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

Chad Fox Sighting at Fitch

Chad Fox threw a 25-pitch "live" BP session and the recently suspended Robert Hernandez threw a 50-pitch simulated game, as the Cubs Extended Spring Training team (EXST) had a full-squad work-out at Fitch Park this morning.

Hernandez, who would have been in the Peoria Chiefs starting rotation if he hadn't gotten himself suspended for testing positive for steroids, has joined fellow minor league RHP Scott Taylor (also suspended 50 games for testing positive for a prohibited substance) at Fitch Park, preparing themselves for when the suspensions are over.

As for Fox, he looked OK, especially the last five or six pitches he threw. Some of you may remember that Fox was signed to a minor league contract during the off-season, and received an NRI to big league camp with the Cubs. But he was shut-down after only one ST game appearance early in the Cactus League season, and (until today) I hadn't seen him since.

Fox and Hernandez threw on Field #4, pitching to the most-advanced hitters available at EXST (Tony Richie, Jeffrey Rea, Leon Johnson, and Brandon Guyer), with veteran minor league pitching coach Rick Tronerud supervising. 

Angel Guzman is apparently throwing only "side sessions" (bullpen sessions) so far, and I'm not sure how far he has gotten in that endeavor, but he is definitely not as far along as Chad Fox at the moment.

There are several players I expected to see today who were not present, including LHP Mark Pawelek and RHP Alberto Alburquerque (both were assigned to EXST at the very end of Minor League Camp). One of the two may have been promoted to Peoria to replace Hernandez, but then where's the other one?  Also, I did not see Scott Eyre, although he supposedly is at Fitch Park rehabbing from a sore elbow.

Additionally, three position players who were injured towards the end of Minor League Camp and were assigned to EXST to rehab (L. Johnson, Rea, and Richie) have apparently been cleared for duty, and now it's just a matter of time before they are game-ready, but even after they are 100%, there needs to be an open slot somewhere on one of the full-season teams before they can get their Letter of Transit and escape Casablanca.  
  
Here are the 55 players who were physically present at Fitch Park today for the full-squad EXST work-out: 

* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS:
Francisco Acosta
Todd Blackford (had TJ surgery last May)
* Michael Bunton (limited physical activity- injury)
Rogelio Carmona
Rafael Dolis (limited physical activity - surgery rehab)
Eduardo Figueroa
Chad Fox (elbow rehab)
Yohan Gonzalez
Angel Guzman (limited physical activity - TJ surgery rehab)
Marcus Hatley
* Arik Hempy
Jim Henderson (limited physical activity – injury)
Robert Hernandez (serving 50-game prohibited substance suspension)
Chris Huseby
Grant Johnson (limited physical activity – sprained elbow ligament)
Kevin Kreier
Scott Meyer
Jon Mueller (limited physical activity – injury)
Billy Muldowney (had TJ surgery last July)
John Muller
Dionis Nunez
Julio Pena
Billy Petrick (has had a problem with weakness in shoulder) 
Jose Pina (limited physical activity – injury)
Cedric Redmond
Carlos E. Rojas 
Audy Santana
Ryan Searle
Jose Severino
Miguel Sierra
Larry Suarez (limited physical activity – injury)
Scott Taylor (serving 50-game prohibited substance suspension)
Harol Tolentino

CATCHERS:
Carlos Guevara
Carlos Perez
Tony Richie (sustained a rib cage injury in Minor League Camp)
Roberto Sabates 
* Alvaro Sosa

INFIELDERS:
Luis Bautista (1B-C)
Starlin Castro (SS)
John Contreras (3B)
Gian Guzman (SS)
# Dwayne Kemp (2B)
* Bryan Jost (1B)
Junior Lake (SS)
Elvis Lara (2B) 
# Jose Made (2B-OF)
* Jeffrey Rea (2B-OF - had unknown-type injury in Minor League Camp)
Josh Vitters (3B)

OUTFIELDERS:
Brandon Guyer (limited physical activity –  surgery rehab)
* Leon Johnson (sustained finger injury in Minor League Camp)
# Andres Quezada
* Nelson Perez (limited physical activity – unknown-type injury)
Kevin Soto 
* Luke Sommer

EXACT WHEREBOUTS UNKNOWN (by me):
Alberto Alburquerque, P (was demoted to EXST at end of Minor League Camp)
* Jeffry Antigua, P (was with BOISE/MESA group in Minor League Camp)
Cory Bailey, P (was with IOWA group in Minor League Camp)
Rafael Cova, P (has yet to report - is supposedly having visa problems in Venezuela)
* Jeff Culpepper, OF (was in Minor League Camp - limited activity only) 
* Clark Hardman, OF (was with PEORIA group first week of Minor League Camp)
Kitt Kopach, P (was in Minor League Camp – limited activity only)
Oswaldo Martinez, P (was in Minor League Camp – limited activity only)
* Mark Pawelek, P (was demoted to EXST at end of Minor League Camp) 
* Marc Sawyer, 1B (did not report to Minor League Camp))

I strongley suspect Bailey got released at the end of ST, and Culpepper and/or Kopach may have been released or possibly retired after failing to come back from major injuries. I'm sure we'll find out eventually.  

With the status of Bailey still TBD, here are the 26 Cubs minor leaguers who were definitely released during Minor League Camp (March 1st through March 31st):

Luis Astorga, LHP
Matt Canepa, C
Alex Cintron, INF (had NRI to big league camp - has since signed with BAL)
Miguel Cuevas, RHP
Brian Dopirak, 1B (has since signed minor league deal with TOR)
Derrick Ellison, LHP
Yuri Higgins, RHP 
Matt Hudgins, C
Scott Koerber, LHP
Tim Layden, LHP
Brian Leclerc, OF
Simon Lee, RHP
Matt Maradeo, RHP
Andrew McCormick, RHP
Billy Mottram, 3B
Ryan O'Malley, LHP
Taylor Parker, LHP
Hernan Ramos, RHP
Jesus Reyes, OF 
Alan Rick, C-1B
Chris Rivera, RHP
Carlos R. Rojas, SS (has since signed minor league deal with BAL)
Joel Santo, RHP (has since signed minor league deal with HOU)
Shingo Takatsu, RHP (had NRI to big league camp)
Chris Walker, OF
Chi-Hsiang Wen, OF

Comments

Thank you very much for your update, AZ Phil. I was wondering why Huseby is in extended. From your previous reports, it had sounded like he'd break with the Chiefs and you don't have him listed as injured. Did he just blow his opportunity and now will have to wait his turn to get called up? Also, what type of injury does Larry Suarez have?

Submitted by Raisin101 on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 2:39pm.

Thank you very much for your update, AZ Phil.

I was wondering why Huseby is in extended. From your previous reports, it had sounded like he'd break with the Chiefs and you don't have him listed as injured. Did he just blow his opportunity and now will have to wait his turn to get called up?

Also, what type of injury does Larry Suarez have?

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

RAISIN: Chris Huseby doesn't appear to be injured, so he must have had major mechanical or command problems towards the end of Minor League Camp. Huseby has the type of delivery that can get out of tune without advance notice. The Cubs often will punish a pitcher who can't throw strikes at Peoria or Daytona with a quick-hook demotion or by keeping the guy at EXST after it appears he has made a full-season roster. It's happened to Mark Pawelek a couple or three times already. It appears the same thing happened to Arik Hempy.

Larry Suarez's injury involves either his elbow or his shoulder and he has been on limited physical activity status (he can run, take bunting practice, shag fly balls during BP, and do PFP) since the beginning of Minor Lague Camp. He throws left-handed when he has to make a throw back from the outfield during BP.

A lot of times when a Cubs minor league pitcher is diagnosed with a partially torn elbow ligament or a partially torn labrum or rotator cuff he will be told to rest his elbow or shoulder for a month or two at EXST before the doctors decide whether to proceed with surgery. That's the case with Grant Johnson (partially torn elbow ligament suffered the last week of ST) right now.

Other pitchers like Muldowney and Blackford have already had their surgeries, so for them it's just a matter of them getting their arm strength back to where it needs to be. That also is Billy Petrick's problem (arm strength) right now.

BTW. Jim Henderson is making normal (hard) throws during PFP, so I would think he could be cleared for full duty very soon. Not so for Dolis, Pina, or Mueller, though. They are still kind of fragile apparently. 

There are a couple of other Cubs minor leaguers who are on the DL of their full-season clubs (1B Micah Hoffpauir at Iowa and INF Ryne Malone at Daytona), but I haven't seen either of them at Fitch Park (yet).

I know Hoffpauir has a strained oblique and will probably rehab at Fitch, but I don't know what happened to Malone. But whatever happened to him must have happened after the Daytona Cubs left Arizona, because the last time I saw Malone (at the end of Minor League Camp) he looked OK.

Also, the Cubs signed three minor league FA pitchers who were released during ST and assigned them to AAA Iowa. All three have MLB experience:

LHP Randy Keisler (was released by MIN)
RHP Mike Burns (was released by PIT)
RHP Andy Cavazos (was released by NYM)

Like Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot, the 32-year old Keisler attended LSU and has pitched in 55 MLB games (20 GS) going back to the 2000 season with NYY, OAK, CIN, SD, and STL, and he will be a rotation starter for the I-Cubs. The 29-year old Burns was a reliever for HOU (4.94 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 27 games as a middle reliever in 2005) and then got into 18 games with CIN and BOS in 2006, and the 27-year old Cavazos made his MLB debut last season with STL, got into 17 games, and sported a lofty 10+ ERA, although prior to that he did have two good years as a reliever in AAA in 2006-07.

.

LaTroy and the Farns combined for 7 ER tonight in the 8th for the Yankees against the Rays. LaTroy did the vast majority of the damage, allowing 6ER on 6H in .2 IP. In fact, had retired two of the first three he faced before collapsing. Farns came in to relieve with two men on and promptly gave up a donger to Carlos Pena. Cubbery at its finest.

Phil, I am concerned about Antigua. He has been highly touted and got a pretty large bonus to sign. Do you think he is injured or has been sent back to the DSL for another year?

HAGSAG: I don't know what happened to Antigua. All of the other 2007 DSL Cubs pitchers who were at Minor League Camp are at EXST.

The only reason somebody gets sent back to the Dominican Republic this time of year is for disciplinary reasons, not because of poor performance on the field. And Antigua was the #1 prospect among the 2007 DSL Cubs coming into the 2008 season.

Other possible explanations for Antigua's absence could be that he was suspended (but not sent home to the Dominican) because he broke a team rule, or because he is sick with the flu, or because he has an injury that is precluding him from even limited activities on the field.

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.