Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

28 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 

Last updated 3-26-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 15
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# 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 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

A Random Walk before Cubs Pitchers and Catchers Report

Some interesting storylines developing this weekend.

Alex Rodriguez, Donald Fehr and Bud Selig are going to have some splainin' to do with Sports Illustrated breaking a blockbuster HERE regarding ARod testing positive for two anabolic steroids in 2003 while with Texas. In fact, it's not just ARod but 104 players in total are on this list, which led to MLB adopting a random testing program for steroids in 2004. More than 5% of players tested were showing positive results in what was hoped to be proof that steroid use was nothing more than a rare situation. When the games biggest stars get pantsed as cheaters, in this case as defined by ARod turning his talents into $25-30 million/year contracts, the steroid era stain just keeps on spreading. Kind of like that pink spot in "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back".

When approached by an SI reporter on Thursday at a gym in Miami, Rodriguez declined to discuss his 2003 test results. "You'll have to talk to the union," said Rodriguez, the Yankees' third baseman since his trade to New York in February 2004. When asked if there was an explanation for his positive test, he said, "I'm not saying anything."

Primobolan, which is also known by the chemical name methenolone, is an injected or orally administered drug that is more expensive than most steroids.  According to a search of FDA records, Primobolan is not an approved prescription drug in the United States, nor was it in 2003.

Rodriguez finished the 2003 season by winning his third straight league home run title (with 47) and the first of his three MVP awards.

Because more than 5% of big leaguers had tested positive in 2003, baseball instituted a mandatory random-testing program, with penalties, in '04.

Truth or Consequences? This is the Katie Couric Interview with ARod after the Mitchell Report was released last year where he flat out denies using PED's. Here are three blunt questions he was asked in that interview:

Q: For the record, have you ever done steroids, Human Growth Hormone or any other PED's?
Q: Have you ever been tempted to use any of those things?
Q: Who do you think has the real HR record, Hank Aaron or Barry Bonds?

Bruce Levine was on vacation (at the Dunes in Vegas) for his regular ESPN radio "Talkin' Baseball" show. Jonathan Hood substituted and Len Kasper was interviewed. Len did say they will have 9 Cub games on TV this spring starting with two from Las Vegas begining March 4th. ESPN-1000's website now has downloadable archives to Levine's weekly show for those who need a "BRUUCE" fix.

The Waddle and Silvy show, daytimes (locally in Chicago) on ESPN-1000 radio has a similar site that has archives. Their show from Feb 4th has an interview with Steve Stone who typically is critical of the Cubs (this time for trading DeRosa and not signing Blanco).

In a separate interview (same show) they talk to Todd Hollandsworth who will now be doing the pre/post game duties for the Cubs on Comcast Sports Network. Hollandsworth should be a nice addition, replacing Dan Plesac who has moved on to the new MLB network. Hollandsworth had been a weekly feature on David Kaplan's WGN radio Sports Central show, which essentially turned into a test run for him getting the CSN job. Color me a big fan of Plesac's work and the new MLB network which just added Bob Costas to their talent pool this week.

Rock on Len. Roll on Bruce.


In this MASN interview with Rich Hill by Roch Kubatko, Hill says his loss of control was due to a bad back, not the YIPS. His problems in Venezuela winter ball were due to shoulder tendonitis which is supposedly now resolved. Hill refers to a small joint in his low back, probably referencing to problems with what is called lumbar facet syndrome.

Towel drills this spring would not be a good sign for Hill.


Phil "Wrongway" Rogers in his weekend Whispers column makes up the rumor that the Astros are planning a sneak attack on the Cubs by signing Adam Dunn which would bench CF Michael Bourne. The notion that he's proposing an outfield of Dunn-Pence-CLee would be essentially like making a death threat against Hunter Pence.


ESPN's Jerry Crasnik writes HERE that Ray Durham is considering retirement because he's not getting any job offers. It's just my opinion but Durham might be a better righty bench option (than Rich Aurelia) for the Cubs if he could fill in as a backup at 3B. That might be a big IF, but Durham did hit .289  .380  .432 in 2008. Aurelia can backup at 3B but his line in 2008 was .283  .332  .413, so Durham gets on base significantly better.


There are some cool looking advertisements (here) coming from the Cubs using the Wrigley Marquee and paired Cub players. Some of the titles include:

The Blueprint for Heaven's Ballpark, with Lou Piniella and Ryan Theriot

Home of the Mysterious 24 hour Flu, with Ryan Dempster and Geo Soto

The Reason You Put Up With the Winters, with Z and DLee

What Happens in Wrigleyville Stays in Wrigley, with Ted Lillyhammer and Aramis Ramirez 


On Sunday, February 8 at 10:30 PM (Chicago time), Comcast SportsNet will air SportsNite: A Perspective on Cubs Pitching, a half-hour special breaking down this season’s Cubs starting rotation, relief corps and potential closers.  The special will be hosted by Chicago Tribune Live host David Kaplan and CSN Cubs play-by-play announcer Len Kasper. The Cubs special will feature one-on-one interviews with Cubs pitchers Jeff Samardzija, Sean Marshall, Kevin Gregg and Neal Cotts, along with additional comments from Cubs manager Lou Piniella and Cubs vice president/general manager Jim Hendry.

Comments

I gotta disagree about Plesac. I found him to be rather dry, myself. If Holly's even moderately as good of a broadcaster as he was a player, then he'll be awfully darned mediocre in the broadcast booth. I'll look forward to that.

For a guy who openly wants to be a GM, Stone sure comes across as a FAN. Now, I don't like losing DeRosa. For me, he was the heart of the team last year. And, in the best of all possible worlds I would have kept Kerry Wood and Hank White as well. But Hendry made these moves because he was trying to rebalance the team while operating within a budget and contract restraints. And in that context they make sense.

with those Cubs ads... Wrigley Field, Home of "Bleacher Beer Goggles" (picture of a dude with a visor and a fat chick) "Cubbery" (picture of ball hitting Aramis in head and Alex Gonzalez error" and so on...

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Welcome Rob. It was fun since I had the morning off, being in full baseball mode listening to all those audio links/XM 175/Bruce Levine's ghost show. XM's been in full A-Fraud mode all day...but all the shows tend to blurr except for Hacksaw which has sort of been growing on me. Ed Randall...pass/zzzzzzzzz.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Hacksaw use to be on local LA radio, very smooth, nothing special though...

I hope they got rid of Charlie Steiner for good, although replacing him with Joel Sherman is about the same. The only show I really like is the fantasy guy that came on during the season from about 9-10am PST.

via Rotoworld... SI's Selena Roberts said that she would name no other players from the list of 104 major leaguers who tested positive for steroids in 2003. Roberts said she learned of Alex Rodriguez's inclusion on the list while working on a profile of the slugger. She also stated that she traveled to Miami on Thursday to mean with Rodriguez and give him a chance to refute the story. A-Rod, though, isn't talking about the story. it's a little unclear if she actually knows other names, but if she does, well that's bullshit, she's just going sell out the biggest name to sell some magazines...that's crap.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I agree that it's a bunch of baloney, so to say, but I gotta reckon that's just about the only way we're ever going to get any of these names to come public. At this point, I'm still not sure exactly how much it matters. Joe the Baseball Fan already knows that just about everybody did steroids in the last 20 years. Are the names REALLY that important to people? I guess that's an honest question that folks can answer if they like. I'm just curious, I reckon. Do you really care who they can prove did it and who didn't? On the other hand, the media sure cares, and they're sure going to fork over serious cash for actual names, so we're all going to find out either way, I suppose.

[ ]

In reply to by Wes

I'd be interested to know who didn't use PEDs--I'd like to give guys their due credit for their own performance as well as their integrity. But the tests don't tell you who didn't use PEDs. They can tell you that at the time of a test a guy wasn't using a PED for which MLB tested,but they can't show that a guy didn't use HGH, for example. I do still think that we can be a little angry at A-Rod and others for standing idly by while teammates (Giambi) are forced to apologize and act contrite and keep their mouths shut about everyone else. I still think that Canseco ends up looking like the asshole of the era, though, with Bonds and A-Rod well behind him. Well, the owners and Selig are really the assholes of the era.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

How would she come across this info researching a profile (aka a puff piece)? Writting a postive story on someone doesnt require that deep of investigative reporting. My bet is her main source is a PI on C-Rod's payroll who found her.

Ray Durham for the bench is an excellent idea. He can still hit quite nicely, thanks. As for the 3B thing, didn't Fontenot play some 3B for the I-Cubs? Hard to believe between Miles, Fontenot and Durham they couldn't be satisfied with someone to play roughly a dozen games at 3B for the season. I mean hell, the Cubs seem perfectly happy to have GABOR FREAKIN BAKO start two dozen games, so what's wrong with Durham for one dozen? Adam Dunn in Houston would be bad news for us, please sign with Arizona, dude. Sure, Houston has no pitching, but they'd generate so much offense from their big 4 they wouldn't NEED much pitching to be a .500-team and a pain-in-the-ass. Finally, if anyone thinks Sosa and Prior aren't on that list of 104 names that SI has, they're idiots. Wouldn't be suprised to see Alou and Wood in there either. 104/30 = about 3.5 guys per team, on average.

Regarding the list of 104. Either the owners are stupid (probably) or the MLBPA in trying to protect it's players was stupid or guilty by doing so because the steroid helped escalate salaries like A-Rod to incredible heights. I'm certainly not a lawyer and it might have escalated identically anyway but I wonder if any of these players on the list could be sued by their respective clubs for misrepresenting themselves. Maybe a class action suit against the mlbpa? Most of these contracts have termination for cause paragraphs. Documenting Illegal drug use is usually considered grounds for "cause". Sorry, just ranting but it's financial impact might be greater than just cheating historical baseball records with PEDS.

[ ]

In reply to by Chifan

what is it about these "watchdog" organizations that have no idea what a columnist is or what they do? and why is that article touching on things that have nothing to do with what she's writing about? double standards? it was written like those people who can't stand a documentary isn't a 3-hour festival of covering every single base and all it's possible angles. the article seems to be more than happy to "draw conclusions" and pronounce "double standards" that don't exist. if i say i like the color blue, i don't need 100 letters from people who like the color red calling me a colorist. =p just because they're both similar doesn't mean i have to talk about both...especially in a column.

104/1198 = 8.7%; which implies 3-4 (3.5) players on every member of the 40 man roster tested positive in 2003. I got the impression it was just over 5%. The above math is closer to 10%, downplaying the bad news Bud? ------------------ The results of the testing of 1,198 players were meant to be anonymous under the agreement between the commissioner's office and the union. SI reported that Rodriguez's testing information was found after federal agents, with search warrants, seized the 2003 results from Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc., in Long Beach, Calif. That was one of two labs used by baseball in connection with the testing. The seizure in April 2004 was part of the government's investigation into 10 baseball players linked to the BALCO scandal, the magazine reported. Rodriguez has not been connected to BALCO. http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9192806/Report:-A-Rod-tested-positiv…

on XM, Hacksaw saying: one of the fed seizures obtained the code sheet linking code numbers with names also said ARod had to go through counseling after his positive testing (and apparently he's been clean since) --not sure where he's read this though This implies all of the 104 on the list were referred for counseling. Now that would be a list! HIPAA violation but a soap opera writers wet dream. http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/index.html

I'm so tired about the roids stuff...this is all Darwinian...people are going to do whatever it takes to get an edge. Baseball botched it for not having any regulations and this is the result. Everyone in that era has taken steroids unless proven otherwise in my opinion...and if Bonds and Arod did who cares they still were the best of this era...so put them in the hall as the steroid era players. Yes I fell bad for the Maddux's of the era but what can you do! I don't care about who injected who's ass during what dinner party or after game locker room...let's just get back to baseball. Bud take your 18 mil this year and fix this shit and move on. More interestingly if i was some of these players who were told that they were just trying to see how rampant steroids was in 2003 and this was your chance to clean it up and now i was reported to the media and my name was tarnished because of that...i'm surprised that no law suits have happened yet.

you know what, Arod is a moron. He should have come out today and called a press conference. He should have called everyone a liar and swear that he never touched the stuff ever. his refusal to talk is a silent admission of his guilt. what's the worst that can happen? he'll be known as a steroid user AND a liar? Who cares. Freaking moron.

[ ]

In reply to by Chad

Chad #1: what's the worst that can happen? he'll be known as a steroid user AND a liar? Who cares. Chad #2: If i was a player accused of steroid use and I was 100% innocent, i would scream it from the rafters. My point was in response to Chad #1. Chad #2, please go about your business. Seriously though, maybe I misunderstood your point. I was under the impression that the point you were making was that even if he did it, he should deny it vociferously. That even if they found out that he was lying later on, it wouldn't compound the problem any since being a cheater is worse than being a liar. My point is that his denying it doesn't buy himself any credibility. Having multiple sources all confirming his positive test doesn't really leave him a lot of wiggle room. Resisting the opportunity to make a joke about your hypothetical steroid use.

[ ]

In reply to by Chad

I do. Would've respected them a little more if they'd admitted it. Would've respected them more than that had they copped to it before they got caught. Would've been best if they had never taken the drugs, clearly. Still wouldn't have liked Clemens, but I would have respected him more. Right now he just seems like a jerk with an incredible drive to compete who can throw a baseball well. On a side note, I think I understand how a guy who is fighting for a roster spot, or especially a guy from a 3rd world country who is financially supporting a lot of people, would end up taking PEDs. But if you're Roger Clemens and you're already an extremely successful pitcher at the major league level, then you are just taking PEDs to dominate somebody else.

[ ]

In reply to by Chad

Neal did a pretty good job of calling that second paragraph (except for the "FUCKINGRETARDED" bit--I like to think I would've skipped that, though I realize it was in response to something you said, Chad). I definitely understand wanting an edge, but apparently some of these athletes have limits as far as the edges they want--those limits might be rules, they might be health risks, they might be integrity. So, clearly not all athletes are willing to go after any edge regardless of the risks or drawbacks. As far as the first paragraph, what he says to the press is all about public relations. So if we're not talking about the respect and admiration of the fans for the player--which boils down to the respect and admiration of each individual fan--then what are we talking about? If he's not worried about what I, as well as many many other people, think, then why interact with the press? I believe this conversation involved you saying that the athletes should deny, deny, deny. If not for the sake of his image, then why deny, deny, deny to the press--since it will have no bearing in court?

Will Carroll has a piece in BP on what's the new designer steroid of choice http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8470 So what are the smarter guys doing now? What's the next THG?" "Probably SARMs, which aren't even on the legitimate market yet, but you can find on the black market. They're a nightmare for testing officials." I'd heard a bit about SARMs (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators). The word on the street was that they had a powerful anabolic effect, but that it came from a completely different mechanism. "What do they do? I mean, how do they work and how effective are they?" "Chemically, they bind to the androgen receptor, just like testosterone, and signal the body to build more muscle and strength. It's like testosterone without the testosterone. Actually, the testosterone analogy is apt, because they're every bit as effective as [testosterone]."

Change the rules. You test negative today and you are allowed to use aluminum bats. Pitchers who test positive have to pitch underhanded. Product endorsements are limited to only the products they actually use (injected or injested) and only available at healthy, clean looking vitamin shoppes. Corked bats become illegal only if they break during a swing at the plate. And, maximum size of any glove is double the size of one's head.

Nick Cafardo in the Boston Globe has a Q & A from Rich Hill http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2009/02/08/a_toug… A few questions for Orioles lefty Rich Hill, a Milton native and University of Michigan grad: The trade from the Cubs to the Orioles has to be good for you. RH: "I'm so excited about it. I think the situation in Baltimore is wide open for me. The situation is great. [Cubs general manager] Jim Hendry really took care of me. He wanted to create an opportunity for me that he told me probably didn't exist in Chicago, so I'm grateful. I know Baltimore tried to deal for me last year and it didn't work out, but this time they made it work." You hear a lot that Lou Piniella wasn't good for you. What do you think? RH: "No. Lou was great to me. If I didn't have an injury and I could have pitched the way I know I can, there would have been no issues at all. We got along fine." Do you feel you can find your control again? RH: "I've had a back injury for a long time and I'm finally healthy, so the answer is yes." It had to be frustrating because it appeared you were on your way to being a pretty dominant lefty with great stuff, including the great curveball and a fastball that gets in there at 92-93. RH: "It's been incredibly frustrating. It just seems like I had all of my injuries all at once and there were little things. There were no tears or problems that required back surgery but just little things that messed with my delivery and my mechanics. I've also made some adjustments." Excited about changing leagues? RH: "Well, I get to pitch at Fenway a lot anyway, which is going to be exciting. I mean, I've talked to some of the Cubs who have pitched in the AL and sure, you have the DH, you don't have the pitcher hitting, but you don't change your mind-set or your philosophy of pitching because of it. So it's an adjustment, but pitching is pitching."

Hudson would be a strong defensive addition and a switch hitter (theme for 2009), improving in OBP, not much of a basestealer so he's been more of a #2 hitter...but his injury history (theme for 2009) just might make him the perfect addition to the team this year. Maybe they can limit him to play only when Harden and Bradley are starting? Plus the injury factor still means Miles/Fontegod get plenty of ABs and he would keep me busy with another orthopedic annuity to write about.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Major wrist injury last year, Arizona is somewhat of a hitters park, career .346 OBP (.354, .376, .367 are his last three years, also his three highest seasonal OBPS): I don't see him being much of an improvement in OBP, but I might be overly optimistic about Fontenot. I'm thinking of it this way: he's not an especially good basestealer, he's never hit more than 15 homeruns in a season and has really averaged 13 per 162 games, which puts him more around 10 a year, and only in 2006 and 2007 has his walk rate been impressive. He has a reputation for being a great defender, but I know I saw an article recently that said he was merely average according to some metric this year, so that's always up to debate. How big of an improvement would he be over Fontenot? I guess we don't really know what Mighty Mike can do yet. I want to see Fontenot play. Spend the money elsewhere, or stash it away for 2010. I'm just not very interested. Then again, if he'll sign for something ridiculous, like 2-3 million, I'd say sign him and tell him he's a shortstop. Then you can throw Hudson, Theriot and Fontenot into a rotation in the middle infield and never have to start Miles. [EDIT: I'm mistaken on the walk rate: similar rates in 2008 and 2004, though 2007 and 2008 are the only really impressive OBPs, while 2006 and 2004 are more like solid. The other years are poor, as OBP goes.]

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...