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 Trivia & Draft Signing Deadline

Who has the most career victories as a Cubs pitcher?
Good luck.... And you can keep up-to-date with the today's draft signing deadline at Baseball America's blog. At the moment eight first-rounders have yet to sign including the Cubs pick, Josh Vitters.

Comments

There is a midnight (Eastern) deadline tonight for MLB clubs to sign their 2007 Rule 4 picks, and four of the top five overall picks (David Price, Mike Moustakas, Josh Vitters, and Matt Wieters) have not signed. (Only #4 overall selection LHP Daniel Moskos has signed). MLB has supposedly "valued" the Cubs’ #3 overall slot at about $2.7M (it was $3M last year), and if Josh Vitters drags his feet too much, the Cubs could just take the $2.7M they probably budgeted for Vitters and offer it instead to other players, like maybe 25th round pick 3B Victor Sanchez (Gahr HS - Norwalk, CA) and/or 33rd round pick C Preston Clark (Texas), and then (on top of that) get a 2008 compensation pick (#4 overall) for not signing Vitters. Sanchez slipped to the 25th round and Clark to the 33rd round ONLY because of “signability” issues. Sanchez was rated by Baseball America as one of the top 100 players going into the draft, and was the #1 third-baseman for the Team USA Junior National Team, but early-on signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of San Diego (a program that was ranked Top 10 nationally this past season) and would probably only give that up if he can get “1st round money” (he would probably be considered a 3rd round talent, so it would be a matter of having to overpay to get him to sign). A draft-eligible sophomore, Preston Clark was the #1 catcher for Team USA, and was rated the #5 college catching prospect by BA going into the draft (so he also probably would be rated a 3rd round talent), but he stated before the draft that it would take “1st round money” (probably somewhere around $1M+) to convince him to not go back to the University of Texas. (He probably isn't worth that, but he is a VERY good prospect). However, after Clark and buddy James Russell (the Cubs 14th round pick) told a reporter that they were almost for sure going back for their senior years with the Longhorns, Russell did a 180 just a couple of days later and signed with the Cubs last week (sort of out-of-the blue), and so it’s possible that Clark would now be more intetested in listening to the Cubs, especially if some more bucks become available by virtue of the Cubs not signing Vitters. I’m not saying that essentially “trading” a first-round pick (#3 overall) for two 3rd round talents would be a good move for the Cubs, but trading a first round pick (#3 overall) for two 3rd rounders AND the 2008 #4 overall pick in next year's draft (which the Cubs would get as compensation for not signing Vitters) probably would be, presuming the Cubs are willing to offer Sanchez and Clark 1st round money ($1M+ each) and Sanchez and Clark are willing to take it.

Mike Mordecai????? NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Thanks for the flashback......

Well since this question only has 2 legit guesses I'll take Fergie since 3 fingers is off the board.

can I guess again? Reuschel? Oh that looks wrong, Chad is going to break his keyboard.

Maddux

According to a movie I was watching the other day Root stole Ruth's bat before the World Series.

Hopefully, Prince will serve his suspension August 28-30. Didn't see the video -- is a suspension warranted?

Didn’t see the video — is a suspension warranted? Yea... it was warranted, at least in the context of other recent suspensions. He came very close to bumping the ump.

I think it's Alexander....I always get him and Christy Matthewson mixed up though...not sure which one pitched for the Cubs!

if you look at the leaderboard, it says Girardi is the all-time leader in throwing out baserunners and Barrett is 2nd. Looking at the list I figured the stat wasn't kept track of until recently but according to the BR bullpen, it's been in the National League since 1951. http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Caught_stealing Any ideas or is just a cubs.com mistake?

throwing out runners and caught stealing are two different things, being bad at one actually makes you better at the other?

HI, all. Greetings from Nome, Alaska... Vitters has gotta realize that he really doesn't have much leverage here, given AZ Phi's discussion above... I still think it is gonna get done...

I was of course talking about catcher's caught stealings and if they've been keeping track of it since 1951 and have no problems retroactively assigning stats, we should have numbers for catchers farther back then 2000...shouldn't we? I'm sure it's somewhere, just wondering what's with cubs.com...

Fielder" came very close to bumping the ump" He does that every time he's in the batter box.

yeah it seems Mlb.com only has CS numbers starting from 1999 for catchers but it does have it for all baserunners starting around the 20's with some gaps.

If Vitters does go to school. He will not be eligible to get drafted again until after his Jr. Season. That seems awfully risky when he is looking down 3 mil right now. Maybe he needs to call Matt Harrington and ask him how turning down "cash in hand" worked out for him. I'll be shocked if something doesnt get done.

Thanks Sheff. I know him primarily from back in the day when I used to play "Earl Weaver Baseball" Anybody else here ever play that game?

details on porcello's deal with the Tigers 4 yrs/7.285 major league deal Bonus is $3.58 mil $380,000, 1.1 mil, $1.2 mil, and $1.025 mil with club options for 2011 and 2012.

Speaking of Mathewson and Brown pick up the book "Crazy 08". Its about the whole baseball season, great read.

btw, the stories on Fielders's suspension say he unintentionally bumped the umpire, Wally Bell, hence the 3 games.

I played both Earl Weaver and Micro League baseball! I would set up ficticious and replay leagues and let the computer run. My mom used to think I was strange for setting the PC up to play the games, and then walk away...LOL...

Yeah, Vacubs... I used to do the exact same thing... I really think that I WAS strange... Luckily, that wore off (yeah, right).

Now I know where "root, root, root, for the Cubbies" comes from!

I remember playing Hardball, Tony LaRussa Baseball and something like Micro-League Baseball but I can't remember the name. It had real players, all of the 1985 teams and all you did was manage the game. But the screen angle was from the side so I know it wasn't Micro-League Baseball. It was for a Commodore too...

"and four of the top five overall picks (David Price, Mike Moustakas, Josh Vitters, and Matt Wieters) have not signed." everyone wants a mlb contract these days...well, everyone's AGENTS wants that. the kids are gonna be in the minors for years no matter what. i could understand a club/player from "back in the not too long ago" wanting that clause that gives them a callup after X-numbers of years (or in some cases like a.milller, immediately) so they can have a slam-dunk on the pension/benefits train. in this era, i can buy that. its getting to the point, though, where everyone who's a top-10 pick (or a lower but more valuable pick) wants to be on that 40-man roster with a MLB contract. if this keeps up we're gonna either have teams drafting for signability on silly levels of players being passed up or a need to expand the 40-man to accommodate this trend. ...or the practice needs to be dealt with head-on and prevented/reigned-in.

"Yeah, Rich. Pre-dating that, I played Micro-League Baseball… Anyone?" To this day Commodore 64 Mirco Legue baseball is the best baseball sim ever. Diamond Mind is a close second. Once you got the GM/Owner's disk, that game was the BOMB!!! I would still play it if i could.

one question - while these holdouts refuse to sign, will they be playing any baseball at all for anyone? like a local league or something? if not seems a bit of a silly sitting at home doing nothing...

Baseball Stars was awesome...very highly advanced for a NES game. It used the same battery/memory backup system used on the Zelda games. amazing level of flexibility for a console game at the time. salary/payroll controlled teams, custom teams/leagues, trades, "dynasty" mode... almost more amazing that it was hard to find cuz the manufacturer (SDK i think...) had HORRID distribution outside of japan.

#45-- Didn't one of the Drews (J.D. or Stephen) go play in independent league ball while he held out of the draft for a year?

JD played and so did the great Bobbie Hill. I think both were in NJ somewhere.

Did anyone other than me build a team of all chickenhawked 85 and above players from created teams and build them up by playing the Girls team in 2 player? Boring as heck but once your team got good. Fun times. And the wall climbing bit was really cool.

while these holdouts refuse to sign, will they be playing any baseball at all for anyone? like a local league or something? if not seems a bit of a silly sitting at home doing nothing… Most can still play at the college level, unless, of course, they are seniors. Vitters, for example, could go and play at Arizona State where he previously committed to. What I am not sure about is how signing an agent impacts their ability to play at the college level. Maybe AZ Phil can fill us in on that. They only players that would be out of options would be seniors, who can go play in independent leagues.

Here's how the Cubs have allocated bonuses to their top ten picks in the '07draft (there are exceptions, but the typical MLB bonus range for each round is in parenthesis): 1st round (4th overall): MLB slot recommendation for #4 overall pick is $2.7M, but #1 pick Josh Vitters has not signed Supp 1st Round (typical bonus range $500K-$1M): Josh Donaldson, C (Auburn) - $652K NOTE: This was compensation pick for losing FA Juan Pierre to LAD 2nd Round (typical bonus range $375K-$500K): NONE (lost pick to WAS as compensation for signing FA Alfonso Soriano) 3rd Round (typical bonus range $225K-$375K): Tony Thomas, 2B (Florida State) - $360K 4th Round (typical bonus range $150K-225K): Darwin Barney, SS (Oregon State) - $222,750 5th Round (typical bonus range $125K-$150K): Brandon Guyer, OF (Virginia) - $148K 6th Round (typical bonus range $100K-$125K): Casey Lambert, LHP (Virginia) - $53K 7th Round (typical bonus range $80K-$100K): Ty Wright, OF (Oklahoma State) - $42K 8th Round (typical bonus range $60-$80K): Marquez Smith, 3B (Clemson) - $30K 9th Round (typical bonus range $40K-$60K): Clark Hardman, OF (Cal State - Fullerton) - $114K 10th Round (typical bonus range $20K-$40K): : Leon Johnson, OF (BYU) - $109K So the Cubs got their 6th, 7th, and 8th round picks (Lambert, Wright, and Smith) below "market value" for that round (Lambert and Wright signed for 9th round money, and Smith signed for 10th round money), but had to pay their 9th and 10th round picks (Hardman and Johnson) 6th round money. That's because Lambert, Wright, and Smith were college seniors with zero leverage, while Hardman and Johnson had the option of returning to school if they didn't sign. Donaldson, Thomas, Barney, and Guyer also had the option of returning to school if they didn't sign, so they got what they should have gotten (in terms of market value) based on the round in which they were selected.

Dr. aaronb, my brother and i would do almost the same thing, but we would create a player and if his max was low, we'd just hit restart.

dave — August 15, 2007 @ 2:12 pm while these holdouts refuse to sign, will they be playing any baseball at all for anyone? like a local league or something? if not seems a bit of a silly sitting at home doing nothing… Most can still play at the college level, unless, of course, they are seniors. Vitters, for example, could go and play at Arizona State where he previously committed to. What I am not sure about is how signing an agent impacts their ability to play at the college level. Maybe AZ Phil can fill us in on that. ========================== DAVE: For college baseball players, there is no impact on the player if he hires an agent and then decides to return to school.

solid outing by the O's pen there, 3-run lead in the 9th is now tied. Baez and Walker both blow it. DRays trying to give the Rsox another one as well. Up two in the 9th, already cut it to 1 with the tying run on 2nd, 0 outs.

I think all this waiting to see where everyone else is going to sign, is silly. I don't know how hardball these agents are playing the draft pick negotiations, but what if the #1 pick doesn't sign till 11:45pm EST and then the other teams can't finalize details before midnight? Several other teams get screwed out of this year's picks because some idiot waited till the last second on the #1 pick negotiations. This doesn't seem to make any sense to me. How do the agents involved in the negotiations for the lower top 10 picks have any certainty the #1 guy is going to sign in time for them to have deals done?

How do the agents involved in the negotiations for the lower top 10 picks have any certainty the #1 guy is going to sign in time for them to have deals done? They are not going to wait until someone else signs if it means there will be deal. But they will wait as long as they can. Once they cannot wait anymore because of time issues, they will just go ahead and sign their deals.

The wonderful Hold stat.... Danny Baez comes in with a 3-run lead, lets the first 2 runners on and then K's Posada and is replaced by Jamie Walker who gets an out and then gives up the game-tying home run. If I understand the stat correctly that's a Hold for Baez, right?

I think there should be a rule where all hold outs have to play in Jose Offerman's league.

Brackman signed with the Yanks, also a major-league deal. $4.5 mil guaranteed with a $3.3 bonus, could go up to as much as $13 million though.

Weird thing about the Brackman deal per cnnsi.com--Brackman may have to undergo Tommy John surgery, so the Yankees have 3 club options on the end of a 4-year deal. They're effectively giving a $4.5M signing bonus to a kid with a good chance of not being able to pitch for a year and a half, and gambling that he'll be just as good after the surgery as before it. Hey, not my $4.5M...

good luck with that yanks...brackman's arm must be rested or something. he was barely hitting 90mph with a tired arm not too many months ago.

Yanks obviously betting that surgery will bring back Brackman's velocity and stuff. This idea of handing out major league deals is nothing but bad news.

brackman's elbow? his shoulder was the first diag. when he was shut down down the stretch for NCSU...and "tired arm"...etc etc... damn... dude's a stringbean who's complained/commented on his shoulder for years. people been working with him to strengthen his shoulder. never heard about his elbow besides inflammation with absolutely no mention of even a small tear.

Can we get Cubster in on this? In related news, Brien Taylor called. He wants his GCL Yanks locker back...

Here is some (a tiny bit) info on the Brackman deal:
Some of the money will be paid out over several years, with the present-day value believed to be worth about $3.7 million. The contract has an unusual structure because Brackman may have to undergo Tommy John surgery on his elbow -- the Yankees also will get three club options at the end of the four years. If they exercise all three, Brackman stands to make about $13 million.

AZ Phil, the Cubs' Boise team ran into a buzzsaw last week when they played Salem-Kaiser, a Giants club in the Northwest League. Salem-Kaiser was 43-10 last time I checked. Do you have any idea why they are so good?

"Crunch should call up Dr. Andrews" well if andrews has diagnosed it that's that...or any doc. im just saying they bitched about his tired arm and his shoulder has been his demon (even without injuries) as he has pointed to strengthening it as a key point of his training... his elbow, last i heard back near the end of the school year, was "inflamed" and specifically not torn, even slightly. true or not, i dunno...the past is the past and if the present its torn, then there you go.

yes, I too heard Brackman may need Ulnar Collateral ligament reconstruction (TJ elbow surgery). So many young pitchers have recovered fully from this with full velocity that it's not considered a strong risk these days...just a 1-1.5 year delay in development. If it was his shoulder that was the problem the floor might have dropped out from under Brackman's deal.

If you're wondering if the Cubs would consider giving Vitters' bonus money to a 25th round and/or a 33rd round pick, last year the Cubs gave "1st round money" not only to their 1st round pick (OF Tyler Colvin), but also to 5th round pick RHP Jeff Samadzija (to keep him from playing in the NFL), and even to 11th round pick RHP Chris Huseby (to dissuade him from attending Auburn). The Cubs also gave "2nd round money" to 2006 14th round pick OF Drew Rundle to keep him from going to the University of Arizona, "4th round money" to both 9th round pick OF Cliff Andersen (to dissuade him from attending Oklahoma State) and 34th round pick Nathan Samson (to keep him from enrolling at Daytona Beach CC), and "6th round money" to their 20th round pick (RHP Kevin Kreier) to keep him from going to Western Nevada CC. Then, this past May, the Cubs gave 2006 22nd round pick (3B Jovan Rosa) "4th round money" and 2006 29th round pick (RHP Jordan Latham) "6th round money" as Draft+Follow signees, to keep them from re-entering the 2007 draft or transferring to a four-year college (Rosa was going to transfer from Lake City CC to North Carolina State, and Latham was transferring from College of Southern Idaho to Arizona State). Both Rosa and Latham were JC players whose stock had soared since the Cubs had drafted them in 2006, and both were expected to be selected in one of the Top 5 rounds in the '07 draft, or else fulfill their transfer plans to four-year schools.

was perusing the standings and DRays are on track for another #1 pick next year. Only real competition seems to be th Pirates and Giants right now.

Drays draft slots since they were created: 1998 - first pick was in the 4th round 99- Hamilton (1) 00- Baldelli (6) 01 - Brazelton (3) 02 - Upton (2) 03 - Young (1) 04 - J. Niemann (4) 05 - Townsend (8) 06 - Longoria (3) 07 - Price (1)

If this Major league contract trend would have been in vogue a few years ago. The cubs 40 man would be littered with the likes of Pawelek,Grant Johnson,Colvin,Dopirak and Harvey. It makes it awfully hard for a GM to manuever around so many immovable objects. Who it ultimately hurts is a guy like Ryan Theriot or Jake Fox. Less highly touted Amatures who got promoted due to strong play. Not by strong work by an agent. It really seems to be an unfortunate turn in the game. And it is very apparent to me that Michael Barrett is to blame for the whole situation.

6yr 8.5m contract...and the new "as par"...its a mlb deal with bonuses that can max him out at 11.25m.

does that make 5 1st rounders left? Moustakas, Vitters, Wieters, Parker and Dominguez?

In addition to players signed after being selected in the Rule 4 Draft (June Draft), there is also a lot of competition to sign 16-year old international players during the open "window" that commences on July 2nd: Last year, the Cubs gave Venezuelan RHP Larry Suarez what would have been equivalent to Rule 4 Draft "2nd round money" to sign (and he is presently pitching for AZL Cubs). Here are the 16-year olds the Cubs have signed out of Latin America over the past few years. Remember the names, because these are the Latin players in whom the Cubs have invested the most money, so they will be given more opprtunities than some others might be given. (and some have already made it to Wrigley Field). All were considered hot-shot prospects when they were signed (most were equivalent talent-wise to #1, #2, #3, #4, or #5 round picks selected in the Rule 4 Draft), and the Cubs had to compete with the other 29 MLB clubs to sign them. Francisco Acosta, RHP (now 19, at AZL Cubs) Alberto Alburquerque, RHP (now 21, at Peoria) Jeffry Antigua, LHP (now 17, at DSL Cubs) Alberto Cabrera, RHP (now 18, at Boise) Julio Castillo, RHP (now 19, at AZL Cubs) Starlin Castro, INF (now 17, at DSL Cubs) Ronny Cedeno, INF (now 24, with CHICAGO CUBS) Robinson Chirinos, INF (now 23, at AA Tennessee) Rafael Dolis, RHP (now 19, at Peoria) Marwin Gonzalez, INF (now 18, at AZL Cubs) Miguel Gonzalez, C (now 17, at DSL Cubs) Robert Hernandez, RHP (now 18, at Peoria) Junniol Lami, RHP (now 19, at AZL Cubs) Carlos Marmol, RHP (now 24, with CHICAGO CUBS) Carlos Morales, INF (now 18, at DSL Cubs) Jonathan Mota, INF (now 20, at Daytona) Pacheco Mota, RHP (now 17, at DSL Cubs) Dionis Nunez, RHP (now 18, at DSL Cubs) Carlos Perez, C (now 19, at AZL Cubs) Marcos Perez, LHP (now 17, at DSL Cubs) Felix Pie, OF (now 22, with CHICAGO CUBS) Jose Pina, RHP (now 21, at Peoria) Jose Severino, RHP (now 18, at DSL Cubs) Miguel Sierra, RHP (now 19, at DSL Cubs) Larry Suarez, RHP (now 17, at AZL Cubs) Harol Tolentino, RHP (now 18, at AZL Cubs) Carlos Zambrano, RHP (now 26, with CHICAGO CUBS) NOTE: Ronny Cedeno, Robinson Chirinos, Marwin Gonzalez, Robert Hernandez, Jonathan Mota, Carlos Perez, Larry Suarez, and Carlos Zambrano are from Venezuela, and the others are from the Dominican Republic.

Well, tonights outfield is interesting: Murton(7), Jones(8), Jake Fox(9) And, Kendall in the 2-hole....

OH - My bad! Ear transcription from ESPN 1000 in-town. I was so transfixed by the above, I shut down everything else. The update fellow stated that Lou's 1st 6 batters are RH, though. If filling in the rest, I'm fairly sure its pretty close to: Theriot Kendall DLee A-Ram Murton DeRosa Jones JFox Lilly

O.K. - Part II The same guy, just stated the first SEVEN are RH tonight. So swap Jones and Fox and I think its there.

I'm thinking Vitters wil get 3/44... Ted Lilly is the man. Back on track tonight. If I'm Kendall, I'd really want to steal a base-just to get back at all those bastards that stole on me.

Fox in the starting lineup. Let the scoreboard-denting begin!

Wish they would show batting practice live tonight...where's Henry Rodriguez and Glenallen Hill to round out the lineup???

"Weird thing about the Brackman deal per cnnsi.com–Brackman may have to undergo Tommy John surgery..." Shades of Bobby Brownlie - didn't he also have velocity concerns before the Cubs drafted him? And we all know how that worked out...

DAVE: For college baseball players, there is no impact on the player if he hires an agent and then decides to return to school. Technically that's not true, and if it were it would apply to high school players as well. If an agent has you under contract to negotiate for you (or if you get paid to play or paid to endorse things based on playing that game - or possibly snowboarding as well, apparently), you lose your amateur status in the eyes of the NCAA and are no longer eligible to play that sport. All of these agents, with the exception of the ones representing players who have exhausted their NCAA eligibility are actually working as 'financial advisors' for the families of the athletes, not as agents for the atheletes themselves. I often wonder what would happen if an orphan was drafted.

The Real Neal — August 16, 2007 @ 5:13 am Technically that’s not true, and if it were it would apply to high school players as well. If an agent has you under contract to negotiate for you (or if you get paid to play or paid to endorse things based on playing that game - or possibly snowboarding as well, apparently), you lose your amateur status in the eyes of the NCAA and are no longer eligible to play that sport. ========================= REAL NEAL: When Matt Wieters hired Scott Boras to represent him in contract negotiations with the Baltimore Orioles, Wieters didn't hire Boras to get him a Gatorade endorsement. Wieters hired Boras to get him the best professional baseball contract possible, and if Wieters didn't get what he wanted, he could have returned to Georgia Tech with no penalty. Do you think Wieters and/or his dad negotiated that deal with Orioles President Andy MacPhail while making phone calls every five minutes to Boras to get his "financial advice"? Of course not. Boras negotiated the deal. It's different for college football players. Once a college football player declares for the NFL draft, he's done as an amateur player. Conversely, high school and college baseball players don't have to "declare" themselves eligible for the Rule 4 Draft. They get selected, their financial advisor (who is in fact the player's agent) negotiates the deal, and if the player doesn't get what he wants, he can return to college without losing his eligibility. That doesn't happen in college football.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • 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).