Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
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

Game 68 Thread - T. Wood vs. Peavy

The Cubs set did something odd yesterday other than the obvious win. They managed 5 HR's but no other XBH's and apparently they've only done that 10 times in their entire franchise history. In other rare statistical oddities, Soriano is the franchise leader at home runs and RBI's for a designated hitter with 4 and 10.

White Sox
Cubs
*De Aza, CF
*DeJesus, CF
Beckham, 2B
Castro, SS
*Dunn, DH
*LaHair, RF
Konerko, 1B
Soriano, DH
Rios, RF
*Clevenger, 1B
Viciedo, LF
Barney, 2B
Ramirez, SS
*Valbuena, 3B
Flowers, C
Soto, C
#Hudson, 3B
*Campana, LF

Go Cubs Go!

Comments

Midwest League All-Star Game Hoilman starting, DeVoss and R. Lopez on the team (I think Lopez is injured though). On the pitching side, Kyler Burke went 0.2 IP, 5 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, Goldstein is at the game and said he sat at 89 mph.

Awesome play by Castro on a pop-up. Tough play, back to the infield and had to twist to grab it, pops out of his glove but snags it with his barehand at full speed.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Probably. If he stayed healthy, etc. Just roughly: He averaged 231 hits a year for his 27-28-29-30 year-old seasons. So if you give him 231 for his 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20 year-old seasons that puts him at 4,117 right now. That may not be realistic, but even giving him 4-5 years of 200+ hits prior to when he started in the majors would easily put him above Aaron for 3rd and sniffing 4K and at that point he would be close enough that you would assume he would stay around and teams would keep employing him to beat Cobb and Rose. Ichiro is certainly falling off quickly though. Last year he hit .272 with a .645 OPS. Right now he is sitting at .255 with a .645 OPS. At least last year he still swiped 40 bags. Right now he has only 9 and on pace for just over 20.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

On another note, Jeter is just 7 hits away from Ripken and will probably end up passing Mays (11th at 3283) by the end of the season barring injury. Then let's say he puts up 3 more 170 hit seasons, which I don't think is out of the question at all. He'd then pass Cap Anson and be 6th next year, pass Tris Speaker in 2014, then pass Musial and Aaron in 2015 for 3rd place. But it would be about another 400 hits before Cobb, and another 50 or so to Rose. So I would guess he ends up finishing his career in 3rd place around 3,800 hits.

other than that horrible wind-aided start vs. the Padres, Wood has been quite decent. Walks too many, but keeps you in games...4th/5th starter material for certain.

Josh Vitters hit his 10th HR of the season in a 3-6 loss to Round Rock. 1-5, .280 Rod Lopez taking up dead space in the Iowa Rotaton. Similarly Blake DeWitt is doing the same at 2B. Rizzo 1-5, single; .360 BJax 1-4 with 1 BB and 2K; .261

We're only 10 games behind StL Unfortunately we're in an exact tie with the Padres and sadly they are losing to Texas 3-1 in the 5th and we just knocked the WSux out of 1st place with the Tigers only 1.5 games behind them. Can't beat listening to chicago sports talk with whiney (winey, with red noses) Sox fans calling in all night.

"I don't mean any disrespect, but a team playing the way the Cubs have been playing, we have to beat those teams," said Peavy, who had won his previous five starts against them.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/13291128-573/alfonso-soria… Soriano trade talk w/o offering if anyone has even asked about him yet. So is it finally time to get over the $136 million contract that has made Soriano a lightning rod among Wrigley Field fans for more than five seasons? Teammates have been especially outspoken about the way fans continue to look at Soriano, who is as respected and popular a player as they have in the clubhouse. That has been especially true with the way he noticeably has improved his defense this season despite dealing with an injury to his left knee. maybe if he didn't suck so bad at the defense the last 2 years, everyone would be a little more forgiving.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

This is why I'm frustrated with Soriano. If he cares about the game and winning so much, why didn't he start trying to improve himself on defense when he was first moved to LF? Why did we have to sit for multiple years and watch him fumble around in the outfield and not care about how he defended out there, when everyone has known it was a major weakness? I like Soriano as a clubhouse leader and occasionally as a hitter, but it just boggles my mind that he has just now decided to start trying to improve himself in the field.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

That's what professionals are supposed to say. I'm not necessarily saying he's a bad person or uncoachable, I'm just saying we can't know with the given information. My take on Soriano is a variation of my take on many of the Jim Hendry signings- a player is given more money than he's worth with the expectation that he will "play up" to his contract. These players often did not play up to the contract and were seen as a failure because of it.

Midwest League K. Burke 0.2 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 0 K Hoilman 0/2 DeVoss 0/1 (played RF) Mid WEST lost 18-2. Southern League J. Bour lost in the finals of the HR derby Adduci 2/2 with a 2B and an RBI Bour 1/3 with a BB Rhoderick 1 IP, 1 BB, rest 0's A. Cabrera 0.1 IP/1 BB, rest 0's Batista 0.2 IP/all 0's North lost 6-2

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

I'm reading the BP book "Everything you know is wrong" and just got into the chapter on 4-man rotations. It's not right next to me, but I seemed to recall a 100 pitch limit rather than 75. I would like to see it work for the Rockies so that some other teams try to copy it. In a perfect world the old closer would come back and work 3 innings for a save instead of just the ninth every day. This is related to the leverage concept and not saving your closer for the ninth, but using them when you actually need out of a jamb.

[ ]

In reply to by Jumbo

Wed, 06/20/2012 - 10:54am — Jumbo I'm reading the BP book "Everything you know is wrong" and just got into the chapter on 4-man rotations. It's not right next to me, but I seemed to recall a 100 pitch limit rather than 75. I would like to see it work for the Rockies so that some other teams try to copy it. In a perfect world the old closer would come back and work 3 innings for a save instead of just the ninth every day. This is related to the leverage concept and not saving your closer for the ninth, but using them when you actually need out of a jamb. ================================ JUMBO: Back in the 1950's and 1960's when the concept of the bullpen "fireman" was developed, the team's best reliever entered the game in high-risk situations in the 7th, 8th, or 9th inning and then stayed in the game and finished the game. It was not unusual for the firemen to get an AB. Teams were able to utiliyze their #1 reliever ("fireman") this way because a starter was not removed from a game pre-emptively because of pitch counts or just because it was the 9th inning and you're supposed to use your closer in save situations because "that's what they are paid to do." As long as the starter was throwing OK, he stayed in the game and the fireman was not used in that game. The best clubs had two "firemen" (a go-to #1 guy and a second fall-back option) so that one could be used for multiple innings one day and then the other one could be used the next day if the situation warranted it. The idea of the one-inning closer and pre-emptively pulling a starter did not become the norm until the 1980's. I remember the first time I heard the term "pitch count"and that was when KC's Steve Busby was returning from shoulder surgery in the 1970's and he was restricted to a certain number of pitches per outing. Pitch count limits weren't used to prevent injuries (because obviously they don't), but rather as part of an Rx for pitchers returning from a shoulder or elbow injury. BTW, the Cubs aren't doing it, but several organizations are now using a six-man rotation in the lower levels of the minors, with increased per-game pitch count limits so that the starter can pitch deeper into games. The idea is to replicate college ball, where starters normally work once a week (in college baseball the #1 guy is the so-called "Friday starter"), while at the same time holding-down a young pitcher's overall high-stress game workload (IP) for the season because the pitcher doesn't pitch in games as often. The extra off-day between starts is used for more-relaxed side-sessions ("bullpens") and/or "live" BP outings where the pitcher can work on mechanics and/or a pitch that needs work, with the pitcher throwing (in a relaxed environment) twice between starts instead of just once (which is the norm with a five-man rotation). The idea is for a pitcher never to go two days without throwing (either in a game, or in a bullpen side-session or "live" BP), and to build up the endurance needed to go deeper into games (and possibly even pitch a Complete Game). Whether that change can be integrated into a new general strategy to use a team's best reliever for multiple innings (but only when necessary) instead of pitching one inning just because it's the 9th inning and it's a "Save" situation remains to be seen, but it possibly could be.

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

PHIL: In looking at Phil Regan's stats (one of the few pre-1970 Cubs I remember as a "Fireman"), in 1968 he had 28 PAs, to go along with 24 "saves" (they were not called that). In 1969 - that "Special Year", the Vulture was down to 18 PAs and 17 saves. But if September was better that year for them, and the Playoffs, he could have padded both totals. In contrast, Lee Smith in 1982 had also 18 PAs and 18 saves for the Cubs - and 117IP. But, by the '90's in his great StL days, he had like zero or just a couple PA's per season.

My take on Soriano is that he has always had holes in his game and we paid way too much over too long a period. However, when we signed him he was coming off a 40/40 season and thought he could put us over the top. About a month into his first Cub season he pulled up lame and has never been the same. That is no ones fault. I never liked the lack of hustle, jump when he caught the ball, afraid of wall, etc. Take away the bad contract and it would not be as bad as it is now percieved. He seems to be a good guy in the club house and always has a poitive out look. He has certainly contributed to his lackadasical image, but the injury was a key factor in his less than expected Cubs career.

[ ]

In reply to by TJ

It was too much money and years from day 1 in exchange for a 40/40 season that was past and meant almost nothing. Everyone already knew the problems with Soriano before he got here--he was aging (Hendry said he thought he would age well, but when you have to go out and say that, you know it's already a concern), he was a poor defender, he had very little concept of the strike zone, and he could neither hit nor lay off of a bouncing breaking ball from a right-handed pitcher. These are almost all of the same problems he has today, except now he can't steal bases either, which no one really should've expected him to be able to do at this point in his career. I'm not saying anyone should've expected him to be as bad as he is. But even if he were doing a bit better, he'd still be nowhere near worth the contract they gave him.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

But even if he were doing a bit better, he'd still be nowhere near worth the contract they gave him. Not so sure that is true. So far (including this year), Soriano will have been paid $92M. According to Fangraphs, he has been worth $73.6M, and that includes a partial year this year, but a full year of salary. So if we took off $9M (half of this 2012 salary), he would have been paid $83M and produced $73.6M in value. And that includes his terrible 2009 of 0 WAR. So it wouldn't have taken much improvement to come with 2 more WAR over 6.5 years. Now, that doesn't include the $36M he is still owed for the next two years. Which are really the problematic years of the contract. But overall Soriano hasn't actually been as bad advertised. And this year he has been pretty great.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

I actually have said in the past that Soriano gets a bad rap for his defense. I think that early with the Cubs he was actually quite solid (based on both my own eyes and the numbers), though he did significantly regress after his first couple of years (and the numbers back this up). Sure, he'd make a bad play here or there, but he was actually pretty good early on. And had one of the best LF arms in baseball. His arm was awesome - no one could run on him those first couple of years. He has definitely regressed on his defense to the point that he has been pretty awful over the last couple of years, but I don't think that the defensive numbers are that far off.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Actually 2010 and 2012 OPS+ have both been in line with career averages. 2006 was a clear outlier and yet further warning never to offer contracts based off one good year (or reject a player based on one bad year), but he's not been a bad player. I never supported signing him and still wish we hadn't, but he does get some bad rap from fans. Though, yes, this is partially do to so much money sunk into a player on a team that can't compete during this player's good years.

irony... "According to WXII12.com, Reds' prospect shortstop Billy Hamilton was the victim of an armed robbery Tuesday while in Winston Salem, North Carolina for the California League-Carolina League All-Star game."

Archer gives up double to Lombardozzi and RBI single to Harper to start off his career. Not throwing strikes as you'd expect. Got it up to 96 though.

Recent comments

  • 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. 

  • 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.