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 

 



 

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Game 51 Diary

CUBS 9 DODGERS 5
Recap | Box Score | Play-by-play | Game Chart
W: John Koronka (1-0) L: Derek Lowe (4-5)
The Cubs are playing in my neck of the woods, so I thought I'd try one of those running diaries that is all the rage. I'll try and update every half inning or inning as long as the twins cooperate. Pre-game You know it's your first major league start when the L.A. Times list the matchup as Derek Lowe versus Jeff Koronka. At least the picture was right, I think. I've actually never seen Koronka. Top of the 1st The great Vin Scully lets us know the Cubs haven't swept a series in Dodger stadium for 10 years. He also says Ramirez turned an ankle yesterday which explains his absence. Scully can't explain why Enrique is batting second.... Neifi doesn't waste any time, singling on the first pitch. Neifi doesn't waste any time getting thrown out at second either. Lee singles but Mr. Burns ends the inning. Bottom of the 1st Scully says Koronka is a "southpaw all the way"...what the hell does that mean? Someone told Koronka to stay away, away, away. Scully says Koronka has surprisingly had trouble versus lefties in his career and on cue, Drew singles. Replay shows it was a bad call though, third day in a row Lee makes a throw while on his butt. Top of the 2nd Walker leads-off with a groundball single. Get used to that with Lowe on the mound. Hollandsworth does his job by grounding to the right side with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Gets the added bonus of Lowe not covering 1st properly and beats Saenz to the bag. Bet Choi makes the play...kidding. Hollandsworth steals second, the Cubs attempt their second of the game. The word must be around that Lowe/Phillips aren't good at throwing runners out. Barrett strikes out on a 3-2 slider way off the plate and the bat flies towards Lowe. Barrett immediately apologizes but Scully says you can see why Barrett bats eight swinging at stuff like that. You just got schooled by Vin Scully. NEIFI!!! with the three run homer. Everyone GO VOTE!!! Bottom of the 2nd Koronka's first walk of the game, I expect a few more. Jayson "Not" Werth-It. Batting only .192 this year. I'm doing my best Vin Scully impersonation...or is that Chris Berman. Koronka battles back from 3-0 and gets Werth swinging, nice. Looks like Koronka is all fastball and changeup, the occassional slider. That should last him twice through the lineup at best. Scully comments that Koronka has a huge leg kick with a man on first. See if the Dodgers try and take advantage. Nice necklace Lowe....thanks for grounding out. Top of the 3rd Someone forgot to tell Scully they were back on air. First words out of the commercial were..."Oh No...Lowe is Hurt". Scully thought doesn't miss a beat and goes right into his regular silky, smooth ways. Looks like Lowe hurt himself throwing a chair in the dugout in one of the previous innings. Looked like he was leaving the game, but came back out after the commercial. Stud-Lee with another hit..........ridiculous. Ah crap....thought Walker had a hit there but lined to Werth. Another groundout to end the inning by K-Pax. Bottom of the 3rd Third night in a row that Scully tries to play these teams as historic rivals. Historically the franchises are 938-931 in favor of the Dodgers I believe, maybe it was the Cubs, ah crud. Single to right for Izturis, flyout to right Perez...away, away, away. Great move by Koronka to pick off Izturis...too bad he cheated. Balk and now it's one out with a runner at second. 0-2 on Drew, most lefties are afraid to throw a change to another lefty as the change tends to drop right in a lefties sweet zone....does he dare? Fastball, slider, fastball, slider that Drew doubles into center and brings in Izturis. The lefty is 2-2 against Koronka...wonder if Tracy got the same scouting report that Scully got since he only put one lefty in the lineup. Saenz crushed an inside fastball. 4-3 Cubbies....should have kept with the away, away, away strategy. The AngelFan wife just made dinner and the twins are getting cranky. Be back in a bit. Top of the 4th throught Top of the 5th Dinner was good...thanks. Hollandsworth got caught in a rundown between 2nd and 3rd in the 4th. He managed to make it back safely to second but with an awkward slide...lucky he didn't sprain his knee. The bottom of the 4th was uneventful other then Corey's great catch to leadoff the inning and Izturis with his second single of the game. (He's on my fantasy team!). Derrek Lee....3 for 3. I'm out of adjectives. Nice to have Walker back in the lineup, double down the right field line brings in a run. Corey with runner on third and less then 2 outs. I'm shocked when he doesn't strike out in these situations. And of course he does. Bottom of the 5th It takes Scully to the 5th inning before he mentions all the Cubs injuries. The first game he did it within the first sentence, the second game it waited till about the 2nd inning. He insists on mentioning Scott Williamson each time but not Chad Fox. Koronka is nearing his limit it appears after walking Saenz. Dusty is of course trying to get him through 5. Werth bails him out by flying to center. Go bullpen.. Top of the 6th I actually enjoyed Koronka's style. He could have a nice career by just constantly mixing fastball and changeup and staying away from righties as they meekly ground to right side of the infield. Glavine and Moyer made careers out of it and if he ever develops some better control he could be useful. Macias pinch hitter [insert joke] NEIFI!!! with the double. If he gets a hit in his next at-bat he needs to keep running until they tag them out. Enrique Wilson is up...just don't hit into a double play so Lee gets a chance. Good....2 out with a runner on third and Lee up. They have to intentionally walk him here. Nope they're going after him. Lee goes to 3-2 before blooping a single to right. You wonder if managers pay attention to the rest of the league sometimes. Lowe is gone for the night down 6-3. Come on bullpen.... Bottom of the 6th First time I've seen Borowski pitch this year. Let's see if he's back to his old tricks. Back to his 2004 tricks...first batter hits a homer. Way to give that run back. Edwards crushes one to center that Patterson catches on the track. I pray Borowski survives this inning. We think the Cubs bench is bad, Tracy sends up Oscar Robles to pinch hit. Borowski survives the inning. Top of the 7th First time Cubs go down in order....did I mention "Go Bullpen"? Bottom of the 7th I've been to Dodger Stadium a number of times and their 7th inning stretch is about as exciting as a wake. Of course most the fans are leaving the game right about then. Wellemeyer is in.....tonight better not be the night the scoreless streak ends. Leadoff man gets on, tying run up in Drew. A pitcher who walks a lot of people and a hitter who likes to walk a lot. Not good...not good. So do you actually have to win a Gold Glove to get a mitt with the gold label on the back like Neifi has or can anyone get one at Sportmart? What did I say about the walk to Drew? You really don't have to make this game interesting. That was close on the double play, should have given it to the Cubs for screwing up Drew's single in the first. 1st and 3rd, one out. Time for one of those vaunted strikeouts, Welly. Nope, walks him after having Saenz down 1-2. This is the Welly we all know and love. Baker is asking Barrett to stall, looks like Wuertz will have to save the day. Uh oh, Baker is doing the double switch, very dangerous tool in his hands. If he plans to use Wuertz for the 8th, then the double switch of Dubois and Wuertz for Holly and Welly, is a good idea. Otherwise why take out Holly when he is the better defender? We shall see... Welly's streak is over....Werth hits a sac fly to right. One run game. Wuertz gets Phillips to pop out. 2 more innings bullpen....come on. Top of the 8th Dubois strikes out...I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked. NEIFI!!!!...no cycle though. Enrique manages an infield single to keep the inning alive for the Lee. What shall the Dodgers do? They pitch to him and he hits a 3 run homer. And you think Baker is an idiot? Bottom of the 8th I was on baby duty. The Dodgers rallied a bit but Wuertz and Ohman wiggled out of it without allowing a run. Top of the 9th Knowing Dodger fans as I do and the fact that the parking situation is just as horrible as they say, I'm guessing it's about a 10:1 Cubs/Dodgers fan ratio at the moment. Hairston is up, is he the last Cub left standing besides Blanco? 3 outs from their first series sweep in LA in 10 years and I believe their second of the year (the other being the 2 game series vs the Pirates) Bottom of the 9th 3 up, 3 down for Dempster in a non-save situation. You think we have it bad, the Dodgers have more players on the DL then us. First time in years I didn't get to see the Cubs trip to Dodger Stadium and the first time in years, the Cubs sweep the Dodgers. Congratulations to John Koronka and his first major league win against a rather respectable team. Cubs go to 3 games over .500 and now travel to San Diego to face the hottest team in the National League. I'll take a split if we can get it and take our chances at home versus the Blue Jays and the Red Sox next week. Keep the good baseball coming Cubbies, six in a row.

Comments

Good Luck, Rob. The one I did for the first round of steroid testimony was a real pain in the ass!

top of the second NE!FEEEEEE

Any complaints still about the starting lineup??? Why is it the worst lineups scores the most runs??

anyone have any stats on patterson w/ a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs? he's been horrendous the past 2 games...

Rob, when Vinnie says Koronka is "a southpaw all the way" he means he bats AND throws left-handed. I grew up in central California listening to Vinnie and there's nobody to compare to him as an announcer, although he's not quite what he used to be. On occasion, he does rise to the challenge, though. His stories on Memorial Day brought tears to my eyes. You mentioned him bringing up the Cubs' injuries each of the last three nights. It's really tough calling nine innings of baseball flying solo, especially on television where everybody can see his mistakes. He is truly an American treasure.

The best part about Scully was last night when he kept referring to our backup catcher as BLANK-O. Priceless.

Just to warn the message board: Parachat will be invading, soon. And giving you all fluffers.

How much wood could a fluffer fluff if a fluffer could fluff wood?

Oh my the Cubs escape with the lead after 7 eventhough the Dodgers had the bases loaded with one out.

Anna Benson is my idol. Her quotes are so inspiring.

Darth Vader should write about how Weurtz uses the force.

Be like Anna....drive your BMW downtown and ask a homeless guy for change to feed the meter.

Just_a_Girl goes to OSU Superjimmer went to DePaul I went to DePaul everybody hates Ann Arbor MikeC is very good at cheating at tests. I'm tired.

If Jason Dubois plays regulary, who owuld lead the Cubs in strikeouts Dubois or Corey???

I love Scully, besides Harry Carey, I grew up with Scully on the Saturday afternoon games of the week. As you said, an American treasure and listening to him doing a game is one of the true joys of baseball. And thanks for clearing up the southpaw thing, I kind of guessed that after thinking about it for awhile.

Good thing pitchers are only throwing fastballs still as that is the only reason Neifi is still getting hits. Neifi o meter at .315

George: "If Jason Dubois plays regulary, who owuld lead the Cubs in strikeouts Dubois or Corey???" I aaked that question recently but got blamed as being a Dubois hater. i think it is a legit question. There is no doubt though that Dubois will lead in K/AB.

Its official (or its the first time I heard it) Len Kasper suggest that Neifi should be an All-Star. Okay, an alternate

Vin Scully: "Can you believe Derrek Lee?" You better believe it. 6 and counting...

Chris on the depth of his relationship with Anna: ìWell, I met her at a strip joint, not a PTA meeting, so what you see is pretty much what you get. Luckily, what I see is an extremely tight ass and a pair of legs that just donít quit,î

Trans told me to invade the message boards. Maybe if I listen to him he'll take me back and let me ride home with him in the car. I think it's gonna rain and I don't want to walk.

Oh Eric, I could never stay mad at you. I'm sorry this all went down the way it did. Let's make up, ok?

Get a room, guys :)

You're just jealous Just_a_girl.

dlee makes me happy.

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GET ME A TAPE OF TONIGHTS GAME

hey- are the cubs wearing new uni's? the picture of konerko mlb has up makes it look like they have a sort of vest on.....

hey- are the cubs wearing new uni's? the picture of konerko mlb has up makes it look like they have a sort of vest on.....

NO same uni's - although I think the old-school no sleeve look would be nice sort of like teh Pirates and Reds wear on occasion

why cant we wear the whit ehome jerseys 162 times a season :(

Well, it's June 2nd (at least in Chicago), which means it's a certain shortstop's birthday. Let's get Ne!f! an early All-Star present! Kasper and Brenly were discussing the fact that he'd need to be a write-in, so go do that. Scully! Why couldn't they just pipe him in the whole game? (That's NAY-fee, Vin, but we'll let it slide.)

Sweep! Well, it's June 2nd (at least in Chicago), which means it's a certain shortstop's birthday. Let's get Ne!f! an early All-Star present! Kasper and Brenly were discussing the fact that he'd need to be a write-in, so go do that. Scully! Why couldn't they just pipe him in the whole game? (That's NAY-fee, Vin, but we'll let it slide.)

cubs win cubs win, oh, and the royals beat the yankmes

It was still a bad lineup. so there.

What made DLee's homer even more impressive was how flat-out nasty Sanchez was tonight.

The parachat is so much fun... Whoever hasn't been there, should really sign in and join everyone there.

How come we got Len Kasper and the Dodgers were able to land Charlie Steiner? I think he would have fit alongside Brenly very nice.

I am a huge Len Kasper fan right now. I particularly enjoy their "word of the day" they have been up to lately. Len's a professional and seems like a nice guy. A bit of a stat head and it shows through. Have to appreciate a guy like that.

Good. Lord. Derrek Lee... Wow.

Just got back from the game. The only question is why isn't any PISSED AS HELL that Dempty pitched tonight? He just pitched the last two nights and then comes in for a non save situation and we don't have a day's rest as we go south to face the white hot and first place Padres. Also, let's not get too excited. A road sweep is great but the Dodgers suck. I sat out there last night and tonight and realized that they really suck. Is there a single Dodger that would step to the plate and you would feel we couldn't get out? NO! They suck. Also, I heard from a Dodger fan friend of mine that Nomar is the leading vote getter so far in the national league. Fans suck too. VOTE NEIFI. I heard also that Eckstien was second. So much for the 'informed' St. Louis Fan. Neife won't make the team cause I doubt they will take three shortstops.

re: post 47 From the sound of it, someone didn't have their Dodgers Dogs tonight. Boo hoo

I had a Dodger Dog and guess what? They suck too! And does the 7.00 dollar beers. And does Dodger Stadium. My dodger fan friend actually likes it better than Wrigley. Jeez, take about a Homer. Lastly Rob posted. "Scully canít explain why Enrique is batting secondÖ." Mulder did theroize that it had to do with some magical potion that Dusty picked up on the way to the game.

Been to Wrigley 20+ times and Dodger Stadium only once. There is simply no comparison. The only highlight for me was meeting Todd Bridges (Willis from Diff't Strokes) who was sitting a row in front of me and I found the DDogs palatable. Now that I've moved out here the thought of a $7 beer is a scary thing. Thanks for the headsup.

Yeah I'm not sure why the Dodgers kept pitching to D Lee, especially with the lineup we had tonight. I would theorize that Lee is just flying under the radar. But it's hard to do that when you're leading in triple crown stats about a third of the way through the season.

why isn't any PISSED AS HELL that Dempty pitched tonight? I mentioned it in parachat. You were just too big of a loser to be there. Sheesh! You act like you had somewhere better to be. I promise you the parachat beers were cheaper. I would be more angry if he had thrown more than 5 pitches.

Got tickets to the game at the last minute through work. Spent 2 innings in the cheap seats, before the guy who gave me tix felt sorry that I was alone so he brought me to his skybox suite. I'm such an old school fan...baseball in a skybox, isn't baseball...it's a shmooze fest. I also killed my back sitting in one of the stools for most of the game, so that sucked Annette Benning was sitting in the box next to me 2 seats from where I was, so that was cool. She seems like a good mom. As for the game...well, not much else to add here. Lowe was just awful as the Cubs were seeing everything well, except for a couple bad at bats. What can you say about Neifi and Lee. They are just simply tearing it up...they play the game right and make the necessary job adjustments to get the job that's needed done, whether it be a single to get a rally going, or a 2 out homer to complete the rally. It's really fun to watch. I wasn't too keen on Koronka...it just didn't seem like he had a good strikeout pitch, and had trouble putting balls away. Several balls were smoked, just right at Cubs players. I suppose, you have to be happy about 3ER in 5IP in a major league debut, but I didn't see a lot in terms of long term potential. I have been Los Angelesized as I left after the 7th (Mainly due to my bad back which still kills now) so I missed Lee's HR. Amazing, absolutely amazing. Well, I was at game 6 of the Cubs losing streak in early May, now I was at game 6 of the Cubs winning streak. Considering how good the Padres are at home, 2-2 would certainly be acceptable. Hopefully the Cubs can keep it up. Amazing...Cubs are only 2 games out of the wildcard today...although, they are only 3 games ahead of the 12th team in the league...but at the very least, the Cubs have played themselves back into contention

Got tickets to the game at the last minute through work. Spent 2 innings in the cheap seats, before the guy who gave me tix felt sorry that I was alone so he brought me to his skybox suite. I'm such an old school fan...baseball in a skybox, isn't baseball...it's a shmooze fest. I also killed my back sitting in one of the stools for most of the game, so that sucked Annette Benning was sitting in the box next to me 2 seats from where I was, so that was cool. She seems like a good mom. As for the game...well, not much else to add here. Lowe was just awful as the Cubs were seeing everything well, except for a couple bad at bats. What can you say about Neifi and Lee. They are just simply tearing it up...they play the game right and make the necessary job adjustments to get the job that's needed done, whether it be a single to get a rally going, or a 2 out homer to complete the rally. It's really fun to watch. I wasn't too keen on Koronka...it just didn't seem like he had a good strikeout pitch, and had trouble putting balls away. Several balls were smoked, just right at Cubs players. I suppose, you have to be happy about 3ER in 5IP in a major league debut, but I didn't see a lot in terms of long term potential. I have been Los Angelesized as I left after the 7th (Mainly due to my bad back which still kills now) so I missed Lee's HR. Amazing, absolutely amazing. Well, I was at game 6 of the Cubs losing streak in early May, now I was at game 6 of the Cubs winning streak. Considering how good the Padres are at home, 2-2 would certainly be acceptable. Hopefully the Cubs can keep it up. Amazing...Cubs are only 2 games out of the wildcard today...although, they are only 3 games ahead of the 12th team in the league...but at the very least, the Cubs have played themselves back into contention

What did you guys think about the fan getting thrown out after he grabbed Walker's double in the third or fourth inning? I thought it was a bit excessive, and I think he thought it was a foul ball. Honest mistake, ya know?

Tim, I think all parks do that on fair balls, and honestly...I think they should. It is likely a mistake, but it does effect the play of the game, and fans need to be conservative and not go for a ball in the playing field unless they are absolutely sure it is foul. I was at the game so I didn't see what the person looked like as if they were some thug or some old grandma getting a ball for a 10 year old kid...but I think parks need to be consistent in order to ensure others don't mess with the field of play.

yup Chad...I was thinking at the time that that was going to kill us not having that insurance run come home.

"Left-handed all the way" means he bats left-handed, too.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.