Cubs MLB Roster

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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

The "Other" Baez a Big Hit at Papago

Submitted by Arizona Phil on

Jeffrey Baez had three hits including a two-run triple that drove-in the go-ahead run in the top of the 6th, Micah Gibbs laced a two-run double, and Jeimer Candelario had two RBI doubles, as the Cubs outslugged the Athletics 12-8 in AZ Instructional League action this afternoon at Connie Mack Field at the Papago Park Baseball Complex in Phoenix.  

The Cubs took a 3-0 lead in the top of the 1st, as Reggie Golden (two-run single to left) and Jeimer Candelario (double off CF Batter’s Eye) collected two-out RBI, and Micah Gibbs (batting RH) made it 5-0 in the 4th when he hooked a double into the LF corner to drive-in two more runs.

The A's came back with three in the 4th and two unearned runs in the 5th (thanks to three errors by 2B Zeke DeVoss), however, to tie the game at 5-5.

And then it was Jeffrey Baez who got the big clutch hit in the top of the 6th to give the Cubs back the lead, as the 17-year old Venezuelan clubbed a two-run two out triple over the centerfielder’s head.

Baez received a reported $350K bonus when he signed with the Cubs as a 16-year old in the first days of the International Signing Period in 2010, and he hit 282/353/408 with 32 SB in 68 DSL games in his rookie year this season. He is built like a running back or an outside linebacker, and in fact he plays OF and runs the bases like a football player. Which is to say he’s going to need a lot of polish.

The Cubs added a five-spot in the 9th to take a 12-5 lead, as Justin Marra ripped an RBI double into the left-center alley, Rafael Lopez doubled to drive-in Marra, Garrett Schlecht ripped a two-out two run RBI single, and sweet-swingin’ Jeimer Candelario roped another two-out RBI double (his second of the day) to knock-in Schlecht.

Cubs MLB Hitting Instructor Rudy Jaramillo is at Fitch Park this week working with the young Cubs hitters, and he had to be happy with today’s results (12 runs on 13 hits, seven walks, and an HBP, with eight of the 12 RBI coming with two outs).

25-year old LHP (ex-OF) Matt Spencer made his Instructs game debut, throwing 1.1 IP of perfect four up/four down ball (strikeout-swinging, F-8, F-8, strikeout-swinging). Although this was his Instructs game debut, it was not his pro debut as a pitcher, because he has thrown an occasional AA and AAA inning in blow-outs.

Spencer is no stranger to the mound, having been a two-way player (LHP/OF) in HS and at the U. of North Carolina prior to transferring to Arizona State.

In AZIL Cubs roster news, OF Trey Martin (Cubs 2011 13th round draft pick out of Brookwood HS - Snellville, GA) has been placed on the Active List after missing the first couple of weeks of Instructs with a left shoulder strain. He was in uniform today, but did not play. (Martin hit 243/289/357 in 18 AZL Cubs games after signing).

Here is the abridged box score (Cubs players only):

LINEUP:
1. Zeke DeVoss, 2B-CF: 1-5 (K, K, F-9, 1B, 3-1)
2. Danny Lockhart, SS: 0-4 (E-3, F-8, 4-3, 4-6-3 DP, HBP, 2 R)
3. Rafael Lopez, 1B: 1-2 (BB, BB, P-5, BB, 2B, 2 R, RBI)
4. Dan Vogelbach, DH #1: 0-5 (K, K, P-3, E-6, P-5)
5a. Reggie Golden, RF: 1-3 (1B, 6-4 FC, 6-3, R, 2 RBI, CS)
5b. Garrett Schlecht, RF: 1-2 (5-3, 1B, R, 2 RBI)
6. Jeimer Candelario, 3B: 2-4 (2B, E-5, 3-1, BB, 2B, R, 2 RBI)
7a. Taiwan Easterling, CF: 2-2 (1B, 1B, BB, 2 R, SB)
7b. Carlos Penalver, 2B: 0-2 (5-4 FC, 5-3)
8a. Micah Gibbs, C: 1-2 (3-6 FC, 2B, BB, R, 2 RBI)
8b. Mark Malave, C: 0-1 (6-3 DP)
9. Jeffrey Baez, LF: 3-4 (1B, K, 3B, 1B, R, 2 RBI)
10. Justin Marra, DH #2: 1-3 (BB, K, F-8, 2B, R, RBI)

PITCHERS:
1. Ian Dickson: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K, 34 pitches (15 strikes), 1/2 GO/FO
2. Matt Spencer: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 11 pitches (9 strikes), 0/2 GO/FO
3. David Henrie: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 27 pitches (14 strikes), 2/0 GO/FO
4. Jose Rosario: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 0 K, 26 pitches (15 strikes), 1/3 GO/FO
5. Charles Thomas: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 28 pitches (18 strikes), 1/2 GO/FO
6. Scott Weismann: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 26 pitches (14 strikes), 2/0 GO/FO
7. Tony Zych: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 30 pitches (17 strikes)

ERRORS: 4
1. 2B Zeke DeVoss - E-4 (errant throw attempting to turn a potential 6-4-3 DP allowed batter-runner to advance to 2nd base)
2. 2B Zeke DeVoss - E-4 (throwing error allowed batter to reach base safely and runner who was on 1st base to advance to 3rd base)
3. 2B Zeke DeVoss - E-4 (bobbled relay throw after double into RF corner - allowed runner who had stopped at 3rd base to score)
4. 3B Jeimer Candelario - E-5 (throwing error allowed batter to reach base safely)

CATCHERS DEFENSE
Mark Malave: 1-1 CS, 1 PB

ATTENDANCE: 94 (mostly students & instructors from MLB Scout School)

WEATHER: Partly cloudy & breezy with temperatures in the 90’s

Tags
Cubs Minor Leaguers
Matt Spencer
Micah Gibbs
Reggie Golden
Zeke DeVoss
Garrett Schlecht
Rafael Lopez
Jeffrey Baez
Jeimer Candelario
AZ Instructional League

Comments

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 10:42 am

Submitted by Koyies Bansaw on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 8:24am. How does Spencer look as a pitcher? MLB potential? Who would you say looks like a better pitcher, him or Kyler Burke? ============================================== K-BANSAW: Matt Spencer looked very good yesterday. He threw strikes and showed a plus-curve. A couple of the A's instructors remembered him from when he was in the A's organization (he was traded to the Cubs in the Jake Fox deal post-2009) and they gave him a big hug before the game when they found out he was converting to pitcher. Kyler Burke is definitely the better pitching prospect of the two. He's 23 going on 24 (Spencer is 25 going on 26) and was a legitimate LHP prospect in HS (some scouts had him rated higher as a pitcher than as a hitter). Burke throws 94 with a solid change-up and curve, and if he can develop some stamina he could possibly even be a rotation starter. At the very least he should be a good LHRP (like Gaub-Maine-Beliveau) as he gains more experience on the mound. One thing to keep in mind about Burke is that he is eligible to be a Six-Year Minor League FA post-2012, so the Cubs will have to evaluate him very carefully next season and decide if they should add him to the 40-man roster him by the 11/20 deadline (even if he hasn't progressed above Daytona) or else let him walk away as a FA. My guess is he will be added to the Cubs 40-man roster post-2012. Spencer benefits from making his transition to LHP in Instructs (Burke made his move at Extended Spring Training) so he will be able to be a pitcher from the start of Minor League Camp next year. Spencer probably projects as a LHRP, and a good comp (at this point) might be Luke Sommer (an OF converted to LHRP by the Cubs in 2008 who made it all the way to AAA before getting released this season). The Cubs are a bit short in LHRP below Iowa, so Burke and/or Spencer could get promoted very quickly next season if they show they have mastered a given level. I expect Burke to begin the 2012 season at Peoria (although Daytona is a possibility) and Spencer to begin the season at Extended Spring Training, with one or two in-season promotions possible for both. Burke needs to rack up innings, so starting or piggy-backing at Peoria is the fastest way to do that, although ideally he would get to Daytona by mid-season, even if he has been moved to the bullpen by that time.

Submitted by The Real Neal on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 10:54 am

AZ Phil, How did the Cubs pitchers handle the spotty defense behind them? Are you firmly in the DeVoss is going to have to play outfield camp now? It seemed like they had him playing mostly 2B this year.

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 10:42 pm

Submitted by The Real Neal on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 10:54am. AZ Phil, How did the Cubs pitchers handle the spotty defense behind them? Are you firmly in the DeVoss is going to have to play outfield camp now? It seemed like they had him playing mostly 2B this year. =================================== REAL NEAL: All three of the DeVoss errors happened over the course of two innings with Jose Rosario on the mound. Other than extending his innings, making him throw more pitches, and allowing two runs to score that otherwise would not have scored, I doubt that Rosario cared. And he probably wasn't too surprised, either, since Rosario and DeVoss were teammates at Boise this season. As for DeVoss, he is just a terrible second-baseman. I understand that he has more value at 2B than he would playing LF or CF, but he has no aptitude for 2B. On the other hand, Rubi Silva (the other 2B-OF at Instructs) CAN play 2B.

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 10:11 pm

Submitted by The Real Neal on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 5:51pm. Good to know. It seems like your original assesment was "pattersonesque" at second, and six weeks haven't seemed to change that much. Too bad. Any idea about his arm as a centerfielder? Silva seems interesting. He's a LH hitter, right? It doesn't seem like Latin America in general produces very many lefty-righty hitter-throwers. Thanks as always. ======================================== REAL NEAL: DeVoss has a LF arm that could play in CF because of his plus-speed. He's played both LF and CF (in addition to 2B) at Instructs, and he looks best in LF. Rubi Silva is indeed a LH hitter, and he was member of the Cuban Junior National Team as a teenager and played for Havana in the Serie Nacional (Cuban major league) prior to defecting with teammate Yaniel Cabezas. And then the Cubs gave him a $1M bonus to sign. BTW, at one point in today's game, the pitcher (Del Valle), the catcher (Cabezas), and the 2B (Silva) were all Cuban defectors. I did not see Fidel in the crowd, however.

Submitted by The Real Neal on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 10:09 pm

Matt Garza's "replacement" going for the Rays, down 2-1 in the top of the 4th. Make that 3-1 on Beltre's 2nd solo HR of the game.

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 10:27 pm

dodgers decline $6m option on the cubs future 3rd baseman casey blake =p the cubs/blake part isn't true, but it very well could be in a few months.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 10:44 pm

my offseason wish list: a $5 million GM, a $5m manager, a new $2m hitting coach, c.pena 1st, j.garland SP, lemahieu at 3rd, jd drew RF, k.wood 10yr contract ...actually, i wouldn't mind drew...as long as he had r.johnson or someone else around to make the duo actually worth something. drew's not much of a RF'r anymore, though...or healthy much, ever =p

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 10:44 pm

4/4 today #not_a_typo

Submitted by The E-Man on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 10:51 pm

Yet, with a chance to keep the 9th alive, and the tying run on base, Theriot dribbles 4-3 to end the game. There IS justice in the world. Go Phils!

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil,
    Did you agree with the demotion of Luke Little? He'd been pretty good up until the AZ/wild pitch appearance. I know that can't jettison Smyly (just yet) so they didn't need another LHRP. Especially with Leiter effectively being a LHRP. I still thought he deserved to stay. It's not permanent. He'll be back. Lots of moves to come with Taillon, Steele and other guys coming and going.

    Also, do you see Hodge being able to "control/command" his stuff to get a chance this year?
    Is Arias better than Hodge?   Thanks

  • crunch (view)

    just waiting to hear patrick wisdom and masterboney are spotted at the airport going in opposite directions...

    aj puk going for the marlins (lefty)...gotta imagine we'll see wisdom in the lineup.

    someone has to make room for taillon, too.

  • crunch (view)

    he's a low-level cubs star in the modern history of the cubs (c.zambrano, k.wood, r.dempster, etc), but that star has dimmed...and has been dimming since 2021.

    2024 has been ugly the whole way and we're only in mid-april.  homers aside (even though there's been 7 in 17ip) he gave up 29 hits in 20 spring innings and 31 in 17 regular season innings.

    he's pretty much only got 2 pitches at this point in his career and the mix isn't fooling anyone.  he threw a noticable amount more curves in his last start to add to the mix and it didn't help his issues.  he don't have many moves left to break out.

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