Cubs MLB Roster

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40-Man Roster Info

39 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (one slot is open), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL and one player has been DESIGNATED FOR ASSIGNMENT (DFA)   

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, three players are on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-23-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Hector Neris 
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
Christopher Morel
* Matt Mervis
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

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

OPTIONED: 9 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 3
Kyle Hendricks, P 
* Drew Smyly, P 
* Justin Steele, P   

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

DFA: 1 
Garrett Cooper, 1B 
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Navarro Blast Propels Cubs to Victory over Giants

Submitted by Arizona Phil on

Dioner Navarro hammered a three-run home run to cap a four-run 1st inning, and Jeff Samardzija and six relievers combined to throw a six hitter, as the Cubs edged the San Francisco Giants 4-3 in the Cubs 2013 Cactus League home opener before a sparse crowd (7,784) this afternoon at cool & blustery Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, AZ.

box score

The Cubs scored all four of their runs in the bottom of the 1st off Giants starter Matt Cain.

Starlin Castro ripped a single with one out, and was safe at second when SF 1B Brad Belt made an errant throw to 2nd base on what should have been the start of a 3-6-3 DP, with Anthony Rizzo reaching 1st base safely on the play. Alfonso Soriano then smoked a line-drive infield single off Matt Cain's left knee to load the bases (Cain remained in the game, although he was clearly limping), and the first run of the day scored on a Nate Schierholtz RBI ground out. Dioner Navarro followed with his three-run HR over the RF fence and into the Giants bullpen to finish the Cubs scoring for the day.

Jeff Samardzija got the start for the Cubs and had his sinker working very well today (4/0 GO/FO). He was sailing right along with two outs and nobody on base in the top of the 2nd when he surrendered a Francisco Peguero double and a Guillermo Quiroz RBI single. For the day, The Shark allowed just the one run on three hits, with two strikeouts and no walks over the 2.0 IP (33 pitches - 21 strikes).  

Carlos Marmol worked the top of the 3rd (22 pitches - 12 strikes) and gave up a run, walking the lead-off hitter and then allowing a one-out RBI rocket double into the RF corner by Pablo Sandoval, before striking out Roger Kieschnick (Brooks' cousin) swinging to end the frame.

Cory Wade was next, and went two innings (26 pitches - 16 strikes), allowing one unearned run on one hit, no walks or strikeouts, and 1/4 GO/FO. The unearned scored as the result of an error by Cubs 1st baseman Anthony Rizzo, who dropped a low (but catchable) throw from Starlin Castro that allowed Brandon Crawford to reach base safely to lead-off the inning, and Crawford would eventually score on a sacrifice fly.

Casey Coleman, Kyuji Fujikawa, James Russell, and Shawn Camp threw a combined four innings (one inning a piece) of one hit shutout ball with five punch-outs (and no walks) as the Cubs held on for the victory. Fujikawa was especially sharp, showing some life on his fastball and a great splitter.

Cubs pitchers walked only one Giants batter all day, while strikng out eight.  

The Cubs offense did not score after putting up the four spot in the 1st, but DH Brian Bogusevic (opposite-field line-drive double down the LF line) and Johermyn Chavez (line-drive double off the LF fence--or Cole Gillespie's face) collected extra base hits. Chavez's double was absolutely crushed, and probably never got higher than eight feet off the ground before reaching the fence.  

The weather was not ideal (cold northwest wind), but stiill the sparse crowd was a bit of surprise, given that it was both the Cubs Cactus League home opener and a Sunday.  

 

Tags
Spring Training Recap
Dioner Navarro
Jeff Samardzija

Comments

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:59 pm

If Brett Jackson is optioned to Iowa out of Spring Training and then is not recalled before June 11th, he cannot be a free-agent until post-2019 (at the earliest). But if B-Jax is optioned to Iowa out of Spring Training and is recalled before June 11th, he could be a free-agent post-2018 (UNLESS he is optioned to the minors in some future season).

This is similar to what happened with Anthony Rizzo last year, where the Cubs optioned him to Iowa out of Spring Training and then waited to recall him until just after the point in the season where he would not go over one year of MLB Service Time through the 2012 season (he ended up at 0+168 MLB Service Time through the 2012 season, ensuring that he cannot be a free-agent until post-2018).

The Cubs screwed-up with both Travis Wood and Welington Castillo, however,

If the Cubs had waited five more days to recall T. Wood in May, or if they had optioned him to Iowa for ten days over the All-Star Break (when a 5th starter wasn't needed for ten days, and so that T. Wood could have stayed sharp by getting a start for Iowa at Omaha on the Thursday after the MLB All-Star Game instead of remaining on the Cubs 25-man roster and not pitching for ten days), he would have fallen just short of two years of MLB Service Time through the 2012 season (he ended up with 2+004 MLB ST), meaning he would not have been eliigible to be a free-agrent until post-2017, instead of post-2016 as is now the case.

Likewise, because Welington Castillo was recalled when he was (7/31, after Geovany Soto was traded), he ended up with nine days over one year of MLB Service Time (1+009) through the 2012 season, making him eligible to be a free-agent after the 2017 season, instead of post-2018 if he had (for example) been left at Iowa until after the conclusion of the PCL season on Labor day. (The Cubs could have brought up a veteran 4-A catcher like Juan Apodaca to platoon with Steve Clevenger and get them through the month of August, until Castillo was recalled in September).

Both T. Wood and W. Castillo are now out of minor league options, so it won't be possible to get their service times any lower without outrighting them to the minors (which isn't likely to happen unless the player turns out be a stiff, and then it wouldn't matter anyway).

A club has to be careful with guys who are down to their last option year (as Travis Wood and Welington Castillo were last year, and as Rafael Dolis and Alberto Cabrera are this year), because you aren't going to get another chance to manage the player's MLB Service Time (which determines when a player can become a free-agent). So the Cubs need to try and make sure that Dolis does not accrue more than 50 days of MLB Service Time in 2012, and make sure that Cabrera does not accrue more than 107 days (both will be out of options in 2014). 

BTW, falling just short of a full season of Service Time (as happened with Rizzo last season) will NOT affect when the player will become eligible for salary arbitration, because if he falls short of three years of MLB Service Time by even as much as 30-40 days, the player would still be eligible for arbitration as a "Super Two." It only affects when a player can be a free-agent.

Submitted by The E-Man on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:37 pm

AZ PHIL: Pitching? Hey PHIL - have you seen Kyle Hendricks or Michael Jenkins much? If so, how do they project in your opinion?

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:49 pm

E-MAN: I have never seen Kyle Hendricks pitch, but supposedly he has pinpoint control and the stamina needed to be a starter.

I presume you mean Michael Jensen, and if so, I have seen him pitch, though not since Minor League Camp last year. He has an above-average fastball (he was topping out at 94) and a plus-slider, and last time I saw him his change-up was still a work in progress. He reminds me a bit of Nick Struck at a similar stage. I think he has the upside to make it to MLB, though I can't say if it will be as a starter or reliever. A lot depends on the change-up. I remember writing that I thought he projects as a reliever, but he certainly had a fine year as a starter at Peoria last season.  

Submitted by crunch on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:48 pm

via rotowurld, via paul sulivan's twitter... "Cubs manager Dale Sveum expects Matt Garza (lat strain) to be ready for Opening Day if he's able to resume throwing in the next few days."

Submitted by crunch on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:12 pm

nate sureholds 2r HR off billingsly... dodgers tie in bottom 1st off a shaky-control c.villanueva...only throws .2ip (threw a bunch of pitches, probably not injury). he only gave up a 2r single, but he walked 2. d.mcdonald 3r HR off capuano, top 3...blasted. w.castillo goes back-to-back...cubs up 6-2.

Submitted by artskoe on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:41 pm

Vin Scully just announced the Cubs are "going a different direction, that's why they traded Soriano (alfonzo) to the Nationals." I swear he said it...

Submitted by crunch on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:07 pm

...and d.willis has an arm injury...probably not a good one given his reaction and quick hook.

Submitted by jacos on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:44 pm

God Bless, DVR. Cubs Dodgers game replayed at 3:00 am CST on MLB network.

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Submitted by fullykräusened on Tue, 02/26/2013 - 02:41 pm

That was beautiful. A bit of Ring Lardner, a bit of Hunter Thompson. (Wouldn't you love to have Ralph Steadman do the illustrations for that story?) Of course, it also documents the unraveling of the prospect-driven 1989 Cubs--which of course we cynical long-time fans remember even as we plan for the 2017 World Champions, driven by Soler, Baez, Vogelbach, and Almora...

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Submitted by crunch on Tue, 02/26/2013 - 02:33 pm

i still think "wade davis becoming a starter under a long/cheap contract" is the elephant in the room that no one seems to want to acknowledge. i wonder if some people writing about this trade even saw him throw a cutter last year...or how sharp his curve has tightened up... his newly established cutter is "woah"...it's not just good, it's really good.

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Submitted by crunch on Tue, 02/26/2013 - 02:16 pm

true that. the royals are going "all in" on 2 pitchers...and i still can't believe they had to throw in odorz... they're heavily counting on their young bats to start hitting...and they gave up a promising young bat in the process of making that bet plus backing it up with pitching.

Recent comments

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Is it just me or does it seem that official scorers are becoming less likely to call a misplay an error? 

     

    Guess I've hit my cranky old-man phase in life.  "I remember back in the day when an error was an error.  Official scorers have gone soft.  Now where did I put my readers?!!??"

     

    Sidenote, maybe Bellinger should be a little more careful against the Astros.  That was the series last year that a play at wall put him on the IL.   

  • crunch (view)

    i hated the almonte pickup, but he's 9-10 out of 12 for good outings, following a great spring.  hope he can keep it up.

    i already miss cooper, but yeah...the thin OF roster backup the team seems to want to carry probably got wisdom preference over cooper.  i could live without seeing wisdom at 3rd unless it's a blowout, though.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Things I've been wrong about:

    -Tauchman is fine as a 4th OF. I knew that. I just want a better LH DH option and he was really the DH for us until Seiya got hurt. I'm glad Mervis is getting a chance at it. Caissie is coming for that job for sure. But Tauchman continues to be highly useful as a 4th OF with Seiya being hurt

    -I wanted Yency to go to get guys at Iowa a chance. Guys like Palencia and Sanders or RileyT. Maybe even Hodge! But Yency has been better the last two plus weeks. He did hit 96 the other day. He was 93 in Texas to open the season.

    -Leiter has his split working enough. It just needs to stay there

    -I was surprised Jed picked Wisdom over Cooper. I wonder if this happens if Seiya wasn't hurt. Wisdom has more power. Cooper is the better hitter. Jed picked Wisdom and Wisdom had an option left as well.

    -Palencia just doesn't miss enough bats. Similar to ManRod, just two yrs younger. ManRod is killing AAA for TB right now!

    Things I got right so far:

    -Hendricks. Sorry Kyle. You got paid though!

    Jed, you missed there.

    -Smyly. If Jed could've traded him before or during ST, then he should have and saved some cash.

    -Mastro.  Not a LH DH. Pinch runner. Defensive utility. Maybe he's better than Madrigal but didn't get a legit chance to prove it.

    -Luke Little is good. He's had one bad outing. That's it. Needs to get better entering with guys on base. But he needs to stay in MLB.

    -Oh yeah....Morel is doing fine at 3B! He'll get better as well!!

  • crunch (view)

    bellinger "right rib contusion"

  • Childersb3 (view)

    South Bend just lost the lead in the bottom of the 9th on the weirdest scenario, ever.

    It's absolutely pouring rain....men on 1st and 2nd, 1out....JPatterson asks for a new ball, but no time out was called....he throws the old ball toward the dugout (not sure if it rolled out of play).....the ump declares the runners get two bases each so one run scores. Then a single up the middle ties the game.

    The rain was coming down in buckets at this point.

    Just weird

  • crunch (view)

    ...and bellinger is gone in the 7th because of that 2nd blown chance and the wall he bounced off of...

    hopefully his rib cage/shoulder feels better tomorrow, we just got happ back.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil,

    Any thoughts on Y. Rojas' stuff and Y. Melendez's game (I believe I've asked about him before, sorry)?

  • crunch (view)

    wow, things are moving fast.  hopefully it continues.

  • crunch (view)

    morel with 4 clean plays in 4 innings...showed off his 100000000mph arm a couple times.

    cody bellinger not having a good 4th, though...5 run leads are handy when your CF is making your pitcher have a 5-out inning.  2nd blown chance was ruled a hit even though it went in/out of his glove...1st was lost in the lights, also ruled a hit.

  • crunch (view)

    welcome back happ!  double off the wall 1st PA back.

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