Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, one player is on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-18-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL
* Justin Steele, P   

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 





Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

For NL Central, These Are the Best of Times

As you may have noticed, the top three teams in the NL Central, the Cubs (48-29, .623), Cards (45-33, .577), and Brewers (43-34, .558), also currently have the three best records in the National League. Who'da thunk?

Here is how the Big 3 rank against the rest of the NL in various categories.

First, hitting:

  R
HR AVG
OBP
SLG
OPS
SB
K*
BB
Cubs
1 4 1 1 2
1
9 6
2
Cards 5 10 3
2 6
4 12 15 1
Brewers 8 3 12 10
4 6 7 5 11

*Ranked in descending order of striketouts, i.e., Cards have the second fewest batting strikeouts in NL.

Gotta love where the Cubs sit in OBP, and, it goes without saying, runs scored. It's so un-Cublike.

 

Next, pitching ("S/ERA" is starters' ERA, "R/ERA" is relievers' ERA, QS is Quality Starts):

  ERA
S/ERA
R/ERA
BAA
OPS
QS
K/BB
WHIP
Cubs  1 1
4 1 4 7
5 2
Cards  6 3 13 10 7 5
10 6
Brewers  7 6 12 7 10 3
12 9

Interestingly, the Cubs are just fourth overall in the NL in strikeouts, a category they have dominated in recent years.

And here, a few fielding numbers (Fielding Percentage, Caught Stealing Percentage, Defensive Efficiency Ratio):

  F PCT
 CS PCT
 DER
Cubs
12 5 3
Cards 2 3 1
Brewers 9 2 5

 

One last quick note (lunch hour is over): In games decided by three or more runs—an area which I think receives far too little notice especially versus the team's record in one-run games, which are often decided on a single play or two, maybe even a chance bad bounce—the Brewers are 19-21, the Cards are 23-16, and the Cubs are 27-8.

Comments

Tito — February 7, 2008 @ 2:25 pm Don’t forget, The Real Neal says there’s a good possibility that Dempster will be the Cubs’ best SP this year. So, it’s, like, a lock.

[ ]

In reply to by LSR

haha. i know there were others that thought it was a good idea. i just lost track of who and when and etc. guy keeps the ball in the park...he wasn't an elite or irreplacable closer...he threw without velocity issues with regular workload without showing stress (though SOMETHING was really screwed up last Sept.). i totally understand the concerns about his pitch counts, workload, etc...i just think the positives (and team need) outweighs not taking that chance. glad its working out so far even if its at a level that's beyond what everyone thought was probable. hope he keeps it up. hope he's sharp in sept/oct, too. guess we'll find out.

Congrats, Real Ne-al, and I'm glad you came back to gloat. I still think Big Z is their best pitcher, but I'm happy to admit that I did not expect Dempster to do this well.

If someone made a prediction that Dempster could be the Cubs best pitcher this year, they damn well have the right to gloat. I thought people were way too hard on Dempster as a closer, but I never thought he would be anything other than a very mediocre starter. Anyone predicting anything close to this can go ahead and pat themselves on the back (just be prepared to be roasted if he has a Marquis-like 2nd half.)

[ ]

In reply to by Bleeding Blue

absolutely, but it's important to note that previously when he was a starter he didn't have that splitter which is now his #1 pitch. He used to throw a ton of curveballs and his curve wasn't even a plus pitch for him. He ditched the curve and now he's essentially a FB, slider, splitter pitcher and he's done a fantastic job (if indeed it's intentional) of mixing speeds on his fastball. He was reaching back and hitting 94 a few times Sunday along with his usual 89-92. It also didn't hurt to have Maddux around for a couple years to learn from either. He's credited Maddog quite a few times in interviews I've read this year.

As someone here pointed out not too long enough, a quick glance at Demp's BABIP suggests he can't keep up this pace forever. It's .247, one of the best in the majors along with other early-season surprises like Gavin Floyd, Shaun Marcum, Justin Duchsherer, Joe Saunders, Scott Olsen and surprisingly Cole Hamels.

I was really surprised to see that we had the #1 starter's ERA in the National League. Then I noticed that Marquis has it all the way down to 4.43. And Lilly's got it down to 4.71. Gallagher's tossing up a 3.92. I guess our rotation has suddenly turned it on in the last 3 weeks.

Cubs Fuku Riot Dlee Birthday Boy (Aram turns 28 today) Soto Dero Edmonds The Venuzulan Corey Patterson (Lou must really hate gingers) Lilly (Also Burres has the flu and Albers will make the start, so the VCP will most likely be on the bench) Orioles Roberts Markakis Mora Huff Hernadez Payton Scott Cintron Albers

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

In his first 4 full Cubs seasons (2004-2007), he has never hit below .291, and has averaged over 30HR and less than 65K per year. His K's are up surprisingly this year (49 already), but so are his BBs (his OBP is over .400 for the first time), and he is on pace for another .290+ and 30+ HR year. A hearty "thanks!" to Jim Hendry and the Pirates for this cornerstone to what has been the most consistently competitive Cubs team I can remember -- since his arrival in 2003: two playoff appearances and one near miss in 5 years, and a great first half of 2008. Enjoy him, becasue we will miss him when he is gone.

"I know that you're not supposed to trade for relievers..." I don't think Hendry will go that route, primarily because of the amount of money that's already tied up with two of the middle - relief veterans in the pen. They certainly haven't performed up to expectations, considering the resources expended on them. Shades of Veres and Remlinger in '03.

Recent comments

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally depends on the team and the player involved. If your team’s philosophy is to pay huge dollars to bet on the future performance of past stars in order to win championships then, yes, all of the factors you mentioned are important.

    If on the other hand, if the team’s primary focus is to identify and develop future stars in an effort to win a championship, and you’re a young player looking to establish yourself as a star, that’s a fit too. Otherwise your buried within your own organization.

    Your comment about bringing up Canario for the purposes of sitting him illustrates perfectly the dangers of rewarding a non-performing, highly paid player over a hungry young prospect, like Canario, who is perpetually without a roster spot except as an insurance call up, but too good to trade. Totally disincentivizing the performance of the prospect and likely diminishing it.

    Sticking it to your prospects and providing lousy baseball to your fans, the consumers and source of revenue for your sport, solely so that the next free agent gamble finds your team to be a comfortable landing spot even if he sucks? I suppose  that makes sense to some teams but it’s definitely not the way I want to see my team run.

    Once again, DJL, our differences in philosophy emerge!

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    That’s just kinda how it works though, for every team. No team plays their best guys all the time. No team is comprising of their best 26 even removing injuries.

    When baseball became a business, like REALLY a business, it became important to keep some of the vets happy, which in turn keeps agents happy and keeps the team with a good reputation among players and agents. No one wants to play for a team that has a bad reputation in the same way no one wants to work for a company that has a bad rep.

    Don’t get me wrong, I hate it too. But there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

    On that topic, I find it silly the Cubs brought up Canario to sit as much as he has. He’s going to get Velazquez’d, and it’s a shame.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Of course, McKinstry runs circles around $25 million man Javier Baez on that Tigers team. Guess who gets more playing time?

    But I digress…

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Seems like Jed was trying to corner the market on mediocre infielders with last names starting with "M" in acquiring Madrigal, Mastroboney and Zach McKinstry.  

     

    At least he hasn't given any of them a Bote-esque extension.  

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil:
    Rookie ball (ACL) starts on May 4th. Do yo think Ramon and Rosario (maybe Delgado) stay in Mesa for the month of May, then go to MB if all goes "solid"?
     

  • crunch (view)

    masterboney is a luxury on a team that has multiple, capable options for 2nd, SS, and 3rd without him around.  i don't hate the guy, but if madrigal is sticking around then masterboney is expendable.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I THINK I agree with that decision. They committed to Wicks as a starter and, while he hasn’t been stellar I don’t think he’s been bad enough to undo that commitment.

    That said, Wesneski’s performance last night dictates he be the next righty up.

    Quite the dilemma. They have many good options, particularly in relief, but not many great ones. And complicating the situation is that the pitchers being paid the most are by and large performing the worst - or in Taillon’s case, at least to this point, not at all.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Wesneski and Mastrobuoni to Iowa

    Taillon and Wisdom up

    Wesneski can't pitch for a couple of days after the 4 IP from last night. But Jed picked Wicks over Wesneski.

  • crunch (view)

    booooooooooo

    also, wisdom and taillon are both in chicago.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Tonight’s game postponed. Split games on Saturday.