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

No News Is…No News

This is the most content-free post you will probably ever see on TCR. Derek Lee flew to Chicago for test on his injured wrist after x-rays taken at Dodger Stadium were inconclusive, none of the papers have anything, and Will Carroll came up empty as well. I guess we have to wait and see. To quote David St. Hubbins, I'm sure I'd feel much worse if I weren't under such heavy sedation. I hope at least we'll see Todd Walker playing first and Jerry Hairston playing second for the next few days.

Comments

Maybe they will go out and bring back Macias to play first.

Do you really believe if Walker plays first that Neifi won't be in there faster than you can say "o for 4"? What about Palmeiro? Bring him back like Maddux.

macias can also be the emergency catcher.

I expect Mabry to start at 1st. Hairston will probably start vs. Mulder. I am concerned 'No News' means Trib. and Co. is keeping possible bad news from getting out as long as possible.

How many throwing errors for Ramirez and Cedeno if Lee is out for a long period? What kind of roster move will be made if he goes on the DL?

Even Derrek Lee could not have saved Ronny's third row special that he unleashed last night.

hell of an arm though by Cedeno, he airmailed that ball straight over the dugout and a guy in the first row caught it on the fly (he might have short-hopped it). At least to me, it's painfully obvious that he's just rushing every throw, he needs to slow himself down a bit. A perfect example was Tuesday when Neifi went deep into the hole, planted and threw a perfect strike to nail a guy (can't remember who). Cedeno would have tried to make the throw all in one motion while on the run.

Let's see. If we're posting at 4:00, it's entirely possible that Lee isn't even in town yet. If he caught a 10 AM flight (noon CDT) he probably is just landing. Even a 9AM flight doesn't give him time to get here and to the MD. I doubt he took the charter to St Louis getting in at 5 AM and then connected to Chicago.

well there's either going to be a 40 man roster move that would get Restovich or Sing up here which I highly doubt. What I would expect is Ryan Theriot to get called up and Walker pretty much being an exclusive 1st basemen with Neifi/Hairston splitting time at 2nd base. (should be Hairston vs. righties, Neifi vs. lefties; actually it should just be Hairston but let's not kid ourselves)

they already stated that they're not doing another exam until tomorrow on Lee. Let's all hope it's just a sprain....

Rob G.: "they already stated that they're not doing another exam until tomorrow on Lee." Who are "they"? On the radio, they keep saying he is scheduled to take an MRI at 3:00 Chicago time today (already happened 2 hours ago). Results might not be availible till tomorrow or late tonight.

Allen: "How many throwing errors for Ramirez and Cedeno if Lee is out for a long period?" Iw as think about these injuries in much the same away you were. The people who will come out fine no matter if Lee's wrist is broken: 1) Derrek Lee - Just signed contract extension. 2) Jim Hendry - ditto. The people who will be hurt the most if Lee's wrist is broken: 1) Ronny Cedeno - How many errors will he have now at SS without Lee picking every throw out of the dirt. What is the record for most errors in a season? 2) Dusty Baker - Hasn't gotten contract extenstion, even though Hendry has and not can easily be used as scapegoat for a team that would be devastated by injuries (Wood, Prior, Lee) and that could very likely lose 90 games. Man, I hope it is only a sprain, but with teh Cubs luck of injuries the past few years, I think a hairline fracture is the best case sceenrio.

Ironic that Dusty could potentially be used as a scapegoat for the teams injuries this year, after Dusty used injuries as his scapegoat for the past two seasons.

may be the MRI got delayed because his primary care doctor could not get the HMO to OK the referral?

my bad then, I thought I read in the earlier post that Lee was going to wait till Friday to get it reexamined, but the cubs.com article seems to state that they probably won't release the findings until Friday. I'm sure some mole will get us the news tonight....

Pending results on Lee's wrist, if the come back bad news, I hope Hendry does not overreact and go out and make some stupid trade. Stick Walker there for a few weeks, bring up some minor leaguer (Sing?) and let things shake themselves out some. At this point we will have to seriuosly overpay for anyone via trade. You gotta also keep in mind fif Lee is out for like 6-8 weeks and we go and trade for someone like Sweeney, what will we do with him when Lee comes back? Its a shame as Baker and the Cubbies have starteed out good (9-5) even without Wood and Prior. Hopefulyl ARAm can kick it into gear, along with JJones and they can pick up some of the slack till Lee gets back.

I saw several patients in Dr. Nagle's waiting room today...DLee and God were both there still waiting to be seen. This guy has some serious VIP's who were on the schedule before them. The MRI on God's wrist should be very interesting too.

Mannytrillo: "What is the record for most errors in a season?" To answer my own question, I looked it up. Joe Sullivan holds the MLB record for most errors in a season for a SS (106 in 1893). Cedeno has 4 in 14 games (on pace for about 46), even with Lee no longer there to save Cedeno, he won't even come close to that.

I'm just glad that Walk will be in the line-up everyday. Plus, we get to see what Harriston can do (fingers crossed). I just hope Jerry hits a few more balls on the ground, he seems to get a look of fly balls. Supposely, he has some good speed, which I wouldn't mind seeing.

What's unfortuante about Cedeno's throwing is that they are all clearly issues of confidence. Not surprising, the ball he airmailed last night was the first ball hit to him after DLee was gone. He's a much better defensive player than he's shown so far. Maybe someone on the coaching staff will be able to help him work through these issues.

#9 of 15: By Rob G. (April 20, 2006 04:44 PM) well there's either going to be a 40 man roster move that would get Restovich or Sing up here which I highly doubt. What I would expect is Ryan Theriot to get called up and Walker pretty much being an exclusive 1st basemen with Neifi/Hairston splitting time at 2nd base. (should be Hairston vs. righties, Neifi vs. lefties; actually it should just be Hairston but let's not kid ourselves) - ROB G: I concur. If D-Lee goes D-L, then Theriot gets the recall, and Todd Walker plays 1B most every day. I saw Todd play 1B in Spring Training, and he made three really fine short hop scoops, so I don't think saving bad throws from Ronny Cedeno and Aramis Ramirez would be his problem. His height (or lack of same), not knowing how far to range toward second base on a ball hit to his right, and knowing where to stand when preparing to make cut-offs from the OF would be his main problems. BTW, as I have mentioned before (so naturally I am going to mention it again), when the Cubs get back to Chicago, it might be a great idea for Uncle Dusty to drive Michael Barrett down to the Sports Authority at Clark & Belmont, buy him a third-baseman's glove and a first-baseman's glove, and ask Mr. Speier or Mr. Jackson to hit Michael some ground balls at 3B and at 1B during BP, so that Michael will be able to play 3B or 1B on days when he is not catching if A-Ram or D-Lee can't play (like if they have to finish their paper routes or if they are injured). Barrett played SS in high school and in rookie ball after he signed with Expos, then he played a couple of hundred games at 3B in the next few years after that, before finally moving to catcher permanently in 2001. He knows how to play 3B. And as a catcher, he SHOULD be able to handle the "rigors" of 1B, too. Down through the years, good hitting catchers like Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Gus Triandos, Sherm Lollar, Tom Haller, Bill Freehan, Joe Torre, Johnny Bench, Mike Piazza, et al have learned to play other positions (depending on the player, usually 1B, but also sometimes 3B, LF, and/or RF) so that on days when they are not catching, the manager can keep their bats in the lineup. The same needs to happen with Michael Barrett. His bat is too valuable to be left on the bench on days when he's not catching when D-Lee or Aramis aren't available.

Well I certainly agree about the Barrett at 1st thing (or even try Ramirez at 1b). Barrett at 3b I could live without. But I think when Baker wants to give Barrett a day off, he really wants to give him the whole day off, not just from catching. Expect a lot of Walker/Mabry at 1st and a lot of Neifi/Hairston at 2nd. And hope Ramirez, Barrett and Jones get uber-hot.

with mabry/neifi around barrett doesnt really need to have that depth at 3rd. if they'd play macias there last year in times of injury its probally not that pressing of an issue to the club. how long has it been since he's had an IF/1st glove on anyway? i mean, technically sheffield was a SS/3rd, but even when healthy the past decade i dunno if i'd wanna see that. hell, you barely wanted to see that even before the move to the OF.

WSCR's Jesse Rogers says Lee will be in a cast. CSN is reportedly saying 8-10 weeks.

puke.

Levine is reporting two fractures in the wrist and Lee will be in a cast for 6 weeks and then a rehab stint so basically 6-8 weeks minimum.

derek bell got arrested for smoking rocks...operation smokedown is in effect.

ESPN 1000 (Levine) just reported that there are two fractures, and Lee will be in a cast for at least 6 weeks with rehab to begin thereafter.

AZ Phil: "I saw Todd play 1B in Spring Training, and he made three really fine short hop scoops, so I don't think saving bad throws from Ronny Cedeno and Aramis Ramirez would be his problem." I think you are not giving Lee enough credit for what he does saving so many errors at 1B by picking balls out of the dirt. After seeing Walker playing matador last night a few times, I have a hard time expecting it not to be a problem for Walker. I hope I am wrong. "Barrett played SS in high school and in rookie ball after he signed with Expos, then he played a couple of hundred games at 3B in the next few years after that, before finally moving to catcher permanently in 2001." Barrett has only played 124 games in his big league career at 3B. The Cubs are not a very good defensive team as it is, there is no reason to be moving players around to be out of position unless it is unavoidable (ie playing walker at 1B for awhile).

Somewhere Ronnie Cedeno is laying in the fetal position with visions of a .945 fielding % with all those throws in dirt that will be skipping by Walker and Mabry.

They interviewed Mabry I guess and he said the "initial prognosis is not good". Yeah, in a cast for 6 weeks would certainly qualify as "not good". It's just even more sad because it was such a stupid, unnecessary play (not on Lee's part)...it's really sad that this could crush a good season. But, if a team is built for the playoffs, then we can't be dependant on a single player. Cubs did it in '03 without Patterson (during his good year), Cardinals did it without a few guys last year. If we can't play good ball without Lee, we probably weren't going to get far with him. So hopefully we will survive this. Sad...very sad.

injuries matter. proper backups matter. 04..05..06.. at least in 06 there's been proper backups so far...but this is one of the top 2...this is now an aram/barrett/walker power team.

WEll, like I said above, knowing the Cubs luck, it will be atleast a hairline fracture, but instead it was worse. I guess the only thing worse would be a total break with nerve damage and out for basically the year. Dusty and the biys will have to pull a miracle out of their hats to stay in the race the next two months without 3 of the teams best players. MAN what a disappointment and HUGE letdown after a nice little start to the season.

Ironic isn't the right word...but there is something "ironic" about the fact that it was Furcal who took out our best player (obviously not intentionally, but still)

#29 of 32: By mannytrillo (April 20, 2006 06:48 PM) AZ Phil: "I saw Todd play 1B in Spring Training, and he made three really fine short hop scoops, so I don't think saving bad throws from Ronny Cedeno and Aramis Ramirez would be his problem." I think you are not giving Lee enough credit for what he does saving so many errors at 1B by picking balls out of the dirt. After seeing Walker playing matador last night a few times, I have a hard time expecting it not to be a problem for Walker. I hope I am wrong. ---- MANNY: Where was I not giving Lee enough credit? He's one of the best defensive first-basemen I've ever seen. Maybe you meant to say I am giving Todd Walker too much credit? Because that could be true. We'll see. I did see him make three very nice plays in Spring Training picking throws out of the dirt, but three picks is a very small sample size. That might not be typical for him at all. Maybe he just got lucky.

I was in the Dodger event skybox last night, and when Lee went down in pain, someone in the box started jumping and cheering and whooping it up...I gave him a death glare and mumbled something to the tune of "Not cool on an injury"...He got the message and stopped but then laughed a bit. Now I want to go back and punch that idiot, and I'm not a violent person.

walker can catch, but he's not 6'zillion" like d.lee is...meh. its hard to get around the loss of production. he's an irreplacable bat...but a crew of mlb calibre players will move into their place...walker/mabry/haiston/neifi. no combo of that will offset the production, but its better than the sinking ship of a bench that's been there the past few years taking turns being injured injury replacements and/or no-hit D players to begin with. it should be interesting to see hendry's reaction.

doubtful Hendry can do much or will do much. Didn't do anything when Nomar went down last year for a significantly longer time. Although finding a 1B on the cheap is a lot easier than finding a SS on the cheap. Really a shame we didn't put out a full-court press on Craig Wilson over the off-season or in spring training.

yeah, the 1st on the cheap is just easier to do...its the only reason i even reason it. it'd have to be a guy who would not mind seeing bench in the 2nd 1/2 of the year and most likely someone who's only got a 1 year commitment or club control. this is one of those issues where picking up anyone who cant hit at least 15-20 homers with solid hitting/ob% is just pointless, though...walker/mabry should be able to combo up well enough to do that, themselves. so its seemingly a go-big-or-go-home type situation. i dont have a clue if hendry would do that or if he's even up to it. just speculating.

#29 of 37: By mannytrillo (April 20, 2006 06:48 PM) AZ Phil: "Barrett played SS in high school and in rookie ball after he signed with Expos, then he played a couple of hundred games at 3B in the next few years after that, before finally moving to catcher permanently in 2001." Barrett has only played 124 games in his big league career at 3B. The Cubs are not a very good defensive team as it is, there is no reason to be moving players around to be out of position unless it is unavoidable (ie playing walker at 1B for awhile). ---- MANNY T: So it's OK to play Walker out-of-position at 1B, but it's not OK to play Barrett there? Good hitting catchers learn other positions so they can stay in the lineup on days when they are not catching. In the case of Michael Barrett, you have somebody who played SS in high school and in rookie ball with the Expos, played a couple of hundred games at 3B (minors/majors combined), and should be able to re-learn 3B and learn the nuances of 1B rather quickly. With the way he has developed as a hitter and as a run producer, it is inexcusable to not have Barrett take ground balls at 3B and also take grounders and work out at 1B in the event Aramis Ramirez or Derrek Lee get hurt and are unable to play, so that Barrett's bat can remain in the lineup on days when he is not catching. With D-Lee out of action for up to two months, on days when Blanco catches, Barrett's bat is going severely missed, especially if a lefty is pitching. So it would be advantageous to have Barrett available to play 1B (and 3B, too) on days when he is not catching when Lee or Ramirez are not available. Playing a good-hitting catcher at another position (especially 1B) on days when he is not catching so as to keep his bat in the lineup isn't some goofy off-the-wall idea. Managers have been doing it for years.

AZ Phil: "So it's OK to play Walker out-of-position at 1B, but it's not OK to play Barrett there?" I think i explained that pretty clearly when I said:"there is no reason to be moving players around to be out of position unless it is unavoidable (ie playing walker at 1B for awhile)." Playing Barrett now at 1B or 3B without a FULL Spring Training is nonsensical in my opinion. And even then, i would need to see how he played there to make a full judgement as to if he even deserves to play there. Look at Marby, he sucks at 3B and shouldn't play there at all.

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.