Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

42 players are at MLB Spring Training 

31 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE at MLB Spring Training, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 
11 players are MLB Spring Training NON-ROSTER INVITEES (NRI) 

Last updated 3-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 17
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

NRI PITCHERS: 5 
Colten Brewer 
Carl Edwards Jr 
* Edwin Escobar 
* Richard Lovelady 
* Thomas Pannone 

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

NRI CATCHERS: 2  
Jorge Alfaro 
Joe Hudson 

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

NRI INFIELDERS: 3 
David Bote 
Garrett Cooper
* Dominic Smith

OUTFIELDERS: 5
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

NRI OUTFIELDERS: 1 
* David Peralta

OPTIONED:
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, RHP 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, RHP 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

 



Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Lou Cashes in Bet on Giants

The Cubs drop the finale versus the Giants to split the series and end the homestand at 4-2.

Why the Cubs Lost:  Clearly Lou laid some money on the Giants taking this game, trotting out the entire bench and resting every regular he could. While I'm sure there batting averages appreciated not seeing Tim Lincecum, the paying fans must have thought it was still March and spring training. I'm all for resting the regulars, but maybe Lou would consider spacing it out a bit next time. 

Sean Marshall gave up a three-run homer to Bengie Molina in the first, which probably isn't the strategy you want to employ against Tim Lincecum. He then shut down the worst offense in the league for the next six innings, before the first two runners reached off him in the 8th. Jeff Samardzija proceeded to hit Bengie Molina - Molina's first time reaching base via HBP or BB all year - and then gave up a double to Aaron Rowand who hadn't had a hit in about a week.Then another single on a drawn in infield to Randy Winn before finally retiring Juan Uribe on a popout. After walking Emmanuel Burriss, Lou had seen enough and summoned Neal Cotts who did a much better job than Samardzija of preventing the inherited runners from scoring.

The Good: Marshall looked good from innings two to seven and Neal Cotts took one pitch to get two outs in the 8th. Bobby Scales in his major league debut, got his first hit and almost a second if not for a fine diving play by Winn. Scales also made a few nice plays at second base. Lincecum did retire 11 in a row at one point, but the Cubs did hit a few balls hard at least and were in the game until the pitching imploded in the top of the 8th.

Death Pool:  Probably be Bobby Scales getting sent down to make room for Friday's starter, but don't overlook Jeff Samardzija and his 8.10 ERA heading back to Iowa and someone like Chad Fox getting the call-up.

Tags

Comments

My thought was that Piniella had Lincecum in his 'Season Ending Awards Pool' and is trying to boost his Cy chances. Scales did make what seemed to be a one pretty nice play to his left, but I didn't see where he was positioned.

Do you get that sinking feeling anytime Samardjiza takes the mound? I do. I suppose someone will whip out some stats and tell me how Samardjiza is a closet Cy Young pitcher or something, but no matter. The shark needs a lot of work, in my opinion.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I was thinking the same thing. He is the "Golden Boy" of the GM. Pie that pitches. If this org was the Yankees, Red Sox, Cards, Dodgers, et. al., he would be pitching in the minors until September. "Sammy" had a little run last season, but man, I do not believe he is close to being ready for Prime Time. Fuck you Hendry!

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Minor league stats for a guy who's game is in-progress of changing is useless anyway...especially for a guy who has already established his fastball(s) and can crutch on them as plus pitches to create outs in between the stuff he's working on. ...saw a lot more sliders outta ninja this go around compared to last year in the bigs. not seeing as many changeups, but he never threw a lot of those anyway.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

You know, when I first saw him pitch, a couple years ago in ST I thought his best pitch was a 2-seamer with some wild movement. I'm not sure if Cub's coaching is trying to get him away from that or if he just hasn't harnessed it into a pitch he can consistently throw for strikes, but I think he should go with it. Armando Galarraga is making a fine living on 2-seamers and sliders.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

he's got his 2-4 seamers in mlb-condition, imo... he's been battling with the changeup/slider for a 3rd pitch that's worth a damn. he needs to actually know when to use it, too, independent of what coaches/catchers call. even the sliders i've seen lately have been going in heavy disproportion to guys who have a history of not being able to hit them well. it seems his slider is currently the "3rd pitch in favor" compared to the change, though.

The SFG's took advantage of Marshall's rep for fielding also, and bunted or attempted to bunt a lot early. Maybe the speedy Lou Crew should have followed suit. They were good at running the count, though, but struck out on ball four nasty-slider a number of times. DLee hit the wall with a liner double to left, that was as close as there was to a home homer.

The E-Man, last thread, pre-game: "Looks like Marshall will be the 2009 tough-luck pitcher." Yep. ding...ding...ding... Sean Marshall has one mistake, and is beat by it on this day facing Cy Young II. So far in April and early May: Cards - Wainwright, 7-4L (the Bradley Game), 5IP 3R Cards - Boggs (ok, NOT an Ace yet), 8-2L, 6IP, 3R Fish - Volsted, 8-2L, 7IP, 1RUN! Giants - Lincicum, 6-2L, 7.1IP, 5R It does not help matters that the team has the least productive offense in the NL. Not a good trend, folks.

Anyone seen Greg Reinhard pitch at Iowa? His numbers up until the end of last season were nothing to write home about, but he has been impressive at Iowa - especially in the early going this year. What does he feature? I also see that he runs his own baseball camps in the offseason, so he must have a pretty good knowledge of the game. Thanks.

Anybody know what has gotten into Chris Robinson? He's hitting over .380 at Iowa and went 3-4 with three doubles today. Isn't he the defensive minded catcher we received from the Tigers for NEIFI! PEREZ a couple years ago?

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

I've never seen anyone hit groundballs at a rate that he does - partially probably because I look at major league hitters and guys who project to be MLB hitters. There is also, though, the Ozzie Smith principle of hitting. If you have the athletic ability and hand eye coordination to be a superior defender, you probably have the potential to be a useful hitter, given enough work, and time. Ozzie is probably the most famous example, but Soto and Yadier Molina are another two recent guys I can think of.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

You seem to determine catcher's defensive ability solely by their CS rates. You seem to make a lot of assumptions about what people think, when it isn't at all what they said. I think that Pudge is excellent against the running game, and very good at blocking the ball. And significantly better than Soto defensively. But the bigger question, and back to the main point, is if Soto is really a "superior defender." And I have seen nothing that makes me think so. Is he adequate? Absolutely, but I also don't see him winning gold gloves any time soon either.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Soto has a hurt shoulder. Right now I would take Soto over a young Rodriguez for blocking balls and performing other catching duties (blocking home, backing up 1st). Is in in Molina's class? No. But back to the bigger question. Why was Soto promoted to AA after he had that .629 OPS in high A? I used Soto as an example because 1. He's on the Cubs and 2. he's a recent example we're familiar with. The difference gap between Soto and Pudge defensively is much closer than the gap between Pudge and Ozzie. But I can see you're going all Rainman again, so I'll quit talking to a wall. Maybe you can chase me away like you did that poor guy who suggested there was upside to the Gathright signing...

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Crunch: "because he had a .892628936896 BIBIP?" Classic...:) But as someone who has worked in the front office of a AA minor league baseball team I have seen catchers moved up or down needless of what their stats are. It is the most fickle position in the minors and sometimes they have an injury and just need a body. Not saying this is what happened to Soto, but saying that could be why he got promoted.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Soto has a hurt shoulder. I am aware of that. Right now I would take Soto over a young Rodriguez Okay... I wouldn't. Why was Soto promoted to AA after he had that .629 OPS in high A? Because the Cubs saw something - I have no idea what that is, and neither do you. But I don't ever recall anyone talking about him being a superior defender. And I haven't seen anything from his performance in the bigs to thing that he is a superior defender. Maybe you can chase me away I wish... can you make it so? that poor guy who suggested there was upside to the Gathright signing. Yea... heaven forbid that I ask someone what they see in Gathright, and ask them to back up what they are saying. Because you never do that.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

No, you hypocritical jackass. By all means ask, just don't do it repeatedly, like four or five times like that fat lady from 2 Weeks Notice demanding "What baby!?" We know there's one guy you and your neurosis permantly chased from TCR. Who's mine? And yes, I am sure that I am the only one who heard that Soto played good defense, which is why he consistently got promoted and added to the 40 man roster. It was all a big consiparcy so that you and "nelson cruz can't hit big league pitching" crunch could come by 4 years later and could try to derail a discussion in some sad little attempt to prove me wrong. But please, continue, don't let facts and history interrupt your diatribe. It's quite amusing. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/features/04top10s/cubs.html Oh yeah, but you guys know more than the Cubs brass and professional scouts, I forget. When Geovany Soto gets his third passed ball this year, that will give him as many as Pudge had in his first half year in the bigs. So, all we have is scouting reports, logic and statistics on my side. What have you got on yours again? Oh yeah, unfounded opinion.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

No, you hypocritical jackass. Ouch... a personal attack from Real Neal. That hurts. And yes, I am sure that I am the only one who heard that Soto played good defense Ooh... please point out where I said that you were the only one who heard that. And please point out where I said that Soto wasn't good defensively. Oh yeah, but you guys know more than the Cubs brass You have absolutely no clue why the Cubs moved up Soto... can't you just admit that? When Geovany Soto gets his third passed ball this year, that will give him as many as Pudge had in his first half year in the bigs. You seem to determine catcher's defensive ability solely by their passed ball rates. And the ironic thing is that I think Soto is actually quite good at blocking the ball. So, all we have is scouting reports, logic and statistics on my side Actually... you have one scouting report, that shows that Soto was ranked as the best defensive catcher in the Cubs system. Which, of course, is different than Soto being a superior defender, but thats okay. You also have one stat. Passed balls. But hey... who's counting? Look... I never said that Soto was a bad defensive catcher. I simply questioned whether he really was a "superior defender," as you stated. And I still question that. And you have still yet to show that he IS a superior defender. Your "evidence" is that he was ranked the best Cubs defensive catcher once, and he has less passed balls than Pudge did early in Pudge's career. Awesome.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

We know there's one guy you and your neurosis permantly chased from TCR. Who's mine? Ha... this is actually really, really hilariously funny. You think that I ran off Matt Jacobs? You have absolutely no clue what you are talking about. Matt is a contributor and commenter at VFTB, where I also occasionally write. I get along very well with Matt. Joe Aiello is the main writer over there. Back in January, he decided to close VFTB and start writing here, at TCR. Matt came with him and started commenting here. When Joe decided that TCR wasn't for him, he went back and started up VFTB again. Matt went with him. But gsure, o ahead and think that I ran that "poor guy" out of here. You are absolutely clueless.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

There might be something to him. His career minor league numbers are 59.9% GB and a .353 BABIP. Compare to a guy like Colvin, for example, who is at just 44% but only .317. So .417 is really high, but he seems to have a track record of being pretty successful BABIP-wise while still hitting the ball on the ground a ton.

On the former Cub watch: Donald Corey Patterson is batting .137 for the Syracuse Chiefs (Washington Nats AAA team), with an .087 BA over the last 10 games. Overall, 51 AB, 7 H, 1 2B, 0 HR, 14 K's. Oh, how the mightily hyped have fallen.

Will Carroll from BP: As expected, Zambrano went to the DL with his strained hamstring. All of the news wasn't terrible, as the team acknowledged that they were doing it to keep Zambrano from pushing himself, and wanting to prevent him from any of the injury cascades we saw him endure last season. He's not expected to miss much more than the minimum, which would slot him back into the rotation on May 19 or thereabouts. Given what we know about the strain, called a Grade I+; that's reasonable, and he shouldn't have any recurrence. Chris De Luca from Sun-Times: Zambrano, the first Cub to appear on the disabled list this season, began rehabilitating his strained left hamstring by playing catch with strength coach Tim Buss and throwing briefly off the mound. Zambrano is expected to be on the shelf for two to three weeks. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1559812,CST-SPT-cubnt06.ar… also from the st article...shark staying in the bullpen (not spot starting). Actually, it sounds like there are cornfields in his future. --- The right-hander needs much more polish before manager Lou Piniella will consider him for starting duty -- much less a pressure situation in relief. ''He needs to work on his second and third pitches,'' Piniella said. ''It's hard to pitch up here with a fastball only.''

In some good news: Vitters hit his second home run in a Peoria win to get his slugging up to a respectable .451 Colvin went 2-4 with a triple in Daytona's game, which they won 3-0. The closer David Cales now has 2 wins, 4 saves and a 0.77 ERA despite some lackluster periphials. The Smokies got stomped, but Thomas and Barney both got hits and their BA's are both about .330. Dubois has now passed Fox for the Iowa batting average lead at .396, and he hasn't struck out too much 9 times in 48 at bats, but a mere 3 HR's.

Bobby Scales interview on WSCR... they'll probably post the Mp3 in a little while as they usually do with interviews. I highly recommend giving it a listen. "I just want to become a non-story." How can you not love this guy?

It appears that the Pirates intend to keep Donald Veal on their 25-man roster for the entire 2009 season, even if he never pitches in another MLB game this year...

link

If they are going to do this, the Bucs probably would be better off sending Veal to their EXST team in Florida occasionally to get some actual game work, though.

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

I just noticed his innings pitched the other day and wondered if he was hurt or what. I've been looking forward to getting him back if only because it eliminates the possibility he could figure something out while over there and piss me off for the next six years. But if he's not going to pitch, how's he going to figure anything out? If I were the Pirates, I might just put him in the starting rotation and figure, hey, we're going to lose a lot of games anyway. Of course, that might not be good for his psyche.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Isnt that pretty much what the Tigers did a few years ago with their young pitchers? One of them (Bonderman maybe?) I think set the record for most losses in a season. But, they got their reps against major league hitters and then went to the World Series shortly after. I think it's really not a bad strategy if you know you're going to suck. Might as well have your prospects learning against the best competition rather than stagnating against guys with mostly no shot at the bigs.

Peoria socking the ball today. 12 hits from first five slots in the batting order, including 6 XBH's. Vitters has his third HR, Junior Lake his first.

I'm going to see Peoria Friday night when they come to play our Fort Wayne Tincaps. What should I look for?

[ ]

In reply to by Thisistheyear

...infatuation with Pat Venditte? --- Not me. I had heard of this guy quite a while ago but don't remember posting anything original. Think I saw a video where a switch hitting batter was playing cat and mouse until the ump told one of them they could only switch once (not even sure about that). The article above clears that up: Minor league umps now have the Venditte Rule: At the start of an at-bat, the pitcher must declare his throwing arm, then the hitter can pick his side, with each man able to switch once. Might be interesting to see how they make him a custom glove for both hands though.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

Picking your battles like Lou did yesterday, I understand. I don't like this sacrificial game strategy, but I understand it. My biggest problem was in the 7th inning, down only 3-2, why concede the game by putting Samardjiza on the mound? With Marmol and Gregg unavailable or whatever I get it that someone had to pitch, but Samardjiza taking the mound was a downgrade to even a winded Sean Marshall. Not sure... I just think games like this hurt morale. Then again I haven't managed a team to the world series, so I could be wrong about all this. I guess it's good that our Sean Marshall plus our B-squad nearly beat Lincecum, but I think to have a serious shot should the Cubs make the playoffs they'll need to make a move for middle relief. Chad Fox, as much as I like the guy, won't cut it.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Well, I agree that Chad Fox likely won't cut it, but I don't believe it has anything to do with how he pitches when healthy. I think he could definitely help the bullpen if he can somehow manage to keep that arm attached to his body. He has been healthy so far down in AAA, so why not have those numbered days come with the Cubs? At some point, you have to find someone else to do his, job, because he is going to break down, but I think he is easily the best answer to do it until that happens...

[ ]

In reply to by Jace

I think it's too early to freak out about the bullpen, in general. Smardijzai shouldn't have been called up in the first place, so it doesn't bother me that they send him down and replace him with a guy who, at times, has been able to get out ML hitters. If the bullpen is struggling at the end of the month, think about making some trades, but the farm system isn't really overflowing and do we want to blow our limited prospects and budget on 2 guys who are going to pitch maybe 40 innings each? I think there's enought talent between AA and the majors to get the job done.

Haven't seen anything, anywhere about Fox getting called up...

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    SF snags b.snell...2/62m

  • Cubster (view)

    AZ Phil: THAT is an awesome report worth multiple thanks. I’m sure it will be worth reposting in an “I told you so” in about 2-3 years.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The actual deadline to select a post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agent signed to 2024 minor league contract (Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta) to the MLB 40-man roster is not MLB Opening Day, it is 12 PM (Eastern) this coming Sunday (3/24). 

    However, the Cubs could notify the player prior to the deadline that the player is not going to get added to the 40 on Sunday, which would allow the player to opt out early. Otherwise the player can opt out anytime after the Sunday deadline (if he was not added to the 40 by that time). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024: 

    * bats or throws left 

    Angel Cepeda, INF 
    * Miguel Cruz, P
    Yidel Diaz, C 
    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
    Fraiman Marte, P  
    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

    And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.

    Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect. 

    F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season. 

    The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically. 

    Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).

    Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day. 

    Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.

    The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required. 

    They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).

    If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.

    If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil, 
    Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
    If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!  

    And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).