Cubs MLB Roster

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40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Garrett Cooper
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Despite Monday's Results, the Cubs and Dodgers Like 'em Loaded

Submitted by Cubnut on

Monday's tense victory over the Dodgers might have been much less so if the Cubs had capitalized on a bases loaded/one out situation in the last of the sixth inning. Instead Chad Billingsley turned Kosuke Fukudome's hard groundball back to the mound into a snappy, 1-2-3, inning-ending double play.

In general, the Cubs offense, which remains the highest-scoring in the NL at 5.7 R/G, has held up its end of the workload in 2008. It's certainly been true in the precise situation that Fukudome found himself.

According to numbers presented at Bill James Online (subscription required), the Cubs have faced a bases loaded/one out scenario 28 times this season and subsequently produced 55 runs. That's about 22% above the average for all of MLB this year.

Relatvely speaking, the Cubs are even more lethal with the bases jammed and two out. From 33 such opportunities, the Cubs have generated 40 runs--about 54% above the MLB average.

Of course, when it came to missing couldn't-miss scoring opportunities Monday afternoon, the Dodgers took the day: in both the sixth and eighth innings, they filled the bases with one out, yet came away empty both times. This, too, is uncharacteristic. So far this season, the Dodgers have out-produced the rest of baseball by about 12% when the bags are loaded with one out. And when there are two out? The Dodgers have tallied 53 runs in 26 chances. That's 158% above the MLB average.

I'm glad I didn't know any of this while driving around and listening to Pat Hughes Monday afternoon. The game was nerve-racking enough.

Tags
Kosuke Fukudome
Cubs Statistics

Comments

Submitted by Cubster on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 05:04 am

from the Sun-Times: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/971431,CST-SPT-cubnt27.art… Outfielder/pinch hitter Daryle Ward hoped to be cleared to take batting practice today for the first time since having an epidural May 19 to relieve pain caused by a bulging disc. He has done limited conditioning exercises since then and said his goal is to return from the disabled list as close as possible to his eligible return date of Thursday. Manager Lou Piniella, though, said, ''I think it'll be a while.''

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Submitted by nohit on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 05:46 pm

Probably because it *is* different. One facet of Doug's point is that a well-written article shouldn't have you thinking about the gender of the author. I've seen cases where both men and women gender-type their articles. The cases where women do it are more annoying to me since I'm a guy; I would imagine the reverse might be true for female readers. I also find that a lot of female journalists have problems finding their niche, fitting into a male-dominated field. Too many of them write fluff pieces (perhaps that's what they're assigned?). Some try to be chatty (especially radio media) and try to relate to the predominately male audience as a friendly voice. To me, the more successful women in the field are those who simply do solid reporting. And Erin Andrews, who might do solid reporting, but somehow I never quite hear what she's saying. 8) Reading this article, I had no idea whether this was a male or female journalist. I just knew it was well-written, which is both rare and refreshing. More, please.

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Submitted by Doug Dascenzo on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 05:18 pm

I'm not saying being a female sports journalist is fundamentally different than being a male sports journalist, but hacky journalists like Slezak tend to bring their own agendas/biases into reporting (I could say the same about people like Stephen A. Smith/race or Jay Mariotti/decent haircuts, etc). Also, sports journalism is predominantly male. It might not be different, but it is much harder to be a female sports journalist, and the best way to earn respect is to write interesting articles with real information, rather than stir the pot with bullshit about Ozzie's blow-up dolls. I could have said "I wish Carol Slezak would take some notes on how to be a GOOD sports journalist," but in her case gender is an issue and that's why I mentioned it. Maybe it's the dearth of good female sports journalists (the only decent one I can think of is Jemele Hill), but to be honest, after I read the article I checked the byline and was a bit surprised that it was written by a woman. I suppose that might make me somewhat sexist, but at least I can recognize that initial reaction as unfair.

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Submitted by billybucks on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 05:20 pm

Worst January-May stretch in a long, long time. Consistently miserable, even by Chicago standards. But, no tornados or earthquakes -- could be much worse. And yet, despite the weather, both Chicago teams are in first place. Curious.

Submitted by SheffieldCornelia on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 05:44 pm

Per Gordon Wittenmyer: Soriano LF Fontenot 2b Lee 1b Ramirez 3b Fukudome RF Edmonds CF Soto C Cedeno SS Gallagher P Why wouldn't we do Soto 6th and Edmonds 7th to break up the lefties? Also, I was really hoping they'd give Soriano's bad legs the day off with a really cold day today (for you non-Chicago residents, it's supposed to be in the upper 40's tonight).

Recent comments

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    I suspect Brown will spend some time in the bullpen due to inning restrictions.  Pitched only 93 innings last year and career high is 104 innings in 2022.  I would expect them to be cautious with a young player with his injury history.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
    I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
    I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
    That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
    I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
    We'll find out soon enough!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Teheran minor league deal is done, per MLB.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Based on Phil’s sound analysis it sounds like a no brainer for Almonte to be placed on waivers as today’s roster move. We shall see.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."  

    Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa? 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Pro teams have to play their "big money" guys if they are healthy and not "locker room" issues.
    The Cubs wanted to deal JHey off well before they bought him out. They just didn't want to pay him to play for someone else for that long. Jed did give him 20+mil to play for LAD last yr.
    Jed might also let Kyle walk at some point this year. Similar scenario to JHey, except Jed thought Kyle was going to be good/solid in '24!!
    You'd think Smyly is in the same book as well. Same with Neris (he's a 1yr vet RP, so he's not really in this convo too much).
    That's ~35mil between those three and those three are going to get opportunities until at least late June) over younger guys even if their performance is "iffy".
    But, Jed is going to play Taillon a lot. They have to try and justify that contract and hope a veteran works out.
    So, Taillon, Imanaga, and Hendricks are locks for the rest of April and probably May.
    Assad, Brown and Wicks handle the last spots until Steele is ready.
    Now, you're question has real merit when Steele comes back. That will interesting if Brown is still good and Hendricks is still bad. But Taillon is entirely safe as long as he's healthy.

    And the bullpen moves were "money" based as well. Smyly has actually been okay. But he hasn't been clearly better than Little. Little had one bad outing. But Smyly makes 9mil. If they needed another RHRP and one of Little and Smyly had to go, it was going to Little. But that doesn't mean Smyly is one of the best 13 arms for the team. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: I think there was an issue with Luke Little coming into a game with men on base. He seems to need a "clean" inning to be dominant. So he is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AAA. Same goes for Michael Arias. He needs to come into a "clean" inning, and is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AA. Porter Hodge is a more versatile pitcher, a better version of Keegan Thompson (multi-inning RP). But Little, Arias, and Hodge (probably in that order) are the Cubs top three RP prospects (all three are Cubs Top 15 prospects).

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    So, let’s do a little war gaming. Taillon is back for tonight’s game. He pitched two rehab games, just a few innings each, and not especially sharp. Let’s face it, he hasn’t been lights out since the Cubs gave him the big contract. In other words, as flat out bad as Hendricks has been, the chances of Taillon being the savior don’t look exactly promising.

    If Taillon is equally ineffective or perhaps even worse, what’s the next move? Winning teams can often find a way to work around a dud fifth starter - kinda. Two dud starters make things much more difficult.

    I believe the biggest reason for the recent bullpen moves was dissatisfaction with the recent blowing of big leads and the recognition that the bullpen wasn’t all it was thought to be. In other words, they are exploring alternate options and configurations. If similar juggling becomes necessary (even more so than it already is), what kind of reasonable maneuvering do we think could be explored?

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