Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

42 players are at MLB Spring Training 

31 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE at MLB Spring Training, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 
11 players are MLB Spring Training NON-ROSTER INVITEES (NRI) 

Last updated 3-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 17
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

NRI PITCHERS: 5 
Colten Brewer 
Carl Edwards Jr 
* Edwin Escobar 
* Richard Lovelady 
* Thomas Pannone 

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

NRI CATCHERS: 2  
Jorge Alfaro 
Joe Hudson 

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

NRI INFIELDERS: 3 
David Bote 
Garrett Cooper
* Dominic Smith

OUTFIELDERS: 5
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

NRI OUTFIELDERS: 1 
* David Peralta

OPTIONED:
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, RHP 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, RHP 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

 



Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Game 103 Thread / Marlins @ Cubs (2 of 4)

Game Chat | Press Pass | BR Preview

SP Josh Johnson
SP
Ryan Dempster
  0-0, 3.86, 10 K, 3 BB, 11.2 IP

11-4, 3.05, 111 K, 51 BB, 132.2 IP
       
SS
Hanley Ramirez
LF
Alfonso Soriano
RF
*Luis Gonzalez
SS
Ryan Theriot
3B
Jorge Cantu
1B
Derrek Lee
1B
*Mike Jacobs 3B
Aramis Ramirez
2B
Dan Uggla
RF
*Kosuke Fukudome
LF
Josh Willingham C
Geovany Soto
CF
Cody Ross
2B
*Mike Fontenot
C
Paul Hoover
CF
Reed Johnson
P
*Josh Johnson P
Ryan Dempster

 

With Jeff Samardzija (last name = 29 Scrabble points) in a Major League uniform for the first time and the Brewers so close you can smell the Miller High Life and cannibal sandwiches on their breaths, the Cubs go for a second win in a row against the Fightin' Fish.

Kosuke Fukudome returns to the starting lineup, as does Mike Fontenot, who has gone 14-for-41 (.341) with four homers and a 1260 OPS since the first of July.

Ryan Dempster, who was beaten at home for the first time this year when he lost to the Giants on the Sunday before the All-Star break, comes off a sterling outing at Houston, in which he threw eight shutout innings while fanning seven, walking one, and allowing just six hits.

Josh Johnson makes his third start of the year for Florida as he recovers from elbow surgery this past March. The six-foot-seven-inch righthander throws a mid-90's fastball, a slider and change-up, though often not where he means to throw them. (In 185 Major League innings pitched dating back to '05, Johnson has allowed nearly 4.5 walks for every 9 IP.)

Just thought of this: on Monday, the Cubs faced six-foot-ten-inch Randy Johnson of Arizona. Today they get 6-7 Josh Johnson of the Marlins. That means this week alone, the Cubs have encountered more than 13 feet of Johnson.

 

Comments

That means this week alone, the Cubs have encountered more than 13 feet of Johnson. nice. I thought Edmonds was healthy and I thought Fukudome was suppose to stay in the 2 spot? Although I guess if Edmonds is sitting, Lou likes that lefty in the 5 spot.

Jace, They have this thing called the All-Star break. Cubnut, I don't have a Scrabble board in front of me, but I am pretty sure it's impossible to spell Samardzija (which you wouldn't be allowed to use in Scrabble anyway) without scoring more than 29 points. Carry on.

"The six-foot-seven-inch righthander throws a mid-90's fastball, a slider and change-up, though often not where he means to throw them." Through 4.5 innings" Dempster - 6 walks Johnson - 0

I guess this kills that speculation about him starting over the weekend...

the scoreboard radar in Des Moines always clocked Samarzija @ 90-92 [once I saw a 94]; even allowing for the extra 2-3 mph the scouts @ the ballpark said their guns usually registered, JS must have some serious adrenalin pumping for the Wrigley debut if these readings so far are accurate...

Hey Lou- News flash -- Howry sucks. His 5+ ERA may hav tipped you off, or the fact that virtaully every hitter scorches the ball when he throws it. Ths is also the 4th day in the last 5 he has pitched. What the hell?

Just going by the Yahoo! feed -- was there a batter that didn't hit he ball hard in the 9th inning? Howry's good-but-not-great fastball isn't getting it done any more. Man, the bullpen is a mess.

Ya, I agree, bullpen is a serious mess. It was masked for a while by the dominance of Wood/Marmol, but they've regressed. Gaudin isnt very good right now, and Howry hasn't been good in a long while. After that, we're pretty much ho hum. Its really hurting us. This very easily may be our last day in sole possession of first place :(

looked pretty awesome though...

10 hits + 5 walks = 2 runs. Sheesh. Had runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs in the 6th, 7th and 8th, but Ward, Fukky and Soriano couldn't come through. One hit from any of those 3 probably wins the game. Very frustrating loss. Howry is quickly becoming a joke. He has been scored on in 6 of his last 10 appearances. Good luck with that next ocntract, Bob.

Wow... serious doom and gloom around here. The Cubs lost a game to the Marlins today. It's not like they just got swept by the Mariners... I do think that Lou needs to back off from using Howry in nearly every ballgame, though... I wonder when he'll get that message...

On the Cincinnati news tonight, they reported Cub fans were "all over" the Dayton police about the Castillo charges/arrest due to Castillo's impending call up to the bigs. Uh...which Cub fans are those?? And "impending call up?" Seems everybody I've read on the internets is unanimously denouncing his monumental idiot status. I'm going to have to call shenanigans on the Channel 9 propaganda machine. Pede

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I heard we were going to call him up Monday because his beanball is so good we were going to let him use it on Braun and Fielder. In all seriousness, anyone who is sticking up for him is a moron.

[ ]

In reply to by Pede

Wow, don't they realize that player don't get called up from that deep in the minors? Not even close... It even rare for player to get called up from AA, let alone Low-A ball...

The problem with Lou is that he either overuses guys (Marmol/Howry) to the point of ineffectiveness or lets them rot on the bench (Wuertz/Lieber). I'm not a huge Michael Wuertz fan but in his defense I don't know how a guy is supposed to stay sharp when he only pitches once every two weeks. Not real impressed with the way Lou handles his pitching staff.

[ ]

In reply to by Pootie T

That's just a supposition. You don't know that that Howry and Marmol are struggling due to workload.. You're just assuming. It could be a million things, the most likely of which is Howry isn't as young as he used to be and he doesn't throw 95 anymore. Marmol doesn't trust his stuff right now. He can't control his slider and his fastball's getting worked. Please explain to me why it's the workload. I do agree that it's silly to have guys down there that never pitch, but that's not relevant to why Bob Howry can't get anybody out.

[ ]

In reply to by Wes

Well, with Marmol it's probably a bit of both. His struggles started after a pretty heavy work load and then it's not out of the question that some struggles led to mental struggles which led to more pitching struggles. With Howry, I doubt it's work load but it is reasonable to say a manager who has staked part of his reputation on only playing guys who produce should be not playing guys who aren't producing and Howry is one of those guys. He's only had good month in May (which was admittedly amazing with a 1.76 ERA). Other then that, his best was a 4.50 ERA in June and that's nothing to write home about. Relievers are very unreliable and you can't just keep using one because he used to be good. More often then not, teams do better by riding the hot hand or the young, up and comer who goes on a tear for one year. We have Gaudin, Cotts, Wood (when he comes back) and Marmol. That's a pretty good base there and better then a lot of teams. Marmol has always been wild and will always be wild but his WHIP is still lower then last year and he is still the best choice to close out games with Wood out. Saying Lou over-relies on certain bullpen arms is a completely valid argument. Bullpen usage is probably his biggest weakness and he needs to realize quickly that Howry is a 6th-7th inning guy and a mop-up guy. We have other arms and they need a chance. Heck, Wuertz has better numbers then Howry at this point.

[ ]

In reply to by johann

I don't disagree. But blaming his struggles on the workload alone makes no sense. Yes, he's worked a lot. I've always thought that he, in particular, had the arm to handle it. Maybe that's not the case, but he's still not showing signs of fatigue (dead/tired arm) in his delivery. At the same time, he's thrown all of 120 career relief innings. A sudden regression should not necessarily be blamed on the amount that he worked. Perhaps it's partially because we're talking about a guy who's relieved for only a season and a half. Perhaps it's because we're talking about a guy who isn't use to making mistakes and is now making them. Perhaps we're talking about a guy who hasn't yet fought severe wildness in this role. Perhaps we're simply talking about regression. Perhaps we're talking about guys finally learning to make him throw them a fastball for a strike. You can't hit his slider, whether it's in the strike zone or not. Guys would take called thirds on his slider all the time. It's not a strike right now. It could be one of many things, or a combination of all. Blaming it strictly on the amount of innings he's thrown is silly. Say he threw 20 or 25 innings in April/May instead of 35, is his ERA a full 5 runs lower in the last two months? I think that's incredibly unlikely. I mean, am I the only one who thinks that sounds absurd? EDIT: Also, if he's tired after 50 innings, then he's in the wrong business. Yes, the last couple of days have been a LOT of work for him, but working 3 out of 4 days shouldn't cause him to tire over this timeframe. Over the course of 162 games, yes. Over the course of 70 or 80 games (when he started to fail), no. That's not right. Either he's got the weakest arm in the NL or something else is wrong.

[ ]

In reply to by Wes

Wes, With all due respect, that makes no sense. Being overworked just means that you're not giving your body time to recover. You can become overworked in 3 days. Go to the gym and do your max bench press for 3 days in a row. See if you can do the same weight on day 3 that you did on day one. You won't be able to, because your body hasn't recovered. The same thing applies to all endeavors in sports. Runners, football players, tennis players, everyone needs time to recover, and if you play too much of anything over a given time frame, you won't be as effective. Back to Marmol, BP was commenting in May that he had a workload that was unheard of in today's game. He's not exactly Livan Hernandez when it comes to the amount of effort he expends either. Yes it's possible that his troulbes have nothing to do with overwork. He leads the Majors in relief pitches thrown. I don't know how much sports you have played, but when you get tired you tend to lose your coordination. Loss of coordination in for a pitcher is going to result in a loss of control, which is what we've seen from Marmol. It's not the league adjusting to him, He's throwing the same two pitches he's thrown since he became a reliever.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Some. I have played some sports. I know about recovery time. In fact, I very specifically know about the recovery time of pitchers. Three in a row is part of it. Four out of five in a week is part of it. Comes with the territory. After a season and a half in this role, I can guarantee you that his arm is conditioned for that. Maybe not for that workload over the course of a full season, but certainly for over 2 or 3 months. If we were having this discussion at the end of August about why he was beginning to have some trouble, I'd agree it was fatigue. But, I don't buy it right now. If Carlos Marmol loses effectiveness after throwing 30 innings in two months, then there's an entirely different problem here. Yes, he's thrown a lot of pitches. Yes, he's made a lot of appearances. But, it's fucking July dude. He started sucking at the end of May. THE END OF MAY. He's not tired at the end of May. His arm isn't out of gas at the end of May. That's just not possible for a big league reliever unless he makes 45 appearances in the two months. He appeared in 29 of 51 games that this team played in April and May. Approximately half. A little more than that, but but basically half. He didn't throw 3 out of every four over that time span. Sure, he threw 3 in a row occasionally, and made 1+ inning appearances occasionally, but he still worked in roughly half. That is NOT enough to wear out a reliever. It just isn't, Neal. I'm sorry. Not over that timespan. I've lived it and I've seen it. Mariano Rivera has thrown 70 or more innings every year since 2001 (save an '04 injury). Jonathan Broxton throws 70+ every year. He threw 82 last year. He's on pace to throw over 70 again. K-Rod has averaged 75 innings for the last 5 seasons. 80+ twice. 80 innings is a high workload. But it happens. The dependable relievers in this game are counted on for 80 innings. That's an inning every other day. Which is what Marmol has more or less done (give or take four or five innings) through 60% of this season. 55 innings in 103 games. He's on pace for more than that, but I don't think Lou ever planned on throwing him 90 innings. Lou has said he planned on resting him down the stretch, but now he's got a different problem. He's got to get him right. He has to get his confidence back, and the only way to do that is to work him more. He has to pitch. An interesting paradox. To conclude, I have a problem with your weightlifting analogy. If I go bench press 3 days in a row, I get tired. If I went right now, today, not having benched in several months, day 3 would be a failure. In fact, day 2 might even be a failure. Unless, of course, if I've conditioned myself to bench press everyday for the last 6 or 7 years. Then I bet I can do essentially the same bench on day 3 than I've done on day 1. Maybe a rep or 2 less, and if I give myself a day off on the 4th day, I'm right back in it on the 5th day. That's a more accurate analogy.

[ ]

In reply to by Wes

Neal, You also said when you lose coordination, you lose control. That's correct. But, that's not the only thing you lose. I went over this a few days ago, but as you said yesterday, you've only recently returned. Wildness is not the only symptom of tired/dead arm. Wildness is also not the tell-tale symptom of tired arm. In fact, wildness is a symptom of several things. If you have a tired arm, you lose velocity, which Marmol has not. He was still throwing 96 on Thursday. You change your arm angle. He hasn't done that yet, either. With most pitchers, you talk about shoulder fatigue when they get tired. With Marmol's mechanics, I wouldn't be surprised if we'd be talking about elbow pain, as well. In that case, you lose any kind of ability to throw a breaking ball like he does. The slider is still very sharp, he just can't control it. It's not a very tactful analogy, but I compare the symptoms of tired arm to the symptoms of having a heart attack. If you get a headache, you just don't feel well. Like having some wildness. Could be one of a bunch of things. If you change your arm angle, maybe you start feeling a little lightheaded. You start having trouble breathing. It's still a problem there that probably needs to be checked out, but it doesn't mean you're having a heart attack. Now, if your breaking ball goes flat and you've lost 5 or 6 mph, call 911. That's the left arm hurting and the chest pain. You've got trouble. It wouldn't surprise me if they put Marmol on the DL when Wood comes back and called it "tired arm". But that's not the problem right now.

[ ]

In reply to by Wes

We'll have to agree to disagree. At the start of the season he was throwing 98. At the peak of his down cycle he was throwing 95. All athletes aren't the same, what one guy can do doesn't necessarily apply to everyone. Have you ever heard of a guy with a 'rubber arm'? Marmol is what 5'10 and throws 98 MPH's. How many people have you ever met or seen like that? You can't just generalize because some guy you knew could throw in a game 4 times a week for 3 months. I ran a lot of track, and I was slow. But when the sprinters put had to join the distance guys for their endurance workouts, I could beat a guy who played wide reciever for TN in the 200. Was I more fit than him? No, but my body was less dependant on fast twitch muscles and could more quickly recover. You can't just make blanket assumptions and think they apply to everyone, particuarly a freak of nature like Marmol.

[ ]

In reply to by Pootie T

Sorry, but I don't get your point. The best pitchers pitch the most innings. If Lou called up Wuertz and put him in there in a tie game in the seventh inning and he sucked, and Lou said, "Well, he sucks, but I don't want him to get rusty due to too much inactivity, so I put him out there anyway," then that would be really ridiculous. Obviously, Howry has been terrible this year – this is the most HRs he's allowed in a season since 2002– but Lou using him obviously tells you what he thinks of his alternatives. Howry has great control, so Lou gives him more leeway.

[ ]

In reply to by Mitterwald

Actually Joe Torre said almost that exact same thing about one of his relievers once. If the guy's job is to get out two left handers, or to only give up one run in the 8th to bridge to the closer, that's his job. Every manager would love to have a bullpen full of vintage Jesse Oroscos and Bruce Sutters, but they have to play the hand their dealt. Wuertz's stuff comes and goes. If you don't think Pinhead misused Wuertz this year, then you're probably new to closely observing Cubs baseball. It's proven without a shred of a doubt that Wuertz, when he is on, is a bonafide late inning option. If Pinhead can't get him to perform that way (most likely because he was used too infrequently as Pinhead burned out Marmol and counted on Howry), that's Pinhead's short coming.

Pretty ugly loss for sure. I blame the offense not Howry in particular. Howry has been struggling. Samardzija impressed but I doubt he will be on the team all that long. Fukudome and Soriano could have put the Cubs up in the 7th and 8th. Ward striking out wasn't pretty either. Offense is just bad right now. Maybe Houston will help us out tonight. Unlikely but stuff happens.

If Lou isnt going to use Eyre, Jimbo should trade him. I mean if teams are willing to give up a good player for Ohman I imagine he could get a solid prospect for him. There was 2 good points in that game to use Eyre: 7th- to intentionally walk Cantu. At this point you force Gonzalez to pick his poison: Jacobs V. Eyre or Helms V. Howry or Gaudin 9th- Have him start the inning. If he does I wonder if Gonzalez even uses Hermadia their if he has to face a lefty.

and his ridiculous rant on the Cubs and Soto? I'm watching the Rockies/Reds and he goes off on Tulowitzki for not living up to his contract he just signed. Awesome stuff...

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Kontos has a good arm, but has struggled with command and he was NYY 25th best prospect going into the year. I could see him being viewed as equal to a 1st round sandwich pick. Tabata is a player with a 1st round grade so those two for Marte is an ok to good deal as they matched the talent they could get in compensation for him bolting as a free agent. However including Nady and only getting a pair of 26 year old journeyman type back is where it gets a bit stupid for PIT when you look at all the buzz Nady got in trade rumors.

The Cubs are like a bun without a hotdog. We lost because the middle of the order wasn't there. 2HR, a double, 9 hits sandwiched around a 1/12 performance and all we get is 2 runs. This has been going on too long now. Theriot who usually is in front of them has been on base more than 37 times this month (.422 OBP) but only scored 9 runs. He scored 19 in April, 17 in May.

The Cubs are like a bun without a hotdog. ================== I like it! Today Dempster was mustard, Howry was chopped onions. Shark relish? '98 Cubs, Sammy was the hotdog?

I just heard from a friend that Chad Fox is stretching on the field at Wrigley. Can anyone confirm this and whether he is going to be placed on the roster today?

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    SF snags b.snell...2/62m

  • Cubster (view)

    AZ Phil: THAT is an awesome report worth multiple thanks. I’m sure it will be worth reposting in an “I told you so” in about 2-3 years.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The actual deadline to select a post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agent signed to 2024 minor league contract (Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta) to the MLB 40-man roster is not MLB Opening Day, it is 12 PM (Eastern) this coming Sunday (3/24). 

    However, the Cubs could notify the player prior to the deadline that the player is not going to get added to the 40 on Sunday, which would allow the player to opt out early. Otherwise the player can opt out anytime after the Sunday deadline (if he was not added to the 40 by that time). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024: 

    * bats or throws left 

    Angel Cepeda, INF 
    * Miguel Cruz, P
    Yidel Diaz, C 
    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
    Fraiman Marte, P  
    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

    And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.

    Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect. 

    F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season. 

    The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically. 

    Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).

    Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day. 

    Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.

    The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required. 

    They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).

    If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.

    If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil, 
    Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
    If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!  

    And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).