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

Brewers Rally Late to Edge Cubs at Fitch Park

Submitted by Arizona Phil on

Tyler Roberts blasted a solo HR over the LF fence and onto 8th Street to ignite a two-run 9th inning, as the Brewers scored two in the 8th and two in the 9th to overcome a 3-0 deficit and edge the Cubs 4-3 in Arizona Instructional League action this afternoon at Fitch Park Field #4 in Mesa. 
The game was scoreless through the first 4-1/2 innings, before the Cubs plated two runs in the bottom of the 5th to take a 2-0  lead. Jeimer Candelario ripped a lead-off triple down the RF line and scored the Cubs first run on a Yasiel Balaguert RBI GO, and then after Shawon Dunston Jr and Kelvin Freeman reached base on one-out singles (super drag bunt hit by Dunston), Wilfredo Petit drove-in Dunston with a two-out RBI single. 

The Cubs scored again in the bottom of the 7th. Balaguert led-off the inning with a line-drive double into the LF corner, and after moving up to 3rd base on a Trey Martin line single to left, scored the Cubs third and final run of the day on a Ben Carhart RBI GO.

The Cubs did threaten to score again in the bottom of the 8th, as Mark Malave and Danny Lockhart singled with no outs and moved-up to 2nd & 3rd on a sacrifice bunt, but Malave was thrown-out at the plate (2-1) while trying to score from 3rd on a WP, and Jesse Hodges flied out to deep right to end the inning.  

Four Cubs pitchers combined to throw a one-hit shutout with nine strikeouts through the first seven innings (the one hit being a broken bat single), but then the Brewer offense woke up as the Cub bullpen imploded. Trey Lang surrendered two runs on three walks and a single in a 32-pitch 8th (Lang had major control issues, throwing just 12 strikes), and lefty reliever Sam Wilson gave up the game-tying Roberts HR on an 0-1 pitch leading off the 9th and then allowed the go-ahead run to score when he threw a two-out WP (and forgot to cover home) after the Brew Crew loaded the bases on two singles and a walk. 

This was the first 2013 AZIL game for the Cubs, but it was the 8th game for the Brewers. (The Cubs started Instructs later than usual this year).  

Here is the abridged box score from today's game (Cubs players only):

CUBS LINEUP:
1a. Gioskar Amaya, 2B: 0-1 (BB, K)
1b. Danny Lockhart, 2B: 1-2 (K, 1B)
2a. Kevin Encarnacion, CF: 0-2 (3-6-3 DP, 3-1)
2b. Rashad Crawford, CF: 0-1 (K, 3-U SH)
3a. Jeimer Candelario, 3B: 1-2 (K, 3B, R)
3b. Jesse Hodges, 3B: 0-2 (6-3, F-9)
4a. Yasiel Balaguert, RF: 1-3 (L-9, 5-3, 2B, R, RBI)
4b. Jose Dore, RF: 0-1 (K)
5a. Shawon Dunston Jr, LF: 2-2 (1B, 1B, R)
5b. Trey Martin, LF: 1-2 (1B, K)
6a. Kelvin Freeman, 1B: 1-2 (6-4-3 DP, 1B)
6b. Ben Carhart, 1B: 1-2 (6-3, 1B, RBI)
7a. Carlos Penalver, SS: 0-2 (5-3, F-8)
7b. Frandy de la Rosa, SS: 0-2 (K, K)
8a. Wilfredo Petit, C: 1-2 (6-3, 1B, RBI)
8b. Erick Castillo, C: 0-0 (BB)
9. Charcer Burks, DH #1: 1-3 (1B, K, 3-U, CS)
10. Mark Malave, DH #2: 1-2 (3-1, BB, 1B)

CUBS PITCHERS:
1. Jose Arias: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 0/4 GO/FO, 25 pitches (18 strikes)
2. Trevor Clifton: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 1/1 GO/FO, 33 pitches (18 strikes)
3. Dillon Maples: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 3/0 GO/FO, 19 pitches (15 strikes)
4. Johermyn Chavez: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1/1 GO/FO, 20 pitches (9 strikes)
5. Trey Lang: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 0 K, 1 WP, 2/1 GO/FO, 32 pitches (12 strikes)
6. Sam Wilson: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 1 WP, 28 pitches (17 strikes)
NOTE: Top of the 9th inning was stopped with two outs when Wilson reached his pre-planned max pitch limit

CUBS ERRORS: 1
SS Carlos Penalver - E-6 (fielding error allowed batter to reach base safely)

CUBS CATCHERS DEFENSE:
1. Wilfredo Petit: 0-1 CS, 1 PO
2. Erick Castillo: 0-5 CS

ATTENDANCE: 24 (mostly scouts)

WEATHER: Sunny & breezy with temperatures in the 80's  

 

Tags
AZ Instructional League

Comments

Submitted by Cubster on Fri, 09/27/2013 - 09:59 pm

Az Phil: Obviously Arias, Clifton and Maples pitched well. Any comments on how they actually looked? P.S. ...and I'm sure I'm speaking for many, it's really great to read your AZ Instructs writeups once again!

Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 09/28/2013 - 09:02 am

Twins lose, Cubs lose...2 left and still tied.

rays, Indians now tied for AL wild card...rangers one back.

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Sat, 09/28/2013 - 09:54 am

Wait, Crunch thinks managers are unimportant and overpaid? And just when you think you have seen everything...

Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 09/28/2013 - 09:05 pm

Bruce Levine bombshell. He ends his "Talking Baseball" show saying it's his last show on ESPN1000. The show started 22 years ago and has run weekly for all that time. He says it's not a retirement, so apparently he's leaving the station. Gives thanks to the litany of co-hosts, producers and friends. Sorry to see the weekly show go away. Leaves XM radio as the only other off-season radio baseball outlet. He will remain in the twitterverse for now but didn't announce future plans beyond that. new twitter address... Bruce Levine@MLBBruceLevine

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 09/28/2013 - 09:10 pm

if pence is worth that much loot, i can't imagine what choo is going to get. also, why pay the extra millions for a guy that part of his price-package includes a great RF'r arm when 1/2 his games are going to be played in a short RF? ...sabean...18m for pence...unreal. if i had to guess how much he would be worth on the open market i would have been surprised to see him snag more than 14-15m over 3-5 years at most...5/90...wow.

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 09/28/2013 - 09:32 pm

rays lost...tex won...cle won 91-70 cle 90-71 tb/tex ...evidently CLE is in (according to STL announcers) no matter what, so TB/TEX games matter tomorrow.

Submitted by Carlito on Sat, 09/28/2013 - 09:22 pm

Barney with the amazing double play at bat to end the game. Woo! Unexpected! Why did he bat in that situation . . . Musta been no one on the bench?

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 09/28/2013 - 09:50 pm

"Edwin Jackson left Saturday's start against the Cardinals with mild lat discomfort." ...to add injury to the insult of his 2.2ip of 6er ball. 4.98 era 1.46 whip to finish up the year.

Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 09/28/2013 - 09:25 pm

another day, another Twins and Cubs loss...one game to go and they remained tie. Cubs loss or Twins loss gives Cubs 4th spot in draft.

Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 09/28/2013 - 09:29 pm

your rooting interests for tomorrow are Twins, Rays and Rangers...would give us a 3-way tie for the AL Wild Card.

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 09/28/2013 - 09:28 pm

i like deadspin, but i wish they'd quit doing shit like this... "Terry Pendleton Roughed Up Chris Johnson For Sliding Into First Base" too often they declare something based on assumption and pass it off as 100% defacto truth. nevermind the fact he threw his helmet and had it bounce around in the dugout hitting pendleton with it...it's gotta be the slide. yeah, that's it.

Submitted by Rob G. on Sun, 09/29/2013 - 09:21 pm

i think I was saying something about the Bears defense not being able to stop anyone...ugh.

also Jay Cutler...ugh.

[ ]

Submitted by johann on Sun, 09/29/2013 - 09:52 pm

I don't think this loss tells any more of a story than the wins, but it certainly highlights the problems this team had even in the wins. I think the offensive line got too much credit because of the emphasis on short passing. Cutler is stil getting a ton of pressure and there still isn't great blocking in the run game. The defense certainly can't stop the passing game without tons of blitzes, which is a big problem in the end. I'm not sure why there wasn't more of the passing to Forte in this game because that has been one of the best things I've seen different on offense so far this season. All this said, it's a completely new system that has been described as very complicated with two new o-linemen in a very loud, hostile environment so I think some struggles are acceptable. Defense though is going to be a problem for us though.

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Submitted by Old and Blue on Mon, 09/30/2013 - 09:17 am

I couldn't see the game out here but I'm it looked again like the other team was moving the ball pretty much at will? Looking at the gamecast on espn I kept seeing this: Detroit: ------------------>--->TD! Bears: ---->TURNOVER Detroit: ------------------>--->TD! in the first half. Dejected was I. Good to see Alshon Jeffery have a game and it sounds like he was open on an interception. Guess we had the bad Jay yesterday.

Submitted by Cubster on Sun, 09/29/2013 - 09:56 pm

Twins are losing 5-1 to the Tribe, top 9th. So the Cubs should get the 4th draft pick via their tie-breaker edge Michael Bourne pulls up lame trying to steal 2nd in the 9th. Hamstring (or maybe just a cramp).

Submitted by Carlito on Sun, 09/29/2013 - 09:03 pm

Soto with a big 2 out double to drive in a run for the Rangers in the bottom of the 6th to take a 3-2 lead over the Angels. Both Rays and Indians already won today. Rangers trying to hang . . .

Submitted by Cubster on Sun, 09/29/2013 - 09:08 pm

Geo Soto doubles in the bottom 6th to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead over the Angels. Tribe win 5-1. Rays won 7-6 Rangers win leads to this: If, Tribe, Texas and Rays all win. --Cleveland is the first Wild Card and would host the Wild Card Game on Wednesday --Texas and Tampa Bay would play a one-game tiebreaker on Monday in Arlington at 7:07 p.m. CT with the winner being the second Wild Card. Ranger loss means the Indians host the Rays on Wednesday in the Wildcard game.

Submitted by Carlito on Sun, 09/29/2013 - 09:11 pm

I'm sure this has been explained . . . If so sorry . . . But what is determining factor in tiebreaker between Cubs and Twins? Thanks.

Submitted by Cubster on Sun, 09/29/2013 - 09:24 pm

StL gets the top seed and play the winner of the Pirates/Reds wild card game. All in the division, hmmm. Dodgers vs Braves should be fun.

Submitted by John Beasley on Sun, 09/29/2013 - 09:30 pm

Way to get no-hit heading into the postseason, Detroit. I think they're 1-and-done.

Submitted by crunch on Sun, 09/29/2013 - 09:30 pm

m.rivera didn't pitch today...14 innings @HOU...yanks took a 4 run lead in the top 14th. d.robertson closed out the non-save game. he finishes his career @home (9/26). 2.21/1.00 era/whip - 652 saves ...not counting his 1st season (where he was used as a starter for 10 of 19 games) he only had an ERA over 3.00 once (3.15, 2007, 37 years old). hell, he only had an ERA of 2.35+ three times in his non-starting career over 18 years. his highest WHIP in any of those seasons was 1.19 (1997) and he only had a 1.10+ WHIP in 2 of his 18 non-starting years. crazy good. about the only thing to ask at this point is...can craig kimbrel or kenley jansen stay healthy and effective for the next 15-ish years?

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • Eric S (view)

    Definitely needs a 10 day stint for the hangnail - have to nip those things in the bud or suffer the consequences (ie, more opponent home run derby, etc)

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