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

Game 22 Thread / Cubs @ Cardinals (1 of 3)

Game Chat Jason Marquis vs. Anthony Reyes Lineups:
Soriano LF Eckstein SS
Theriot SS Duncan LF
Lee 1B Pujols 1B
Ramirez 3B Rolen 3B
Barrett C Edmonds CF
Murton RF Wilson RF
Derosa 2B Kennedy 2B
Pie CF Molina C
Marquis P Reyes P

Comments

I wonder how Fonz' legs are doing... It sur would be good to see what this lineup can with him and Theriot running at full speed...

Uncle Lou, I applaud you for that lineup, sir. Very well done today. Now everybody do your rain dances. Radar looks pretty ugly.

It's awfully right handed, with 1-7 all being RH, but whaddya gonna do when you've got 5 outfielders? They've all got to play at some point.

There is some odd symmetry to these lineups. If Theriot/Soriano were reversed (Theriot leading off) and acknowledging that Barrett/Pie and correctly placed but from an offensive perspective just reversed in StL with Edmonds/Molina as CF/C combos...there is something similar going on position by position in the lineup construction. Maybe it's the Tampa thing between Lou and LaRussa

like the lineup. there are lots of good ones as long as theriot plays SS. hard to go wrong kind of thing, and still left with a decent bench (floyd, jones, ward) let's go cubs!

murton the RF'r...take 3.. jones gets a day off after a day off to play a LF'r in RF...is jones hurt/sore?

Rob G, your posting today was right on. Theriot may be too much of a defensive liability to have him as SS, regardless of how nice the lineup looks.

I assume you meant in the comments, but yeah not sure theriot should be playing ss when marquis pitches, probably not Z either. not like I'm the first to think it though as I mentioned.

Joe C, what are you talking about? Theriot has had a great game so far on the defensive side. He turned a good double play and made an amazing save on that Eckstein ball. He missed the ball on the Molina hit when Soriano threw out Edmonds at the plate. Great game so far--2 outfield assists and my boy Pie hits a homer! I love that kid! He makes me excited to watch the Cubs every day. For the first time in many years I am excited to watch every game (win or lose) when Soriano, Lee, Theriot, and Pie are all in the lineup. I could care less who is in right!!!

the lineup is likely righty heavy because Reyes has posted a .322 avg against vs righties this year. .220 vs lefties.

Whoo-hoo Cubs!! Manny and I must have been banging our heads against the wall with Dempster coming in the 8th. It worked. Come join me and say Hi to Josh at the Cardinal's blog.

cubs win a close game! at the cards no less! i know how it feels to live again! Z and Hill the next two games. watching the bulls comeback in HD and the cubs "gutsy" win on the compy has been a great evening....i think i'll treat myself to more bourbon. fantastic start to the weekend, let's keep it going! it's pirates-nats-pirates after this. favorite part of tonight: len kasper mentioned the pythagorean theory of baseball! cubs are in fine shape.

Like the lineup, like the outcome. Dempster did a real nice job and a clutch performance getting out of the huge jam Cotts left him in. Pie hit a couple balls on the nose and Marquis did another nice job. Getting Fonzie in the home run column will help me sleep a little better at night however. Hopefully Z can make my visit to Buschy worth the while tomorrow.

How about Dempster's tailing inside fastball for a called third strike against Spezio to end the 8th inning -- right after Spezio had just yanked a ball just wide of the right field foul pole. Gutsy pitch. I agree with Kaspar: that's the best save I've ever seen out of Dempster.

Did anyone else notice the "greatest baseball fans in the world" doing the wave during the top of the 8th? What a bunch of d-sippers.

Wee. This one was the sweetest win yet. I love to see Marquis beat the old club and beat Reyes. You know Marquis must love it, too, after Poop-hole's comments about him just being lucky. Yeah, lucked his way into a 2-0 record against the Cards this year. Nice to see Soriano finally getting some good swings on the ball. No homer, but he's not missing entirely. He did swing at one in the dirt, but besides that didn't look entirely lost. That's better than the first stretch he had this year.

They were definetly on the edge of their seats the whole game. (sarcasm) That "world's greatest fans" BS is just, well BS.

Eric S.:
How about Dempster’s tailing inside fastball for a called third strike against Spezio
I know what Brenley said, but it looked like a circle-change to me. It was 83 MPH, I think. I'd hope his 2-seamer would hit at least 88-89. Either way, it worked. Demp looked confident.

Ryan Harvey's season finally started tonight with Daytona. Played DH. 2 singles in 3 at bats and a walk. Also picked off third by the catcher.

"Did anyone else notice the “greatest baseball fans in the world” doing the wave during the top of the 8th? What a bunch of d-sippers. " I noticed that too and I don't know what a d-sipper is but I'm with you. The wave sucks. What's a d-sipper? I like the term I want to use it in the future.

D-sipper is a "radio friendly" way of saying c**k sucker. Ron Bennington came up with it a few weeks ago. If you have the XM radio, you should definitely check out the Ron & Fez show. You'd get a kick out of it. Best thing on the radio since mid-80's Steve and Gary.

BTW, I've seen enough. Felix Pie is ready to play CF everyday until he moves to right for the remainder of his career. I love this kid! I'm about to go to Oprah and go Tom Cruise talking about how much I love this kid.

Rynox - very well could have been a change up. whatever it was about had me fall off the couch in astonishment.

BTW, I’ve seen enough. Felix Pie is ready to play CF everyday until he moves to right for the remainder of his career. I love this kid! I’m about to go to Oprah and go Tom Cruise talking about how much I love this kid. I agree. I especially love that he was just about rounding second base when he noticed that he had hit his first major league home run.

Nice to see the Cubs string two wins together. Cotts seemed well on his well to shutting the door before one got away from him and hit what's-his-names button. I was horrified to see Lou bring in Ohman. I'd just like to see him remain on mop up duty for another outing or two before he's trusted with any thing. Wuertz wasn't exactly rockin and rollin tonight, but I'd love to see him be the first line of defense when things start to get out of control even if it is to get a few outs in the 7th. Izturis came up big late. I think that's the last that'll be said, but it's true. Even with all of the adventures at SS tonight, I'm still hoping to see Theriot get the bulk of the starts there for the next 10 games or so...that is unless his bat cools off. Dempster was huge. Nice W.

I don't think that was a change. You can't get late tail like that on a change. I thought it was a two-seamer. BB called it a back-up splitty, which is feasible and a pitch in the Dempster arsenal. I dunno if he even throws a two-seamer. Maybe he just took a little off of it. That, and the gun could have been wrong, which seems to happen a lot.

Tip of the (CURVED) brim to Izzy tonight. Finally a hit with a RISP. YES! Maybe he needs the competition to get better? In any case, it seems like Lou will try this late inning defensive replacement thing and then Izzy can bat as a LH with a righty pitching from the "bump". So, w/a RH in Wainright, what's the lineup tomorrow? Uncle Cliff or JJones in RF?

"BB called it a back-up splitty" How is this pitch thrown, physically?

"So, w/a RH in Wainright, what’s the lineup tomorrow? Uncle Cliff or JJones in RF?" It'd be tough to sit Floyd just coming off of a 4 for 5 outing hitting a few loose pennies below .300. But you gotta think if he does sit Jones for a second straight day, there won't be any peace in that valley.

#41, Maddux made a a career on this pitch and actually Z throws one too. It's a two seam grip but when you throw it you put the pressure on your index finger and turn your hand outwards. To give you an idea, hold your hand out palm down and while holding your fingers extended, make a Ebert style thumbs down.

Ok, Wes, I'm not going to pretend to be a pitching expert, I just know 2-seamers and circle changes go to the right and everything else either goes left or down and it seemed too soft to be a 2-seamer. :) Okay, now can someone go to the Cards blog and taunt them? Ask them how the sweep is coming along or something? I would, but I try to be the non-confrontational type.

Len and Bob were all but saying they expect Murton to be sent down when Guzman comes up. Who do you think we'll be shipped down? I wish there was a way they could make it Cedeno but can you roll with only one back up infielder?

When you throw what guys call a "back-up" breaking pitch, it's technically a hanger. Similar to what you hear talked about when a guy throws a back-up (or a cement mixer) slider. If those are in the zone, they get creamed. Reyes threw a couple of those tonight, but they were way up and in. Demp's would not have been a very good pitch had it started on the inner part of the plate and worked back out into the middle. Speizio probably would have made it go boom. I think Demp intended it to be a splitter and to keep that pitch inside and hope that he swung at it. BB was talking about pitches that you a hope a guy swings at. I think that was intended to be one of those. He took it, and because it was a hanger, it didn't sink and just rode up there over the inside corner for a called strike three.

"Okay, now can someone go to the Cards blog and taunt them?" Funny. It's the only way he'll see any action over there. Doesn't "freelance" = unemployed sometimes?

Or, as Chad said, it was in fact just a two seamer. I'd have to go back and watch it again to see if he had a two seam grip or a splitfinger grip on it.

"I don’t think that was a change. You can’t get late tail like that on a change." Sure you can. Circle grip so most of the pressure is on the left side of the ball as it comes out of your hand. I don't know for sure if that's what the pitch was, but circle changes can definitely have that much movement.

So both Demp & Duncan screwed up. Demp was supposed to throw it out of the zone, Duncan was supposed to swing at it. I don't doubt you, but I find that funny. Chris:
Len and Bob were all but saying they expect Murton to be sent down when Guzman comes up. Who do you think we’ll be shipped down?
Won't Gooz be replacing Miller? Miller will be cut loose (I don't know the technical term, roster moves are still very mysterious to me). Outrighted? Bought out? I have no idea.

“Okay, now can someone go to the Cards blog and taunt them?” I thought about it, but decided I didn't want to talk to myself. To paraphrase that old unanswerable riddle: If a Cardinals fan writes a blog and no one's around to read it, does it actually exist?

OK, I love Z and all but I'm watching Baseball tonight and how about this, Z for Arod. This assumes that new deals are already worked out. Just a thought. Not advocating it, but just a thought.

"Won’t Gooz be replacing Miller? Miller will be cut loose (I don’t know the technical term, roster moves are still very mysterious to me). Outrighted? Bought out? I have no idea." I'm thinking Rocky Cherry (what a name) took that roster spot. Since Pinella insists on 12 pitchers the writing is on the wall for a position player to be sent packing?

Doug, You can't get a change to do what that pitch did. I understand that changes and circle-changes, in particular, can move away from lefties for a right-handed pitcher. But not like that. The more I think about it, I think it was a two-seamer. BB was wrong about the back-up splitty I believe. I guess I don't know for sure. I never threw a splitter.

Chris:
I’m thinking Rocky Cherry (what a name) took that roster spot. Since Pinella insists on 12 pitchers the writing is on the wall for a position player to be sent packing?
Ok, it should probably be an OF then, since Derosa can play RF in a crunch. Seems a shame to send Murt down, but Pie being left handed, playing good D, and the HR tonight all but gave him a permanent locker at the Wrigley clubhouse. That burns Murt's final option, I believe. That will hurt his trade value, if so.

If so, and assuming Floyd gets the majority of the starts in RF, our bench would be (assuming tonight's lineup): Jones Izturis Cedeno Ward Blanco It is 2 LH, 2 RH, and a switch, but only one of them is hitting their weight right now, and I promise Ward's not hitting .325.

that's 2 left-handers and 3 pieces of worthlessness. If the Cubs send Murton down, well I hope Lou and Hendry don't read TCR. That would be the height of stupidity. Dempster's pitch looked exactly like what Z and Maddux throw, can't imagine where he picked that up.

I guess Lou already had Ohman up, but no idea why he was brought in to turn Miles around. I just would have went with Wuertz there. As for Wuertz, he's the one who mucked up the 8th, although Cotts certainly didn't help. And Dempster was 3 inches from blowing the game, but about time we caught some breaks. Should have squeezed with Pie in the 9th and Murton on 3rd, but Izturis picked him up. Well-played game though for the most part....

Hunter Pence has been called up by the Astros who have lost 7 straight. Freaking Pirates are above .500 E-Pat went 2 for 4 with a homer

that was Holliman of course. Tyler Colvin up to a .317/348/492 line 3 BB/12 K's though isn't so hot.

"Chris Walker promoted to AAA Billy Petrick promoted to AA can’t say it would make much sense to promote Walker and then send Murton down unless some cuts are being planned." ================ This seems to also wave a flag that Pie is up for good-- though there seems to be little doubt about that anyway. I'm guess this makes the Iowa OF: Walker, LF Pagan, CF Coats, RF With Moore, Hoffpauir, and Fontenot seeing time there as well. I don't see how they'd expect Pie to fit back into that crowded OF-- he fits better into the crowded OF at the ML-level. And it will be good to see if Walker, 26, is actually a prospect or not.

Green Lantern: favorite part of tonight: len kasper mentioned the pythagorean theory of baseball! cubs are in fine shape. Not only that, but for those keeping track, with the win over the Cards last night, the Cubs now hold the MLB "TV Title". Bask in the glory fellow Cub fans!

How can the Cubs justify keeping Cedeno and Izturis on the same bench? They're clones for God's sake! Call up E Pat.

That D-sipper at the Card's blog removed my post!!! Did anyone see the postgame interview where LaRussa got into it with the St Louis Dispatch reporter? Classic, Captain Mullet was displeased with this article- http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/3D9… After the game he said he would not answer any Post-Dispatch questions and got into it with the Post-Dispatch reporter. The video is at ESPN.com under baseball, the Larussa sorta squared off with the guy until the guy stood up. It had to be the largest reporter I have ever seen, 6'5'" and about 350 lbs. Not making this up. It' s funny.

That D-sipper at the Card’s blog removed my post!!! It's catching on! Nice! That video of Larussa is pretty funny.

Classic, Captain Mullet was displeased with this article- When I click that link, I get a parody of "Tinker to Evers to Chance" ridiculing the Cubs. Was LaRussa upset about that?

can't say i agree about squeezing with Pie....his bunting skills looked pretty ugly the other night against the brewcrew on the play where estraded got pummelled by fat fielder. bringing ohman in last night was pretty outrageous, as was bringing in cotts after that. although why larussa would rather see taguchi over edmonds, even against a lefty, and even with edmonds not what he used to be, is beyond me. cards got very lucky so was hit bc he looked quite lost. start and end that inning with wuertz, with howry/cotts as your other options. btw, on the other cards blog i know, vivaelbirdos, they're panicking about eckstein, how he's done. pretty funny that the rest of baseball thinks he's a god bc he had two good world series games.....idiots.

reading that other cards blog makes me grateful to have TCR, where the writers make interesting/insightful points, don't say "we" when referring to their team, and compose artful sentences with, you know, um, verbs. let's get it moving Z. it's close enough to may to just move on.

I agree with whoever it was above that said having both Cedeno and Izturis on the roster is a total waste. I agree. Neither can hit worth a shit. You want a 25th man middle infield glove, fine, but the Cubs don't need two of them. Either send Cedeno to Iowa where he belongs, or move Izturis somewhere. Preferably, anywhere. I also don't see the point of having fat Daryl Ward around when you already have Floyd and Jones. He's only getting a million fer chrissakes, DFA him if need be. Or move Jones, either one is fine by me. Zambrano better fucken sack it up for once. Here's a tip Carlos--try throwing a goddamn strike this game. Ask Marquis and Lilly; it works.

that cant be it can it? what a dumb article to be mad about. Shows a serious lack of talent from the Dispatch reporters.

"the rest of baseball thinks he’s a god bc he had two good world series games…..idiots." I do not agree w/this. The "rest of the baseball world" may think of him as PRODUCTIVE, or competent, or, active, clutch perhaps - but "a god" - certainly not.

On La Russa - from the video, he is actually backing the Cubs here fellas. We can only speculate on any alterior motives, but on the surface it was o.k. by me.

I actually think that LaRussa did a very classy thing to not answer that guy's questions. And I don't say things like that about him a lot. I don't care who you are, what team you play for/manage, what what team is your rival, or what newspaper prints something like that. that's just not a good thing to do to take a cheap shot. It upsets the baseball gods.

Rynox — April 27, 2007 @ 10:59 pm Chris: I’m thinking Rocky Cherry (what a name) took that roster spot. Since Pinella insists on 12 pitchers the writing is on the wall for a position player to be sent packing? Ok, it should probably be an OF then, since Derosa can play RF in a crunch. Seems a shame to send Murt down, but Pie being left handed, playing good D, and the HR tonight all but gave him a permanent locker at the Wrigley clubhouse. That burns Murt’s final option, I believe. That will hurt his trade value, if so =================================== RYNOX: Murton has THREE minor league options left. I posted this yesterday on the previous thread.... Here is the minor league option status of players on the Cubs 40-man roster who can be optioned to the minors without having to give their permission (have less than five years MLB service time) : MINOR LEAGUE OPTION STATUS as of 4-27-2007: * Can only be optioned to minors after clearing Major League Waivers ONE MINOR LEAGUE OPTION LEFT: * Ronny Cedeno Angel Guzman * Rich Hill * Roberto Novoa (will have no options left ST 2008) * Will Ohman * Geovany Soto (will have no options left ST 2008) * Michael Wuertz TWO MINOR LEAGUE OPTIONS LEFT: * Neal Cotts Brian Dopirak (will have one option left ST 2008) Carlos Marmol (will have one option left ST 2008) Scott Moore (will have one option left ST 2008) Angel Pagan (will have one option left ST2008) Felix Pie (15 days toward using up 2007 option) * Mark Prior (will have one option left ST 2008) * Ryan Theriot THREE MINOR LEAGUE OPTIONS LEFT: Rocky Cherry (will have two options left ST 2008) Buck Coats (will have two options left ST 2008) Sean Marshall (will have two options left ST 2008) Juan Mateo * Matt Murton Clay Rapada, LHP (will have two options left ST 2008) FOUR MINOR LEAGUE OPTIONS LEFT: Jeff Samardzija, RHP (will have three options left ST 2008)

Here's why Demp was brought in for the 8th...from ESPN.com Piniella extended Dempster because he had three days' rest and because set-up man Bobby Howry tweaked his back moving his barbecue grill off his patio. ...and I'm not discussing the medical implications of a "tweaked" back.

I too thought that LaRussa did a classy thing last night. He seemed really pissed about the whole thing. I live in St. Louis and articles like yesterday's about the Cubs, is the reason I no longer subscribe to the post. I believe the guy who stood up and got in LaRussa's face was Bernie "Fatass" Milkasz and I don't think I spelled it right. Anyway, they would rather make fun of the Cubs than analyze the baseball game and it's rather sad.

Saw the LaRussa video, and it was an impressive confrontation. Basically he's protecting his team from stupid bulletin board fodder but he certainly was in the right to hold his ground when the media gets stoopid. The Tinkers to Evers piece was an extremely lame attempt at parody. I wonder how Dusty would have reacted/handled such stuff if it was a chicago press article. Lou might have been even more entertaining than LaRussa.

1. Re Friday's little poem in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, if you go don't win a World Series for 100 years, your rivals get to take shots at you I guess. However, I expect LaRussa was not to happy about the display of cockiness and arrogance at the beginning of a weekend series with the arch rivals, especially as he is aware of how thin the Cardinals talent has become this season as the result of injuries, age, defections, and a farm system that is now even slightly worse then the Cubs' system. 2. Speaking of the Cubs system, Pie may be the first real, full time major league position player with star potential the system has signed and developed since Mark Grace (Murton, drafted by Boston, and traded at the AA level, was not signed by the Cubs and his basic development was done by the Red Sox). And perhaps Theriot will be a good regular or, like Chone Figgins and Ryan Freel, star as a super-sub. However, there is not much behind them, especially in the way of infielders and catchers. Hence the need to sign players like DeRosa and Soriano. The Hendry/McPhail regime's inability to develop position players is one of the the principal failures of their regime, continuing a tradition that, except for the Dallas Greene interregnum, has been a constant in Cub history during the post-1965 draft era. A related failure is the constant undervaluing of strike zone judgment, usually manifested in a high OBP, as a talent while overvaluing pure speed and athleticism (called the "looking good in jeans syndrome"). Finally, the third principal failure is the arrogance, dishonesty and stupidity in taking care of the health of their young pitchers (not just Prior and Wood, as 2003-2004 saw the destruction of arms at every level in the organization). 3. Given the cows' ear the Cubs had become by the end of last year, the Cubs had no choice but to spend lots of money just to hope to be competitive. Lilly and Marquis, besides being established innings eaters, also had something that has been sorely missing in these parts, durability. They are both the past the danger zone, and especially in Lilly's case as a crafty lefthander, may be reaching their peaks. A year ago at this time we were sending Glendon Rusch and Jerome Williams out to take these starts. Enough said. Regarding the outfield, given the pathetic outfields of the last three seasons, we now have one that is overflowing in talent (which also makes this the best bench we have had since - well no Cubs team that I can recall had a bench this good going back to 1965 (my living memory). Shifting Soriano to left and putting Pie in center improves the outfield defense to above average. As sluggers this group is still under performing, but eventually their will be a regression to the mean and this group will produce. 4. I expect if a player is going to be sent down now, it will be Cedeno, who any way needs regular plate appearances if he is going to become a useful player (or prove that he can't be better than AAAA). Murton will not be sent down as he can platoon with Floyd/Jones in right and he has established himself as a good major league player. Eventually, someone will be traded (I know most folks hope it will be Jones, but Murton and Floyd have more value). 5. The Cubs had lost all of their close games until last night as everyone on this blog is painfully aware. Some of that is just bad luck. And unfortunately the past bad luck does not mean that they will have good luck tomorrow (see "gambler's fallacy). But it also indicates, as did Cleveland's poor record in close games last year, that the Cubs have a poorly performing bullpen (in this case Ohman, Eyre, and Howry) and a poor defense. An additional burden, which Cleveland did not have, is this as a low OBP team, the offense disappears when they get seven or eight hits or less and none are home runs. Hopefully, Pie in center/Soriano in left will improve the outfield defense, Theriot in the line-up improves OBP (Although I note from last night's box score in 12 plate appearances, the first three guys in the line-up only got on base (Lee's double and Soriano's single) twice.) If Theriot/DeRosa/Ramirez just make the routine plays and avoid errors by trying to do what they cannot do on the infield, the Cubs can live with that mediocre infield defense for the time being. 5. With his free agency pending, trading Barrett and one of the extra outfielders for a defensive oriented catcher, bullpen help, and a fifth starter might make a big difference.

Soriano showed a lot more patience last year here in D.C. with the Nats. The greater patience also helped is power stats since when he got ahead in the counts he could sit on fast balls. However, I noticed in September of last year, when he trying to hard to become a 50 home run, 50 stolen base guy, he expanded his strike zone and both his power and his OBP declined sharply. Hopefully, going back to left will let him take some of the pressure off himself and not try to hit home runs on the first pitch he sees.

set-up man Bobby Howry tweaked his back moving his barbecue grill off his patio. Did that grill formerly belong to Manny?

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.