Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
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, 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 4-21-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 14
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 
* Justin Steele, P   

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




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Mets @ Cubs: Colon vs Hendricks (Game 94)

Submitted by CTSteve on

I hate the Mets—so much. The flames—flames, on the side of my face, breathing, heaving breaths...NYM (50-43): RHP Bartolo Colon (8-4, 3.11)
CHC (56-37): RHP Kyle Hendricks (8-6, 2.41)
First pitch: 1:20pmCST

The Little Professor scattered 3 hits over 6 innings to beat the Rangers on Friday. He’s 6-1 with a 1.50 at Wrigley so far this season. The Mets, who missed Hendricks in Queens earlier this month, are 9-40 (.225) against him. Walker is 3-8.

Colon beat the Cubs in New York (6 IP, 2 ER, 5 K, 3 BB). Since then, he was roughed up by the Nats (6 ER in 4.2 IP) and won in Philadelphia (5.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 K, 2 BB). Overall, the Cubs are 20-74 (.270) against him. Zobrist is 8-16 with 4 HR. #ownage

Tomorrow we rest, then head to Wrigley North to kick the Brewers around a bit. It’ll be Hammel (8-5, 3.34) versus some scrub.

Go Cubs!

Tags
2016 Season Game Thread

Comments

Submitted by Old and Blue on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:23 am

If Bryant faces Familia with the bases loaded again in the ninth inning, I would ask that Joe order him to leave his bat on his shoulder until strike 2. Maybe after two strikes he can take a crack at him, but that was pretty bad last night for a team that thinks it can win the world series. I understand the whole, Familia is nasty thing, but just don't swing until you get two strikes. It's not like you've ever hit the guy, anyway.

Submitted by Old and Blue on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:09 am

Speaking of Bryant - I saw a guy who was supposed to be on the same track as Bryant, Joey Gallo, a couple times over the last couple weeks. A friend of mine who frequents Round Rock games says he has trouble with the curve, which would explain why the two have been on very different trajectories. The other day Gallo came up in the late innings - maybe the ninth - I don't remember - three tall beers will do that - with a base open and men on second and third. They pitched to him and got him on a curve, and then they intentionally walked the next guy. So my complaint about Bryant was most definitely a one-off. He could have gone the Gallo way. Gallo may still end up being good. He has a great swing and tons of power - he ripped one that day. The ball sounds amazing coming off his bat. Just needs to learn how to hit that curve.

Submitted by johann on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:57 pm

Heyward had a great throw to mow down Loney at the plate. 1 hopper that Montero didn't have to even move to get. Wow the throw was clocked at 98.9 mph.

Submitted by johann on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:17 pm

Huh Mariners and Cubs have made a deal according to Tim Kurkjian but no details. Steve Cishek is only guy that would make sense but he doesn't have great #s.

[ ]

Submitted by johann on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:42 pm

He has lots better #s and is younger and Buster Olney just said Cubs have been looking at him. Can't imagine Vogel gets him by himself though. /edit seems like you're right. I'm definitely surprised that did it considering Mike will be under team control till 2021. He's been mostly relieving but has started the last couple times out. He was a top prospect but had TJ surgery.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:55 pm

he's throwing easy low/mid 90s regularly and his curve is looking neat this year. he's quite "projectable." i wonder if hammel is on his way out of town as part of whatever this is, maybe with some cash. i can't imagine SEA is looking to walk away from the season right now even if the WC chase is all they're in on.

Submitted by Brick on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:31 pm

Second straight series win. This one could easily have been a sweep with a tiny bit of better luck yesterday. I'd love to think the ship is getting righted.

Submitted by John Beasley on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:14 pm

Rosenthal: Montgomery + AAA starter for Vogelbach and Paul Blackburn. Montgomery - LHP who can start or relieve, but better career numbers v. RHP and terrible in high-leverage situations. I don't get it.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:32 pm

he's throwing harder and using his curve a lot more this year. along with his change and cruddy cutter that's supposed to work on lefties, but doesn't...he's got a bit of base to build off his low/mid 90s fastball. ...lot of club control left on the dude. without hammel also leaving town, that leaves quite the issue with the rotation. i wonder if hammel is cool with working pen...i can't imagine the cubs putting the brakes on montgomery's comeback to stick him in the pen, but maybe. *shrug*

[ ]

Submitted by Jackstraw on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:07 pm

It seems to me that they've just acquired another Travis Wood. Lefty, not dominant, non-loogy, can go multiple innings if needed. So Joe can use them both and at a minimum keep some innings off of Wood's arm and go with the better of them come (hopefully) October. Plus figure out which of them serves as the loogy knowing the other is available later in the game.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:28 pm

just remember that Dan Vogelbach can't even play 1B

Montgomery was a big-time prospect and is throwing 93mph on average. Splits vs. lefties look pretty good so far this year

Small sample size caveats abound...but these guys are pretty good at recognizing pitching. Certainly not 100% but Vogelbach is redundant and very expendable no matters how many HR's he ends up hitting. Now if they approve an NL DH by next year, maybe not so much, but Schwarber should take that role anyway.

[ ]

Submitted by John Beasley on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:43 pm

No, I'm not in the Vogelbach cult. I think he's a big-league hitter right now and likely to improve from here, but unless Rizzo is the headline piece in a Trout trade, there's no room for him here. I wish him well. Jordan Pries may end up having a better career than Blackburn, but that part of the deal feels like organizational preference to me. I like the trade. I am just ... somewhat doubtful that Montgomery is the answer to the Cubs' LHRP needs. But he's got a live arm, he's controlled for 5 more years, and the Cubs don't lose anything too shiny. The trade's a win, but is it what the 2016 Cubs bullpen needs? Definitely maybe.

[ ]

Submitted by johann on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:15 pm

Yeah his fastball is way up in velocity from 90.9 in 2015 to 93.4 this year and his cutter and change have both jumped 2 MPH. Wonder if that's a product of being in the bullpen a lot more often. It still is a negative value pitch according to fangraphs but much better and0 maybe partially because of that his cutter, curve ball and changeup have all jumped way up in value with the cutter his best pitch this year. The velocity increase is a good sign that his stat improvements this year aren't just a flash in the pan because it's obvious something physically has changed.

Submitted by billybucks on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:35 pm

Russell looking really good lately -- laying off the low & away pitch when he is behind in the count. Very nice. His AB against Familia last night should be must-see TV for all RH hitters if we see the Mets later this year...

Submitted by The E-Man on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:19 pm

Blackburn: Rule 5; Vogey: DH, Whom PHIL has said many times is brutal as a fielder. Plus, he's blocked by a potential league MVP. Done and Doner. Last year's Seattle project worked out pretty well (they should have signed Rodney)

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:29 pm

Theo: "We haven't touched the prospects that we're potentially going to move in bigger deals."

“Sad to see Dan go. He was a great guy to be around, but also happy for him to get an opportunity."

""It gives you the ability to say no or draw the line." (on future deadline deals)

""The prospects we moved weren't in any other deals we were talking about."

So probably still gonna try for Miller and Yanks probably didn't really want Vogelbach...and they're still not getting Schwarber.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:03 pm

meanwhile...Jorge Soler in mid-season form (I keed)

@TommyBirch Soler goes down on strikes again. Now 0-3 with 3 strikeouts tonight.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:34 pm

He was a beast in last year's playoffs. Feel like you're selling low right now on him, not really TheJedi way of doing things.

Not that I'm against trading him by any means, but I think he's a lot better than he's shown so far. He's still just 24.

Not sure he has much of a spot with Cubs in future with the way he plays defense or rather does not play defense. But that sort of depends on what happens in CF next season and what happens with Schwarber.

I imagine he'll end up being part of that Schwarber/Soler/Happ/Torres and 4 other guys for Trout deal that TheJedi will end up putting together.

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:12 am

E-MAN: The Cubs supposedly offered Jorge Soler to the Braves for Shelby Miller before Atlanta traded Miller to Arizona last December (the Braves reportedly wanted Javy Baez instead), so I wouldn't be too surprised if the Cubs offer Soler to the D'backs for Miller now that Arizona has sent him to AAA.

The D'backs need a RF (David Peralta is more of a LF and Yasmany Tomas is a DH who needs to be traded to an American League club), and although Miller has been an unmitigated Disaster in the Desert, he's only 25 years old, he has a decent-if-unspectacular track record in St. Louis and Atlanta, and he is under club control through at least 2018 (or through 2019 if he spends at least 42 days on optional assignment this season), while Soler is only 24, he is under club control through 2020  and he showed flashes of offensive brilliance last post-season before going into a funk this year (and then ending-up on the DL).  

If the trade was made now, the Cubs could just leave Miller at AAA (moving him from Reno to Iowa) and have him get regular work there until September, and then recall him on September 1st when rosters expand and hope that Bosio can work his magic on Miller in time for next season. (Remember, Jake Arrieta was a mess when the Cubs got him, too). 

Miller is arbitration-eligible post-2016, but right now he doesn't project to make more than about $6M in 2017, which would be a $5M savings on what the Cubs would have to pay Jason Hammel post-2016 ($12M 2017 club option or post-2016 $1M buy-out). That $5M in savings could then be applied toward whatever it will take to retain Dexter Fowler beyond 2016 (presuming the Cubs want Fowler back), or toward a different free-agent if Fowler walks, or toward a possible long-term contract extension for Bryant, Russell, or Baez (presuming the player and his agent are willing),    

Obviously a Soler-for-Miller trade would be a "sell-low/buy-low" risk-reward for both clubs, and it's always possible that one of the clubs will make out like a bandit while the other gets burnt & crucified, but the Cubs are in a position where they can afford to take that chance, and actually the Diamondbacks are, too. 

[ ]

Submitted by Charlie on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:53 am

Are you picturing that as a 1:1 deal at this point? I wouldn't trade Soler for Miller unless the Cubs could get more pieces back. I might have last year, but certainly not now. As you point out, Soler has more years of control and Miller has been an unmitigated disaster. It's worth pointing out that Miller's velocity is down as are his peripherals. Soler's BABIP has been low this year, and the Cubs are already down a LF, making Soler somewhat less of a surplus player--at least until Schwarber proves his knee injury won't permanently diminish his power, sometime next year. I don't see Contreras continuing to play in LF long term.

[ ]

Submitted by The E-Man on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:30 am

It is an interesting scenario that PHIL discusses. Big picture (what I am interested in with a proposed trade), Shelby Miller has been an "unmitigated disaster" for exactly four months. Unless there is an injury, I do think it is more even than you are thinking Charlie. Bosio has an established track record of success: Rodney, Arrieta, Rondon, Richard (2015 version), Cahill, et. al. If it were me, knowing the Cubs are bereft of MLB-ready farm arms, I'd be looking for these kinds of deals. He is not an ACE, but could be a solid #3, and still only 25.

[ ]

Submitted by videographer on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:36 am

I am going to offer a different analogy. Soler was traded for Miller last winter. The trade fit both teams' needs and was hailed by all as a big improvement for both teams. As the year unfolded, both players have been a disappointment and have not helped their teams. Solar is again on the DL (an annual event), Miller is again yo-yoing his ability. This scenario has the very real potential to play out over the rest of their careers - helping neither team in the long run, always teasing with what could be rather than what is. In the end, much ado about nothing.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:56 am

on a side tangent...if they traded vogelbomb with the intention of using montgomery in the pen for 2017+ that's a bit of a "meh" use of the vogelbomb trade piece even if he's a DH/1st option that's mostly going to be an AL-interest guy. unless stated otherwise, i kinda assumed montgomery is gonna slot in as the 5th starter next year (if not sooner).

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:21 pm

"Mariners OF prospect Kyle Lewis will miss the remainder of the season after tearing his right ACL. In addition to the torn ACL, Lewis also suffered a torn medial and lateral meniscus. He sustained the devastating injuries on a play at the plate on Tuesday while down with Low-A Everett. The Mariners selected the outfielder with the 11th overall pick in last month's draft. In 117 at-bats prior to the season-ending blow, Lewis was hitting .299/.385/.530 with eight doubles, five triples, three homers and 26 RBI." geez. doh. yow. sigh.

Submitted by The E-Man on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 07:13 pm

I just checked some MLB 2016 Montgomery highlights from June/July. He has a sick curve, and seems to get lots of grounders which is what his stats indicate. A big upgrade from Richards at least. Perhaps more than that next year. And under contract fve more years. We'll soon see.

Submitted by Old and Blue on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:21 am

Damn I love me some Javy Baez. His glove we all know about, but what the hell happened to his hitting? Where's that crazy swing? Where are the wild reaches at stuff way out of the zone? Where on earth did this plate discipline come from? His K rate is still at 22% but how much of that is from early in the season? Am I crazy for thinking I see a major adjustment on his end over the last month or so? Where did that extreme leg kick go? What's happening here? Please, if there is a God, don't let him be traded.

[ ]

Submitted by johann on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:45 am

Actually while Mar/April was his highest K rate at 29% his May rate was only 13.4%. He's been above 22% every month since then though it's been low since the All Star break. He needs to stop bunting and take a few more walks but yes the reduction in wild swings has helped him a lot. It's interesting that he's actually swinging at more pitches out of the zone this year but his contact on pitches out of the zone is up 15% which is nuts. Some of that might be luck but the toned down swing probably helps him get more barrel to the ball and he's fast enough he can run out more infield balls than other players

[ ]

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:57 am

Baez's stock has risen immeasurably since Maddon came to town. Maddon took one look at him and said, "God has handed me a middle infielder (plus third base and first and a little outfield)." Joe emphasized the glove and the baserunning and the overall instincts, and took all the pressure off Javy at the plate. We're lucky to still have him, since the new group has been pretty thorough about ridding the organization of any remnant of the Tim Wilken era. With Vogelbach gone, is anyone left beside Baez and Szczur? Contreras, I guess, although he wasn't a draft pick. Same with Candelario. Beeler. Rosscup. But they have no intention of trading Baez, or they would have gone for Pomeranz.

[ ]

Submitted by billybucks on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:05 am

Fully agree on Maddon's changing the conversation on Baez. That was some seriously good managing stuff there. He seems to be really having fun this year -- unlike prior years, when all the K's seemed to depress him. Baez in June: .292/.337/.899. July: .346/.393/.855. Nice.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob Richardson on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:10 am

The organization has been pretty thorough in getting rid of players who don't control the strike zone. Prior management liked to draft athletes (see Baez, Szczur, CP, Pie, etc), with the hopes of teaching them the strike zone (with very poor results). The new management has focused on players who control the strike zone (see Bryant, Soler, Schwarber, VBomb, Happ, etc.), and if they are good athletes all the better if not who cares. There is a notable exceptions in Almora, but I still see a trend. Szczur and Baez, to their great credit, have shown the ability to change their approach to hitting (and in at least Baez's case his swing), which turned them into major league hitters.

[ ]

Submitted by Jackstraw on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:00 pm

The picture I have in my memory of CPat is him walking back to the dugout after striking out on a shoulder-high fastball for the 500th time and slightly shaking his head for the 500th time in seeming amazement that he didn't get that one. CPat with the too high fastball was like Charley Brown with Lucy and the football.

[ ]

Submitted by Jackstraw on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:17 pm

I have in my memory TheJedi saying they would highlight two traits above all other: character and ability to control the strike zone. I have no idea how they metric the first, but there are clear ways to evaluate the second. I agree that Almora and Baez are exceptions, with their offsets being GG-quality defense and crazy athleticism and versatility,respectively. I have thought for some time now that Soler is an outlier on the controlling the strike zone skill and hence someone that Theo would more easily part with.

[ ]

Submitted by Cubster on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:04 pm

The Fangraphs article has a few interesting points. It says the M's catchers are not good framers, considering that they unloaded W. Castillo to AZ, that is somewhat interesting (that pitch framing thang that Theo/Jed seem to value).
As a Mariner, Montgomery pitched with a worse-than-average strike zone. Some of that could be his fault, sure, but the Mariners haven’t had the best receivers, and based on some estimates, Montgomery has gotten 27 fewer strikes than you’d expect. There’s a 3.1-point difference between his strike rate and his expected strike rate, and in those terms, only three pitchers have worked with worse zones. I’ll simplify all this. Because of the strike zone, one could argue Montgomery has pitched even better than his numbers. He’s likely to get a friendlier zone in Chicago.

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:05 pm

Cubs scouts following Josh Reddick around apparently...hopefully it doesn't get creepy.

Submitted by johann on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:47 pm

So Manfred is talking about limiting the amount of pitching changes a manager has both to speed up the game and create more offense late in games. Hoyer supported this idea on the radio today. I think this is a terrible idea with a whole lot of negative ramifications and I dislike the whole push for more offense in every sport but I'm wondering if it's already sort of a done deal.

[ ]

Submitted by Jackstraw on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:26 pm

You're absolutely right, it's a terrible idea. I see it as a trial balloon of sorts for when they institute a limit on shifts:"this new rule does kind of suck, but remember it's nowhere near as fucking ludicrous as the ideas we were considering to limit relief pitchers". I especially can't believe that the SooperGenius Tony LaRussa would stand for it. He'd quit his position with MLB first.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:05 pm

horrible... it's a 3+ hour game and the people i hear complaining about how "slow" the game moves are people that use that as an excuse for not being a fan, not something keeping them from becoming a fan...like, hey shave off 10-15 minutes from a 3+ hour game and i'm all about it! ...yeah, no.

[ ]

Submitted by blockhead25 on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:15 pm

I think a lot of it is related to TV contracts. Screws up schedules with long games, and can/has lead to a decline in ratings. I am a huge fan, but have definitely noticed the slow down and it is difficult to plan around watching a full game. I'm in favor of ways to tinker to speed things up, WITHOUT changing the fundamental rules of the game. Totally against relief pitcher limits.

[ ]

Submitted by Jackstraw on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:48 pm

Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. As a start, lets thrown on a VHS of an old ballgame, 1970 or so. Batter got in the box and completed his at bat. No need to re-tighten his gloves after leaving the bat on his shoulder on the previous pitch. Also (looking at you again Tony LaRussa) no looking over by the catcher so the manager can call a pitch. Batter gets to step out once in an AB. If you step out to adjust your cup, then get dirt in your eye later in the AB, tough. If your catcher isn't smart enough to call pitches, tough. Lots of things to do before limiting pitching changes.

Submitted by chitownmvp01 on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:27 pm

Limiting pitching changes can be a bad idea. What if Maddon has 0 pitching changes left and Strop or Rondon have to throw 40-60 pitches as a result? They won't be available the next day and there is risk of injury because they've never thrown that many pitches in an outing before. A limit of 1 pitching change per inning (start of an inning doesn't count) wouldn't be so bad. I think Manfred is concerned about managers slowing down the game by using a different pitcher for each batter to keep the righty/righty and lefty/lefty matchups.

[ ]

Submitted by billybucks on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:20 pm

Maybe they can put some sort of limit on for games in September, when rosters expand and every team has extra guys in the bullpen. Otherwise -- it's a part of the game. I doubt it's hurting popularity -- the NBA timeouts in the last 2 minutes are brutal, but ratings are up because they have interesting teams in the Finals..

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:42 pm

I'm definitely for the Phil idea of naming your 25 guys each game when rosters expand...if they want to expand to 26, then cool.

Although, and I'm sure Phil covered this, how do you prevent the manager from just not putting the 4 starting pitchers that weren't going to play anyway on the roster and just naming 4 other guys? Most teams in contention usually don't add more than 4-6 guys as is. Maybe it's more like a 21-man roster with 4 emergency pitchers designated or something. Anyway, I'm sure Phil had it figured out, I just don't remember.

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Submitted by Non Roster Invitee on Fri, 07/22/2016 - 07:12 pm

The problem with the September roster is all of the pitching changes. They should find a way to limit pitchers to twelve except for extra inning games. More pinch hitters or pinch runners do little to slow the game down and are more fun than endless calls to the bullpen. I also think the fans get cheated when they use position players to pitch because employed a half dozen pitchers with righty-lefty switches. Having as few as four positions players on the bench to start a game also leads to some pretty ugly defensive substitutions.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:33 pm

a limit of one mid-inning replacement isn't terrible although nearly as silly as trying to stop shifting, but maybe with some sort of stipulation if he's getting really knocked around.  I would much prefer the idea that a pitcher would have to face at least 2 batters...or just limiting their warm-ups once they are called into game. Throw 2 pitches and let's go...and get rid of the commercial break that accompanies it.

Submitted by John Beasley on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:09 pm

Terrible idea. If we're working to shorten the game, how about 15 seconds or less between pitches? The average is up to 24 seconds now. If we can cut that by 9 seconds and there are about 200 pitches in a game that aren't the first pitch of an at-bat, then that cuts the gametime by a half hour. Even better, it's literally the most boring half-hour of the game (in various snippets) that we're getting rid of. It's like every game in baseball becomes Maddux v Buehrle.

Submitted by billybucks on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 07:42 pm

We miss Garza by one day. Bummer. He's already given up 3 in the first to the Pirates.

Submitted by crunch on Fri, 07/22/2016 - 07:59 am

have the cubs or media made any indication of how m.montgomery is going to be used currently or in the future? starter/pen?

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Fri, 07/22/2016 - 07:38 am

that's a shame...he's primed and stretched out to start after spending most of the year in the pen. if that's the case he might only put in 100-ish ip this season. not much can be done about finding him a place to start unless hammel goes away or someone gets injured, though.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

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

  • crunch (view)

    oh yeah, totally, i was just chiming about why i fan like i fan.

    i would like nothing more than hendricks to keep on hendricks'ing.  guys with his stuff can throw for a long, long time as long as it works.

    he velocity is actually up a minor amount this year.  it's really "damn" when a guy like him not only has gas in the tank, but it's looking like it was years ago.  he added a curve a few years ago and it helped a little bit, but he's throwing it less and less while the fb/change combo are less effective.

  • Alexander Dimm (view)

    CRUNCH—There is no one person in this community I’m talking about.  My remarks were not directed at you or anyone, but at a tone I’ve noticed lately. 

    You have a great, dry sense of humor and there is thought behind your comments.   You and I don’t always agree but I always understand your position.  

    Lastly, and I’ll be quiet, I agree with you on Hendricks.  We can dislike the recent performance but still love the guy.  Lots of questions about his future.
     

  • crunch (view)

    myself, i make a good amount of outrageously unrealistic comments that are sometimes "violent"...like my recent suggestion of "pulling the bandaid off" by having hendricks throw every inning of every game until he's on the IL.

    i would hope any athlete that cares about what is written on the internet realizes how casual fans can be about treating their lives like scripted TV characters that don't have real lives.  it's not an excuse to do it, but there's a lot of it out there.

    but yeah, in real life i'm rooting for guys to have long and healthy careers even if i'm not happy with current performances...except for some guys...and i'm pretty sure i don't leave grey area for those comments...and almost all of them are not good humans whether they're playing baseball or not...

    hendricks was getting a good amount of boos in his last game.  i would bet a million that he will get a standing O every time he visits wrigley in his post-playing days, or a return with a new team should his career continue...or if he comes back and puts in an oldschool good performance.

  • Alexander Dimm (view)

    What are the chances we can back off on gloating over other people’s misfortune?  One of the things I appreciate about the TCR community is that the remarks are more productive and add to how I like to follow the game.  

    Lately, however, I’m reading comments that are just mean.  If I were an MLB player, I would hate to get a back or finger injury and have someone write ‘hurrah!  I hope we never see him again!’  Especially when it is someone we were praising not long ago.  I’m not saying ‘don’t express how you feel’ but some comments lately seem downright mean spirited.  Stuff I expect from other communities but don’t often see here.  The TCR community has always spoken the truth but never with such a dark tone.

    Just my two cents.  I hope Hendricks comes back and is the professor we all know. He can pitch for the Cubs as long as he wants in my book.  

  • crunch (view)

    happ is back (and starting), mervis DH, tauchman gets RF.

    morel 5th in the lineup.  hoerner continues to lead off, even vs a righty.

  • George Altman (view)

    I don't care to see Hendricks or Smyly on the 26-man Roster the rest of the season. Both, stupid signings and option pick up by Jed. 

  • crunch (view)

    i know the cubs are paying the guys, but for the sake of the win/loss column this is some great news.

    woo!  people getting injured!  kick ass!

    sportsball is cruel.

    would have liked to keep cooper, but it looks like they're gonna go with wisdom if they have to pick a righty who's gonna K 1/3rd of his PA's.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Edwards would be my guess, or maybe they’re hoping Sanders or R Thompson can finally figure it out 

  • Cubster (view)

    So it’s Mervis, Wesn and Little for Cooper, Hendricks and Smyly. Count me in. Starting rotation for now: Taillon, Imanaga, Wicks, Assad and Brown-Wesn. Eventually Steele. 

    Lineup

    Hoerner, Happ, Bellinger, Busch, Morel, Swanson, Tauchman, Mervis, Amaya.

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