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

Angel Guzman Throws in Intrasquad Game at Fitch Park

Continuing his rehab from last September's Tommy John surgery, Angel Guzman threw 14 pitches (8 balls & 6 strikes) in an EXST Camp Day intrasquad game at Fitch Park this morning. 

Guzman had previously thrown a "simulated game" last Friday and a "live" BP session on Monday.   

Guzman faced four batters, walking Junior Lake on four pitches to start the game. Then an errant pick-off throw by Guzman allowed Lake to advance to 2nd base. Brandon Guyer grounded out to short on an 0-1 pitch, as Lake advanced to 3rd base with one out.

Drew Rundle then pulled a hard-hit ground double past 1st base on a 1-0 pitch, driving in Lake for the first run. Rundle stole third on the first pitch to clean-up hitter John Contreras, before Contreras hit a F-8 SF on a 3-2 pitch to finish Guzman's day (he was supposed to throw "around" 15 pitches).

As long as he has no setbacks from today's outing, Guzman will probably make his Cactus League Extended Spring Training game debut sometime next week

Recently converted to pitcher, ex-catcher Jake Muyco got into his first game action today, and struggled through his one inning of work, allowing two runs. 

Today's intrasquad game also provided a rare glimpse of RHP Chris Huseby, who has been suffering from an EXTREME control problem since Minor League Camp that has limited him to bullpen sessions and one "live" BP session that went just so-so. .

One of the Cubs better pitching prospects coming into the 2008 season, Huseby was expected to start the year at the top of Peoria's starting rotation. But the 6'7 right-hander just can't find home plate.

It's very similar to what happened with Luke Hagerty last year, where his pitches either bounce in the dirt, or go over the catcher's head, or hit the batter. And it's the reason he has been held out of game action. He's just plain dangerous.  

And today was a good example, as Huseby was yanked after just 11 pitches (only two strikes), an outing where he walked two, hit a batter (and almost hit two others), and threw two wild pitches.

Huseby probably will be assigned to Boise when the short season leagues begin play next month (with a 30-man roster, the Hawks can afford to stash away some extra pitchers), but he probably won't get much game action until he can find home plate. .
 
Today also marked the return of Cubs 2007 5th round pick Brandon Guyer to LF. Prior to today, Guyer (a Matt Murton clone) had been restricted to DH duty only while recovering from a fractured elbow.

Guyer will likely be assigned to Boise next month, although he could get moved up to Peoria before that if the Cubs feel the Chiefs need a right-handed hitting LF to platoon with Dylan Johnston.  

As is sometimes necessary due to not having enough players available to staff two squads, the position players rotated between defense and offense without regard to "teams" in today's intrasquad game. Some of the players got more ABs than others, while others did not hit at all.

Here is the box score (such as it is):

POSITION PLAYERS:
Junior Lake, SS: 0-2 (R, BB, 2 K)
Brandon Guyer, LF: 0-1
Drew Rundle, RF: 1-1 (RBI, R, 2B, SB)
John Contreras, 1B: 1-1 (3 RBI, 3B, SF, CS)
George Matheus, 2B: 1-2 (R, HBP)  
Gian Guzman, SS: 0-4 (R, BB)
Cesar Salazar, CF: 1-3 (RBI, BB)
Bryan Jost, 1B: 2-4 (2 RBI, 2 R, 2B, 2 K, SB)
Nelson Perez, RF: 1-3 (R, CS)
Jeffrey Rea, 2B: 0-2
Luis Bautista, C: 0-0 (R, HBP)
Alvaro Sosa, C: 0-1
Josh Vitters, 3B: DID NOT BAT (sore hand)
Kevin Soto, LF-CF: DID NOT BAT
Roberto Sabates and Carlos Perez warmed-up pitchers in the bullpen but did not get an AB, and Dwayne Kemp and Starlin Castro did not play.

PITCHERS:

SQUAD "A"
1. Jake Muyco - 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP, 1 WP  0/2 GO/FO)
2. Carlos Rojas - 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (1/1 GO/FO)
3. Ryan Searle - 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K  (2/0 GO/FO)
 
SQUAD "B"
1. Angel Guzman - 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K (1/1 GO/FO)
2. Chris Huseby - 0.0 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP, 2 WP
3. Eduardo Figueroa - 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K (2/4 GO/FO)

ERROR (2):

Angel Guzman overthrow on pick-off attempt at 1B allowed runner to advance to 2B, 

Junior Lake made errant throw trying to double runner off 2nd base after catching a line drive, and runner scored from 2nd base (the throw went into the RF corner):

CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Luis Bautista: 1-3 CS
Alvaro Sosa: 1-1 CS

WEATHER: Overcast with game-time highs in the 80's

ATTENDANCE: 3 (I've noticed that Camp Day usually doesn't draw quite as well as the other days)

Comments

Let 'em pitch exclusively to Felix Pie in simulated games. He'll swing at everything out of the zone and take anything in it and they'll both get their confidence back.

Guzman is quickly becoming the mythical beast of yore, akin to the Unicorn or Centaur. AZ Phil, what are the club's expectations for this oft - injured budding phenom? If he gets promoted to Peoria and/or AA before the season's over, will his TJ surgery be considered successful? Thanks in advance for responding.

AZ Phil: Thanks for a great report, as usual. You've probably seen enough of Angel Guzman to have an opinion--is their something in his delivery that has contributed to all his injuries, or does he just seem to you to have an especially fragile arm? Thanks.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8143654/Rockies-could-be-in-market-t… Could be an option if Edmonds doesnt work out. Holliday would be under Cubs control next year before he is a FA and Aaron Cook is a FA after this year so I could also imagine he would be on the block to. Maybe in a perfect world we could pull off Cook and Holliday for Murton, Pie, Gallagher, Hill, Epat, Ceda, and Veal Jimbo couldnt probably pull the trigger on the deal due to ownership, but adding Holliday would give us the a top 5 line-up in MLB history and Cook can help stablize the rotation. The deal would also fill COL needs in LF and 2b, give them a pitcher taylor made for Coors in Gallagher, some good pen arms in Ceda and Veal and a CF who can go it in that large park in Pie.

Submitted by Hagsag on Thu, 05/15/2008 - 3:43pm.

Phil, Is Rhee at Fitch? Have you heard any report on him? Thanks.

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

HAGSAG: Dae-Eun Rhee is not at EXST. Apparently he is still with Peoria, although he remains on the DL.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

Soto, Lee, Z should all be in without question. But I would also say that Dempster should be in without question, and Fukudome, ARam, and Marmol all have very legitimate arguments to get in. Fukudome is 4th among NL RF in OPS, plays excellent defense, and leads all of baseball in walks. And don't forget the power of the Japanese vote. ARam is 2nd among NL 3b in OPS.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Current VORP for NL First Basemen:

Berkman 42
Pujols 28
C. Jackson: 17
Derrek Lee: 16.6

I'd say Marmol, Z, Soto, Ramirez (as a backup to Chipper) would be deserving

Dempster (12th in VORP),Lee and Fukudome on the outskirts. Soriano still can get himself in the discussion.

 

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Yea... I looked after, and saw the 1b numbers. Lee has seen a significant drop in May. And Berkman has been ridiculous. And again... Fukudome may not necessarily have the numbers, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was voted in as a starter. Or at least voted in as the final guy.

MH hit another home run last night for the I-Cubs. That makes three games in a row he homered. Our erstwhile #3 SP RICH is on the HILL tonight at 7 PM.

Submitted by Charlie on Thu, 05/15/2008 - 6:44pm.

AZ Phil: Thanks for a great report, as usual.

You've probably seen enough of Angel Guzman to have an opinion--is their something in his delivery that has contributed to all his injuries, or does he just seem to you to have an especially fragile arm? Thanks.

 ==================================

CHARLIE: I don't know why Guzman has had both shoulder and elbow injuries.

As crunch mentioned, Guzman has developed a large repertoire of pitches thrown from multiple arm slots over the years, but right now he's throwing just fastball-curve-change, and he's throwing the pitches pain free and his fastball has good velocity.

His main problem (and this is typical for TJS rehabbers) is a lack of command on his fastball. Yesterday, Guzman had difficulty throwing his fastball over the plate, but once he gets that fixed, he should be ready for advancement.

If there are no medical setbacks, I would expect Gooz to remain at Fitch Park until sometime in mid-July, and then go on a 30-day rehab (pitchers get up to 30 days), probably initially at Daytona. Then the Cubs could option Guzman to Iowa (for instance) anytime after August 11th and recall him when rosters expand on September 1st. (As long as Guzman spends less than 90 days on an active regular season major league or minor league roster in 2008, and no more than 19 days on optional assignment, his 4th minor league option year will be preserved for 2009). 

But if the Cubs option Guzman to the minors after his rehab assignment is over, they have to make sure to recall him from his optional assignment before he hits 20 days, or else his 4th and final minor league option would get burned. 

Harvey is not the only guy who deserved to get knocked back to Daytona. Harvey probably has a better chance of pitching in the majors than that wide receiver does. Can the Cubs still trade Samardzija to an NFL team? Samardzija's line yesterday: 4 innings, 10 hits, 6 runs, 6 ER, 5 walks, 1 K, 1 HR.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

wins and losses in minor league games? last friday i saw jeff neimann...TB pimp...pitch 3ip of AAA ball then hand it over to the pen to help get the loss. why 3ip of ball? cuz that's what he and the parent organization needed...not the team. the concept of a "team" in the minor leagues is sketchy at best. its structured exercise of what's been worked on in practice, especially at the lower levels unless you already got your refinement down or the coaches don't care enough to tweak you anymore and are gonna let you sink/swim your own way. what about the win? what about it...minor leagues aren't there to win games (psst, dont tell the fans).

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...

  • crunch (view)

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

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

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