it cannot impose one as long as its authority over broadband is in legal doubt. It has proposed a solution that would reclassify broadband Internet service under the Communications Act from its current designation as an “information service,” a lightly regulated designation, to a “telecommunications service,” a category that, like telephone service, is subject to stricter regulation."

Submitted by Tito on Thu, 08/05/2010 - 08:31 am

I know this is nothing new, but man there were so many drunken, loud idiots (rooting for both teams) at the game yesterday. Was hoping for a nice, relaxing day at the park and it turned into quite the opposite. I can't even believe they kept serving the guy behind me.

Submitted by springs on Thu, 08/05/2010 - 08:53 am

Did not see the game, only the box score, where he looked as good as I would expect from someone just getting called up again and knowing this may be a chance to impress for next year (i.e. not great control, quality start and lots of Ks due to good stuff and adrenalin). Did he look as good as the line? Or are there things that are not seen in the box score (like lots of hard hit balls right at people that were outs or most of the hits being bloopers that fell in the right spot, for example). Thank you for any insight.

Submitted by crunch on Thu, 08/05/2010 - 08:15 pm

castro's hitting well, but...well...there's june vs. july...he's going to swing. he's also trying to turn everything that's a marginal double into a double...i guess his youth comes in handy there because he's not been snagged being stupid on the basepaths too much. the major thing that bothers me is 17 of his 21 walks are in the 8 slot (96 of 277ab). he's going to put pretty much everything in play unless there's a pitcher hitting behind him it seems. so far having dlee behind him is working out, but he's picked up "only" 2 walks in 116ab. ...and yeah, i should use PAs, not ABs, but we can get the gist of it.

Submitted by crunch on Thu, 08/05/2010 - 08:49 pm

rick sanchez (CNN) has spent the last 3 minutes ranting about how no one gives a flying f**k about arod and his 600HR...good commentary, sharp and to the point. he put MLB (the whole organization) #1 on his piece "The List You Don't Want to Be On." he blamed MLB pretty sharply for allowing a game so closely tied to numbers to enter a lost era that effects the numbers.

Submitted by rokfish on Thu, 08/05/2010 - 08:10 pm

So it would be about yesterday when Lou and Jim had a talk with D.Lee and told him you are only going to start at first about half the games left because we want to look at options for first for 2011. Would they be forward thinking to let someone besides Nady or Lee play first. Maybe they learned from not playing Theriot at second in the spring.

Recent comments

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
    I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
    I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
    That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
    I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
    We'll find out soon enough!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Teheran minor league deal is done, per MLB.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Based on Phil’s sound analysis it sounds like a no brainer for Almonte to be placed on waivers as today’s roster move. We shall see.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."  

    Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa? 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Pro teams have to play their "big money" guys if they are healthy and not "locker room" issues.
    The Cubs wanted to deal JHey off well before they bought him out. They just didn't want to pay him to play for someone else for that long. Jed did give him 20+mil to play for LAD last yr.
    Jed might also let Kyle walk at some point this year. Similar scenario to JHey, except Jed thought Kyle was going to be good/solid in '24!!
    You'd think Smyly is in the same book as well. Same with Neris (he's a 1yr vet RP, so he's not really in this convo too much).
    That's ~35mil between those three and those three are going to get opportunities until at least late June) over younger guys even if their performance is "iffy".
    But, Jed is going to play Taillon a lot. They have to try and justify that contract and hope a veteran works out.
    So, Taillon, Imanaga, and Hendricks are locks for the rest of April and probably May.
    Assad, Brown and Wicks handle the last spots until Steele is ready.
    Now, you're question has real merit when Steele comes back. That will interesting if Brown is still good and Hendricks is still bad. But Taillon is entirely safe as long as he's healthy.

    And the bullpen moves were "money" based as well. Smyly has actually been okay. But he hasn't been clearly better than Little. Little had one bad outing. But Smyly makes 9mil. If they needed another RHRP and one of Little and Smyly had to go, it was going to Little. But that doesn't mean Smyly is one of the best 13 arms for the team. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: I think there was an issue with Luke Little coming into a game with men on base. He seems to need a "clean" inning to be dominant. So he is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AAA. Same goes for Michael Arias. He needs to come into a "clean" inning, and is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AA. Porter Hodge is a more versatile pitcher, a better version of Keegan Thompson (multi-inning RP). But Little, Arias, and Hodge (probably in that order) are the Cubs top three RP prospects (all three are Cubs Top 15 prospects).

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    So, let’s do a little war gaming. Taillon is back for tonight’s game. He pitched two rehab games, just a few innings each, and not especially sharp. Let’s face it, he hasn’t been lights out since the Cubs gave him the big contract. In other words, as flat out bad as Hendricks has been, the chances of Taillon being the savior don’t look exactly promising.

    If Taillon is equally ineffective or perhaps even worse, what’s the next move? Winning teams can often find a way to work around a dud fifth starter - kinda. Two dud starters make things much more difficult.

    I believe the biggest reason for the recent bullpen moves was dissatisfaction with the recent blowing of big leads and the recognition that the bullpen wasn’t all it was thought to be. In other words, they are exploring alternate options and configurations. If similar juggling becomes necessary (even more so than it already is), what kind of reasonable maneuvering do we think could be explored?

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Cubdom needs to prepare themselves for Wicks to be sent to Iowa for Taillon to come up.
    Ben Brown has 4 appearances. Wicks has 4 appearances.
    Ben has 16.1 IP.  Wicks has 17 IP
    Ben was a 1.1 WHIP.  Wicks has a 1.7 WHIP. Wicks does have significantly more SOs. 
    Ben has been better, though.
    I love Wicks. I think he's a fighter and his stuff has improved.
    But, Jed isn't ditching Hendricks just yet. He should. But he won't.
    Hendricks should go to the IL and Taillon-Imanaga-Assad-Wicks-Brown should be the rotation.
    Wont' happen though.

Click HERE for the last 50 comments