Cubs MLB Roster

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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 

 



 

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Game 5 Recap (Sort Of): Cubs 6, Brewers 5

All I'm going to say about this victory is, Alfonso Soriano reminded us why it's worth having a left fielder who can't actually field, Kosuke Fukudome continues his drive to be christened "Mr. April," and Carlos Marmol, who is officially NOT the Cubs closer, made our opponents' best hitters look helpless in a way that the guy who is our closer never, ever could.

 

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

True. From the cubs.com game story I linked to:

"[Kevin] Gregg is still our closer," Piniella said. "I can't get them both up [in the bullpen]. I said that the other night in Houston. I can't afford to get them both up, because I lose [both of] them. We got Marmol up just in case we tied or went ahead, and that was the end of it.

"I said when the season started there will be opportunities for both of them, but believe me, tomorrow, if we get into a similar situation, Gregg will be the closer."

My point is just that it's hard to watch Marmol dominate another team and not think about what it would be like to have closing regularly. Of course, that leaves a huge hole in the set-up spot...

 

It was nearly 4 am CET when I went to bed in the 9th, and I didn't have faith the Cubs could complete the comeback after Theriot's weak effort in the 8th following Fonty's walk. Glad to be proven wrong. This is one of those games the Cubs shouldn't have won though, so it's nice to make up for Friday's loss.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

sori's D gets some "help" from his arm and people running on him...at first it seemed they ran on him because they didn't know what he had in his arm. lately (last year and this so far) it seems they're running on him because after plays he's usually in a clumsy position to throw the ball once he fields it. the "hop" usually leaves him off balance or kills his forward momentum adding time to getting rid of the ball. this doesn't take in account his weird routes, stuff that he misjudges over his head, or the free base he gave away yesterday slowing jogging to a ball rather than running to snag it. that said i'd still say he's above average and his arm is something everyone (should) think about when he's fielding. though, so far this season MIL has turned that lack of fearing sori's arm into a runner on 3rd and a run scored in separate incidents where he had control of the ball long enough to make a play.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

I'm on pins and needles.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

I hear Jay's doing so blogging now. Maybe those geniuses at ESPN will give us more Mariotti. Giving Mariotti his own lame radio show was what ended Tony Kornheiser's radio show--one of the few sports radio shows I actually enjoyed. This has Epic Fail written all over it.

[ ]

In reply to by Mister Whipple

I had heard this on Bruce Levine's show yesterday. What is the difference going to be exactly? From the little I heard, there will be myriad blogs with "professional" writer/editors posting shit 24x7. IS that all?

It seems to me that many of the problems with Soriano is how he looks out there in attempting to field, and not whether or not he's actually making the plays with any consistency (which he usually does) - and that arm always reminds me of Dawson's, with the same degree of accuracy. Remind me how many times runners scored successfully from 2nd on ground balls through the hole - not too many last year, if I remember correctly.

We wouldn't be having this debate about last night's game were it not for the fact that Guzman came in and pitched pathetically once again. Why are we keeping this guy? What good is having stuff when your results stink all the time? Uncle Lou needs to have one of his "nice little chats" with Angel and let him know that his time in Chicago is finite if he doesn't start getting the job done...

I had advocated all spring that it is finally "ENOUGH" with Gooz. Every year since I've seen him come up he's either injured or has control problems from batter to batter. This is Hendry hanging on too long. Obviously, had Gaudin not completely stunk it up in ST, we also would not be having this discussion. Frankly, no other RH reliever did much in ST besides "Old Style", on a consistent basis. Lou is not going to have patience with Cotts either - ala last year. IF he doesn't improve, and in a hurry, he will get his ass sent to Iowa once again. The irony is that the best LHRP (Broke Scott Eyre) got dumped last year, and we now have an A-ball LHRP as the only one that can get people out (well, not counting Marshall).

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

True on the Eyre thing, but he pissed Lou off so much that he was in the doghouse the entire first half of 2008. It doesn't do a lot of good to have him if you're not going to use him.

[ ]

In reply to by Wes

Yeah, but Lou needs also to realize that sometimes relievers have a bad stretch and that doesn't necessarily make them permanently useless. The Lou-Hates-Pitchers argument makes a lot of sense to me based on observation of him. (I wish he'd stop doing all the mound visits because of that—let you're pitching coach handle it if all you have to contribute is "throw strikes" and a string of expletives.)

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Yeah, but Lou's right more often than not when he goes out there on one of those visits to curse somebody out. I don't always agree with how many pitchers he uses to get through the 7th and 8th, but walking the world just isn't acceptable. Or, if your Cotts, hit the one fucking guy he wants you to face. Now if you're argument is that he should be nice to his pitchers and take them out for an ice cream cone at Six Flags after the game so Cotts can ride the tilt-a-whirl, then fine. But, to an extent, he's right. All 6 guys down there (Vizcaino excluded) have to throw a LOT more strikes than they've thrown this week or we're going to be in big trouble.

[ ]

In reply to by Wes

I think that "throw strikes" isn't very helpful unless your pitcher has actually forgotten that's what he's supposed to do. I've never been a fan of intimidation and humiliation as a coaching method—even when he's right (and of course he is—the pitcher isn't in their to put men on base). If you've got something helpful to say, go out and say it, but does it really help your pitcher to curse him out? Maybe some guys need that punch in the crotch, but I doubt it works for everybody. I agree completely though that the bullpen needs to throw more strikes. I wonder whether they are nibbling too much or are simply having control problems. To be fair, Cotts has had two bad ABs in a row, right? Yeah, it's infuriating to bring in a pitcher to face one guy and not get him, but it's still only two ABs. I'm always concerned a guy will end up in the minors, released, or traded because of that when Lou just needs to give them a chance.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

" I'm always concerned a guy will end up in the minors, released, or traded because of that when Lou just needs to give them a chance." I hope when Eyre gets his ring he sends an autographed photo of him modelling it to Loue to hang in his office.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I hope when Eyre gets his ring he can hock it for some cash. I hear he's broke.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

I think it will also help if Lou doesn't pretend Cotts is a Loogy. It'll take him a long time to prove himself, too, if Lou only lets him face one batter every couple of games. Guzman has had, what, one bad outing so far this year? I agree with you on his history, but I'm not whining until he blocks someone more valuable. They already dumped Gaudin, so that leaves Kevin Hart and Ascanio, neither of whom look like improvements right at the moment (though they both have good enough stuff to develop into good relievers).

Okay, I think our bullpen (and lineup for that matter) deserve a little patience. Bring it down a notch. We're exactly 5 games into the season. Clearly, if the Brewers contend they'll need to add an arm to the rotation. You can't play in October with Suppan as your number one starter and expect to get anywhere. Of course, (You've heard it here first) I'd be surprised if the Brewers finish much above .500 anyways.

Milton Bradley lasts 5 games, woot! Eleventy11!! Thank god Fukudome is playing well, just slide him back over to RF for the next X weeks/months. If Bradley is DL-ed, who do the Cubs call up? Jake Fox? Brad Snyder? So Taguchi?

Six games with Bradley. Geez, that is pathetic. As you say, if Dome can continue being useful with the bat, it will be not so tragic. I am more worried about DP Lee. At least he drove in a run with a nice sac fly.

[ ]

In reply to by rokfish

Fox is not, and will not, be a backup catcher option. Fox used to catch, but he isn’t a catcher anymore, and there is a reason for that. He was really bad defensively. If he has ANY ability behind the plate, he would probably already be playing on a big league roster. He isn’t even listed as a catcher on the Iowa Cubs roster, and hasn’t caught since 2007, where he only caught 13 games. Catchers are in very high demand, especially catchers who can hit. If Fox had any ability behind the plate, he would be catching every day in the minors. Jake Fox will not catch for the Chicago Cubs, or probably any other team.

CUBS WIN!! CUBS WIN!! 8-5 over division rival MIL to take another road series 2 games to 1. Moves the Cubs to 4-2, a half game behind STL. THE GOOD: - Johnson. Reed making his case for defensive play of the year very early by robbing Prince Fielder of a Grand Slam and savings 3 runs. - Brewer pitchers. 10 BB's in the game and walked 4 Cubs runners in in the 4th inning. THE BAD: - Lee. Another 0-fer night going 0-3 and now has started the year out in a 2-25 slump. - Bradley. Whoever had game 6 in the 'when will Bradley get hurt' pool, YOU WIN! Bradley tweaked his right groin tonight and will be reevaluated tomorrow to see how bad the injury is. This is what scared many of us with this signing as Bradley has been injury prone and has played more than 101 games only 2 times in his career. Oh yeah, Bradley has started the year out in a 1-17 slump. THE UGLY: - Gregg. Looked very shaky again in a non save situation in the 9th. He might be only one more bad blown save away from losing the closers job to the best reliever, Marmol. Taking series' on the road is huge, and the Cubs have done it twice even though some of their key players have struggled. Now they come home tomorrow for the home opener. Just keep taking series' and fans will be very happy.

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

I fail to see why people get angry about something like a pulled groin that's going to cause Bradley to miss a max of 2-3 weeks during the first month of the season. I'm not saying that you are one of those specifically, manny, but this seemed like the logical place to put that thought with the rest of the following. I don't frankly care if Bradley misses 125 games as long as he's there when the playoffs start. Why does anybody panic about anything in April anyway? Something tells me this minor injury in the first week of the season won't keep him out until October. We'll see where we stand when he gets hurt again, though. Maybe there's another ACL tear in his future. We'll all find out together, I guess. Also, yes Bradley is slumping, but he's still doing a pretty darn good job of getting on base in front of the guy slugging 538. I wish he was getting on base ahead of the guy slugging 786, but the only guys who got that honor this weekend were our career .193 hitting backup catcher and the pitcher. I am also struggling with what the qualifiers are to be selected as "good", "bad", or "ugly" by manny. Is it good in a baseball sense or good in a "affects the outcome in a favorable way for our baseball team"? Just trying to feel it out here.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

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  • Arizona Phil (view)

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  • 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)

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  • 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.