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

Chicago Cubs: things that cancel each other out.

Whenever I eat a bag of chips, I get that guilt feeling that comes from years of being told that stuff my mom used to put in my lunch bag is really bad for me.

So I eat an apple, and the whole deal evens out.

It's like no harm no foul, or something.

Okay, maybe not totally, but you know what I'm saying.

Take a look at these Cubs and apply the same thinking. 

Alfonso Soriano has committed some of the worst errors in left field that I've ever seen committed in the Bigs.
On the other hand, he's made some spectacular throws from that corner.

Carlos Marmol has come into some tight games and proceeded to hit batters, walk batters, have batters stand with their bats on their shoulders til Carlos can get one over.
Gives me the worst kind of heart attacks - the bottom of the 9th is no time for this stuff.
On the other hand, 138 strikeouts last year.
One hundred and thirty eight.
Best in the majors by 26.
Honestly, Marmol's one of those players who's becoming so breathtaking to watch, if something bad happens it's totally no big deal.
He'll be reaching some kind of God-like status if he keeps up the good part. 

You could invest in this new "6-Pack" ticket idea at Wrigley, and I guess the Saturday Yankee game would cancel out the Diamondbacks at 1:20 on a Tuesday. 
Oh but wait, you gotta buy Padres, Marlins, and Nats too. Plus the Astros. I guess this one's just a kinda-cancellation.

There's Starlin Castro with the million errors, but on the other hand the range, the athleticism, the effort, the youth...

The loss of D Lee and his gold glove at first, but also the new (though not as often) gold glove from Carlos Pena.

Koyie Hill with no ability to hit the ball whatsoever, but then the... oh wait. 
He really can't do anything. 

I guess some things just can't cancel out.

Comments

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/11/padres-harang-homing-ret… You can start with a Petco Park marathon. On May 25, 2008, three days after throwing 103 pitches, Harang threw 63 pitches and four shutout relief innings in an eventual 12-9, 18-inning loss to the Padres. Four days later he made his regular start and exited after getting shelled for 10 hits and six runs in four innings. The pitch total: 239 in eight days. Harang was 2-6 with a 3.50 ERA before the relief appearance. He was 4-11 with a 5.88 ERA after that game. He spent a 28-day stint on the disabled list that summer with a strained forearm. “What it did,” said Harang, “is fatigue me beyond the point of recovery. I started to change my arm angle to compensate for the fatigue and that’s when my forearm started to bother me.”

lulz...glanville... http://wap.mlb.com/news/article/2011021216625332/ --- Former big league outfielder Doug Glanville -- who began playing Strat-O-Matic at age 6 -- said that he considered showing up on one of the game's cards as a huge rite of passage. Glanville said that he's played Strat-O-Matic for more than three decades, and he can still remember what it was like to treasure the cards as if they were something valuable. "People borrowed our cards, and I wanted people to take care of them," said Glanville, recalling a simpler time. "I remember being very offended because someone spilled grape juice on somebody. ... Another guy came in and there were teeth marks on it and he said the dog got to it. I said, 'That's Ron Guidry, man. Your dog cannot eat Ron Guidry."

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

agreed...and the next person that compares it to "theatre of the absurd" insulting the name of andy kaufman is gonna get a beatdown. i don't care if they're the nicest and most humble guys in hollywoodland...they're a 1-trick pony and their trick is wearing too much makeup, making awkward faces at their audience, and fumbling through their "act." i blame bob odenkirk for continuously funneling them television work...they've infected almost every part of Adult Swim lately, down to the sketchy "humor" in the station bumps during commercial breaks. i'd totally catch a felony if i ever met them. i'd expect medals and a parade afterward, too.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Whoa: Re Hall and Oates - I wrote music for radio and TV for over ten years and at least recognize song-writing craft. You may not like them, but honestly - if you removed your subjective analysis from the equation, they are prolific song writers (or at least Daryll Hall is). Any writing team that has had that many hits and have sold millions of records, have had their shit covered by other artists, you have to give them their props if you know anything about the artistic process. It is the same way I feel about Elton John, or Billy Joel. I don't care for them much, but respect the shit out of what they have done with their careers and how their songs have endured over 30-year+ careers. You and I should be so fortunate.

"[Hill] really can't do anything." Mark Riggins obviously has strong opinions about catchers--
"The catchers are the ones calling the signs and setting up (for location) and hopefully they’re on the same page with the pitcher. The catcher has to know what he’s doing. You have to have the right catcher out there or he will really mess up the pitcher."
--so if Hill makes the team, it will likely be with Riggins' approval. It will probably have something to do with the pitches Hill calls and the way he sets up. He also throws out more runners than Soto, 28% to 25% over their careers. Everybody knows Hill can't hit, so he must earn his keep some other way. I don't think he's Hendry's illegitimate son. I guess I get annoyed when other people talk about Hill the way I talk about Fukudome. But Hill is a veteran grinder who is just trying to grab a couple of seasons of paychecks near the ML minimum. I admire that.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

Hill will be gone in 2012 anyway. The grooming of his replacement--and maybe also Soto's--is almost finished. Castillo had something of a breakout year, power-wise, in 2010, with 13 HRs and 59 RBI in 239 ABs. If he continues to hit HRs in Iowa this season, he could replace Hill during the season. Castillo throws out 40% of runners (at least in the minors). 28 to 25 is not decisive, and Soto's bad shoulder cost him two-and-a-half career percentage points last season; but most ML catchers throw better than he does--and also better than Hill. Here are some NL CS numbers for 2010: Y. Molina .485 M. Olivo (107 GS for COL) .423 R. Martin .386 B. Posey .371 Y. Torrealba .367 H. Quintero (74 GS for HOU) .352 I. Rodriguez .344 R. Hernandez (85 GS for CIN) .340 J. Lucroy (74 GS for MIL) .315 R. Paulino .312 M. Montero (75 GS for ARI) .309 B. McCann .300 N. Hundley (73 GS for SD) .293 C. Ruiz .286 G. Soto .221 K. Hill (60 GS for CHC) .178 G. Kottaras (60 GS for MIL) .164 R. Doumit .122 Soto's CS number was .280 in a healthy year, 2009.

Can we watch Max Ramirez hit in Arizona before we give the backup job to Hill for certain? Please? Koyie Hill is the latest version of Lenny Harris, Jose Macias, Aaron Miles, et al., the bench player that everyone but the Cubs can see doesn't belong in the majors because they can't hit. Yet the Cubs maddeningly continue to trot the guy out there, soaking up useless at-bats, unnecessarily costing the team a couple of WAR per year. Frustrating to say the least.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Fair enough. She did manage to splatter a large number of good quotes into that piece, I'll give you that. But come on, if you're going to write: "Quade guided the Cubs to a 24-13 record after he took over for Lou Piniella. But when "Q" replaced Lou on Aug. 23, the Cubs were 21 1/2 games back. Now, Quade starts fresh, yet has had six weeks to make the transition easier." then you have to continue using "Q" to refer to him. Otherwise it's pointless to point out the nickname. You only do it in quotes once to indicate it as such, then you continue without the quotes. She uses "Q" only that one time. I'm getting fucking tired of seeing "Q" in quotation marks by these shitty journalists. We fucking get it! His nickname is "Q". It's fucking clever. Congratulations. Now use the fucking thing or stop pointing it out.

Silva out of workouts today with 103 fever (per Sully tweet) anything to get out of work? took his temp between toes while wearing hunting socks? Silva's motto: feed a fever, starve a cold

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 10:20pm. im more impressed he should be around 35 years old before he gets his MLB service time for free agency. =p ================================ CRUNCH: Angel Guzman was a minor league FA after getting outrighted last October, so he did have the opportunity to leave as a free-agent if he had wanted to try his luck elsewhere. But Gooz really likes playing for the Cubs, and nobody is better with the younger players at Fitch Park than he is. He's always telling jokes and keeping everybody loose, and he sometimes cooks meals for the guys, too. He's a really good cook.

24 yr old Mark Sanchez "hooked up" with a 17 yr old girl, per Deadspin -- http://deadspin.com/#!5755011/the-somewhat-romantic-story-of-mark-sanch… Is there something about the NY Jets? Sanchez with a 17 yr old, Cromartie with his multiple children of the same age by different women, Rex Ryan with his foot fetish and offering up his wife for group sex on swingers' web sites, the rude comments with Ines Sainz. Brother. After a while, it just begins to feel icky. edit - Sorry about the link. It says here that Web page addresses turn into links automatically, but it's not happening.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I wonder if he traveled with her if that could become a crime, i.e., having sex with a minor even though in NY she's legal. --- Back to Pujols, I still can't see Ricketts making a big commitment like that, even though they'll have enough money coming off the books to pay Pujols. Even if they would, I'm not so crazy about the idea of rushing out to sign another aging player to a monster long term deal. I guess the one plus to signing Pujols, for any team, is that when he eventually starts declining defensively he's not as big of a gaping hole on defense as someone playing LF or SS/2B, etc. The other plus is that he's likely to only play 1 season under a new contract before the Mayans come back and murder us all.:)

Recent comments

  • 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. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.