Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

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

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, one player is on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 3-28-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
* 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: 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 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 1 
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 1 
Caleb Kilian, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Tseng & Company Fan Flames as Cub Hitters Extinguish Blaze

Cubs 2014 Minor League Pitcher of the Year Jen-Ho Tseng and six relievers combined to toss a four-hit shutout with 17 strikeouts, David Bote singled twice, doubled, walked, stole two bases, scored three runs, and drove-in another, and Shamil Ubiera singled twice, walked twice, and knocked-in three runs, as the Cubs blanked the Langley Blaze 10-0 in Minor League Camp game action today on Field #3 at Mesa Cubtown.   

A member of the British Columbia Premier Baseball League (BCPBL), the Blaze are one of the top amateur baseball clubs in Canada. Notable alumni include Brett Lawrie and Scott Mathieson, as well as Cub minor leaguers Wes Darvill and Jesse Hodges. 

The Blaze are on an eleven-day Arizona Spring Training Trip, where they are playing minor league teams, college and high school teams, and another Canadian amateur club from Ontario. The Blaze are scheduled to play one or two (and sometimes even three!) games per day, including morning games, afternoon games, night games, doubleheaders, and split squad games, so the Canadian lads (age 15-18) are playing a LOT of baseball in the Valley of the Sun.

In Cubs Minor League Camp roster news, 21-year old Venezuelan Miguel Rico has arrived in Mesa, and (surprise!) he is being converted from 3B to catcher. Rico spent the last three seasons playing ball in Latin America (one season with the DSL Cubs and two with the VSL Cubs), hitting a combined 241/344/375 with 16 HR and 27 doubles in 174 games (681 PA). 

Here is the abridged box score from today's game (Cubs players only):

CUBS LINEUP:
1a. Tim Saunders, SS: 1-3 (1B, F-8, 5-4-3 DP, R, 2 SB)
1b. Bryant Flete, SS: 0-1 (BB, BB, 6-3, R) 
2. David Bote, 3B-DH: 3-4 (1B, 2B, BB, 5-3 DP, 1B, 3 R, RBI, 2 SB)
3. Tanner Witt, 2B: 1-4 (4-3, F-9, 2B, 6-3, SF-E8, 2 R, 2 RBI)
4. Shane Kennedy, DH-3B: 0-3 (BB, BB,5-3, F-9, 5-3, RBI, SB, CS) 
5. Shamil Ubiera, RF: 2-2 (BB, F-9 SF, 1B, BB, 1B, 3 RBI, SB) 
6a. Justin Marra, 1B: 0-2 (P-5, F-8, BB) 
6b. Alex Tomasovich, 1B: 0-0 (BB, L-8 SF, RBI) 
7. Charlie White, LF: 1-3 (HBP, 1B, HBP, F-8, 3-U, R, SB)
8a. Calvin Graves, CF: 1-3 (L-9, 2B, K, R)
8b. Kevin Encarnacion, CF: 0-2 (F-8, F-7) 
9a. Alberto Mineo, C: 1-2 (4-3, 1B, 2 RBI)
9b. Jhonny Pereda, C: 2-2 (1B, BB, 2B, R)

CUBS PITCHERS
1. Jen-Ho Tseng: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 4/0 GO/FO, 39 pitches (29 strikes) 
2. Trevor Graham: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1/0 GO/FO, 18 pitches (10 strikes) 
3. Sam Wilson: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R 0 BB, 2 K, 1/0 GO/FO, 12 pitches (10 strikes) 
4. Alex Santana: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1/0 GO/FO, 16 pitches (9 strikes) 
5. Ryan McNeil: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 0/1 GO/FO, 18 pitches (10 strikes) 
6. Tanner Griggs: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1/0 GO/FO, 13 pitches (12 strikes) 
7. Andin Diaz: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 14 pitches (11 strikes) 

CUBS ERRORS: NONE 

CUBS CATCHERS DEFENSE
1. Alberto Mineo: 0-2 CS
2. Jhonny Pereda: 0-1 CS 

CUBS OUTFIELD ASSISTS
LF Charle White - threw out baserunner 7-2 trying to score from 2nd base on line single to left

WEATHER
: Sunny & breezy with temperatures in the 90's 

ATTENDANCE
: 42 

 

 

Comments

Seven pitchers threw "live" BP today at Minor League Camp: 

* throws left

ONE INNING (15 pitches): 
Francisco Carrillo 
* Gerardo Concepcion 
Lars Huijer 
Daniel Lewis (threw post-game "live" BP versus Langley Blaze hitters)
* Jordan Minch 
Juan Carlos Paniagua 
* Tommy Thorpe

AZ Phil, have you heard whether Joe Martarano is still going to play baseball now that the Cubs are no longer in Boise? I noticed he was listed as inactive/attending school in your post the other day.

BRADSBEARD: I have not heard.

Joey Martarano is getting to be a bigger part of the Boise State football team (he played well in the Fiesta Bowl), and I suspect the Cubs realize that football is his first love and that baseball is more of a fallback option right now (but then that was also thought to be true for Jeff Samardzija and Matt Szczur, too), and that they will just have wait until he finishes his college football career to find out if he has an opportunity to play in the NFL, and if he doesn't, if he would like to try playing pro baseball full-time. 

Until that happens, it will just be a waiting game for the Cubs. Sort of like an NBA team that drafts a young international player who is playing pro basketball in Europe and then waits a couple or three years to see if he will come to America to play in the NBA. 

That said, I would not be surprised if Martarano plays at least some baseball this coming May-June-July at Extended Spring Training and then with either the AZL Cubs or Eugene (before BSU's training camp starts up in August). 

18-year old Dominican catcher Eric Gonzalez has arrived at Minor League Camp from the Dominican Academy. He hit 254/297/322 in 19 Games (66 PA) with the DSL Cubs in 2014.

K-BANSAW: Shane Kennedy was signed by the Cubs as a 23-year old NDFA just prior to the start of Spring Training. (The July signing deadline did not apply to Kennedy because he has no college eligibility left). He is a 6'4 lanky right-handed hitter who looks a little bit like Kris Bryant at the plate, but (obviously) he doesn't have Bryant's talent. 

Kennedy was a freshman All-American at U. of North Florida, then transferred to Santa Fe CC where he was a JC All-American his sophmore year, and then he transferred to Clemson where he was 2nd team All-ACC in 2013. Then he tore up his knee (ACL) in October 2013 and had a terrible senior season in 2014 (he probably should have taken a medical redshirt). 

Kennedy has played both 1B and 3B at Minor League Camp, and has made some really nice stops at 3rd base, although his throwing needs work. He also is a surprisingly fast runner (especially for a big guy, and considering that he had a significant knee injury), and a good base-stealer, too. He doesn't seem to have a lot of HR power now (although he supposedly did before the knee injury), but he does have a nice line-drive stroke. He has "four-corner guy" (1B-3B-LF-RF) written all over him. 

Tanner Witt is 24 years old and he hits right-handed. He went to Lake Zurich HS and played college ball at Kansas State. But he wasn't drafted, and so he opted to play independent ball for the Rockford Aviators of the Frontier League, where he was Frontier League Rookie of the Year in 2014. He is a versatile player who can play anywhere in the infield or outfield. He has some HR power in BP, and he seems to have a plan when he takes an AB, which is something the Cubs liike to emphasize. He is an EXTREMELY choosy hitter at the plate and goes deep into the count almost every AB, and doesn't seem to mind hitting with two strikes.  

Witt signed a 2015 contract with the Rockford Aviators and then the Cubs acquired him just prior to the start of Minor League Camp, so he will likely return to the Aviators if he doesn't survive Spring Training. But players like Witt tend to have value in the minors, where versatility and character are the two most important traits among bench guys. He's the type of player who will probably eventually go through the Cubs catcher conversion program just to increase his value and versatility (that's if he remains with the Cubs going forward). 

Today's workout at Minor League Camp was temporailiy halted and the facility went into "lockdown" because a murder suspect was believed to be loose in the area. (The murder occurred at a motel about a mile south of Riverview Park, then there was another shooting at a nearby restaurant, and a car-jacking).

So the 200+ Cubs players and coaches hot-footed it to the safety of the clubhouse, while the fans who were there stood around asking each other, "What just happened?"

The suspect was eventually captured by Mesa Police 2-1/2 miles away. One dead. Several others wounded. 

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

CARLITO: It looked like the work-out was over so most of the fans were already starting to leave. Then somebody found out that there had been a shooting nearby, and that the area was in "lockdown," and that we needed to leave -NOW-.  

I can only imagine the panic if there had been a Cubs Spring Training game at Sloan Park today. I'm not sure what the authorities would have done. 

Recent comments

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I think if you had ranked players by how much the team could ill afford to have them miss significant time, Steele would be right at the top of the list.

  • crunch (view)

    steele MRI on friday.  counsell expects an IL stint.

    no current plans for his rotation replacement.

  • hellfrozeover (view)

    I would say also in the bright side column is Busch looked pretty good overall at the plate. Alzolay…man, that hurts but most of the time he’s not giving up a homer to that guy. To me the worst was almonte hanging that pitch to Garcia. He hung another one to the next hitter too and got away with it on an 0-1. 

  • crunch (view)

    amaya blocked like 6-8 of smyly's pitches in the dirt very cleanly...not even an exaggeration, smyly threw a ton of pitches bouncing in tonight.

    neris looking like his old self was a relief (no pun), too.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    In looking for bright spots the defense was outstanding tonight. The “stars” are going to need to shine quite a bit brighter than they did tonight offensively though for this to be a successful season.

  • Eric S (view)

    Good baseball game. Hopefully Steele is pitching again in April (but I’m not counting on it). 

  • crunch (view)

    boo.

  • crunch (view)

    smyly to face the 2/3/4 hitters with a man on 2nd in extras.

    this doesn't seem like a 8 million dollar managerial decision.

  • crunch (view)

    i 100% agree with you, but i dunno how jed wants to run things.  the default is delay.  i would choose brown.

    like hellfrozeover says, could be smyly since he's technically fresh and stretched.

    anyway, on a pure talent basis....brown is the best option.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Use pitchers when you believe they're good. Don't plan their clock.

    I'm sorry. I'm simply anti-clock/contract management. Play guys when they show real MLB potential talent.

    If Brown hadn't been hurt with the Lat Strain he would've gotten the call, and not Wick.

    Give him a chance. 

    But Wesneski probably gets it