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

Cubs Release Former Top Prospect

With Cubs Minor League Camp at Fitch Park ending on Sunday, the rosters for the Cubs four "full-season" minor league clubs (AAA Iowa, AA Tennessee, Hi-A Daytona, and Lo-A Peoria) are just about set.

Several players have been released or demoted over the past couple of days, including former Cubs top prospect Brian Dopirak.

A 6'4 240+ hulking first-baseman, B-Dope was the Cubs 2nd round pick in the 2002 June Draft out of Dunedin HS. (A year later, Dopirak's high school teammate RF Ryan Harvey would be selected with the Cubs #1 pick).

It didn't take The Dude long to make his mark, as he pummeled the Midwest League in 2004 to the tune of 39 HR & 120 RBI and a .307 BA, while slugging a league-leading 38 doubles and 166 hits, leading the youngster to be named Cubs 2004 Minor League Player of the Year, and motivating Baseball America to rate Dopirak as the Cubs #1 prospect going into the 2005 season. .

But he struggled at Hi-A Daytona in '05, hitting .235 with only 16 HR, and then he broke his foot while running the bases on Opening Night at AA West Tenn in 2006, and after he came back, he hit only one HR in 52 games.

He returned to AA again in 2007, but was demoted to Daytona in May while mired in a terrible slump (.218 with only one HR in 21 games).

He recovered to have a decent year at Daytona (.277 with 17 HR and 23 doubles in 94 FSL games) and was expected to be the starting 1B at AA Tennessee in 2008, where he would be reunited with high school teammate Harvey. But he couldn't make the final cut.

What it came down to was this:

Going into Minor League Camp, the Cubs had two first-basemen who will be Minor League Free-agents after this season: Brian Dopirak and Matt Craig. 

Craig spent most of Minor League Camp assigned to the AAA Iowa squad, but with the arrival of Micah Hoffpauir from Big League camp at HoHoKam, it was only a question of whether Craig would get released, or whether he would possibly take Dopirak's job at AA Tennessee.

Well, it turned out to be the latter. The Cubs decided to keep Craig around for another year, and have him return to AA (where he has spent most of the past four seasons) and play 1B there, And that decision meant the end of Brian Dopirak as a Cub.

With the memory of his 2004 season still somewhat fresh, and having been rated a Cubs #1 prospect by Baseball America just three years ago, the 24-year old Dopirak will almost certainly get an offer from another organization, or perhaps from an independent minor league team, probably someplace where he can DH full-time (he's a terrible defensive 1st baseman). And then it will be up to him to take the opportunity and do something with it.

Sometimes getting released can serve as a "wake-up call" for a player, while other times the player just hits the "snooze" button and goes back to sleep.

Here are some other recent roster moves from Minor League Camp:

IOWA: Released LHP Derrick Ellison (29-year old signed out of the independent Northern League this past off-season), demoted 1B Matt Craig, IF-OF Issmael Salas, and RHP Jesse Estrada to AA.

Also, at present the starting rotation at Iowa appears to be Sean Gallagher, Mark Holliman, J. R. Mathes, and two others still TBD (Sean Marshall would be one of the other two if he gets sent down) 

TENNESSEE: Released 1B Brian Dopirak, and demoted INF Matt Matulia, LHP Jayson Ruhlman, and RHP Adam Harben to Daytona. Also, OF Yusuf Carter was demoted to Daytona last weekend, and after being absent from Fitch Park for a few days, he has decided to report to Daytona.

Also, at present the starting rotation at Tennessee appears to be Jeff Samardzija, Donald Veal, Mitch Atkins, Tanner Watson, and one other still TBD (probably either Jesse Estrada, Justin Berg, or Gregory Reinhard)

DAYTONA: INF Jonathan Mota, LHP Chris Siegfried, and RHP Stephen Vento have been demoted to Peoria. Also, RHP Joel Santo (one of two players the Cubs acquired from SD for Scott Williamson a couple of years ago) has disappeared from Fitch Park and may have been released (he would have been a six-year minor league FA after this season and failed to make the Tennessee squad) . 

Also, at present the starting rotation at Daytona appears to be James Russell, Alessandro Maestri, Jeremy Papelbon, Marco Carrillo, and Arik Hempy.  

PEORIA: LHP Michael Bunton, RHP Marcus Hatley, and C-1B Luis Bautista have been demoted to Boise/Mesa (Extended Spring Training). Also, RHPs Matt Maradeo, John Muller, and Cedric Redmond have disappeared from Fitch Park and may have been released, although Muller and/or Redmond may have been assigned to Boise/Mesa (EXST).    

Also, I did not see RHP Ryan Acosta or LHP Mark Pawelek with the Peoria group. R. Acosta almost certainly was sent to Boise/Mesa (EXST), and Pawelek MAY have been sent there, too. 

At present, the starting rotation at Peoria would appear to be Zach Ashwood, Robert Hernandez, Chris Huseby, and two from amongst Alberto Alburquerque, Dustin Sasser, Dae-Eun Rhee, and Alberto Cabrera. If Rhee and/or Cabrera don't make the Peoria starting rotation, they will almost certainly be kept at Fitch Park (EXST) where they can start.  

As far as I can determine, here are the most up-to-date Minor League Camp rosters:   

MINOR LEAGUE CAMP ROSTERS:

* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS

IOWA:
Jose Ascanio  
Matt Avery
Cory Bailey
* Neal Cotts
Sean Gallagher
Jim Henderson (limited physical activity - unknown-type injury)
Mark Holliman
* Geoff Jones 
Juan Mateo
* J. R. Mathes
* Ryan O’Malley
Billy Petrick
Rocky Roquet
* Les Walrond

TENNESSEE:
Mitch Atkins
Justin Berg
* Edward Campusano
Michael Cooper (limited physical activity – shoulder surgery rehab)
* Darin Downs
Jesse Estrada
Grant Johnson (limited physical activity – spained elbow ligament)
Gregory Reinhard 
Jeff Samardzija
* Chris Shaver (had shoulder surgery last June)
* Donald Veal 
Tanner Watson

DAYTONA:
Esmailin Caridad
Jose Ceda
Marco Carrillo
Dumas Garcia
Adam Harben
* Arik Hempy
* Casey Lambert
Alessandro Maestri
Marcos Mateo
Ryan Meyers
Billy Muldowney (had TJ surgery last July)
* Jayson Ruhlman
* Jeremy Papelbon
Mike Phelps
* James Russell
 

PEORIA:
Alberto Alburquerque
* Zach Ashwood
Todd Blackford (had TJ surgery last May)
Alberto Cabrera
Robert Hernandez
Chris Huseby
Jordan Latham
Scott Meyer
Craig Muschko
Blake Parker
Dae-Eun Rhee
* Dustin Sasser
* Chris Siegfried
Stephen Vento

BOISE/MESA (EXTENDED SPRING TRAINING):
Francisco Acosta
Ryan Acosta
* Jeffry Antigua
* Luis Astorga
* Michael Bunton
Rogelino Carmona
Rafael Dolis (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
Eduardo Figueroa
Yohan Gonzalez
Marcus Hatley
Kitt Kopach (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
Kevin Kreier
Oswaldo Martinez (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
Jon Mueller (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
Julio Pena
Jose Pina (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
Hernan Ramos
Carlos E. Rojas 
Audy Santana
Ryan Searle
Jose Severino
Miguel Sierra
Larry Suarez (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
Scott Taylor (serving 50-game prohibited substance suspension)
Harol Tolentino

CATCHERS

IOWA:
# J. D. Closser
# Koyie Hill
Tony Richie

TENNESSEE:
Jake Muyco
Chris Robinson

DAYTONA:
Welington Castillo
* Steve Clevenger (C-1B)
* Mark Reed

PEORIA:
Josh Donaldson
* Blake Lalli (C-1B)
Mario Mercedes

BOISE/MESA (EXTENDED SPRING TRAINING)
Carlos Guevara
Carlos Perez
Roberto Sabates 
* Alvaro Sosa

INFIELDERS

IOWA:
# Andres Blanco (SS)
# Luis Figueroa (2B-SS-3B)
* Micah Hoffpauir (1B)
Casey McGehee (3B-1B-C)
Carlos Rojas (SS-2B)
# Bobby Scales (2B-3B-OF)
 
TENNESSEE:
Robinson Chirinos (2B-SS)
# Matt Craig (1B)
* Kyle Reynolds (3B)
Issmael Salas (3B-1B-OF)
Joe Simokaitis (SS)
* Nate Spears (2B)

DAYTONA:
Darwin Barney (SS)
Russ Canzler (1B)
Josh Lansford (3B)
* Ryne Malone (2B-3B)
# Matt Matulia (SS-2B)
Tony Thomas (2B)
 
PEORIA:
* Kyler Burke (1B-OF)
# Marwin Gonzalez (SS)
Jonathan Mota (SS-2B)
* Jeffrey Rea (2B – limited physical activity – unknown type injury)
Jovan Rosa (3B)
Nathan Samson (2B-SS)
Marquez Smith (2B-3B)

BOISE/MESA (EXTENDED SPRING TRAINING):
Luis Bautista (1B)
Starlin Castro (SS)
John Contreras (3B)
Gian Guzman (SS)
# Dwayne Kemp (2B)
* Bryan Jost (1B - limited physical activity - knee surgery rehab)
Junior Lake (SS)
Elvis Lara (2B) 
* Drew Rundle (1B)
Josh Vitters (3B)

OUTFIELDERS

IOWA:
Jake Fox
* Sam Fuld
* Josh Kroeger
* Eric Patterson
# Andres Torres

TENNESSEE  
* Matt Camp
* Corey Coles
* Tyler Colvin 
Ryan Harvey

DAYTONA:
* James Adduci
Yusuf Carter
* Jeff Culpepper (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
Ty Wright
* Jonathan Wyatt

PEORIA:
* Cliff Andersen
Brandon Guyer (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
* Leon Johnson
* Dylan Johnston
# Jose Made

BOISE/MESA (EXTENDED SPRING TRAINING):
# Andres Quezada
* Nelson Perez
Kevin Soto 
* Luke Sommer
Jesus Reyes (limited physical activity – injury rehab)

WHEREBOUTS UNKNOWN (by me):
Hung-Wen Chen, P (did not report)
Rafael Cova, P (did not report)
* Clark Hardman, OF (was with PEORIA group) 
Matt Maradeo, P (was with PEORIA group)
John Muller, P (was with PEORIA group)
* Mark Pawelek, P (was with PEORIA group)
Cedric Redmond, P (was with PEORIA group) 
Joel Santo, P (was with DAYTONA group)
* Marc Sawyer, 1B (did not report - may be finishing senior year at Yale)
Chi-Hsiang Wen, OF (did not report)
NOTE: These players may have been released, or they may have quit (permanently or temporarily), or they may be injured to the extent that they are unable to perform even limited activities on the field 

PLAYER/COACHES: The Cubs also have three players signed to minor league player contracts who are in actuality serving as coaches:

Danny Fatheree, C (BOISE/MESA)
Leonel Perez, C (DAYTONA)
Min Kyu Sung, OF (PEORIA)

The 29-year old very rotund Fatheree was Kerry Wood's catcher at Grand Prairie HS before signing with the Houston Astros. After spending eight seasons in the Astros organization (where he never got above AA), he missed most of the past three seasons with a life-threatening illness that killed two of his uncles.

L. Perez had been convereted to a pitcher a couple of years ago, but suffered an apparent career-ending arm injury. The 24-year old is now a catching instructor and assistant coach with Daytona, although he may remain at Fitch Park for Extended Spring Training. He also serves as something of a mentor to the younger Dominican players.

Sung is a 25-year old Korean outfielder who played college ball in the U. S. at Nebraska-Omaha before returning to South Korea  He was signed by Oneri Fleita (personally) last December, and he is presently assigned to the Peoria group where he is serving as basically a friend/mentor to 18-year old Korean RHP Dae-Eun Rhee. Where Rhee ends up is probably where Sung will end up also.

Comments

Too bad about Dopirak. I saw him play at Lansing when he had that monster year. Here's a quote about Dopirak by Jim Callis in a BA chat following that year: "Scouts said he'll either hit 40 homers a year or flame out in Double-A, and it's too early to know exactly which way he'll go. He has the ceiling to be an all-star." Flame out indeed.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b on Fri, 03/28/2008 - 3:20pm.

Excellent work as always Dr. Phil.

What injury did Larry Suarez incur that has him doing light workouts?

=====================

AARON B: I don't know the exact nature of Suarez's injury, but when he shags fly balls, he throws the ball back left-handed. He barely moves his right arm. 

And Grant Johnson's injury is a partially torn elbow ligament. Whether he will have TJ surgery depends on how his elbow responds to rest.

Submitted by Romero on Fri, 03/28/2008 - 4:26pm.

AZ PHIL: Based on what you've seen this spring, who do you like for a "break-out" season? (i.e. Soto and Hart in 2007)

==========================

ROMERO: Among the pitchers, I would say James Russell, Alessandro Maestri, and Jesse Estrada, and among the position players, I would say Josh Donaldson, Tony Thomas, and Welington Castillo.

These reports are great, Phil! Nice job! There are just a few players who have slipped through the cracks. Can you confirm their release? Pitchers - Yuri Higgins, Simon Lee, Andrew McCormick, Taylor Parker, Christopher Rivera and Catcher Matt Canepa.

Ceda all the way down to A Ball? Wow -- early days of ST, he was impressing a lot of people. In the games, not so much.

Hey Phil ..at High A ???? Any word on over the limit as they have 26 heading to Daytona ?? Rumor has it they have to put someone on the D.L. You hear ...??? Have you heard this happening before ??? ACE

Submitted by dtersak on Sun, 03/30/2008 - 9:29am.

Phil, Any idea who will be split between Boise and Mesa? - Looking for a status on Hatley. He had a good spring but was bumped down?

==================================

DTERSAK: Marcus Hatley will be one of about five or six pitchers at EXST who will be the replacement cadre in case a pitcher gets injured at Peoria or Daytona or gets demoted to EXST from Peoria.

If Hatley doesn't get a replacement promotion to Peoria or Daytona sometime in April or May, he'll almost certainly go to Boise in June.

Submitted by Striker on Sun, 03/30/2008 - 11:55am.

hai question:

how is dwayne kemp (the dutch Guy) dooing in mesa!!!!!!!

=========================

STRIKER: He's doing OK. Nothing special.  

Depending on when his visa expires, he will either go back to the European Baseball Academy in Italy when EXST ends in June, or he will stay in the U. S. and be assigned to the AZL Cubs in June.

Recent comments

  • 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...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.