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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
 
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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

Best Cubs Rookie Start Ever?

Submitted by CTSteve on

by CubsfaninCA

To say that Kris Bryant was highly hyped when he came up is an understatement. I can’t remember any Cubs prospect that fans were more excited to see get to the majors in all my years as a fan. He’s through 70 games now and after his big 4th of July padded his stats a bit, I was curious to see how his start compares to other notable Cubs in their rookie year.

So here’s Bryant compared to 14 others in their first full season. I threw out any “cups of coffee” partial seasons and focused on their first 70 games when they went full-time.  Leaders in each category are highlighted and Bryant’s rank out of the 15 is at the very bottom:

Name

PA

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

BB

SO

SB

BA

OBP

SLG

OPS

Ryne Sandberg

292

273

41

69

12

0

2

19

12

43

9

.253

.285

.319

.603

Billy Williams

255

231

32

68

12

1

10

40

20

30

3

.294

.354

.485

.839

Ron Santo

283

259

31

65

20

0

8

40

21

34

0

.251

.306

.421

.727

Anthony Rizzo

291

267

34

78

10

0

12

36

20

46

3

.292

.347

.464

.811

Corey Patterson

298

276

36

79

13

4

6

25

15

54

14

.286

.327

.428

.754

Starlin Castro

274

247

26

76

17

4

3

31

20

36

4

.308

.358

.445

.803

Geovany Soto

289

251

26

69

20

1

12

43

35

65

0

.275

.360

.506

.866

Mark Grace

277

245

34

74

8

3

5

29

31

18

0

.302

.379

.420

.799

Arismendy Alcantara

300

278

31

57

11

2

10

29

17

93

8

.205

.254

.367

.621

Dwight Smith

245

221

35

70

19

3

6

35

20

32

4

.317

.379

.511

.890

Jerome Walton

309

283

35

84

19

2

4

28

16

46

15

.297

.339

.420

.759

Ken Hubbs

316

300

35

78

10

4

3

28

11

56

2

.260

.288

.350

.638

Ernie Banks

300

271

31

72

9

3

7

37

22

30

2

.266

.331

.399

.730

Kosuke Fukodome

301

251

47

74

15

2

5

31

47

45

6

.295

.403

.430

.834

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

Kris Bryant

307

259

44

72

14

2

12

49

41

92

7

.278

.381

.486

.868

Rank

 

 

2

8

7

7

1

1

2

2

5

9

2

3

2

He’s first in HRs and RBIs; 2nd in walks, OBP, runs, and OPS; and 3rd in slugging. The only player that had a better OPS was Dwight Smith, who actually finished 2nd in ROY voting to Walton that year and unfortunately his career only lasted 7 years. Soto is also close in OPS and fizzled out. 

But other than those two, he has had a better start to his career than four Hall of Famers, Anthony Rizzo, and Mark Grace. I think it’s safe to say that he’s done as well as anyone could reasonably have expected and he has definitely lived up to the hype so far.

 

 

 

Tags
Rookies
Kris Bryant

Comments

Submitted by crunch on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 07:45 am

the fact the guy is on pace for a 200-ish K season and no one seems to care (and many not notice) says a lot about what he's doing when he's not striking out.

Submitted by The E-Man on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 07:48 am

+100

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 07:56 am

Bill Madlock in 1974 would have been a good addition too. Third in ROY voting that year and would be high for some of those rankings, though didn't have much power and so OPS would be low among these guys.

[ ]

Submitted by dcf on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 07:28 pm

Palmeiro should definitely be included. Could also include Andre Thornton in 1974. If Hubbs is included, could also include Kessinger and Beckert in 1965, although Hubbs/Kessinger and Beckert are not good comps for the other guys. For that matter, could also include Manny Trillo, Darwin Barney, Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot, subject to the same caveat. Other position players that were Cubs rookies: George Altman, Lou Brock, Adolfo Phillips, Bill North, Doug Glanville, DJ LeMahieu, Angel Pagan, Rick Wilkins, Jose Hernandez, Dave Martinez, Shawon Dunston, Jody Davis and Randy Hundley.

[ ]

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 07:12 pm

Palmeiro is interesting. If you use his first 70 games of 1987 the numbers are not that great because he only had 141 PAs in those games. But if you look at all of 1987, which was 84 games, but 244 PAs closer to the comparables in the table (but still at the low end), he stakes up nicely: 32 R, 15 2B, 14 HR, 30 RBI, 276/336/543 (879 OPS). The OPS would beat all but Dwight Smith.

 

[ ]

Submitted by CubsfaninCA on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 07:24 pm

Madlock and Palmeiro are good, although both would also trail Bryant in OPS. Hubbs was included because he won ROY. Kessinger's OPS over first 70 was .482 (YIKES!) and Beckert was only .575. Trillo, Barney, Theriot and Fontenot and all of the others you mentioned are well, irrevelant...except Lou Brock and I'm still trying to forget he was ever a Cub.

[ ]

Submitted by dcf on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 07:15 am

Hubbs, despite being a rookie of the year, did not profile as someone who was going to be a significant offensive contributor over his career (which of course was unfortunately cut short). Given that Hubbs was so young when he was killed (he was 21 at the end of his second (and last) full season in the majors), it is possible that he could have turned it around offensively had he lived, but there is not much in his stats while he played for the Cubs that would suggest that was likely. He struck out a lot, did not walk much, and did not have much power. His career slash line over 324 games and 1358 PA: .247/.290/.336. My only point was, if he was going to be included, then it might be appropriate to include other middle infielders. Glenn Beckert, who was born before Hubbs but did not make his MLB debut until he was 24, might have been a better hitter than Hubbs. It's hard to really compare the two because you can't compare them by age. Beckert also had little power and did not walk much. But Hubbs and all the middle infielders I named are of a different category offensively than the other players. You seem to limit your list to offensive stats, and the contribution of Hubbs and the others otherwise (defensively, baserunning) is not factored in. As for the other players being irrelevant, I guess that's your call since it's your analysis. But in terms of (I) position players that have had relatively substantial major league careers, (II) who spent their rookie seasons with the Cubs, (III) since the time of Ernie Banks' rookie season, I think the people I listed might be worthy of consideration. In terms of career WAR, Palmeiro had 71.6, Brock 45.2, Madlock 38, North 26.7, Thornton 24.1, Martinez 19.1, Pagan 18, Davis 15.8, Wilkins 13.9, Phillips 13.6, Hernandez 13.3, Altman 13, Hundley 11.6, Dunston 11.5, Glanville 10.9. By comparison, some of the career WARs of some of the players you included are lower than those of some of the players I suggested you consider: Patterson 9.6, Walton 4.3, Smith 3.3. Sam Fuld has more career WAR than Walton had, as does LeMahieu and Welington Castillo. Billy Hatcher had more career WAR than Smith. Career WAR of the middle infielders I listed: Beckert 15.5, Kessinger 7.9, Trillo 10.7, Theriot 6.4, Fontenot 4.5. If you go back into the '50s, you also get Tony Taylor, a rule 5 pickup who was a Cubs rookie in 1958. His career WAR was 23.3. If you want to focus on the quality of the rookie seasons only (without regard to the rest of a player's career), that's OK; you say you are comparing starts of rookie seasons (subject to some caveats). You've included the four Cub position player rookie of the year winners, plus a variety of other players. You've excluded pitchers. Even so, Thornton had an OPS+ of 123 in 1974, his first full season with the Cubs. Phillips had an OPS+ of 120 in 1966, his first full season with the Cubs.

[ ]

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Wed, 07/08/2015 - 07:20 am

Hubbs certainly belongs in any discussion of Cub rookies who made a big splash at an early age. ROY and GG at age 20--that's remarkable. Only a couple of the names you mention played full seasons in the majors at 20 or 21. Apart from Santo, I haven't found a Cub who hit as many as eight home runs at 21, as Hubbs did in his final season. (Santo hit 23.) "It is possible that he could have turned it around offensively had he lived." Addison Russell is twenty-one. Does he have to turn it around, or just develop as a hitter? It's pointless to compare the WAR of a player whose career barely got started with other people's career WARs. Check out Rizzo's numbers at twenty-one, and tell me their relationship to his career numbers. Edit (7/8): Forgot about Starlin. He hit ten HRs at 21.

[ ]

Submitted by dcf on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 07:27 pm

I certainly didn't intend to diss Hubbs, but in part the judgment on him is that you are looking at over two full seasons of results--granted as a very young player in terms of calendar age--as opposed to a player like Russell, who does not have nearly the major league experience. Hubbs played in 324 games and had 1358 PA. Russell has played in 66 games and has 251 PA. Russell's sample size is small, but his OPS+ is 80. Hubbs', over his entire career, was 70. As for "turning it around" versus "developed", I agree that developed is probably a better choice of words given the context of Hubbs' career and I regret having said it the other way. However, Hubbs' two full seasons were very similar to each other statistically: high strikeouts, relatively low walks, not a lot of power. His OPS+ in 1962 was 70 and in 1963 it was 71. He may have grown as an offensive player given the chance, but there is not a lot of evidence that he did so in year 2 after year one. It's impossible to tell what would have happened with him; he was a tall man for a 2b and perhaps he would have developed power. Hubbs did have seasons in the minors where he walked somewhat more frequently (with a high of 58 BB in 1960). Russell's minor league numbers showed much more power than Hubbs' as well as higher OBP. I think the expectation for Russell is higher than that of Hubbs in terms of offensive numbers. As I said above, it may be the case that Beckert was better than Hubbs would have been offensively. Young players sometimes regress temporarily. Santo had a great second season, but a terrible third one, before having a five year stretch where he was one of the best players in baseball, a stretch that may have put him the HOF. Hubbs did not have a chance to get better at the plate after his second season, which is a tragedy; based on what he did do offensively (which, although it may seem harsh, is all we have to go on) he does not profile in the category of the other players. He might have been a very valuable had he continued to do what he did with other contributions. As for career WAR, I was suggesting it as a possible way to consider a group of Cubs rookies to compare. There have been relatively few position players that have debuted with the Cubs over the past 60 years that have had substantial major league careers. If you include players like Walton and Smith, based on who had good rookie seasons, you may not include players that did not have as splashy a rookie season, but whose overall careers were better. If I were the Cubs, all things being equal, I might prefer Dave Martinez's 19.1 career WAR to Walton's, Walton's ROY award notwithstanding. If you want to focus on rookie years alone, that's your prerogative.

[ ]

Submitted by jacos on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 07:13 pm

"bad teams" ~ding~ Mon, 7/6 Cardinals 7:05p WGN, ESPN, MLB.TV Tue, 7/7 Cardinals 12:20p WGN, MLBN, MLB.TV Tue, 7/7 Cardinals 7:05p CSN, MLB.TV Wed, 7/8 Cardinals 7:05p CSN, ESPN, MLB.TV Fri, 7/10 White Sox 3:05p CSN, MLB.TV Sat, 7/11 White Sox 3:05p ABC 7, MLB.TV Sun, 7/12 White Sox 1:20p ABC 7, MLB.TV Fri, 7/17 at Braves 6:35p CSN, MLB.TV Sat, 7/18 at Braves 6:10p ABC 7, MLB.TV Sun, 7/19 at Braves 4:05p WGN, MLB.TV Mon, 7/20 at Reds 6:10p CSN, MLB.TV Tue, 7/21 at Reds 6:10p CSN, MLBN, MLB.TV Wed, 7/22 at Reds 11:35a ABC 7, MLB.TV Wed, 7/22 at Reds 5:10p ABC 7, MLB.TV Fri, 7/24 Phillies 3:05p WGN, MLB.TV Sat, 7/25 Phillies 3:05p ABC 7, MLB.TV Sun, 7/26 Phillies 1:20p ABC 7, MLB.TV Mon, 7/27 Rockies 7:05p CSN+, MLB.TV Tue, 7/28 Rockies 7:05p Wed, 7/29 Rockies 1:20p Thu, 7/30 at Brewers 7:10p Fri, 7/31 at Brewers 7:10p

Recent comments

  • 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)

  • Eric S (view)

    Thanks for checking and yeah, that’s a double ouch

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Believe you are correct, checked and appears Cubs have a $2.51 million obligation to Barnhart this season per Cot's Contracts.  Also paying Trey Mancini $7mil this season.  Ouch.  

  • crunch (view)

    m.busch had 0hr and 2 doubles when he was last at wrigley.

    we'll probably see a few more of his jerseys in the seats when they return tomorrow.

    wonder who will go down for taillon.  hey hendricks, you got a hangnail or something?

  • Eric S (view)

    Nice work by Wesneski with some solid defense behind him and the late tack on runs were welcome. Gladly take a 5-4 West Coast swing, particularly down two key starting pitchers … Now just don’t get swept by the Marlins for Pete’s sake. 

  • crunch (view)

    dansby takes the team lead in SB today after a SB with 2 SB total.  the team has 3.  madrigal has the other one.

    cubs also have 7 triples, 7 players each.

  • crunch (view)

    sure am ready for p.wisdom and m.masterboney to swap roster spots.

  • Eric S (view)

    The fifth inning has not been kind to Wicks this season. Giving up leadoff doubles to Tucker Barnhart is also not good for business. IIRC, the Cubs are on the hook for the majority of Barnhart’s salary this season to add insult to injury (could definitely be wrong here). 

  • Cubster (view)

    Kris Bryant to IL with low back strain. He’s keeping the Rockies docs busy.

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