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 
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Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)

Game Chat | Press Pass | BR Preview

SP Tm Lincecum SP
Ryan Dempster
  10-2, 2.66, 126 K, 46 BB, 121.2 IP

10-3, 3.13 ERA, 98 K, 47 BB, 118 IP
       
LF
*Fred Lewis
SS
Ryan Theriot
3B
Jose Castillo 2B
*Mike Fontenot
2B
#Ray Durham
1B
Derrek Lee
C
Bengie Molina 3B
Aramis Ramirez
CF
Aaron Rowand RF
Mark DeRosa
RF
*John Bowker
CF
*Jim Edmonds
1B
Rich Aurilia
LF
Reed Johnson
SS
#Omar Vizquel
C
Henry Blanco
P
Tim Lincecum P
Ryan Dempster

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great pitching matchup between two All-Stars to end the pre-ASG schedule for 2008.

Lincecum has been everything the Giants hoped he would be; Dempster has been more than the Cubs could ever have hoped. Dempster remains undefeated this season at Wrigley (10-0, 2.58); Lincecum was undefeated on the road until losing to the Mets at Shea this past Tuesday. He's still a none-too-shabby 7-1, 2.23 away from AT&T Park.

Giants have dropped six in a row. Cubs (57-37) are on track to have the franchise's best record at the All-Star break since 1969, when the club went 61-37.

Regarding Sunday's lineup, Henry Blanco gets his first start and sees his first game action in two weeks. Mike Fontenot starts for the fourth consecutive game at second base and has now gone 15-for-46 (.326) with a .436 OBP and .761 slugging percentage in his last 16 games.

Otherwise...

The blister than kept Kerry Wood out of the action Saturday and left Carlos Marmol out on the mound to allow the Giants to erase a five-run, ninth-inning deficit for the first time in 23 years will also keep Wood out of any action in the All-Star Game.

Update: Carlos Marmol, who has a 9.37 ERA in 20 appearances since June 1st, has been named to replace Wood on the NL All-Star roster for Tuesday night's game. Reader Brian points out that the selection is based on Marmol's having been the pitcher with the next highest vote total.

Comments

Maybe the powers-that-be can schedule Marmol to throw a few innings down in the Dominican League this week as well before heading to Houston for Friday's game? Guess if Lou tried to pass Kevin Hart off as Marmol the league might get suspicious.

Not much you can do about this one, just outpitched by Lincecum. Dempster wasn't great but did ok. Another series won. I'll take it. Now Carlos Marmol on the All Star team? Thats ridiculous. I'd hate to see him actually have to pitch and most of baseball ask 'this guy is an all star?' I mean we already have Fuku who will probably look silly in his at bat.

West Michigan Bottom 1st Justin Henry singles on a line drive to left fielder Brandon Guyer. Kody Kaiser doubles (15) on a line drive to left fielder Brandon Guyer. Justin Henry to 3rd. Joseph Tucker grounds out, shortstop Nate Samson to first baseman Rebel Ridling. Justin Henry scores. Kody Kaiser to 3rd. Alex Avila out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Brandon Guyer. Kody Kaiser scores. Ron Bourquin strikes out swinging. 2 H , 2 ER, 1 K West Michigan Bottom 2nd Cory Middleton strikes out swinging. Hayden Parrott singles on a ground ball to center fielder Jonathan Wyatt. Keith Stein singles on a line drive to center fielder Jonathan Wyatt. Hayden Parrott to 2nd. Pitcher Change: Robert Hernandez replaces Scott Eyre. 2 H, 0 R, 1 K

Thanks to Lou Piniella making him his everyday shortstop over the dead bodies of the Cubs organization, at this moment Ryan Theriot leads all MLB (qualified) shortstops in both batting average (.320) and OBP (.394). Not bad!

[ ]

In reply to by Vince

Actually it is good. His job on the offense is not to hit for power. It's to get on base and score, and he's done that a lot. His defense is not exceptional but it has been adequate. His base running started off badly but he has actually settled down and run more efficiently the past 2 months.

[ ]

In reply to by Vince

I guess you have to be a longtime Cubs fan to appreciate him, but by historic standards 'Riot is an OBP machine. Cubs SS, BA, OBP

Banks     .274 .330
DeJesus   .261 .330
Dunston   .267 .295
Kessinger .255 .315

Theriot   .291 .359

is the starting pitching match-up for the All-star game.

[ ]

In reply to by Chifan

Lincecum got screwed. Here is a link to a table that shows the ranking of the top NL Starting Pitchers, using their rankings in VORP, ERA+, and Win Shares. Lincecum is first in VORP, 2nd in ERA+, and 1st in Win Shares. That he is first in win shares while playing on the Giants should be a big enough sign. By these rankings, Sheets has been the 5th best starter in the league. Also, by these rankings, Hamels and Peavy got screwed, and Dempster got lucky, in the results of the all-star selections.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Lincecume started Sunday, he wasn't in contention for the starting spot. Someone posted it earlier but there were only 3 guys Hurdle was considering starting that could go 2-3 innings, I think Sheets, Z and someone else.

 

 

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

True... didn't think about Lincecum starting yesterday. Sheets isn't a bad option by any means. Completely random... but who would have thought that Kyle Lohse would be one of the better pitchers in the NL?

I seem to recall an entertaining PChat during last year's derby. Are we on for a repeat?

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

For the life of me, I don't know why. Of every Cub regular (let's set the bar at 150 AB's this season), Theriot has struck out the least (33 times). In fact, Fukudome has struck out TWICE AS MUCH as Theriot. And Theriot's has 20 more AB's. I suppose you're just trying to start an argument for the sake being this blog's public Theriot defender. The argument I'd make is that his BABIP may not stay at .350 all year. He's got a pretty good LD%, but that might still be hard to maintain. His OBP has always been pretty tightly connected to his BA. If he keeps hitting, he'll be fine. If he goes through another second half swoon like 2007, he won't.

[ ]

In reply to by Wes

"His OBP has always been pretty tightly connected to his BA" and that is his main "problem". theriot has a "good eye"...but he pretty much just uses to find something he wants to hit, not to get on base by any means necessary. he's gonna try to put the ball in play yet he's got bottom-basement power... if he finds more dirt and grass than gloves...he should be fine. he's got so little room for error or bad luck hitting like that, though. that said...his bat control is amazing. it's pretty much all he's got besides his complementing slightly-above-average speed as far as hit plate performance goes.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

And his batting average is too tightly connected to the number of hits he gets per at bat... What OBP is not connected to BA when it constitutes the majority of it? The difference between Theriot's BA and OBP is 74 points. Other than the Pujols and Dunns of the world who walk at outrageous rates, this is right in line with pretty much all of the top OBP guys in the NL. Derrek Lee's difference is 66, Utley is 80, Holliday 84, Hanley Ramirez 80, McCann 75, Nady 56, Reyes 65, Hudson 57, Rowand 68, etc, etc. He has a good eye and uses it to find good pitches to hit. Does it really matter if he gets on base more with hits than walks compared to others? I mean he gets on base right? 7th best OBP in the NL last time I checked. So you want him to walk more and maintain his BA? So basically it sounds like you want our shortstop to be Chipper, Pujols, Berkman, Holliday, Burrell, or Giles since these are the only guys getting on base at a better clip right now. I'd love to have those guys in the lineup too, but last time I checked none can play short, few can run at all, and all cost a ton of money.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

Does it really matter if he gets on base more with hits than walks compared to others? I mean he gets on base right? ____________ I think the point is that his BABIP is very high. If his hits stop falling in then his OBP will go down, but that's true of anyone. The difference between Theriot's hits that keep his BA up and the folks you listed is that they smash doubles into the gap, homers out of the park, and don't rely on singles falling in to maintain their BA. Theriot gets those hits, too, but his are dispersed between singles that sneak through the infield or bloop into shallow right (speaking in generalities here)

[ ]

In reply to by Jumbo

I just don't think we can sit here and say there is no way that he can't maintain his current pace. People said this last week when his BA dipped to .306 and now it's back up to .320. And DeRosa maintained a .343 BABIP for all of last year. The major league leader last year was Chone Figgins at .399, he had 24 doubles, 6 triples, and 3 homeruns last year. He reaches more than Theriot does on infield and bunt hits, but he is a singles hitter who maintained an astronomically high BABIP for a season. And I don't think doubles and homeruns are easier to hit than singles anyway. Now I am guessing Theriot's BABIP will drop over the rest of the summer, as will his BA and OBP. I doubt he will end up at .320 to end the year. But I think he will hit .300 with a .360 OBP, play good defense and add some speed to the lineup, all for very little money. And I am happy with that.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

That's just what you would expect from a really good hitter with virtually no power. BABIP isn't something that's very useful in evaluating hitters. It's more of a pitching stat, where very low BABIP is a red flag. --------- I'm no stat-expert, but if BABIP is indicative of a pitcher's success, it would seem to be an indication of a hitter's success. If Theriot had hit a bunch of at-'em balls instead of dropping in, his low BABIP would make us think he would improve to the mean, just as an abnormally high BABIP would make us think his luck will end soon. It could also mean that a low BABIP means poor/weak contact, and high BABIP means good/hard contact. I wouldn't think that a no power hitter would have a naturally high BABIP when compared to an equal hitter with more power. I don't get that at all.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

"So basically it sounds like you want our shortstop to be Chipper, Pujols, Berkman, Holliday, Burrell, or Giles since these are the only guys getting on base at a better clip right now." not even slightly. not even close. im saying the guy's game is putting a ball in play. his "eye" is used to wait for a pitch he wants to swing at. the guy's hitting zone is not bonds-like and small...its kinda big. if he finds more dirt than gloves he'll look good...if he doesnt, he wont. THAT is what im saying. and while his bat control is awesome, that's a hell of an unstable crutch to lay almost all of your entire batting game on. all it would take is a bad week or two (especially in the leadoff slot) to make awesome into ugly...especially since all he does is hit singles.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Where am I going with this? You bitch about Theriot every day on here and have been doing so for a long time. Hitting, defense, base running, you never seem to run out of ways to criticize his game. And it never seems to be about what Theriot is, but rather what he isn't. So where are you going with it? If you don't want his removal, are happy with him, and don't want anything different, then why does pretty much every thread have you ripping on him in some fashion? Give it a rest man.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

no i dont bitch about theriot every day...or every other day...and it's more about what he IS than what he isn't so i dunno where that is coming from. yes, i call him a singles hitter with average D. that's his thing. that's not bitching. he is what he is. i have absolutely no control over that. i think i give a pretty damn fair and realistic view of the man and have for years. why can't i talk about the guy? ive said PLENTY about what he is...way more than than what he isn't. and if im speaking the truth about the guy what the hell does it matter? i'm not ripping on him...he is what he is and that is HIS own doing. you want me to jump down your throat about how you want him to be the allstar shortstop and best thing in town? no, of course not...cuz it's retarded for me to say you're saying that. and no, im not gonna give it a rest cuz you're not comfortable with the way i talk about theriot as long as its a topic of discussion.

I hope that Lou finds some places to rest the Riot during the 2nd half - for whatever reason, he really slumped last year. OTOH, he likely has next to no confidence in Cedeno, so his options may be limited. Soto is another concern, but I'm probably getting paranoid over his mounting playing time as well.

HOT JOSH DONALDSON (A ADVANCED [promoted] STOCKTON PORTS) 7/17 .412 .444 .824 1.266 2 hr 8 rbi HOT ERIC PATTERSON (AAA SACRAMENTO RIVER CATS) 9/19 .474 .524 1.053 1.576 3 hr 8 rbi NOT MATT MURTON (OAKLAND A'S) 1/12 .083 .154 .083 .237 2 rbi MM is still making weak contact, mostly topped infield groundouts.

[ ]

In reply to by Logan

Yeah, he hits a ton of singles, but this year he also gets on base better than any other shortstop in baseball. That's in either league. I don't understand why that's not valuable. He gets caught stealing half the time, but he's still tied for 5th among shortstops in steals. Yeah, he doesn't hit for a ton of power, but why are you pining for power from the SS position when this team leads the NL in runs and slugging? Do we need so much more power that our SS has to hit 15 or 20 HR's? Why is power out of the leadoff spot a necessity, anyway? Wait until Soriano comes back and then you can feel fuzzy all over again.

[ ]

In reply to by Wes

Every team needs to have a few guys who make the league minimum and can still contribute. Theriot's value goes far beyond just his OBP or solid defense. The fact that he does those things on a dirt cheap salary means Hendry can go after bigger name FAs with his remaining dollars. That was one of the reasons I wasn't very happy to give up Gallagher (but obviously Harden is awesome and I'm glad to have him). The more young, cheap players we can get to contribute in a significant way, the more money Hendry has left to get guys like Soriano, Fukudome, etc.

[ ]

In reply to by Doug Dascenzo

He does not have solid defense. Its like watching Todd Walker out there. Look at some of the graphs comparing his defensive range compared to other shortstops, he's ranked near the bottom for the past two years. He has to play in at least 4-5 steps just so he can make throws to first. That's why every time you see what should be a routine ball hit to his left, he flops on the ground in some vain effort just to look like he tried. The one thing he is good at judging fly balls hit to his right that go into left field. Other than that, its deplorable. OBP is valuable, but so is defense at one of the most critical positions on the field.

went 0 for 2 with 2 K's at the Futures Game yesterday. Did anyone watch?

[ ]

In reply to by Wes

The first K vs. Cahill wasnt that bad, he did a good job of working the count which rarely happens in ASG so its nice to see OK plate discipline. That slider Cahill threw was nasty as Wes mentioned. I watched the game until the Cubs come on (which was 1/2 the game) and Cahill was the player I was most impressed by. The 2nd AB you could tell he was trying to drive the ball hard and struck out on 3 or 4 pitches.

The Riot's arm is also NOT worse than Eckstein's. It's not strong, but it's not a rag arm. I'm right-handed, and I can throw left-handed better than Eckstein can throw right-handed.

"Other than that, its deplorable. OBP is valuable, but so is defense at one of the most critical positions on the field." It would help if you offered some tangible proof for Theriot's alleged suckiness in the field. Right now you're just farting in the wind, my friend.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

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  • Arizona Phil (view)

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  • Arizona Phil (view)

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  • crunch (view)

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  • 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...