Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus one player is on the 60-DAY IL 

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

Last updated 3-28-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
* 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: 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 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 1 
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 1 
Caleb Kilian, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs @ Brewers: Richard vs. Lohse (Game 104 Thread)

CHC (56-47): LHP Clayton Richard (1-0, 5.40)

MIL (44-61): RHP Kyle Lohse (5-12, 6.25)

First pitch: 1:10pmCT

Fowler# cf

Schwarber* c

Coghlan* lf

Rizzo* 1b

Bryant 3b

Soler rf

Castro ss

Richard* p

Russell 2b

 

Segura ss

Lucroy c

Braun rf

Lind* 1b

Davis lf

Herrera 2b

Peterson* cf

Perez 3b

Lohse p


Richard last started on July 20 (5.2 IP, 3 ER) and had a no-decision in Cinci. He’s only pitching because Haren can’t go. In his seven career starts against Milwaukee, the former Pirate is 2-3 with a 5.97 ERA. What’s left of the Brewers is 12-44 (.273) against him. Lucroy is 4-7 with a HR. Richard will be on a short leash.
 

Lohse lost in SF (6.2 IP, 4 ER) his last time out. He’s been consistently bad all season, with an ERA over 5.79 for each month. He’s only pitching because Fiers is gone. The Cubs are 43-138 (.312) against him. Rizzo is 11-24 (.458) with 2 HR.

 

Teagarden was DFA'd to make room for Richard. Montero starts his rehab with the Smokies today. Maddon said yesterday Schwarber will stay with the team once he comes back. The DFA’d Baxter cleared waivers and is in Iowa. The Cubs, who must think it’s 2009, are looking into acquiring Chase Utley (.179/.257/.275 in 65 games). LaStella and/or Baez would seem to be better options.

The Cubs are back to 9 over .500, their high-water mark for the season, which they last hit on June 24. They are on pace for 88 wins, which would be a 15-game improvement over 2014.

Go Cubs!

 

Comments

Let's just put it out there to get the jinx out of the way -- last time the Cubs were going for 10 over, Pedro Strop threw a 2-out, 2-strike pitch to Jhonny Peralta....

this MIL team is a mess. the infield got confused on base coverage during a shift...result, inning-ending double play turns into a clumsy single out and the cubs score a run.

Love Schwarber's bat -- his catching, not so much. That WP should have been blocked, and the run shouldn't have scored.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

yeah, and his arm has been a disaster. either he comes out of the crouch too slow and the runner takes the base easily or he comes out of the crouch really quick, but isn't mechanically ready to make a good throw. he's really got to start blocking stuff better. sure, a wild pitch is the pitcher's fault, but there's a lot of decent catchers out there who keep pitchers from having to take that blame by blocking the ball.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

if he has to end up playing LF i doubt too many people will consider it a draft/development failure. we're about to see him out there really soon, anyway. montero has to get ABs and ross is getting at least 1 of the pitcher's starts. hell, if he ends up being anything more than an emergency/injury catcher after this season i'm sure a lot of people would consider that a victory for him being given a chance to catch.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

i think we're in for some "classic maddon" cog playing OF/2nd/3rd...schwarb playing C/OF/1st...rest and need-based play. it's pretty much a given the team is stuck with an all-D+arm catcher for lester and if montero isn't trade bait this off-season i dunno where schwarb is supposed to slot other than LF going into 2016 for a majority of his playing time.

k.bryant removed from the game in the top 5th after taking a swipe tag to the helmet sliding head-first into 2nd. he didn't look bad, but he looked like he was feeling it a bit. head injury severity is hard as hell to predict, but there's a pretty good chance he's playing tomorrow.

rondon...castro...this isn't funny. no baserunners since the 3rd going to hell in the 9th. phew...cubs win. sweep!

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

When Starling booted the ball, I thought the "10 over jinx" was rearing its head -- and when the ball left the bat of the last hitter, I thought we had a tie game. Phew. So, Cubs go 4-3 against the Phils and Brewers.... Assuming Rondon is not available tomorrow -- who comes in to protect a one run lead in the 9th? Can't be Motte, and I doubt it would be Soriano -- Strop or Hunter?

5 wins in a row...sweep of MIL... ...and SF loses. cubs/giants tied for the 2nd WC slot.

[ ]

In reply to by Tito

it's job security and a roster spot for vice president, elder statesman, and all around team-carrying david ross. no one needs that extra roster spot anyway. nothing says "ace pitcher" like having to carry blanco bako ross on your roster because your ace pitcher turns into a mentally unstable 5 year old because he may have to throw to 1st/2nd a few times a game. no biggie. there's more important things to romanticize over, such as pitch framing and comparing the WAR of D-heavy middle infielders who can't hit.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Every other team has Johnny Bench starting and Ivan Rodriguez as their back-up catcher, how come the Cubs are the only team with light-hitting defensive back-up catchers (Ross) or offensive catchers with below average receiving skills (Schwarber)? Is this Obama's fault too? 

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

obviously it's obama's fault. the cubs aren't the only team with a no-hitting defensive catcher, but it's one of the very few teams who absolutely require this kind of guy taking up a roster spot because there's a pitcher on the team who can't throw to a base less than 60ft away. it's a shame the issue with this pitcher is so grand in scope and huge in effort that it may never be dealt with. it ranks up there with learning how to pitch left handed when you're a natural righty and no one can or should expect lester to rise to this level of unusual effort.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

First, Lester gave up so many stolen bases that it led to the other team scoring a ton of runs. Except it didn't as the data showed clearly. Then Lester gave up such huge leads and allowed runners to score from second or go first to third that it led to the other team scoring a ton of runs. Except it didn't, as the data showed. Now Lester's holding runners problem has created a roster spot for David Ross and his presence on the team is costing the Cubs runs and wins. Except of course he really doesn't hurt the team much, if at all. And you are smart enough to know that.

Ross is a solid defensive catcher who frames pitches well, calls a good game, controls the running game, has playoff experience, and provides veteran leadership on the field and the clubhouse. The Cubs could have pursued a different back-up catcher that hits well but can't field, but then you would just complain about his poor receiving skills, failing to block pitches, etc. Or, the Cubs could have pursued a different defensive-first catcher, but then you would be complaining about him not hitting too, just like with Ross.

The reality is that Lester didn't create a roster spot for Ross that some other mythical Johnny Bench-like back-up catcher would be filling instead. No, the Cubs signed a veteran defensive-first back-up catcher for the back-up catcher slot on their roster, which is what many teams do. And they do so because their choices for back-ups are slim and you either get one that can field but can't hit or vice versa. Those few that can do both are called STARTERS, and many teams don't even have one of those. Hell, right now, Ross (0.6 WAR) is worth about a half win over replacement more than LuCroy (0.1). The Reds catching core is Pena (0.1 WAR), Barnhardt (0.1 WAR), and Mesaroco (-0.2 WAR). The Nationals have Ramos (0.7 WAR) and Lobaton (0.0 WAR). Etc. In the NL, Montero is 9th, Schwarber 10th, and Ross 15th in WAR among catchers. The idea that the Cubs are "one of the very few teams who absolutely require this kind of guy taking up a roster spot" is complte horseshit and you know it.

But we have been over this before. You know there aren't great back-up catchers out there that are superior to those the Cubs and other teams employ. Yet when asked who the Cubs should have signed you can't name anyone, when asked about other teams' catching situations you ignore the evidence that almost every team has the same issue, etc. I think just because the back-up catcher is usually the worst or one of the worst players on the team, he's an easy target for you. You can always say they aren't doing something well and it gives you something to complain about. But back-ups usually don't do everything well, or they wouldn't be back-ups, and the Cubs choice is right in line--if not BETTER--that most other teams in the league.   

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

"The idea that the Cubs are "one of the very few teams who absolutely require this kind of guy taking up a roster spot" is complte horseshit and you know it." the day schwarber and montero carry ross's catching duties for lester i'll buy into that being horseshit. until then this is a team with 3 catchers and 1 will probably not remain a catcher because of roster management constraints brought on by the guy who has to have a specialized catcher because of his lack of being able to throw to a couple bases from the mound.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Before Ross signed with the Cubs, there were rumors that he was going to sign with the Padres. And Ross also said the Red Sox kept talking to him about signing after Lester signed with the Cubs. So I guess they also needed "someone to take up a roster spot." And if the Cubs didn't sign Ross, Lester probably would've backed out of his Cubs deal and gone wherever Ross ended up because of this huge issue that hasn't really hurt him. #crunchmeme

[ ]

In reply to by Tito

lester needs a personal catcher high on D to make up for his shortcomings...that's the gist of this. seeing as he's signed to a rather long-term deal this is probably going to go on for quite a while. this also kinda kills having a catching tandum of montero/schwarber. ...because there's a pitcher who refuses to throw to a base from the mound. that point is one of the most important points. there's a big name, big loot pitcher who needs his own personal defensive wiz behind the plate solely because he turns into a mental case if he has to try to keep a runner from taking 15+ feet leads off a base. you'd think i was critiquing his inability to throw a pitch that's not in his arsenal or wanting him to change his arm slot rather than a simple task most of professional baseball has mastered.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

So when Ross leaves after next season -- assuming that happens, maybe it doesn't, but that's what I see happening given his age and his contract being up -- Lester won't pitch to Montero or whoever else is around because of this shortcoming that has proven to not be that big of a deal except to you?

[ ]

In reply to by Tito

i see no scenario where lester doesn't have a high-D/arm personal catcher around, ever, as long as he continues his current path. today ross, tomorrow someone else. the catcher is the only person controlling the running game when lester is on the mound outside of lester's quickness to the plate...which as he ages will never get slower, nor will his velocity drop...wait...let's not consider that.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Wouldn't a lot of teams want/carry a high-D/arm catcher regardless of what pitchers they have? Don't a lot of backups fit this description? But let's not consider that. Let's harp on Lester's flaw over and over again despite evidence that it's not really hurting him much. Thanks, Obama.

[ ]

In reply to by Tito

...but how many teams require it as a necessity? lester needs a high-D/arm guy and that guy is part of the 25-man roster. let's just carry that guy for 1 specific pitcher rather than even fathom the idea that the pitcher could throw over to 1st/2nd a few times a game to plant the threat of someone controlling the running game besides the catcher that's nearly twice the distance away from the bases. this is the simplest fix that some people demand nothing be done about that i've heard about in a long time.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

This is just bizzare. So most teams have high-D/arm guys on the roster. And that's OK. But because the Cubs have one on their roster because it's a "necessity" then somehow that is bad? It doesn't make any sense. All you do is keep harping on the point that they have Ross because of Lester, without aknowleding that A) without Lester they would likely have Ross or someone similar anyway; B) most teams, who do not have Lester, have a player like Ross too. Your just being silly.

Who should the Cubs have signed intead? Again, you don't give any evidence. If the Cubs had kept Castillo you would have complained about him and his poor D as you always have. Moreover, you apparently now want a Montero/Schwarber tandem, but then you would just complain constantly about Schwarber's lack of receiving skills. You have already done so. You said he was incomplete behind the plate, falls to one knee too often, can't control the running game, etc. You even said he can't start when Arrieta pitches because he is too slow to home plate.

Again, you have been saying this for years. You somehow want the Cubs to have two solid defensive and solid offensive catchers, and when they have anything less you complain. Despite the MOUNTAINS of evidence that few, if any teams, truly have two solid catchers, and that most back-up catchers suck at either defense or offense. Your just being silly and stubborn for some reason.

Let's recap. It frustrates you that Lester doesn't throw to first. You seem to think it should be easy for him to fix; despite the fact that being a professional athlete at the highest level is difficult mentally and physically and if it were easy to fix he would have done it by now. Obviously it is a big mental issue for him now and they are not going to make him try to fix it mid-season. We've been over this a dozen times now. But because he frustrates you and no one else cares nearly as much, you try to make the rest of us care by citing stolen bases leading to runs. When that didn't work you shifted to leads and advances leading to runs. When that was disproven you shifted to making Ross the scapegoat and tried to argue that he is killing the team and only on the team because of Lester. Yet as we have shown above, that's simply not the case. He is not hurting the team and not holding down a roster spot that some better catcher would be holding.

So now what? Lester's inability to throw to first leads to tension on the team that can't be measured but is responsible for all slumps by the hitters? 

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

1- lester doesn't maintain the running game 2- the catcher has to do it for him 3- a roster spot goes to someone who can do this for lester because, once again, someone has to do it for him 4- this gets "interesting" when a guy like schwarb comes up who would be paired with montero, yet letting lester have either of them for 32+ games would be considered a bad idea by upper management because of lester's shortcomings it's not bizzare. it's rather straight-forward. also you got many things wrong in your re-cap...from motivation, to purpose, to things you're assuming i'm trying to do. also, your "who should the cubs have signed instead" rant missed the mark on me, too. let's quit trying to be experts in me. i have a hard enough time with it and you're piss poor at it.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

No, it's bizzare. Your point #3 above has been rebuffed about a dozen times now. You just keep ignoring it. I should just copy and paste my previous comment verbatim. That roster spot is NOT be used any differently than if Lester were not on the team. Again, read the previous posts. And regarding #4, again, read above, you don't like his defense and would only be complaining about that, as you have done. It's bizarre. You just ignore most of what you read and then reply with the same exact comment that you made to start the entire thing.

Also, if you have a hard time understanding yourself, then how do you know I am piss poor at it? Maybe I am dead on and you just can't see it.  

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

you've made up your mind point 3 isn't valid. that doesn't make it invalid. lester has his own personal catcher to make up for him not covering runners. his name is david ross. ross has a very predictable work schedule when it comes to 1 particular pitcher...just 1 guy...this guy's personal catcher...for lester...because he doesn't check the running game...so there's this guy, a catcher, let's call him "david ross" that does it for him...because lester doesn't do it...so there's another guy who controls the running game for him...david ross...obama. you're also wrong about point 4 when it comes to me, but you also seem to think i've been complaining about welly's D for years even though that's not a thing that happened. that's not the only thing you're applying to me that isn't me, but let's not let that get in the way of telling me otherwise.

[ ]

In reply to by Tito

lots of people have issue with lester giving away leads and free bases in a world where people will have drag-out passionate augments over things that give teams even a shred of an advantage. TCR isn't the beginning or end of the line in the cubs universe. there's also no campaign to attempt to win the hearts of the 3 dozen people who post here. it's just something to talk about.

[ ]

In reply to by Tito

don't expect your question to be taken seriously when you add some passive aggressive bullshit like "or just because no one can get behind your campaign to make Lester's issue more important to smart Cubs fans?" i'll go ahead an answer your question anyway. ...i am opposed to it because no one can get behind my campaign to make Lester's issue more important to smart Cubs fans. OH SNAP! YOU HAD ME FIGURED OUT ALL ALONG! don't come at someone with that kind of question if you expect a serious answer.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Again, no one is arguing that Ross isn't Lester's personal catcher. You once again decide to ignore the points. The Cubs would have Ross or someone similar were Lester not on the team, and the vast majority of teams have a Ross-like back-up catcher. What the hell don't you understand about that? Seriously? Therefore, Lester is not causing a detriment to the team by causing Ross to be on the roster. Plenty of evidence has been provided to support this. You have provided NO evidence to refute any of it. You just keep saying that Ross is Lester's catcher. No one is saying otherwise. But it doesn't change the roster configuration or hurt the team. Again, provide some evidence of who would be on the team if Lester had not signed with the Cubs? Don't just repeat that Lester is Ross's catcher.

And no, I am not wrong on point 4. I can quote you from the Braves series when Schwarber caught if you want. You also cited a video breakdown you watched on it. I can quote you about how Schwarber can't catch Arrieta. Do I need to? Would you believe it if you see it in your own words versus me saying it?  

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

you think point 4 is about me...that's the first problem. "4- this gets "interesting" when a guy like schwarb comes up who would be paired with montero, yet letting lester have either of them for 32+ games would be considered a bad idea by upper management because of lester's shortcomings" if it was about me point 4 wouldn't exist because schwarber would be in LF. a montero/schwarber/ross conundrum wouldn't exist in my world. you're off mark too much about me and i don't feel like getting into your own assumptions out of nowhere like lester's not working on something mid-season based on...well, nothing...because i don't want to talk about you until you suit up and take the field for the cubs. sit back and watch it unfold. we have nothing to do with it.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Ignored point 3 as predicted.

And what are you talking about? You want Schwarber in LF because you don't think he is a good defensive catcher. For some reason you bolded a sentence about Lester, but you don't think Schwarber is a good defensive catcher period, even with Arrieta. So that proves my point that if Schwarber were paird with Montero you would not be happy with Schwarber's defense. Or is it that in your world Schwarber would be in LF and there would be a different back-up catcher? Oh yes, the un-named super awesome backup the Cubs should have, right? But then that takes us right back to point #3!

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

the cubs upper management doesn't care whether i'm happy about schwarber catching...yet schwarber is still a catcher. it happened. he caught games and the cubs did it without asking me whether it would make me happy. they didn't even ask me about it...yet it's still happening. it's like i have to deal with the real world rather than how i feel about the real world. there might be a reason you don't know what i'm talking about, and why you find things i say bizarre, and how you don't understand. hey, that might not be my problem. maybe.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Cubs win the World Series. 5 minutes later, Crunch: "The Cubs should have won in 4 games not 5, Lester not being able to throw to first caused Ross to be on the roster and if the Cubs had a better pinch hitter on the bench in game 3 they might have won that one and not even needed a game 5."

[ ]

In reply to by Doug Dascenzo

They don't have to carry three. They carry three because Schwarber is awesome. They had three initially, I assume, because they didn't want to trade Castillo for nothing. For most of the season, haven't they had just Ross and Montero? If Ross were released tomorrow, I'm pretty sure Lester would be just fine.

[ ]

In reply to by Tito

i can't imagine a situation where anyone but an all-D/arm catcher would handle more than an emergency start's worth of workload with lester. this means that there will always be this type of guy around, not optional. that's kinda the major point of today's rant from my end. in fact it's a key point to understand anything i've said.

[ ]

In reply to by Doug Dascenzo

To be a little more specific, isn't this just about roster flexibility at desired times? It was mentioned above that teams usually have either an all D no bat catcher as a backup or an all bat no D catcher as a backup. However, it would seem that the two times this season where we had a third catcher we needed on the roster (Beef Castillo and Schwarber) we didn't have the flexibility to send the all D no bat catcher (Ross) away via whatever palatable means (DL, DFA, etc) because he was needed on the roster to catch Lester (for whatever reason) and thus we couldn't use that roster spot at those times for an extra reliever or a better bench bat that may have been more useful at the time than a third catcher. I

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

I think the point is that everything that goes wrong is Obama's fault. Which would be funny and ridiculous, except that this rhetoric is so common that, unless you know what crunch is all about, it's not intuitively obvious that it's satire- and as evidence I present to you WISCGRAD's confusion over crunch's comments.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

also, jake petricka. ...and i bet jose abreu is why the US is trying to normalize relations with cuba. enjoy these wins cubs fans, obama will be coming soon to re-allocate wins to losing clubs in order to promote socialism in baseball. ron paul 2012.

Recent comments

  • hellfrozeover (view)

    I would say also in the bright side column is Busch looked pretty good overall at the plate. Alzolay…man, that hurts but most of the time he’s not giving up a homer to that guy. To me the worst was almonte hanging that pitch to Garcia. He hung another one to the next hitter too and got away with it on an 0-1. 

  • crunch (view)

    amaya blocked like 6-8 of smyly's pitches in the dirt very cleanly...not even an exaggeration, smyly threw a ton of pitches bouncing in tonight.

    neris looking like his old self was a relief (no pun), too.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    In looking for bright spots the defense was outstanding tonight. The “stars” are going to need to shine quite a bit brighter than they did tonight offensively though for this to be a successful season.

  • Eric S (view)

    Good baseball game. Hopefully Steele is pitching again in April (but I’m not counting on it). 

  • crunch (view)

    boo.

  • crunch (view)

    smyly to face the 2/3/4 hitters with a man on 2nd in extras.

    this doesn't seem like a 8 million dollar managerial decision.

  • crunch (view)

    i 100% agree with you, but i dunno how jed wants to run things.  the default is delay.  i would choose brown.

    like hellfrozeover says, could be smyly since he's technically fresh and stretched.

    anyway, on a pure talent basis....brown is the best option.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Use pitchers when you believe they're good. Don't plan their clock.

    I'm sorry. I'm simply anti-clock/contract management. Play guys when they show real MLB potential talent.

    If Brown hadn't been hurt with the Lat Strain he would've gotten the call, and not Wick.

    Give him a chance. 

    But Wesneski probably gets it

  • crunch (view)

    alzolay...bro...

  • crunch (view)

    wow.  what a blown call.  go cubs, i guess.