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

10 Questions with Steve Holley

Last year we did 19 questions with Inside the Ivy's Steve Holley. Due to budget cuts and the recession, we paired it down to 10 this year. You can find a list of their top 20 Cubs prospects either here or here.


1. Let's start right at the top, you named Tyler Colvin as the Cubs top prospect. What position do you think he'll end up playing in the majors and how worried should I be about that Ryan Harvey-esque 4:875:1 K/BB ratio

There has always been a good deal of emphasis placed on the strikeouts totals of low to mid-level minor league players. But if you want a player to develop into the type of hitter that Colvin projects as (lets say 20-25 HR potential), you are more often than not going to have to accept that strikeouts come with the territory. That doesn’t mean that Colvin is content with striking out. Working to lower them has always been at the top of his priority list, and toward the end of last season, he made a few adjustments in his approach that seemed to help him see more pitches and get into some good counts.

I believe he’s capable of playing any of the three outfield positions (though center is most ideal), but where he ends up may depend a lot on what Felix Pie does, or perhaps what the organization decides to do with Pie. On an unrelated note, Colvin got a little behind the eight-ball in spring training with a nagging elbow problem toward the end of his stint in big league camp. That could explain his slow start this season.

2. Speaking of Ryan Harvey, he made your list at #19, is there any hope that he'll ever see Wrigley Field without having to buying a ticket? Any whispers about putting his golden arm to use on the mound?

I believe it’s possible, but it has been six years (or thereabout) since he saw a pitcher’s mound. Anyway, when I inquired about the possibility of Harvey making a switch to pitcher last year, the Cubs’ farm director declined to go in-depth on the matter because the season was still in full swing and Harvey had just returned from a hamstring injury. For probably the first time, though, the notion wasn’t completely dismissed outright. Take that to mean what you will.

Realistically, I want to say this is a make-or-break year for Harvey offensively. Some good news is that he reported to camp in the best shape he’s probably ever been in and has dropped a considerable amount of weight from last season. The added baggage he had been carrying around may have been slowing him down more than anyone realized, and the weight loss should help him avoid some of those nagging injuries he’s had.

3. How disappointed am I going to be if they trade Sean Gallagher? I know his "stuff" doesn't match up with some of the top pitching prospects in the game, but I just don't see a lot of 21-year olds putting up numbers like he did at in the upper levels of the minors, like he did last season (Gallagher is now 22).

While his stuff may not be the best in the game, he’s a safer bet to reach the big leagues than several of those with “better” stuff, and he has matured quite a bit since last season. I’ve seen him this week with the Iowa team and he looks fabulous. He’s down to 215 pounds (he said he’s dropped 35 pounds all told) and that should help him go deeper into games, as he does not have to pitch with as much exertion. His fastball is constantly low to mid-90s and he still possesses a sharp curve. Additionally, the work the Cubs put in with him on developing a slider has started to show dividends now that Gallagher has learned the different grips between a slider and curve. His mechanics are more consistent now, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sean in the big leagues on a full-time basis very soon.

4. Our own Arizona Phil is a big Josh Donaldson fan, putting him at the top of his own prospect rankings. What are your thoughts on him and do you think he can stick at the catching position?

Unless he gets caught up in the depth at the position on down the road, I don’t see why he can’t stick at catcher. There’s been zero talk of him changing positions. While he did have a fair amount of passed balls (11) last season, he also threw out 40 percent of runners and that’s the number that sticks the most with me. Peoria will be a good challenge for him because he’s still relatively new to catching and has yet to handle a staff of 12 or 13 pitchers for a full season.

5. What deal with the devil did Kevin Hart make to turn his career around? He went from the often forgettable "player to be named later" in the Freddie Bynum deal, to Cubs minor league pitcher of the year and making the playoff roster. Is it all because of his new cutter?

The cutter was certainly a key addition that threw hitters off because the scouting reports on Hart read that he was primarily a sinkerball pitcher with an average to above average slider. He can throw both the cutter and his two-seam fastball effectively, and now he is striving to sharpen up his standard four-seamer. While he pitches off his fastball and slider, last year was the first year he really felt comfortable throwing his changeup. If he’s able to fully develop that pitch, he could be downright nasty. Aside from that, is it not entirely possible that the Orioles, in their quest to sign every recognizable ex-Cubs prospect on the planet, might have missed the boat and undervalued one of their own?

6. How much pressure is on the Cubs to try and get Jeff Samardzija to the majors as quickly as possible, considering they handed out what has to be the first-ever major league deal for a fifth round pick (that's an assumption on my part)? And how much pressure does Samardzija feel to justify that contract?

If the Cubs feel pressured, they’re wearing their poker faces well. Samardzija most certainly does not feel pressured. When I first met him last year in Daytona, I was a bit surprised by how loose he appeared. This was around the time he was moved into the bullpen and rather than being upset over it (or his near 6.00 ERA), you could find him in the clubhouse watching wrestling videos on YouTube. I don’t think he’s overly careless; I just don’t believe that he’s easily sidetracked or disrupted.

7. Maybe you can explain to me why the Cubs have spent a good portion of the off-season chasing the Orioles Brian Roberts, when we seemed to already have a left-handed, top-of-the-order candidate who plays second base in Eric Patterson. I know his defense at second base is suspect, but couldn't Jim Hendry used the time he spent on the phone with Andy Macphail and just picked up a fungo bat and hit 1,000 groundballs a day to Patterson?

You got me on this one. For what it’s worth, the Cubs say they are still plenty high on Patterson and that his slip-up last year is water under the bridge. That’s about all I can tell you.

8. The biggest surprise on your top twenty list was the inclusion of Justin Berg at #11 (acquired in a trade for Matt Lawton in 2005). What are you seeing or hearing that should make me keep tabs on him?

I figured to get some questions as to why I ranked Berg as high as I did. For me and everyone else that is high on him, it’s all about his sinker. He can touch 93-95 mph with it, and it’s the best such pitch in the Cubs’ farm system. As a matter of fact, he has drawn comparisons to Brandon Webb from a few people – namely Dennis Lewallyn, Tennessee’s pitching coach who worked with Webb while in Arizona’s system.

When you look at numbers, there is some similarity in Berg’s and Webb’s minor league careers, particularly in terms of their wildness. They’re both similar in build, too. What Berg needs is to control and repeat his delivery, especially with the sinker because his slider is a solid pitch as it is. I’ll add that Berg has a lot of guts. He pitched his first game last year with the flu, and ended up vomiting in the clubhouse by the middle innings. His coaches felt that put him behind the eight-ball and that it took him longer to catch up than the rest of the staff.

9. One of our readers ("Crunch") wanted to ask about Casey Lambert, the Cubs 6th round pick last year out of Virginia that the reader had an opportunity to watch a few times in the ACC. Has his fastball improved (low 90s rather than high 80s)? Does he have or working on a 3rd pitch? Are the Cubs gonna keep him in relief (if he has a 3rd pitch developing/developed)?

The plan is to keep him in relief. His fastball still sits in the upper 80s and he spent much of Instructs last year working on the development of his changeup. It has become a pretty solid offering for him, but the hard curveball is still his bread and butter.

10. Give me a name (or two) of a player that you think is a good bet to take a big leap forward this year?

I’ll go with Kyle Reynolds, the third baseman at Tennessee. He put together an incredible run last year beginning in June at Daytona, finishing with 21 home runs – 20 of which came in the second half. He suffered an ankle injury midway through the season, and being out of the lineup gave him time to work with Richie Zisk on some things mechanically with his swing. The work paid off and his confidence shot up through the roof.

-----------

Thanks to Steve for his time and be sure to check out his live blog of Sean Gallagher's start in New Orleans tonight. You can submit questions as the game goes on. You can also read Murton's reaction to Eric Patterson getting called up at Scout.com.

____________________________

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Comments

Not sure if everyone gets the same articles, but the lead article on my Yahoo! home page has a big picture of Alfonso Soriano and is titled "Soriano and the five dumbest on-field injuries" Nice...

Marty Brenneman ripping the Cubs fans on the air after the Dunn home run was thrown back (along with another 15 or so balls). "Far and away the most obnoxious fans in baseball, in this league, are these fans right here...that is so typical of Chicago Cubs fans." "You simply root against them, I've said all winter they talk about winning the division but it won't happen because they are the Chicago Cubs and they'll find a way to screw this whole thing up." What a prick, and he had Jeff Brantley, another jackass by his side. You can hear it at this link: http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-080417-…

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

That's a remarkable piece of audio. There has to be a backstory that some Cincinnati Reds fan might be able to relate here, but that would require knowledge of computers and typing and the English language, so maybe I'll just speculate.

Back when Thom Brennaman was the Cubs' announcer in the early '90s, he would always refer sarcastically to Lou Piniella as "Uncle Lou," and Brennaman and Steve Stone would giggle at their little private joke without actually explaining its origin. I always assumed that Marty Brennaman and Piniella must have had some falling out when Lou managed the Reds. If that's the case, it could explain why Marty nearly burst a blood vessel over this business with the bleacher fans (who, truth be told, ARE largely a bunch of drunken, disinterested jerks, especially at night games.)

 Regardless, Marty Brennaman can go to hell. (No offense, Marty.)

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

You know, Marty's got a point about how the Cubs will certainly screw up something and won't win the division. I mean, just look at last year. You know, how terribly we played down the stretch in September--how our power that was missing all year just never showed up--how our pitching staff just couldn't put cobble together an ERA that would get us in, perhaps in the neighborhood of 2nd in the league--how our big free-agent acquisition never showed up in the last month. If only we hadn't had that typical Cubbie collapse last September, we might have had a shot to win the division in 07. Oh well. Marty's probably right about 08, given recent events. Such aplomb is rarely found in a broadcaster.

Ah Brennamen...where to start? Jealous? Mad over Thom's treatment from the Cubs? Who knows but Cincinnatti people in general don't like Cubs fans and I'm not sure why that is. Sure the 15 balls thing was stupid but he took his criticism way beyond that. I think there is some jealousy from the way that baseball has shifted away from small market teams like the Reds.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

on to the 20th inning. it is amazing just how checked-out the COL announcers are...they're just being bluntly messy and barely talking game at this point. first 20 inning game since 2003, stl@fla (april 27th). ---edit to the 21st...longest game in rockies team history (time and innings). ---edit top of the 22nd...its 4:10am and im watching live baseball on american soil. neat. rusch pitching, tavarez on 1st, 2 out...makes 4 pickoff throws to 1st...next pitch tavarez steals, wild throw by the catcher, tav. advances to 3rd....troy t. promptly hits a rbi double. bottom 9th...man on 1st...bench hitters long gone for both sides...guess who gets to end the game at 4:22am eastern with a K...that's right...rusch. i'm going to bed. i may not have much to do tommorow, but i want to be awake for most of it. and yeah, i pretty much assumed no one is watching this text cap live...i'm just bored. =p

Pretty classy, Brennaman. A handful of drunks in the bleachers at a night game are apparently representative of millions of Cubs fans. Awesome. One of the things I appreciate about Len and Bob (and Steve and Chip before them) is that they've struck a good balance between being Cubs fans and being professional broadcasters. Brennaman's a fucking douchebag.

"And then they'll have no one to boo but themselves...oh, they NEVER blame themselves." What fans ever blame themselves or boo themselves? Has this ever happened in the course of human history?

Brantley is about as intelligent as Silent Towel and Marty is obviously an old, bitter man. Screw them both. I wonder why the Trib waited to post this MP3 until after the Reds left town? I'm sure they could have posted it yesterday morning.

Out of respect for Marty's daughter, a friend of mine from college, I'll refrain from posting my reaction to Marty's outburst. Ah, screw it, go fuck yourself, Marty. That was ridiculous. Keep rooting against the Cubs and keep rooting on that terrible team you have to watch every day.

How about this choice quote by Gary Hughes from the article linked by Rob G. regarding Murton's reaction: “[Lou Piniella] felt that we should be a little more left-handed,” said Hughes. “We’re a little too right-handed and I think that’s part of it. (The other part is) Patterson was doing a little better down here, whereas Matt’s gotten off to a little slower start.” Are you fucking serious, Gary Hughes you mongoloid. Patterson was doing better down there? Wasn't he hitting .222 or something awful like that? The very next sentence in the article: "Murton entered the week with a .400 batting average in nine games..." It would be nice if the Cubs' front office at least knew how their own players were doing. I think Gary Hughes gets his information from www.ericpattersonsmother.com.

[ ]

In reply to by Doug Dascenzo

I guess it depends on what stats you are looking at. For batting average you are more than right. Perhaps though Hughes and Lou were referring to Patterson's 3 doubles, a triple, and a homerun in just 11 games. Murton is still at all singles through his first 13 games. Not saying I agree one way or the other, but just that it matters what they were looking for.

Reds fans aren't the only ones who hate the Cubs and their fans. Cards fans and many Brewer fans I know have an over-the-top dislike of all things Cub. Might have something to do with their being second rate towns of the midwest. Chicago is the New York of the midwest and they probably reserve as much venom for us as many Chicagoans do for New York teams. Cub fans are obnoxious but often in a creative way. I was at the game when all the balls came on the field and it was hilarious.

For what it's worth, most Reds fans I know enjoy watching the Cubs and love road trips to Wrigley. They are as pissed over Marty's comments as we are.

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

just seeing if people are paying attention :)

Sean's twin brother Steve has actually lost 75 pounds, Sean himself, just 35.

 so my bad, yeah, Sean Gallagher=35 pound weight loss

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Steve and Sean's uncle, Gallagher, has lost 75 pounds worth of watermelons in the past month alone.

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

Black Gallagher BI%CH!!!!

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • 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.