Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

39 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (one slot is open), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL and one player has been DESIGNATED FOR ASSIGNMENT (DFA)   

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

Last updated 4-23-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Hector Neris 
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
Christopher Morel
* Matt Mervis
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

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

OPTIONED: 9 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 3
Kyle Hendricks, P 
* Drew Smyly, P 
* Justin Steele, P   

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

DFA: 1 
Garrett Cooper, 1B 
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Reds @ Cubs - Marquis vs. Wood; Game 8 Thread

Submitted by Rob G. on

Let's put this all after the fold, so AZ Phil's piece get its proper notice.

Travis Wood vs. (Looks at notes... Seriously?)..um...Jason Marquis

#Fowler CF#Hamilton CF
*Rizzo 1B*Votto 1B
Soler RFFrazier 3B
*Montero CPhillips 2B
*Coghlan LFByrd LF
Castro SS*Bruce RF
#Alcantara 2B#Pena C
Wood PCozart SS
Herrera 3B*Marquis P

The Cubs continue to play two men down with Mike Olt still not able to start and the previously DL'd La Stella substituted for a relief pitcher. The Cubs remain coy about calling up Kris Bryant, although they did say they could call up a position player for Friday after the off day. I'm guessing that position player is Chris Denorfia from the disabled list, who earlier stated that he was ready to go. The Reds send ex-Cub Jason Marquis to the mound to start, which should be a laugher for the Cubs...but baseball is rarely that predictable. If you're looking for batter vs. hitter matchups; Montero is a nifty 7/20 off Marquis with 4 HR's and 2 2B's. Todd Frazier has had the most success off Travis Wood for the Reds with an 8/26 line and 2 HR's and 3 BB's.

Tags
Cubs 2015 Game Thread

Comments

Submitted by Carlito on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:11 pm

Anyone care to venture a guess why Alcantara was switched to 3B at the last minute, and Herrera to 2nd? Basically they swapped defensive positions. Weird.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:14 pm

~shrug~

maybe they decided Alcantara was the better defensive 3B and with the lefty on mound, he'd get more chances there. Or vice-versa, Herrera is the better 2B and Wood throws a lot of change-ups down and away that they would hit to 2b?

No idea on the spray charts here, just a theory.

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:15 pm

RIZZO!

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:38 pm

Maddon really doesn't think highly of Herrera?

Let Wood swing away, making Herrera sac bunt with runners on first and second.

And of course, Herrera ends up geting a single.

 

Submitted by Carlito on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:06 pm

It's very interesting to me that Maddon bats Starlin 5/6 in these lineups without Bryant. Not sure what to make of it. Tonight you have a hot Coghlan and the Montero success against Marquis but still interesting.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:36 pm

so far Maddon has had T. Wood hit away and then have Herrera try to sac bunt, and now had Alcantara sac bunt in front of Wood.

Someone likes their shiny new pitcher that can hit.

Time to pump the brakes a little though...

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:57 pm

nothing to do with this game, but DBacks have man on 2nd with 1 out and Paul Goldschmidt up. Getting to 3B would be nice, but he's already hit a 2-run HR off Morrow today. Inciarte tries to steal 3B and is throwin out. Goldschmidt then singles.

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:02 pm

the mike ditka school of singing da seventh must have graduated a new class recently.

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:33 pm

n.ramirez done after 3 pitches...all balls. he looks kinda exhausted more so than he looks like he screwed something up.

Submitted by Cubster on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:37 pm

what happened to Neil Ramirez? edit: saw replay of last 2 pitches. Something in his pitching shoulder/elbow was hurting. P.S. Ramirez was on DL last July for sore Triceps

Submitted by Cubster on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:01 pm

Maddon says in post-game interview, Ramirez has right shoulder discomfort. Tomorrow is off day so more tomorrow.

Submitted by The E-Man on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:26 pm

I hope Jock-itch gets the call over Blake Parker should it come to that. Mostly, I hope Ramirez didnt fuck anything up badly.

Submitted by The E-Man on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:35 pm

Denofria? After looking at Chris Denofria's career stats, what was the reason he was signed? With Ceasar getting a chance, what's the deal? Does he just bring "veteran-ence"?

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:51 pm

is known as a clubhouse guy apparently

numbers vs. LHP are the stats you want to look at

career: .292 .358 .430 .789

numbers in 2014 weren't great (.584 OPS vs. lefties), but in 2012 (.890 OPS) and 2013(.834) they were

Pretty sure he's gonna be Coghlan's platoon partner, unless Bryant and Olt end up working out.

[ ]

Submitted by Old and Blue on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:41 am

The other thing to consider is that Ceasar, in a way, has come out of nowhere. He had a good eye at the plate last year but was strictly a spray hitter. Not much upside for a guy that age on a team that wants to contend. Suddenly he shows up in spring training and rips the cover off the ball. These weren't AZ air hits. He was smoking the ball. He's come up and gotten a couple big walks already. Send him down and hope Denorfia looks good enough to trade? You know what I would do, of course.

[ ]

Submitted by SheffieldCornelia on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:48 am

I was at the game so couldn't tell, but did anyone notice whether Montero's framing skills helped Wood out last night? Wood was supposed to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Montero's arrival. And agree with the comment about the Jumbotron's luminance dominating--in comparison it makes the CF scoreboard look old and insignificant. It'll definitely take awhile to get used to.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/15/2015 - 04:38 pm

Ramirez likely heading to DL will make it an easy roster move to activate Denorfia and keep Rosscup up. With Ramirez and Grimm out, can see Edwin sliding into a more prominent set-up role...possibly.

Guess they could stick to a righty and call up Blake Parker for Rosscup and switch Denorfia and Ramirez on DL.

Submitted by crunch on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:10 am

1st place in the NL cubs, rockies, mets/braves (tie) sounds legit.

[ ]

Submitted by jacos on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:38 am

Per ESPN wood vs reds "against the Reds. The problem is that he has rarely been given much in the way of run support: The Cubs have scored two runs or less in seven of those 11 starts, and the five they plated were the most Wood has ever received from his teammates on the North Side."

Submitted by Cubster on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:12 am

Mark Gonzales/Trib on Ramirez shoulder...the term "negative town" is pure Maddon
Ramirez is expected to undergo tests Thursday, and the forecast appears gloomy. That could delay plans to promote Bryant, the Cubs’ top prospect, because they might need to carry an extra reliever. “It’s nothing real positive,” said manager Joe Maddon, who described the injury as right shoulder discomfort and noticed Ramirez’s fastball was clocked at 90 mph — about 5 mph slower than his average. “I don’t like to go to negative town too quickly, but we’ll see.” Catcher Miguel Montero also noticed something was wrong during warmups before the ninth. “He really looked weird to me, the way he was warming up,” Montero said. “Something wasn’t right. He made a couple pitches that he didn’t look too good,”

Submitted by Old and Blue on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:00 am

There's a lot of good story lines right now. Keeping Travis Wood around so far is looking awfully smart. Starlin had a helluva a game yesterday. I still believe he has not reached his ceiling. I also think he's reaching the point where he is a bit underrated now. I have a man crush on Neil Ramirez and I'm gonna be sad if he's down for the count. But the best thing, by far, for me, at least, is, wow - the walks. It's early, but the trend is nice. They are 12th in MLB in OBP. They were 26th last year. Sample size difference warning. But when you watch their ABs, you can see the difference. Its huge. They just have a different approach. Soler was hacking a bit yesterday for some reason, but overall he should be fine. Rizzo is really being Mr. Team. I love this walking thing. I like home runs, too, but when I see two guys walk in the ninth of a 3-2 game against Chapman, it makes me think, "These are the Cubs?"

[ ]

Submitted by mannytrillo on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:23 am

Agree Old and Blue! If Castro is not willing or Cubs don't think he can move positions (2B or 3B), I hope other teams think the same way about him that you do. He would be a perfect trade bait for a team like the Mets who do not have a SS and tons of pitching. It really does intrigue me as to how the Cubs are going to handle the 2b, 3b, SS and LF positions with Baez, Russell, Castro, Bryant. And let me say I love how Theo has built this team and organization, on hitting prospects and not pitching prospects. You see the Mets have already lost two top pitchers over the past two years and we saw how Wood and Prior's injuries derailed any true consistent winning. Pitchers are just too fragile to count on and while it sucks to pay $155 million to a free agent pitcher, at least there is history there to justify it and you have a bit more understanding of the durability.

[ ]

Submitted by Old and Blue on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:25 pm

I don't think Castro and Cutler are good comps. Cutler has been all potential for 10 years now. Castro busted out as soon as he came up, and has been in the top six in hit leaders among all shortstops every year he's been in the MLB, and was first in his first full year. Last year, he was first in OBP. His fielding suffers from occasional lapses, but overall it's fine. I would guess the reason they haven't moved him is because he's good. I doubt they would have given him that long contract if their expertise said otherwise.

[ ]

Submitted by mannytrillo on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:31 pm

Oh he is good, no question about that, especially hitting. But you are right that is why he likely hasn't been traded. He is good and other teams aren't giving the Cubs the correct value. But sometime soon the Cubs are going to have a backlog and someone is going to have to move positions. And yes they are not exact comps. The reason Cutler hasn't been traded is because the Bears gave him a stupid contract and nobody else would pay him to be the highest paid QB in football. But the fact is both organizations clearly tries to trade both players in the offseason and either didn't get any takers or didn't get the value they wanted.

[ ]

Submitted by Old and Blue on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:36 pm

Very true but what I love about these guys is they realize that today's prospect is tomorrow's suspect. I really think Russell will need to prove himself in the bigs before he replaces Castro. So maybe he gets brought up to play second, with the idea that if he keeps hitting like most of us think he will, he moves to short later. As much as I like Castro - much more than most of you mopes :-) - Russell looks like he may be better.

[ ]

Submitted by mannytrillo on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:11 am

Still not in favor of it, but it will eventually happen and here is why (from article): "One AL farm director expects the NL to add the DH eventually, but only after the players concede something through collective bargaining because, he said, adding the DH to the NL would create more high-paying jobs."

[ ]

Submitted by Sonicwind75 on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:54 pm

Never a fan of dumbing the game down for the masses but we do live in a world of bread and circuses. Side note: always a little confused over the higher salaries argument. Both leagues have the same 25 active MLB players with a 40 man roster rules along with the same luxury tax and revenue sharing rules, correct? Would an American League team, such as the Royals, automatically have a lower payroll if they played in the NL? I get the impression a team has a set budget for player salaries and the budget is spread over the same number of players regardless of the league. How does a DH change how a team's player salary budget is set? Does a NL team say to themselves "we only have $105 mil to spend on salaries, but if we had the DH, we would up that budget to $115 million." If they have the ability to spend a $115 mil on salaries, then they are already spending that money already to be as competitive as possible. Yes?

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:49 pm

that shit is silly and I do agree about not including the DH when they moved the Astros, but the commish is no longer in charge of the best interests of baseball. He's in charge of making the most money for owners, they hire him and he's their mouthpiece and puppet. Hard to argue with the success of baseball under his reign, at least for the owners. I doubt he had too many original ideas other than make sure the city foots the bill for your stadium.

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Submitted by Sonicwind75 on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:18 pm

As someone who lives in Texas, not having a National League team really, REALLY sucks. I live in Austin, the closest drive to see a Cubs game is St Louis, that's a 12 hour drive. There are some very large population centers without access to National League baseball. Wish they would have moved one of the two expansion teams, Arizona or Colorado, to the American League and put Houston in NL West.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:16 pm

I was looking for some info on the move and found this solid takedown of it.

http://www.astroscounty.com/2013/03/selig-says-realignment-was-only-log…

It only happened because Astros were being sold and they could force it upon Jim Crane. But if you look at the article and the geographic differences, if they had moved Arizona to AL and put Houston in NL West, they would have been farther away geographically than any of their rivals (except Colorado) and no Rangers nearby to make up the difference.

But rivalries are created by teams playing each other a lot and having something on the line, not so much geographic distance. Helps a bit with the visiting crowd, but the games would probably be sold out anyway.

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Submitted by dcf on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:48 pm

the commissioner has always worked for the owners. They gave the office a lot more power when they needed to do so (Landis, the first commissioner, had been a sitting federal judge who was appointed following the Black Sox scandal). The commissioner always been paid for by the owners, who can fire him at will. When the owners haven't needed the PR benefit of having a commissioner that looked independent, they've taken powers away. I doubt any commissioner would try to void a trade or player transaction today, like Kuhn did with the As, Yankees and Red Sox in the '70s, for not being within the best interests of the game.

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Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:53 pm

I know that, my point that I clearly butchered was that, it's become less of a farce that they have any care about the best interests of the game or the fans. And this goes for all major sports and just our general society and our new corporate overlords. You could make good cases that Fay Vincent, Bart Giammati, Pete Rozelle at least on the surface, tried to be fair to both sides, ambassadors for the games so to speak and probably had more leeway than just towing the ownership line.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:42 pm

same goes for the end of the season though and they're not gonna break up the season either. Good idea in concept, tough to execute, especially with arm injuries seemingly more prevalent. I can't imagine any team is gonna give up any good pitchers for the next go-around, whether it's in spring training or after the season.

 

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:29 pm

and unprecedented labor peace (compared to any sport) since the strike

I'll take a WBC game over a spring training game any day, actually love the concept, shame they'll never get the pitchers they need to execute it properly.

The All-Star game homefield advantage idea needs to go away.

If they could manage 32 franchises, then I'd be all for getting rid of interleague play, but there are still quite a few cities that get poor attendance so I imagine that's a stretch.  But I think with 30 teams, a 15-15 split is a lot better than 16-14. Just make the rules uniform.

Blaming Selig for the steroid era seems misguided to me.

Don't have much to say about the Expos, teams will go where they don't have to pay for a stadium.

Instant replay is a lot better than no instant replay. They'll continue to improve upon on it, I'm sure.

Not that I think of him in high regard, his earlier mistakes overshadow the later years in most people's minds I'm sure. But baseball is still pretty damn awesome and no commish is going to impede progress and revenues.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/21/bud-selig-the-greatest-com…

 

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Submitted by Stevens on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:27 pm

Bud's worst: 94 work stoppage (owners found not negotiating in good faith), collusion w/ Reinsdorf (technically before commissioner but possibly after as well), contraction nonsense to benefit Pohlad (called Twins success an 'abberation') and the farce with Montreal/Lauria. The All Star game stuff is noisy, but really just silly. Much worse is the anti-marketing he was responsible for in his ambition toward revenue sharing ("X teams have no hope/faith"). Steroids too, I guess...but whatever. Selig has done some good things, considering 94 was the LAST work stoppage and depending on how much you like the divisions and playoffs as currently structured. But there's plenty to criticize too.

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Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:36 pm

As i just said, I think some of those earlier episodes overshadow some of the much better times. But if you understand that he's paid by the 30 owners and their interest and NOT in charge of baseball, then you know why that all happened and it wouldn't have been any different under anyone else. He got the commish job essentially for being the guy that would stick up for the owners and take all the criticism.

I'm honestly ho-hum about the whole thing, I just see the argument that Bud's the worst thing that ever happened to baseball and it just doesn't seem to hold under any type of scrutiny.

The game was never going to be the same as it was whenever you were growing up. If everyone let's that go, there's plenty to enjoy.

[ ]

Submitted by Stevens on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:46 pm

I think you're giving him too much of a pass on the "earlier episodes". While revenue has been great, could it have been better if Bud & company hadn't extorted communities with contraction threats? Would there be a problem with appeal to younger fans today if Bud hadn't championed the idea a decade ago that half the teams had no "hope & faith"? If Bud hadn't let battling labor over revenue turn into anti-marketing, would the game have more star power as compared to the NBA or NFL or past eras of MLB? I understand who pays him and what his role is. I do not believe another commissioner, including another owner/commissioner, had to take his path. In fact, Bud got better over time, which suggests that he didn't need to resort to his early tactics. We'll see what comes of Manfred and the challenges Bud's legacy leaves behind.

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:00 am

been going around on twitter, but Cubs pitching staff has best FIP era in the bigs at 2.24, 2nd best is Tigers at 2.64

Their actual ERA 3.38 (11th) and xFIP(4th best) are higher though.

xFIP is similar to FIP (Field Independent Pitching), but instead of actual home runs you use number of expected home runs given flyball rate and league average HR rate on flyballs (9-10%).

All this after playing Cardinals and Rockies offenses too. Not a shabby start. Cold weather, small sample size, etc, etc, etc disclaimers

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:58 pm

international draft is so happening....

1. Aramis Ademan, SS, Dominican, $2 million Video: He’s only 5’10/150, but he has slick hands and should be able to stick at shortstop, with advanced feel for contact and a smooth cut from the left side.

2. Christopher Martinez, 3B, Dominican, $1.5 million Video: He has solid average raw power and arm strength along with above average bat speed and some looseness at the plate. He also has the hands to play in the infield, though his feet are a little slow at this point.

3. Yonathan Perlaza, SS, Venezuelan, $1.2 million Video: Stout 5’8/175 infielder has a chance to stick at shortstop and is an average runner with below average power, but has a smooth cut that produces among the most hard contact in games in this class.

4. Miguel Amaya, C, Panama, $1.2 million: 6’0/160 lefty hitter has an advanced swing, some pop and the tools to catch, but still needs some work defensively

5. Anderson Amarista, RHP, Venezuela, $1 million Video: 6’0/178 righty sat 85-87 mph when I saw him in February, but has projection and a clean arm, normally sits a few ticks higher, has hit 91 mph and already flashes a solid average curveball

6. Yunior Perez, RHP, Dominican: $650,000: 6’3/175 righty is loose, has a clean arm, projection and sat 90-93 mph when I saw him for a few innings in February. That said, the curveball is below average and I haven’t seen him throw a changeup at all, so he’s still in the early stages.

7. Luis Diaz, SS, Dominican: $350,000: 5’9/155 infielder is a plus runner with a chance to stick at shortstop and below average power, but good feel to hit from the right side.

~snip~

These numbers add up to $7.9 million and the Cubs pool is a little over $3.2 million, meaning they can make trades to boost their pool to just under $5 million, so it appears they are set to go over this year. Scouts think Perez and Diaz, who have the same trainer (Franklin Ferriera), are both signed at nice values while the others are somewhere close to market value.

Submitted by QuietMan on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:52 pm

Hmmm... Randy Wehofer @RandyWehofer · Tonight will be Addison Russell's first pro game at 2B. Tune in for both games of our DH on AM 940, 104.5FM, or http://iowacubs.com

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Submitted by mannytrillo on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:40 pm

Not a big fan of that. If he is in fact the better SS, move Castro. Maybe he is not, thus the move. Or the want to call him up this year and still need to leave Castro at SS to showcase him for a trade.

[ ]

Submitted by mannytrillo on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:56 pm

I am sure Castro is 'cruddier' than Russell as he isn't even a good SS and that is a position he is use to. Like me preface this next comment by basing it on Russell getting called up this year. If he does, I don't like the idea of having him change position to do it. Making the transition to the bigs is hard enough, no need to make it more difficult for them by making them not feel comfortable in the field. Again, maybe they are only doing this to keep Castro at SS to trade him. We will see...

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Submitted by Old and Blue on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:13 pm

According to Fangraphs, he's 13th best defensively in the league among 56 Shortstops with 100 or more ABs. Castro is not a bad shortstop at all. He makes hard stuff look easy, and some easy stuff look hard. He's 25. If ain't broke, don't fix it. Russell is better, but it makes sense to try him out at second, give him some reps there, and then bring him up. If his bat is legit, then you can trade Castro probably, but until Russell can hit in the majors, for sure, it makes sense to keep Castro around. I really don't get all the Castro hate. He's achieved more at the age of 25 than some players achieve in a career. His lack of concentration sometimes can be pretty annoying, but since they've banned Ritalin pretty much, may as well get used to it.

[ ]

Submitted by mannytrillo on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:19 pm

I am surprised to see that he is average among MLB starters according to FanGraphs, not that is the end all be all. I don't think he is very good, but I don't see every SS in MLB to compare him too. I just heard Russell is better and if so it should be his position. I will give Theo a pass until this year shakes out to see if they trade Castro.

[ ]

Submitted by Old and Blue on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:29 pm

Russell looks to be pretty special in the field from what little I've seen. Castro has got to be the most underated 25 year old OBP leader at his position (last year) in the history of the game. EDIT: Sorry, he was second according to Fangraphs, first according to ESPN. Maybe Hanley Ramirez was playing some third last year?

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Submitted by John Beasley on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:27 pm

I like it. Barring any unexpected setbacks, I hope Russell is a Cub after the Super-2 deadline. If he hits at AAA, he's ready. As for 2B/SS, it'll work out. I promise. Chances are, Starlin gets Wally Pipp'd at some point and then he's a 2B or 3B or LF or gets traded.

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Submitted by crunch on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:41 pm

given how quick his reaction time is, i wouldn't mind castro at 3rd. the arm accuracy scares me, but it's going to scare me at SS and 2nd, too. his accuracy has gotten way better, but he was coming from close-to-the-basement on that issue to begin with. i dunno how well his "backhands too damn many plays" style of catching the ball would play there, though...

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Submitted by John Beasley on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:29 pm

As long as Castro continues to be one of the best 7 or 8 top hitters in the organization, he'll play somewhere and as long as he can handle the position I don't really care where. It's strange to consider, but whether or not Schwarber sticks at catcher and continues to develop might be one of the key factors, along with the development of Baez, Russell, Bryant, and Alcantara. There are definitely plenty of interchangeable parts.

Submitted by Mike Wellman on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:12 pm

In the AB before his 3 run homer down the line in left Bryant was robbed of another by the right fielder.

Submitted by Carlito on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:16 pm

In unrelated news: Chris Archer is a BEAST. Shutting out a tough Toronto lineup heading into the 8th with 11 K's. Has about a 1.37 era on the year.

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Submitted by Old and Blue on Fri, 04/17/2015 - 04:43 am

Well, it looks like the window has kind of closed on his opportunity unless they decide to play Bryant in left. He still hasn't shown he can drive runs in consistently but he has improved his walk ratio quite a bit. At this point I can't even begin to guess what they'll do with Olt. A long rehab in the minors is surely in the works. If he smokes the ball like crazy maybe they can get something for him, just don't trade him within the division. That could haunt.

Submitted by The E-Man on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:34 pm

Garza jinx So, from Texas, Olt, Ramirez, Grimm are all on the DL, and CJ Edwards has had shoulder issues. This sounds like some sort of Garza voodoo.

Submitted by Cubster on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:05 pm

Tim Sauers/Cubby Blue is all over it... http://www.cubby-blue.com/my_weblog/2015/04/the-friday-kris-bryant-rumo…
Kris Bryant is going to be playing 3rd base for the first place Chicago Cubs. Tomorrow.
Sure I'm overly giddy and if you're not a Cub Fan and you're reading this you can smirk if you want, but deep down you're one jealous guy because even though this doesn't seem real, it is. And someday soon the Cubs will come to your town and ruin all your fun.

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 04:15 pm

If Maddon started Herrera and Alcantara and cited defense behind Hammel it would be the ultimate troll job. :)

Recent comments

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Things I've been wrong about:

    -Tauchman is fine as a 4th OF. I knew that. I just want a better LH DH option and he was really the DH for us until Seiya got hurt. I'm glad Mervis is getting a chance at it. Caissie is coming for that job for sure. But Tauchman continues to be highly useful as a 4th OF with Seiya being hurt

    -I wanted Yency to go to get guys at Iowa a chance. Guys like Palencia and Sanders or RileyT. Maybe even Hodge! But Yency has been better the last two plus weeks. He did hit 96 the other day. He was 93 in Texas to open the season.

    -Leiter has his split working enough. It just needs to stay there

    -I was surprised Jed picked Wisdom over Cooper. I wonder if this happens if Seiya wasn't hurt. Wisdom has more power. Cooper is the better hitter. Jed picked Wisdom and Wisdom had an option left as well.

    -Palencia just doesn't miss enough bats. Similar to ManRod, just two yrs younger. ManRod is killing AAA for TB right now!

    Things I got right so far:

    -Hendricks. Sorry Kyle. You got paid though!

    Jed, you missed there.

    -Smyly. If Jed could've traded him before or during ST, then he should have and saved some cash.

    -Mastro.  Not a LH DH. Pinch runner. Defensive utility. Maybe he's better than Madrigal but didn't get a legit chance to prove it.

    -Luke Little is good. He's had one bad outing. That's it. Needs to get better entering with guys on base. But he needs to stay in MLB.

    -Oh yeah....Morel is doing fine at 3B! He'll get better as well!!

  • crunch (view)

    bellinger "right rib contusion"

  • Childersb3 (view)

    South Bend just lost the lead in the bottom of the 9th on the weirdest scenario, ever.

    It's absolutely pouring rain....men on 1st and 2nd, 1out....JPatterson asks for a new ball, but no time out was called....he throws the old ball toward the dugout (not sure if it rolled out of play).....the ump declares the runners get two bases each so one run scores. Then a single up the middle ties the game.

    The rain was coming down in buckets at this point.

    Just weird

  • crunch (view)

    ...and bellinger is gone in the 7th because of that 2nd blown chance and the wall he bounced off of...

    hopefully his rib cage/shoulder feels better tomorrow, we just got happ back.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil,

    Any thoughts on Y. Rojas' stuff and Y. Melendez's game (I believe I've asked about him before, sorry)?

  • crunch (view)

    wow, things are moving fast.  hopefully it continues.

  • crunch (view)

    morel with 4 clean plays in 4 innings...showed off his 100000000mph arm a couple times.

    cody bellinger not having a good 4th, though...5 run leads are handy when your CF is making your pitcher have a 5-out inning.  2nd blown chance was ruled a hit even though it went in/out of his glove...1st was lost in the lights, also ruled a hit.

  • crunch (view)

    welcome back happ!  double off the wall 1st PA back.

  • crunch (view)

    oh yeah, totally, i was just chiming about why i fan like i fan.

    i would like nothing more than hendricks to keep on hendricks'ing.  guys with his stuff can throw for a long, long time as long as it works.

    he velocity is actually up a minor amount this year.  it's really "damn" when a guy like him not only has gas in the tank, but it's looking like it was years ago.  he added a curve a few years ago and it helped a little bit, but he's throwing it less and less while the fb/change combo are less effective.

  • Alexander Dimm (view)

    CRUNCH—There is no one person in this community I’m talking about.  My remarks were not directed at you or anyone, but at a tone I’ve noticed lately. 

    You have a great, dry sense of humor and there is thought behind your comments.   You and I don’t always agree but I always understand your position.  

    Lastly, and I’ll be quiet, I agree with you on Hendricks.  We can dislike the recent performance but still love the guy.  Lots of questions about his future.
     

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