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

Dodger First-baseman Performs "A Salute to Bill Buckner" at Sloan Park

Pinch-runner Roberto Caro scampered home from second base with the game-winning run on an E-3 (ground ball scooted through first-baseman's legs in classic Bill Buckner fashion) with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, as the AZL Cubs edged the AZL Dodgers 2-1 in Arizona League action Wednesday night at Sloan Park In Mesa, AZ. 

LHP Manny Rondon (acquired from the Los Angeles Angels for catcher Rafael Lopez last month) got the start for the Cubs and had his third strong outing in a row, hurling five innings of two-hit one-run ball (unearned run). The 20-year old 6'1 165 lanky Venezuelan lefty issued no walks and struck out three, with a 6/5 GO/FO (including one GIDP), and he threw 72% strikes (well above-average).  

Rondon usually throws his fastball at 91-93 MPH, but he was working consistently at 94 MPH in his last outing versus his ex-Angel teammates, mixing the fastball with a hard-breaking curve and an occasional change-up.   

MANNY RONDON LAST THREE OUTINGS:
14.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R (3 ER), 3 BB, 11 K, 1 HBP, 2 GIDP, 12/14 GO/FO  

6'5 RHP Luis Hernandez worked the final two innings for the Cubs and was absolutely dominating, mixing a mid-90's heater with a breaking ball he was able to consistently throw for strikes, and allowing just an opposite-field bloop single while strikimg out six (in fact all six outs he recorded were by strikeout). Hernandez was shut-down in Minor League Camp and missed Extended Spring Training, returning to the mound for the AZL Cubs in June after being out of action for three months. His fastball velocity has jumped about 3-4 MPH since his return (he used to throw 91-92 and occasionally touched 93, now he throws 94-96).    

Ben Carhart (on Myrtle Beach 7-day DL) continued his AZL rehab, playing third-base for six innings and going 1-3 at the plate (a 5-3 GO, a FC-E5, and a single). In four AZL games, Carhart has played 1st base once, catcher once, DH once, and 3rd base once, which is pretty much everything he does in his role as a C-1B-3B at Myrtle Beach. Carhart is valuable because of his versatility, but also because he is a great mentor to his younger teammates. He looks to be about ready to rejoin the Pelicans.   

Here is the abridged box score frrom Wednesday night's game (AZL Cubs players only): 

AZL CUBS LINEUP:
1. Robert Garcia, RF: 0-4 (BB, 3-U, F-9, 6-3, E-3, SB)
2. D. J. Wilson, CF: 0-4 (K, E-1, 4-3, 4-3)
3a. Ben Carhart, 3B: 1-3 (5-3, FC+E5, 1B)
3b. P. J. Higgins, PR-3B: 1-1 (1B)
4. Jose Paniagua, 1B: 0-4 (K, 6-4-3 DP, 4-3, K)
5. Michael Foster, LF:  0-3 (BB, K, K, F-8, R)
6. Angelo Amendolare, 2B: 1-3 (1B, BB, F-8, 6-3)
7. Andruw Monasterio, SS: 0-4 (F-8, 6-3, 5-3, 5-3)
8a. Donnie Cimino, DH: 0-3 (P-4, K, 3-U, BB)
8b. Roberto Caro, PR: NO AB (R) 
9. Tyler Payne, C: 1-3 (K, 6-3, 1B, BB)

AZL CUBS PITCHERS
1. Manny Rondon: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 3 K, 1 GIDP, 6/5 GO/FO, 50 pitches (36 strikes) 
2. Jordan Brink: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1/1 GO/FO, 16 pitches (11 strikes)
3. John Williamson: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 1/2 GO/FO, 11 pitches (6 strikes) 
4. Luis Hernandez: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 24 pitches (19 strikes)

AZL CUBS ERRORS: 2
1. RF Robert Garcia: E-9 (three base fielding error on infield single allowed batter to circle bases & score)
2. 2B Angelo Amendolare: E-4 (two-base throwing error allowed batter to reach 2nd base safely) 



 


Comments

One of my favorite players, and a fielding gaffe is named after him. Sigh. I saw him autographing for fans in spring training. He still looked a little sad.

On a separate note related to the Rondon mention above, it seems like the Cubs are expending quite a bit of energy lately trying to collect some good young arms. If they succeed, it's not impossible to imagine the Dyn... word someday being used for this team. Of course, they gotta get to the playoffs for that first time, first.

Recent comments

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Yeah I am very disappointed Madrigal is starting. He has no business as a starter. He is AAA insurance, a back up at best. Sure his defense looks fine because he plays far enough in that his noodle arm isn’t totally exposed. It comes at the cost of 3B range.

    He’s garbage, and a team serious about winning would NOT have him starting opening day.

  • crunch (view)

    in other news, it took 3 PA before a.rizzo got his 1st HBP of the season.

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • 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.