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

Cubs Youngsters Show Flash of Future at Fitch Park

Playing in front of his family visiting from South Korea, 18-year old bonus baby Hak-Ju Lee ripped a three-run inside-the-park home run to key a four-run 7th, but the Cubs couldn't hold the lead, as the EXST Angels rallied to tie the EXST Cubs 5-5 in Memorial Day Extended Spring Training holiday action at Fitch Park Field #3 this morning. in hot & sunny Mesa, AZ.  

The Cubs got off to a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st when Jericho Jones bounced a single through the infield to score Logan Watkins from 2nd base. 

Meanwhile, 18-year old Dominican LHP Jeffry Antigua and 19-year old Venezuelan RHP (and Carlos Zambrano clone) Larry Suarez were mowing down the Angels hitters, combining to throw six shutout innings, allowing just three hits and no walks over the six frames, while striking out 11. 

The Cubs then plated their four-spot in the bottom of the 7th.

Jericho Jones led-off the inning with his second hit of the game, a ground single to RF. Juan Medina followed with a line drive single to CF, sending Jones to 2nd. Then with the Angels expecting a bunt (and defending the expected sac-bunt with the "wheel-play"), Jose Valdez crossed 'em up and hit-away, chopping a single over 2nd base into centerfield, scoring Jones and sending Medina to 2nd. 

Lee was next, lining a fastball over the centerfielder's head to the batter's eye in dead center, and then high-tailing it around the bases to score (sliding) across home plate, just barely beating the relay throw from the Angels shortstop.

Fortunately Dusty Baker wasn't present to see it, because lead-footed catcher Juan Medina was the lead runner at 2nd base, and he really clogged the bases, as Valdez and Lee (essentially half a 440 relay team) almost ran up Medina's ass before Medina could score, with Hak-Ju rounding third before Medina could cross the plate, and Valdez having to put on the brakes and slow down to avoid passing Medina between third and home. With a more-timely relay by the Angels, all three of the Cubs very well might have been thrown out at the plate on the same play.

In Fitch Park Alumni news, the Cincinnati Reds acquired LHP Mark Pawelek from the St. George Roadrunners of the independent Golden Baseball League for ca$h con$iderations this past Friday. 

As most of you probably know, Pawelek was the Cubs 1st round round draft pick ($1.5M+ bonus) in 2005 after setting all kinds of high school pitching records in Utah. but he was unable to move forward with the Cubs over four frustrating seasons, finally getting released during the last week of Minor League Camp this past March when the Cubs decided he just wasn't getting anywhere. 

While Pawelek has seemingly struggled with his command more and more every year since signing with the Cubs, he is only 21, he has a clean medical history, and he throws a 93 MPH four-seam fastball and a hard-slider that breaks into the back foot of right-handed hitters. It will be interesting to see how Pawelek fares after getting a second chance with a different organization.

Here is today's abridged box score (Cubs players only):

LINEUP:

1. Francisco Guzman, CF:  0-5  (4-3, F-8, 5-3, 3-1, K)
2. Logan Watkins, 2B-SS:  1-4  (1B, K, L-5, E-6 - 1 R, 1 SB)
3. John Contreras, C-3B:  0-4  (5-3,. E-5, K, L-6 - 1 SB)
4. Jericho Jones, 1B:  2-3  (1B, HBP, 1B, F-9 - 1 R, 1 RBI)
5. Juan Medina, DH-C:  1-4  (1-3, F-7, 1B, F-7 - 1 R)
6. Jose Valdez, LF: 1-4  (4-3, 5-3, 1B, 3-1 - 1 R, 1 RBI)
7. Hak-Ju Lee, SS-DH:  2-4  (K, 1B, HR, F-7 - 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 SB)
8. Sean Hoorelbeke, DH #2:  0-4  (K, F-8, 6-3, 5-3)
9. Jesus Morelli, RF:  1-3  (1B, HBP, 5-3, K - 1 CS)
10. Jose Made, 3B-2B:  1-4  (K, 2-3, K, 1B - 1 SB)

PITCHERS:
1. Jeffry Antigua - 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 2/1 GO/FO
2. Larry Suarez - 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 2/2 GO/FO
3. Josh Lansford - 2.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, (2 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 1 GIDP, 3/2 GO/FO
4. Cedric Redmond - 2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 4 K, 1 WP, 1/1 GO/FO

ERRORS: (2)
1. 2B Jose Made dropped ball (E-4) while attempting to tag baserunner on run-down play between 2nd and 3rd, allowing runner to get back safely to 2nd base.
2. SS Logan Watkins bobbled potential DP ground ball (E-6), allowing batter to reach base safely, eventually leading to two unearned runs scoring (including the tying run).  

CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Juan Medina - 0-3 CS

WEATHER: Hot & sunny, temperature in the 90's.

ATTENDANCE: 33 people, three dogs, and a couple of dozen pigeons.

Comments

Hey Phil - I'm doing something with catchers in the Cubs organization. Any way you can rank the five that are in EST (John Contreras, Matt Cerda, Jose Guevara, Alvara Sosa, and Juan Medina) in regards to defense, offense, and overall potential? Also, any hunches on where they will end up when EST ends? Thanks in advance. P.S. Are you sure you weren't counting some people twice? 33 in attendance! Wow!

at least the offense woke up... har har...sigh.

AZ PHIL: You were so RIGHT about this being a "long season". I am so bummed. ROB G said this is 2004 redux - good team on paper. I'm thinking 2006, with a good pitching staff. If Neal Cotts is not sent to the minors after tonight, Jim and Lou are bigger dumb bells then I already think they are.

Thanks for your continued reporting, AZ PHIL! As for tonight's Cubs game, I am choosing to be optimistic about it. I didn't watch the game, but a few positive and/or non-neutral things I will take from it: 1. FINALLY FUCKING SCORED RUNS. If tonight's game means Milton Bradley starts hitting, then fucking Hallelujah. Also, Theriot's three hits hopefully means he's out of his own slump. 2. SEVEN Bases on Balls. This is the most number of walks in a game since....uh...? 3. Dempster will not always pitch this poorly-- especially on a night when apparently Bob Davidson was squeezin' the zone. 4. Neil Cotts blew that game and we already ALL knew that he sucks and will likely not be around much longer. 5. Patterson pitched two scoreless innings! We WILL beat Ian Snell on Tuesday. Mark it down.

I guess I'm disappointed, but not that much. Admittedly, it's a horrible bad streak that we are on. That said, it's not like the competition in the division was a shock out of LF. The Cardinals and Brewers both looked real solid if certain things fell their way. The Cardinals main issue was to sort out their pitching, otherwise known as keeping Chris Carpenter healthy. I thought Gallardo would be a rock, but didn't really expect Dave Bush's solid start. The Reds had been hyped up as a sleeper all offseason (although I still have my doubts about their youth/veteran mix being a good mix for this year). All three teams have systems that will allow them to make moves, if they so desire (although with Mozeliak, seeing is believing, and with the Brewers, they might have to get creative). As for the Cubs, I can't say the areas that have struggled are all that stunning. The bullpen was somewhat iffy entering the year. The known warts were there. The rotation was a little overhyped, as regression from a guy like Dempster should've been expected. Offensive inconsistency is a hallmark of this squad due to the way it's been constructed at the top. Add in the injuries, some individual struggles, and playing .500ish ball - well, I'm not that down yet. I'm cautiously optimistic in some ways. I think the BP will sort itself out/is in the process of it, as Jose Ascanio/Angel Guzman could add the options late. This could help lessen the workload of Marmol and prevent a Samardzija call up that doesn't have Shark pitching in critical innings (I'm not against callinig Shark up for late inning pen duties, but mop up stuff or random stuff, I'd be annoyed with.) I think we saw signs of Lee snapping out of it a little bit, and Bradley's too talented to stay this bad. Aramis will be back at some point, and I think the addition of Freel makes our bench more versatile. I think the rotation will get better as it gets healthy. Our system is looking a bit better, IMO, particularly with arms that look to be developing. Still ... this is a team that should be shopping at midseason, assuming Crane Kenney was honest when he said we had budgetary room (Al Yellon had an interview with Crane that suggested that, IIRC). The ideal scenario is the next to impossible dream - finding a leadoff option to bump Soriano down to reshape things. I wouldn't haphazardly drop Soriano down, but if a solid guy was there, that'd be the dream, but I'm also not sure that Lou would definitely drop Soriano down. I'm actually not against Fukudome moving to leadoff if he maintains his performance. The other warts that could use a midseason look, as of right now, are all fairly clear. If Fontenot doesn't turn it around, a middle infielder could be looked at. I like DeRosa, and I'm sure there will be clamoring for him if he's shopped, but I wouldn't go too hard. At the right price, sure, but with Freel in place as a versatile option, the need isn't as heavy for DeRosa's versatility. If a shortstop popped on the market, the idea of Theriot to 2nd could be pondered, but that's a bit unlikely. I doubt anyone in the system would be pondered (really, the only option would be Tony Thomas, but he probably needs the full year in the minors, and should probably start 2010 in the minors). If we do pursue a 2nd baseman, I would like a guy that could hit in the 2 hole. Fukudome's fine at the top, but if can stay a solid hitter, I wouldn't mind sliding him down to the 6th spot to give the 5th hitter some protection (I imagine that Lou will have Aramis there in his return, but who knows). Of course, if Fontenot can be the player that some Cubs fans envisioned based off last year, then we'd be alright. Or, we could pursue a 2nd baseman that can be a solid 6th option that protects the middle of the order. I'm no sabrmetrician, but it looks like some bad luck has befallen Fontenot, but also that he's hammering the ball into the ground a lot more. A lefty pen arm is certainly a need, as Cotts, nothing personal to him, is atrocious. Even if Marshall moves to the pen, I wouldn't mind adding another lefty. The only two system options that seem possible right now would be Lambert and Gaub. Getting back to Fukudome - I can't help to be a bit concerned. He's taken a dip in production of late, and after last year, little things tend to get the attention. I think it's just a slump, which had to happen after his insane start. Here's hoping, at least. To be honest, I don't love the construction of the bench. Hoff/Freel/Hill are fine. I like Johnson and Miles, but ideally, I'd like to see a better pinch runner off the bench and a righty bat with some pop off the bench. That's me, but I think those two assets would balance out a solid pen. I understand having Reed Johnson around, as he's the righty bat to Fukudome and he's a capable enough offensive player. With Freel here, I don't see the point of Miles to be honest. I'm not against pursuing a SP upgrade if Harden and Z are back and dealing, but I think it has to be at the right price.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    LHP Blake Weiman appears to have been the last cut from the AAA Iowa roster. He is with the Tennessee group at Minor League Camp.

     

  • crunch (view)

    bruce bochy is hobbling rather badly for a guy who's had 2 hip replacements.  his gait is extremely wonky taking the lineup card to the ump.

  • crunch (view)

    yeah, for me this isn't about who's better at 3rd.  it's madrigal, period.  for me it's about who's not hitting in the lineup because madrigal is in the lineup.

    occasional play at 3rd for madrigal, okay.  going with the steele/ground-ball matchup...meh, but okay, whatever.

    seeing madrigal get significant starting time...no thanks.

  • 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.