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 4-18-2024
 
* 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
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

Mariners @ Cubs: Iwakuma vs Lester (Game 102)

Submitted by CTSteve on

Afternoon baseball! If you were thinking about not going back to work after lunch, you might as well take the whole day off—interleague and all.SEA (51-49): RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (11-6, 3.96)
CHC (61-40): LHP Jon Lester (10-4, 3.09)
First pitch: 1:20pmCST

Lester failed to right the ship on Sunday in Milwaukee (4 IP, 4 ER, 7 K, 5 BB). He’s 6-1 with a 3.49 in his 11 starts since May 27 but 1-1 with a 10.13 in July. For his career against the Mariners, he’s 5-4 with a 3.52. These Mariners are 53-204 (.260) against him. Cruz, who is expected back after fouling a ball off of his shin on Wednesday, is 11-28 with 3 HR.

Iwakuma won in Toroto his last time out (6 IP, 2 ER, 3 K, 3 BB). He’s 4-0 with a 2.45 so far in July and has won his last 5 starts. Since May 20, in 12 starts he’s 10-2 with a 3.69. For their careers, the Cubs are 12-40 (.300) against him. Zobrist is 4-11.

Lester needs to watch out for the long ball. Seattle leads MLB with 8 players having double-digit HRs. Cano has the most (22). The Cubs have 5.

Seattle has been to Wrigley one other time—in June 2007, when the Cubs took two of three.

Miley (6-8, 5.23) versus Arrieta (12-4, 2.76) tomorrow at 1:20pmCST.

Go Cubs!

Tags
2016 Season Game Thread

Comments

Submitted by The E-Man on Fri, 07/29/2016 - 07:45 am

How odd the stats: Cubs 1st in pitching in MLB 2nd to last in hitting. In May they were 1st in both.

Submitted by Old and Blue on Fri, 07/29/2016 - 07:14 am

Thanks to E-man and Quiet Man for the link on Chapman in a previous post. It's funny because I never really noticed Chapman's delivery until I saw him doing it in a blue uniform. Two saves in a Cubs uniform already. I hope they don't need him today, despite that smooth delivery.

Submitted by johann on Fri, 07/29/2016 - 07:29 am

Wow La Stella sent to Iowa and Coghlan brought up. I'm not a huge Stella fan but he has been hitting lately and is to me better than Coghlan. Neither are good defensively but I guess Coghlan can play the outfield allowing Bryant to stay at 3rd more where he's better.

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 07/29/2016 - 07:02 pm

Tommy LaStella has three minor leaue options left so it's no big deal to send him to Iowa, but as of right now he projects to be at 2+124 MLB Service Time by the end of the of the 2016 MLB regular season, which will place him "on the bubble" as far as being eligible for salary arbitration as a "Super Two" post-2016.

But if he spends at least twenty days on optional assignment this season (anything less than twenty days and he will accrue a full season of MLB Service Time), he will not have enough MLB Service Time to have a chance to be a "Super Two."

So if he is not recalled by 8/17, this move could have a very specific negative impact on LaStella's 2017 salary (depending on where the "Super Two" cut-off will be). 

[ ]

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Fri, 07/29/2016 - 07:37 pm

If Coghlan is leading off, I assume Fowler is getting the day off. Who is supposed to lead off, then? Someone has to get on base for Bryant and Rizzo. Coghlan's OBP is .346 with the Cubs. Jackson's was .304. LaStella can lead off, but then he has to play second or third, and bump Zobrist or Baez. Unless he gets hot, Coghlan will likely change places with Soler soon.

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 07/29/2016 - 07:08 pm

I suspect the Cubs asked Chris Coghlan if he would accept an Optional Assignment to the minors and he refused (Coghlan has one minor league option left), so either you keep LaStella on the 25 and release Coghlan, or option LaStella to AAA for about a month and have both LaStella and Coghlan available in September-October. (As an Article XIX-A player, Coghlan must give his permission before he can be optioned to the minors, while LaStella has not accrued enough MLB Service Time to refuse an optional assignment).

A similar situation could occur soon regarding the 25-man roster status of Carl Edwards Jr and/or Justin Grimm (the two relievers with minor league options left who cannot refuse an optional assignment to the minors) whenever Jorge Soler and Trevor Cahill are ready to be reinstated, although I think Soler (like LaStella) will probably just get optioned to Iowa once he completes his rehab assignment.  

There also could be a 25-man roster issue with LHP Brian Matusz (who is presently at AAA Iowa) IF he has an 8/1 opt-out (TBD). 

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Submitted by chitownmvp01 on Fri, 07/29/2016 - 07:50 pm

I expect Soler to get optioned as well when activated and Cahill to replace Grimm. It wouldn't surprise me if Coghlan and/or Soler is included in a trade. Maybe Coghlan is up to see if he can get on track before someone acquires him. This move could also be to assure that we have as much OF depth as possible to maximize Joe's ability to rest players in September once we've clinched.

Submitted by billybucks on Fri, 07/29/2016 - 07:14 pm

Given today's lineup -- maybe they just wanted an extra OF to give Dexter a few days off (i.e. day game after a night game).

Submitted by Eric S on Fri, 07/29/2016 - 07:33 pm

The key for Heyward's offense: get early leads. Heard a stat on Mike & Mike on the way to work that his avg/power much better this year when the Cubs have the lead. And true to form he gets the two run dinger with Cubs winning 3-0 ...

Submitted by Eric S on Sat, 07/30/2016 - 07:51 am

Eloy Jimenez grand slam tonight. Hoping Soler power returns and gets hot but future looks bright in the outfield regardless. Finished the night 4-5, with two doubles - 32(!) on the season - along with the grand slam. Sick

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Submitted by John Beasley on Sat, 07/30/2016 - 07:13 am

Very nice. I saw him in Lansing in May. I'm still stunned that he hit a 400-foot foul ball onto Larch Street ... which is going the other way for a right-handed batter. It was perhaps the most amazing swing I've ever seen a minor league player take. I should also mention that it was about 40 degrees out at the time. Not that it's evidence of anything per se, but I feel his plate approach is way more advanced than Soler was at this stage in his development and that the comparisons aren't really fair to Jimenez. 50/50 chance I'll go to Midland tonight for the low-A debut of Oscar de la Cruz. At least that's what I'm telling myself. In truth, I think I just want to see Jimenez one more time before he gets promoted out of the Midwest League.

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Submitted by Old and Blue on Sat, 07/30/2016 - 07:02 pm

The reports that they offered EITHER Jimenez or Torres for Chapman are a little disconcerting. I hope 1) Those reports are wrong, and 2) if they are not wrong, that they will hold on to him, as the team could use the outfield depth. I have only seen him in the futures game, but he looks like a keeper.

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Submitted by crunch on Sat, 07/30/2016 - 07:25 pm

torres would easily be the system's #1 prospect. he's a middle IF'r that's showing he can stick there even as he's gaining bulk/muscle so far. that said, it's not like the distance between torres and jimenez is huge...it's torres's position value that would vault him in prospect status. jimenez has the higher ceiling just isolating the bat aspect of his game. it would suck to lose either, but torres is a very popular/valuable piece.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 07/29/2016 - 07:09 pm

The Cubs have released RHRP Scott Frazier (2013 7th round dfraft pick - Pepperdine).

A Cubs pitching coach told me in Spring Training 2014 that he thought Frazier had the best pure stuff in the organization. Absolutely electric fastball & breaking ball combo. Other pitchers would gather behind the screen just to watch him throw "live" BP. That's how amazing he was. 

But Frazier came down with a case of the "yips" during Minor League Camp 2014 and was left behind at Extended Spring Training "to work things out." But he never did.

The 6'7 righthander's fastball was clocked consistently at 97-99 MPH as recently as last season, but he was so wild that at one point he was only allowed to face LH hitters, because it was a concern that he might kill a RH hitter. He dialed-down his fastball velocity a bit to the mid-90's this year to try and improve his command, and while he did get to South Bend (briefly), he ended up back at Extended Spring Training (again), and then was assigned to Eugene, where he continued to struggle.

FWIW, Frazier finished 2nd in the Instructs HR derby post-2014. He had some serious juice as a hitter. I actually thought the Cubs might try him as a corner OF before releasing him (like they did with Chris Huseby a few years ago), but I guess that wasn't to be. 

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 07/29/2016 - 07:25 pm

Got a chance to see Diamondbacks RHSP Zack Greinke (15-day DL - strained oblique) throw a rehab start at Sloan Park Friday night. Four of the first seven AZL Cubs hitters singled and the Cubs did score an unearned run in the bottom of the 1st inning, but then Greinke got serious and struck out five in a row.

ZACK GREINKE: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 5 K, 4/0 GO/AO, 49 pitches (34 strikes)

RHSP Tyson Miller (Cubs 2016 4th round draft pick - California Baptist) got the start for the AZL Cubs and threw three innings of one-hit shutout ball (40 pitches - 27 strikes), allowing two walks, while striking out one (3/3 GO/AO). He benefited from an outfield assist and a CS to help get him out of some trouble in the first two innings, but he looked OK. Probably more "projectable" than anything right now. Reminds me a bit of recently traded RHSP Paul Blackburn.

The best 2016 Cubs draft pick I've seen down here so far is RHSP Bailey Clark (5th round - Duke), who features a 93-94 MPH fastball that touches 95-96 and a hard-breaking slider, and much better command than was advertised pre-draft. He could be VERY good, and he could move fast.

I have not seen RHSP Thomas Hatch (Cubs 2016 3rd round pick - Oklahoma State) throw in a game yet (although I did see him pitch in the CWS on TV), and I don't know if he will be assigned to the AZL Cubs or go directly to Eugene. He is one of three 2016 Cubs draft picks yet to be assigned (RHPs Michael Rucker and Nathan Sweeney are the other two). Two others (RHP Stephen Ridings and Tyler Peyton) were placed directly onto the 60-day DL.   

Submitted by billybucks on Sat, 07/30/2016 - 07:04 am

Meanwhile, out West: SF is 2-11 since the break, lead over LA is down to one game, and they are running out Cain and Peavy this weekend against the Nats. Challenging times by the Bay.

Recent comments

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally depends on the team and the player involved. If your team’s philosophy is to pay huge dollars to bet on the future performance of past stars in order to win championships then, yes, all of the factors you mentioned are important.

    If on the other hand, if the team’s primary focus is to identify and develop future stars in an effort to win a championship, and you’re a young player looking to establish yourself as a star, that’s a fit too. Otherwise your buried within your own organization.

    Your comment about bringing up Canario for the purposes of sitting him illustrates perfectly the dangers of rewarding a non-performing, highly paid player over a hungry young prospect, like Canario, who is perpetually without a roster spot except as an insurance call up, but too good to trade. Totally disincentivizing the performance of the prospect and likely diminishing it.

    Sticking it to your prospects and providing lousy baseball to your fans, the consumers and source of revenue for your sport, solely so that the next free agent gamble finds your team to be a comfortable landing spot even if he sucks? I suppose  that makes sense to some teams but it’s definitely not the way I want to see my team run.

    Once again, DJL, our differences in philosophy emerge!

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    That’s just kinda how it works though, for every team. No team plays their best guys all the time. No team is comprising of their best 26 even removing injuries.

    When baseball became a business, like REALLY a business, it became important to keep some of the vets happy, which in turn keeps agents happy and keeps the team with a good reputation among players and agents. No one wants to play for a team that has a bad reputation in the same way no one wants to work for a company that has a bad rep.

    Don’t get me wrong, I hate it too. But there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

    On that topic, I find it silly the Cubs brought up Canario to sit as much as he has. He’s going to get Velazquez’d, and it’s a shame.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Of course, McKinstry runs circles around $25 million man Javier Baez on that Tigers team. Guess who gets more playing time?

    But I digress…

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Seems like Jed was trying to corner the market on mediocre infielders with last names starting with "M" in acquiring Madrigal, Mastroboney and Zach McKinstry.  

     

    At least he hasn't given any of them a Bote-esque extension.  

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil:
    Rookie ball (ACL) starts on May 4th. Do yo think Ramon and Rosario (maybe Delgado) stay in Mesa for the month of May, then go to MB if all goes "solid"?
     

  • crunch (view)

    masterboney is a luxury on a team that has multiple, capable options for 2nd, SS, and 3rd without him around.  i don't hate the guy, but if madrigal is sticking around then masterboney is expendable.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I THINK I agree with that decision. They committed to Wicks as a starter and, while he hasn’t been stellar I don’t think he’s been bad enough to undo that commitment.

    That said, Wesneski’s performance last night dictates he be the next righty up.

    Quite the dilemma. They have many good options, particularly in relief, but not many great ones. And complicating the situation is that the pitchers being paid the most are by and large performing the worst - or in Taillon’s case, at least to this point, not at all.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Wesneski and Mastrobuoni to Iowa

    Taillon and Wisdom up

    Wesneski can't pitch for a couple of days after the 4 IP from last night. But Jed picked Wicks over Wesneski.

  • crunch (view)

    booooooooooo

    also, wisdom and taillon are both in chicago.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Tonight’s game postponed. Split games on Saturday.

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