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

Brenly for Grace Would be a Lousy Deal for the Cubs

Cubs color man Bob Brenly interviewed for the Brewers' managerial job on Thursday, leading Paul Sullivan to wonder if former Cub and onetime Chicago playboy Mark Grace would replace Brenly in the Cubs' booth, assuming BB lands the Milwaukee job.

According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Brewers GM Doug Melvin will probably limit the number of candidates to three, with Brenly competing for the slot against former Mets manager Willie Randolph and former A's manager Ken Macha. Brenly's appeal vis a vis the other two options includes his having won a World Series with the Diamondbacks and his deep knowledge of the Cubs personnel. Melvin expects to make his selection next week.

Grace, meanwhile, has been a TV analyst for the Diamondbacks in addition to working for Fox. Notwithstanding his frank assessment of the Cubs' aborted '08 post-season run, that "they just laid down," I can't say that I've been very impressed with his work as an announcer.

I liked Brenly and Kasper the first time I heard them together and as they have grown more accustomed to one another in the booth, I have grown to like them a lot. I would hate to see Brenly leave that post—whether he's replaced by Grace or anybody else—and to the extent that his inside knowledge of the Cubs might be an asset to the Brewers, I would also hate to see him in charge of Team Bratwurst.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I grew up listening to Steve Stone and would love to see (or more appropriatley hear) him come back to the Cubs. His insightful comments during the 80s and 90s are one reason I think Cubs fans are generally more knowledgable than almost any other. I don't think he's being talked about nearly enough. One of the things I have heard about him is conflicting reports over whether or not he could get out of his Sux contract. That's just Friday afternoons, right? Surely he could get out or have some backdoor for a full time gig. I love Grace, but he was a better player than announcer. Of course he's new at it and given his stature as a former member of the Cubs I think we should give him a chance to hone his broadcasting art. I would be most comfortable with him as a third member of the booth. Either Len, Bob, and Gracie or Len, Stony and Gracie. Karros would be a decent choice. Haven't heard Plesac. Loved Big Red, but in the booth I think he'd be more like Joe Carter 2.0

i f'n love mark grace in the booth. that said...it's cuz i enjoy hearing him blab on and on about stupid crap covering a team i don't care about. he's done some classic funny stuff, a ton of corny stuff, a lot of odd stuff, but very little stuff that would make him a top tier color guy. i kinda prefer him where he is at least until he hones his craft a bit more (if possible).

[ ]

In reply to by Chad

brenley used to work cubs radio and is/was generally considered a good color man. eventually he'll manage somewhere again, if not next year... he's VERY in tune with youth and youth culture (well, 20-30 year old "youth"). he knows the music, the dress, and how to communicate without sounding like someone's 80 year old grandfather. he's known for being an announcer that the players don't mind in the lockerroom (which is kinda rare to have a guy like that in the booth who isn't treated as an outcast in the lockerroom). aka...he has shown and projects to be a good manager of personalities. he's also got that ring-thing going on.

Grace was an over-rated, self-promoting ballplayer (Yeah, Mark, we know; most-hits-and-doubles-in-the-80's), and the only interesting thing abut him was his former model wife. Leave him to the vapid fans in Arizona. I like Brenly, and it's always more enjoyable to watch when there is obvious chemistry in the booth. However, as a manager, one game sticks in my mind -- may have been vs. AZ(?). Cubs down a run in the 9th, LH reliever on the mound, DLee singles with 2 outs, Rammy due up. Lou pinch-runs Pie for Lee, knowing that the LH reliever goes to a slide step with a fast runner on first, and his slider flattens out when he does that. Pie doesn't run, Brenly is baffled ("why pinch run Pie if he's just going to stand there?"), then Rammy hits a flat slider for a game-winning HR. Brenly had no idea what was going on (neither did I, at the time).

the last thing we need in chicago is a straight-talking veteran of the cubs, the city, the world series. we have more than we can handle on the radio. having to listen to 'fibber mcgee and ronnie' is too much criticism for me!

Apparently Grace though RIPPED the Cubs yesterday, per ESPN Radio. I don't remember the exact quote, but to the effect that "the Cubs choked and froze and should be embarrassed". I don't disagree with that, but who knows if the powers that be want that kind of straight talk. They sure didn't with Stone after the 2004 late season collapse. I used to not like Kasper/Brenly, but they have grown on me.

I mentioned the other day that Tyler Colvin had missed a week of AFL games. Here's the injury report (Jason Grey blog, espn.com):
On an additional injury note, Cubs outfielder Tyler Colvin has been pulled from the AFL due to a bone spur in his elbow, and he's scheduled to have surgery this week.

I heard Plesac on Mac, Jurko and Harry one day a few weeks ago, and they were grilling him on the possibility of doing Sox radio, like they had inside info that it was a done deal. Plesac did not discourage the speculation.

They were paying Brenly 850k, so they have room in the budget to get a top-flight guy. My vote goes to Orel Hershiser, who does a great job on ESPN despite being saddled with Steve Phillips most of time. Stay clear from Grace as he sounds like a bonehead on D'backs telecasts I watched this past year on MLB.tv.

Sutcliffe was previously offered Brenly's job (before Brenly was hired) but turned it down, primarily because he didn't want to work a full game schedule. Did anyone catch Harold Reynold's work in the beginning rounds of the playoffs on TBS? Hard to believe this was the same guy who came off so badly during his "Baseball Tonight" tenure on ESPN, but I thought his work was excellent. Never said too much, always insightful, and let the game come to the viewer. Maybe being surrounded by Phillips and Krukie made him catch a case of the stupids. I used to like Stone, but he's become way too enamored with himself these days. He's always calling pitches from the booth, and if you happened to listen to him and Farmer last season, it was like hearing two narcissists argue over who gets to use the mirror.

I lived in Arizona during the D-Backs 2001 Championship season with Brenly at the helm. You can go back to some stories in the Arizona Republic after that season and find more than a few comments by players that they won that championship 'in spite of Brenly, not because of him'. He was not a very-well liked or respected manager....never exactly sure why.

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.