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 

 



 

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Rule 5 Draft 
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Game 104 Thread / Marlins @ Cubs (3 of 4)

Game Chat | BR Preview

SP Chris Volstad
SP
Rich Harden
  2-1, 2.16, 9 K, 6 BB, 16.2 IP

5-2, 2.12, 112 K, 36 BB, 89.1 IP
       
SS
Hanley Ramirez
LF
Alfonso Soriano
RF
*Jeremy Hermida
SS
Ryan Theriot
3B
Jorge Cantu
1B
Derrek Lee
1B
*Mike Jacobs 3B
Aramis Ramirez
2B
Dan Uggla
2B
*Mike Fontenot
LF
Josh Willingham RF
Mark DeRosa
C
*John Baker
C
Geovany Soto
CF
#Alfredo Amezaga CF
*Kosuke Fukudome
P
Chris Volstad P
*Rich Harden

 

Rise and shine, Cubbies. A 12:05 day game in Chicago sees Rich Harden looking for his first win as a Cub, the Cubs looking for reliable offense, and fans looking to maintain bragging rights over the charging Brewers. That's three more uses of the verb "looking" than I'd make if I wasn't rusty from yet another long hiatus.

Who is John Baker?

The biggest pregame news has to be Fontenot's promotion and Fukudome's demotion. This is by my quick count the second time this season Fukudome started a game in center, the first time Fontenot has started the game hitting fifth, likewise for Fukudome hitting eighth.

Harden faced the Marlins on June 20th of this year, giving up a run, 2 BB and 5 K in 5.2 IP for a no decision. Volstad has never faced the Cubs. Drafted 16th overall in 2005, Sickles had him rated as the fourth best Marlin prospect coming in to 2008 with a "B" grading. How someone 6 foot 7 can be a ground-ball pitcher is beyond me, but Volstad is. Fan Graphs also tells us that at the moment he's a two-pitch pitcher: 90 mph fastball and 79 mph curve, with the infreqent change-up as well.

Random Fantasy Question: Over the course of this season I traded Dan Uggla for Ted Lilly and then Lilly for Ryan Theriot. Which of the three would you most want on your fantasy team?

 

 

 

Comments

Casey Blake to the Dodgers for RHP Jon Meloan and C Carlos Santana NY Post says Marte, Nady deal will be Jose Tabata, Daniel McCutchen, Jeff Karstens and Ross Ohlendorf.

The biggest pregame news has to be Fontenot's promotion Aramis Ramirez needs protection. If you insist on batting .900 you're gonna fill the five. and Fukudome's demotion. If you're gonna make great catches and hit like Felix Pie you're gonna play centerfield and bat 8.

So with what we've seen since the big trades, I have a legit question. Would you rather have a pitcher who goes 5-6 innings and gives up 1 run or 8-9 innings and gives up 3-4 runs. I guess it depends on the bullpens, so let's say the bullpens are the Cubs and the Brewers...

Uggla for sure. The Bayou boys are playing well in the heat. I wonder what the Cubs record would have w/o Soriano if Theroit wasn't playing as he was. It's nice to see.

Can't win in Houston. Can't beat Randy Johnson. Can't beat the Marlins. Can't hit a HR with a man on base. Can't hit anything with runners in scoring position. Can't win at home with Dempster and Harden starting, each giving up one run. Scary stuff. The Summer of Joy has taken an ugly turn. Last 7 of the year are in NY and MIL -- Cubs unlikey to win more than 2 of the last 7 -- better start winning some home games, boys.

One other good thing -- Howry had the day off, so he can come in and lose tomorrow's game in the 9th. They need to start hitting quickly -- if they get their butts kicked in Milwaukee next week, then can't win with a ton of home games in August, the road-heavy September schedule will probaly be too much to overcome.

is on the block. If Jimbo was smart he would offer up Soriano and a solid prospect for Manram without taking a look at their contracts, I'd say it save the Cubs 80 million throught the course of their contracts.

Today was just like an extension of yesterday, except they had fewer chances today. I really don't know if this might just be the coming back to Earth of the offense. The pitching is doing great, for all the people wanting to get rid of Howry yesterday...do you want to get rid of Gaudin today? These games are not the bullpens fault. You have to score more than 2 runs if you want to win games. Simple as that. I'm discouraged at this point of the season...maybe having a great offense was too good to be true.

[ ]

In reply to by Jeff_Pico

Here's the thing: I have problems with this team, but it's just as ridiculous to judge the offense by this slump as it was to anoint them the best offense ever because of the beginning of the season. In the end, you have to judge a player by their season wide numbers and not what they did over a one month period. At the end of the season ARam and Lee will probably hit .300 and it will be a successful season. To me, no one should be surprised by Fuku's hitting. The platitudes he was getting at the beginning were a bit much for a tiny sample size and it was to me pretty much given his numbers would go down from Japan, especially in home runs. I'd say league average with outstanding defense is just about right for him. Soriano is a very streaky hitter who will get hurt. Again, no one should be surprised by this. He will go on a tear, we'll win a bunch of games and people will forget this bit. Soto is a very good hitter but is also young and will go through these streaks. While obviously we'd all love for him to be the exception, it's no knock against him he's been slumping because rookies do that. He'll bounce back at some point and in the end it will average out to quite good numbers. A 1.048 OPS (what he hit in April/March) was fun as all get out but also unrealistic for an entire season, especially for a catcher. In the end, he's second in the NL and 3rd in the MLB in OPS and that is still really, really good for a rookie. Theriot just seems to be hitting and hitting and hitting and who knows when it will end. Logically it should end, but hey, who are we to argue with scrap. DeRosa, despite some claims to the contrary, was never and will never be a great hitter. He is quite useful as a super-utility player but a 109 OPS+ is the highest he's ever hit and the highest you're likely to get from him. Johnson, DeRosa and Edmonds are all extremely replaceable (note I didn't say bad) players and thus there should no hesitation to replace each one with the hot hand. But the fact we get slumps from any of them again should be no surprise. It just seems we have some unrealistic expectations some times from hitters. Someone goes on a hot streak hitting way over their career numbers and suddenly we expect them to hit like that all the time. Most hitters get a .300 BA at the end of the season by hitting .400 for a while, then .200, etc, etc. You enjoy the .400, ride out the .200 and with our team, it just happens most of the guys are hitting .200 at the same time which hopefully means they'll all hit .400 at the same time.

One problem with Saturday's lineup: You have four players, you are going to play three of them. Here's their OPS's since the ASG (everyone talks about how Lou likes to go with the hot hand). Player 1. 1.556 Player 2. 1.188 Player 3. .632 Player 4. .727 Your team is struggling offensively. Which three do you play? Well of course, you play 2,3,4, who as a bonus give you the worst possible defensive combination as well. Then late in the game you decided to PH for one of those guys with player #1. Who do you pinch hit for? Well of course the guy with the 1.188 OPS. Pinhead, it's not rocket science. When your team isn't scoring, PLAY THE HOTTEST HITTERS. There was no excuse to be playing DeRosa over Johnson yesterday, unless 'stupid' is an excuse.

set Anthony Reyes free... goes to Indians for a minor leaguer RHP Luis Perdomo

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)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • 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.