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

Brewers @ Cubs: Davies vs Montgomery (Game 85)

MIL (47-40): RHP Zach Davies (9-4, 5.03) 
CHC (42-42): LHP Mike Montgomery (1-5, 2.80) 
First pitch: 1:20pmCST

Now that the Cubs have ended their championship drought, their only goal seems to be setting the record for how many times a team has hit the .500 mark in a regular season.

Montgomery gave up 4 ER in 6.2 innings and lost in Cincinnati on Friday. In 8 relief innings against the Brewers this season, he's given up 5 R (4 earned) on 8 hits, while striking out 8 and walking 6, for a 4.50 ERA. He was also tagged with the loss twice.

Overall, the Brewers are 18-76 (.237) against him. Arcia and Braun are 3-7, and Shaw is 3-8 with a HR.

Davies gave up 4 ER in 6 innings but ended up with the win against Miami his last time out. He gave up 5 ER in as many innings to lose to the Cubs in Milwaukee in April. The Cubs are 26-90 (.289) against him. Bryant is 8-17 with a HR. Davies is 4-0 with a 3.71 on the road this season.

This is make-up from the May 20 rain out. Who knew at the time that the game would come to take on some real significance. The Cubs are 3.5 games out of first place, so the game means more than it should at this point in the season. The Cubs lead the season series 5-3. 

The Brewers just started a run of 17 games where all but 3 are on the road. When we see them next, in Milwaukee, they will have just finished up with the Nationals and a 10-game road trip. 

Tomorrow is Williams (3-3) and the Pirates against Butler (4-3) at the same time.

Go Cubs!

Comments

lackey to the 10-day DL (plantar faciitis, right foot)...schwarb up. the "cross your fingers" plan seems to be lackey returning after the all-star break and no additional starter needed to replace lackey...who will hopefully be healthy enough for his next start without missing a beat.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Since Lackey will not start again until Sunday 7/16, the Cubs might as well put him on the 10-day DL and use the slot for Schwarber. If it wasn't Plantar Fasciitis, it would have been some other vague chronic injury older pitchers have, or it could have been the minor league phantom DL favorite "calf strain." The Cubs could also place Mike Montgomery on the 10-day DL with some vague injury (paper cut, indigestion, et al) and replace him on the 25-man roster with a fresh bullpen arm after his start today, and then reinstate him in time for his next start on Monday 7/17. The Cubs can also option Eddie Butler to the minors for ten days if he makes his next start tomorrow (Friday) and then have him start for Iowa next Thursday, since a 5th starter won't be needed again until Tuesday 7/18. Then the Cubs can replace Butler with a bullpen arm while he is at Iowa, and recall him on 7/18.

I am going out with n a limb now. This years' team will not be making the playoffs. No mojo. No hitting. No pitching. A bunch of bleach.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Jack Leathersich and his 54.00 ERA will carry them to the playoffs. Debut: Walk, Walk, Walk (pitcher), Sac Fly, Double, Walk. Brewers have mojo and excitement. Today's Trip article on the Cubs nailed it: everybody, including Maddon, just assumes they will magically reverse 3+ months of lifeless baseball with a 2nd-half surge. No sense of urgency, just a lot of shrugs.

The good news is they managed to score a run against a 5+ ERA starter, which is a nice change in trend. Really, really, really hope KB doesn't make the AS game -- something is not right with him.

this game is a fucking dumpster fire. this season is a...yeah. whatever.

I like Mike Montgomery, but if I were in a position to do something about it, I would use him as a multi-inning Andrew Miller-type reliever and just leave him in that role going forward. As I've mentioned here before, one of the biggest differences between the 2016 Cubs and the 2017 Cubs is the lack of multi-inning relievers (like Warren, T. Wood, Cahill, and Montgomery in 2016) who can come into a game in the early-to-mid innings when a starter clearly doesn't have his best stuff, put out a fire, and keep the Cubs in the game into the 7th or 8th inning. The Cubs have too many one-inning relievers. You only need four (this year that would be W. Davis, Uehara, Edwards, and Strop). The other members of the pen should be multi-inning guys, and you really only need three of those. Then you can go with a seven-man bullpen, which would allow the club to carry an extra bat off the bench to help get the club back into a game if they are trailing.

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

not to distract from the great point you made, but 4 guys in the starting lineup with .380+ ob% and 4 starters who put in 3.35 or less ERA (and 1.08 or less WHIP) was nice, too. man, 2016 was fun. you just expected wins...and it happened. even that WS victory felt like inevitable destiny though it was a nail-biter down to the final game. getting back on track, yeah, we've seen the lack of a long guy sting this team for more than a couple wins whether it be a lack of keeping them in the game they're in when they make a comeback later or a lack of pen options in later games because of usage burn. having AAA guys come up to have their workload abused (f.pena, especially) hasn't been a good look on whole.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

E-MAN: Travis Wood had a bad first six weeks but he has been outstanding the last month or so with KC, and Trevor Cahill has had a very good year with SD as a SP and has been mentioned as a potential trade deadline deal candidate. The Cubs were unable to re-sign either of them because they both wanted an opportunity to start, and they didn't feel they could get that with the Cubs in 2017 (although in hindsight re-signing Cahill as a SP would have been a better choice than Brett Anderson). The 2016 multi-inning reliever group (Cahill, Warren, and T. Wood with Montgomery replacing Warren in June) were prepped and stretched-out as starters in Spring Training and then used mostly as relievers in the regular season, and they were a big part of the Cubs success last year. Which is why it's strange that they went with a collection of one-inning relievers this year. They may want to re-think that approach going forward. The guys who fit the profile of the multi-inning reiiever are former starting pitchers who (for various reasons) struggle as starters but excel when used out of the pen. It's possible that Eddie Butler could be good in that role, and Montgomery would seem to fit the profile to a "T". It's unfortunate that Rob Zastryzny got hurt (strained lat) because he fits the profile as well. The main problem is, it's difficult to convince a starting pitcher that being a multi-inning reliever is good for his career. The pitcher really has to buy into it (as Andrew Miller has done with great success in the A. L., and more-recently Archie Bradley and Randall Delgado with the Arizona Diamondbacks).

Brewers stealing bases up 7 runs in the 5th inning? Could be some bad blood. Maybe that will get this group motivated.

I would expect Jack Leathersich to get optioned back to Iowa tomorrow with Dylan Floro getting called up. BTW, Felix Pena can't get recalled until after the All-Star Break unless he replaces a player on the 25 who goes on the DL.

Well, how did we get here?? (Apologies to David Byrne). I think there were 4 key (and reasonable) assumptions that almost everyone made about this team, all of which have been wrong so far: 1. Schwarber would replace Fowler's high OBP at leadoff, with more power. - He has the lowest BA in MLB and was sent to the minors. Probably the biggest surprise of the year. 2. The young guys (Russell, Contreras, Baez) would take a step forward in 2017. - Russell and Contreras are considerably worse than LY, while Baez is about the same (power up, OBP down). 3. The starting rotation would continue to be a strength. - Lackey's ERA is 5.20, Arrieta's is 4.33. Hendricks has been so-so and hurt. Lester is the only starter of the Big Four with an ERA below 4.00 (just barely, at 3.93). They haven't found a #5 as good as Jason Hammel was last year. 4. Rizzo and Bryant would continue to perform like All-Stars, or possible MVP candidates, again. - Rizzo has been good (19 HR, .395 OBP), but not great (.265 BA), while Bryant is nowhere near what he was last year (hitting .261 with 34 RBI, and has been awful with RISP.). Both guys have high OBP because they walk a lot (3rd and 5th in the NL in BB), not because they are hitting. With nobody else producing, having your big guys walk a lot isn't necessarily a good thing. Some things have been better than predicted (Davis, Edwards, Jay, Happ), but the 4 key assumptions, which all seemed reasonable at the start of the year, haven't panned out. Hayward is better than the disaster of last year, but he's still lousy at the plate (OPS of .712), while Zobrist has been terrible (OPS of .683). One weird factor this year is they always seem to be playing from behind (allowing lots of first-inning runs), which puts additional pressure on the struggling hitters. Of the key assumptions, I don't see much hope of the starters getting a whole lot better (Lackey seems done, Arrieta is up and down, and they still don't have a decent #5). The other 3 assumptions could still turn around, but there seems to be a lack of urgency, almost a sense of entitlement, with the team this year. On the plus side, they still have a strong young core that will be together for several more years. This may be just "one of those years" that happen to players and teams in baseball.

Recent comments

  • 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

  • crunch (view)

    alzolay...bro...