Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
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

Ward's Dinger Leads Cubs to Victory

Submitted by Arizona Phil on

Daryle Ward hit a PH two-run home run to cap a four-run 4th, as the Cubs defeated the Seattle Mariners 6-4 before a capacity crowd at HoHoKam Field in Mesa this afternoon. Ward was making his 2008 Cactus League debut, after being out of action the past couple of weeks with a sprained butt.

box score

 

Ted Lilly got the start for the Cubs today, and faced what was very close to what likely will be the Mariners regular season starting lineup (the only missing parts being DH Jose Vidro and 3B Adrian Beltre).

The left-hander struggled a bit right at the outset, walking Ichiro on five pitches and giving up a HR just inside the LF foul pole to #2 hitter Yuniesky Betancourt. But then the Tedster settled down and looked VERY sharp, retiring the next nine men he faced, including four on strikes (Richie Sexson, Brad Wilkerson, and Betancourt swinging, and Mike Morse looking).

For the day Lilly, went 3.0 IP, allowing only one hit (the HR), two runs, a walk, and four K. He threw 46 pitches (30 strikes) over the three innings (23 pitches in the 1st inning, and then just 23 pitches combined in the 2nd and 3rd).

Down 2-0, the Cubs came right back in the bottom of the 1st against Mariners starter Carlos Silva with two runs of their own.

Ryan Theriot led-off with a ground single between 1st and 2nd, and then stole second base uncontested. Kosuke Fukudome (still hitting 2nd in the order) worked a walk, and then Derrek Lee lined a misplayed double over a sprawling Brad Wilkerson's head in RF, scoring The Riot and sending Kosuke to 3rd.

Aramis Ramirez--who was making his 2008 Cactus League debut today after missing the last week with a sore shoulder--took a couple of close pitches before drawing a walk, and then the second run scored when Matt Murton grounded into a 4-6-3 DP with the bases loaded.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the 4th, when Matt Murton led off with a ground single to CF. The Cubs then executed a picture-perfect hit & run, as Mike Fontenot grounded a single between 1st and 2nd, with Murton advancing easily to 3rd. Henry Blanco followed with a line single to right-center to score Murton and send Fontenot to 3rd, and then the second run of the inning scored on a 4-6 FC RBI grounder by Felix Pie. And that's when PH Daryle Ward came off the bench to crush his HR over the right-field fence, looking like he hadn't missed any time at all.

After Lilly threw his three innings, Les Walrond needed only eight pitches (seven strikes!?) to work a 1-2-3 4th.

Rookie RHP Tim Lahey worked the 5th inning for the Cubs, and struggled with his control. Throwing 22 pitches (only half for strikes), Lahey walked two before getting the third out. He does not appear to be ready for "prime time."

Neal Cotts pitched next, and bounced-back nicely after a nasty outing his last time on the mound to nail a 1-2-3 6th on just 11 pitches (P-3, F-8, and a K-swinging).

Carmen Pignatiello pitched the 7th (only nine pitches for Tiggy), allowing a double into left-center that Brad Wilkerson tried to stretch into a triple, only to get shot-down at third thanks to two perfect throws, the first being a bullet from Felix Pie to Ryan Theriot, and the second a strong relay from Theriot to 3rd baseman Alex Cintron, who applied the tag on the sliding Wilkerson.

Kevin Hart came on to pitch the 8th, and had a bad outing. He struggled with his control, walking the first hitter, before giving up a rocket shot hit by Bronson Sardinha that caromed off his leg for a single (Hart then threw the ball into RF for an error, allowing the runners to advance to 2nd and 3rd). After taking about four or five warm-up pitches to make sure he was OK, he hit Jeff Clement with an 0-2 pitch, loading the bases with no outs.

Hart was able to get Betancourt out on a sharply-hit RBI grounder to Micah Hoffpauir (unassisted) at 1st, before Manager Lou Piniella decided he better get Hart out of the game so the young right-hander could maybe get some ice on his leg.

LHP Edward Campusano came into the game with the tying run at the plate, one out, and runners on 2nd and 3rd, with the Cubs up 6-3. Facing two left-handed hitters, Campusano gave up a sac fly to CF by Raul Ibanez, before getting Bryan LaHair for the final out of the inning on a grounder to second.

Carlos Marmol worked the 9th, but was not sharp. He threw 27 pitches, and was behind on just about every hitter he faced, giving up a single and a walk, before striking out Sardinha (looking) to end the game. Marmol would have had an even tougher inning, if not for an outstanding diving catch by shortstop Andres Blanco on a line drive that appeared headed for LF.

Besides Ward's HR, Kosuke Fukudome went 1-3 with a breath-taking "hustle" double to left-center in the 3rd (and you could just tell he was going to try for two the second he left the batter's box!), a walk, and a run scored, and Matt Murton played LF and went 2-4 with two singles and a run scored, as Alfonso Soriano remains out of Cactus League game action with a fractured finger.

Tags
Cubs Spring Training

Comments

Submitted by OmarLittle on Fri, 03/07/2008 - 03:05 pm

What chance does Campusano have of making the big club? If memory serves, he was on track to make the Tigers' opening day roster before requiring Tommy John surgery.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 03/07/2008 - 03:21 pm

Omar: If Lou is insistent that he absolutely must have two lefties in the bullpen, then Pignatiello, Cotts, Campusano, and possibly Marshall (if he can even work out of the pen) would be the in-house candidates.

Recent comments

  • Bill (view)

    A good rule of thumb is that if you trade a near-ready high ceiling prospect, you should get at least two far-away high ceiling prospects in return.  Like all rules-of-thumb, it depends upon the specific circumstances, but certainly, we weren't going to get Busch for either prospect alone.

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Right on schedule, just read an article in Baseball America entitled "10 MLB Prospects Outside The Top 100 Who Have Our Attention".  Zyhir Hope was one of the prospects featured. It stated that he's "one of the biggest arrow-up sleeper prospects in the lower levels right now."

     

    Not sharing to be negative about the trade, getting a top 100 prospect who is MLB ready should carry a heavy prospect cost.  But man, Dodger sure are good at identifying and developing young talent. Andrew Friedman seems to have successfully merged Ray's development with Yankees financial might to create a juggernaut of an organization.  

  • 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. 

Click HERE for the last 50 comments