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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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Damn, Lack of Patience Strikes a Cubs Hitter Once Again

(thanks to aaronb for the headline, now enough with the jokes)

The Cubs shortstop phenom Starlin Castro has been accused of sexual assaulting a woman last fall. The event occurred on September 29th, right after the Cubs season ended and Castro flew back to the Dominican Republic.

She claims that she was drinking with friends at a River North nightclub on the night of Sept. 29 when she met Castro.
Sources say she and a friend left the bar at 3 a.m. and went to the 21-year-old Castro’s apartment on State Street nearby.
According to the police report, the alleged victim said she blacked out.
She told police she came to, and found the alleged offender – Castro, according to our sources – sexually assaulting her.
The heavily redacted police report offers little information.
It says that when she woke up she screamed and yelled at her alleged attacker, and left the apartment at about 5:30 a.m. getting a ride home from her friend.
It would be 12 hours before the alleged victim would go to a hospital, and police would become involved.
By then, it is believed that Castro was on a plane, heading home to the Dominican Republic for the off-season.

At the moment, Castro is just wanted for questioning and no charges have been filed. The appropriate denials and press releases have already been filed by the Cubs and the attorneys.

We are aware of certain allegations that have been made against our client, Starlin Castro. We have thoroughly investigated this matter, and we are confident that these allegations are baseless. Given the sensitive nature of this matter, we cannot comment any further.
We are aware that a police report was filed regarding an incident involving Starlin, but we have received limited information. While this is something we take very seriously, there is not enough information to make any further comment or take action at this time. We are hopeful when the facts are brought to light, Starlin will be cleared of any wrongdoing.”

Well the Cubs have that right, "there is not enough information to make any further comment...at this time". But I will say this, no one but Castro, the woman and maybe the other people in that apartment know what happened. And while I certainly hope this doesn't affect my favorite team, I hope more that justice is served. I have no idea what kind of person Castro is and I'm not going to give him the benefit of the doubt because he wears blue pinstripes and can hit a major league fastball. Maybe this is all a big misunderstanding, maybe this woman sees a chance to make some money off a professional athlete (although Castro doesn't really make that much right now), maybe Castro is piece of shit that raped a drunk girl. Whatever the case ends up being, I just hope the truth wins out in the end.

Comments

I just hope it's not true. The baby-faced ace hitter? That sucks. If it is true, it will be hard to prove, as these cases often are. It's crazy for me to even imagine why a kid with the whole world at his fingertips would find it necessary to do this, but I tend to believe the woman in a situation like this.

I've read a lot of nuttiness about what Soriano was worth, but Phil Rogers gets the prize:
Roberts played only 39 games last season, but the Orioles are hoping he bounces back in 2012. He is owed $10 million for each of the next two seasons. A reasonable deal could have the Cubs sending Soriano and $9 million (half of Soriano’s 2013 salary) to Baltimore for Roberts and a prospect or two.
Let's say Soriano had a two-year contract worth $20 million instead of three years for $54. Would the Orioles trade Roberts straight up for Soriano in that case? Why then would they take Rogers' deal and pay an extra $25 million while also throwing in prospects?

There is such a thing as being responsible for your own actions. She drank herself into insensibility and then went to a man's apartment at 3 AM. If being drunk makes her not responsible for her actions, wouldn't being drunk do the same for Castro?

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

I think this situation is different (though as stated here it sounded that way). What concerns me (and perhaps why charges haven't been filed yet) is the fact that if she was "blacked out" (as opposed to passed out, conscious or asleep) she may have been literally participating in that altered state of consciousness ... Akin to being in a blackout, arguing and perhaps punching a friend, grabbing one's keys and driving off. Then you come out of blackout lost and driving an hour later and blame your friends. Blackouts are an altered state and make this curious. HOWEVER if she was asleep, or if witnesses say she was resisting etc etc he deserves everything he gets. Precious few details - but the little out there strikes me as odd. I've never heard anyone wake up from a blackout in this situation. If she was consenting in the blackout state and changed her tune upon coming-to, you've got a lot of confusion.

PWSullivan Paul Sullivan Cubs get Rizzo from Padres for Cashner in 4-player deal. 2 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply » BruceMiles2112 Bruce Miles #Cubs get 1B Anthony Rizzo and P prospect Zach Cates for Andrew Cashner and OF prospect Kyung-Min Na in trade with Padres 2 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply » Ken_Rosenthal Ken Rosenthal Source: Anthony Rizzo traded to #Cubs. #Padres #MLB 2 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

the fact that Hoyer and McLeod know the Padres system so well means Cates was acquired with substantial insight. I've been waiting for them to acquire some of the talent they left behind in SD or BOS. This is the first deal akin to Dallas Green's moves for Moreland/Noles for Krukow or the even bigger Sandberg and Bowa for DeJesus.

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.