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

Cueto Quiets Cubs: Reds Win at Wrigley, 3-0

Righthander Johnny Cueto dominated Cub hitters Wednesday night, and a strong outing by Ted Lilly (7 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, just 1 unearned run allowed) was wasted as Cincinnati ended the Cubs' three-game winning streak.

Why the Cubs lost: No O—the offense produced no runs and four hits against Cueto in his seven innings. Overall, the Cub bats delivered six measly singles, two each by Soriano and Lee, and one apiece from Fukudome and Ramirez. In both the first inning and the fourth, they managed to put two runners aboard, but failed to capitalize. In total, Cub hitters only had four opportunities to hit with men in scoring position.

Milton Bradley, who rejoined the starting lineup, fanned three times in four trips, and is now hitting .043 (1-for-23). He still appears to be suffering from the groin strain, both at the plate, where his swings seemed mostly flat-footed, and in the field, where he wasn't running down fly balls so much as shuffling after them.

Ted Lilly's only shortcoming tonight was his defense. He made two errors, and the first one—a wild throw following a bunt single by Alex Gonzalez in the fourth inning—led to the only run the Reds would need on yet another frosty spring evening at Wrigley Field.

Angel Guzman and Kevin Gregg were each tagged for a run over the last couple innings. As Bob Brenly pointed out on Comcast, Gregg's inability to throw his breaking ball for strikes reduced him to a one-pitch pitcher, and young Jay Bruce, who also homered Tuesday night, tagged one of those pitches for an opposite field home run in the ninth.

Speaking of the Cub bullpen and per Rob's post earlier this evening, don't run out and buy that Luis Vizcaino Cubs jersey you've had your eye on.

Lilly has been here before:  The Cub southpaw went 17-9 last season and four of the losses were to the Reds, three of them at Wrigley. On the other hand, the Cubs also abused Cueto in '08, defeating him three times in four starts.

On tap for Thursday: A little ace-on-ace action in the series' rubber game as Aaron Harang (1-2. 2.70) meets Carlos Zambrano (1-0, 5.21). Weather forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and highs approaching 70, which will be a nice change after two cold nights on the lakefront.

Comments

Well, Milton Bradley, I believe some of you were correct in picking that Hendry crapped-out at the table. This is a lot of money to pay for someone so totally useless now. I never would have thought based on last year that Dome is really the valuable player now. The boo-birds have started latching on as well, after Bradley's AB's. Small sample size, but big enough for me to see right now. Well, the Dodgers had Jones and made the NLCS, we will have Bradley.

[ ]

In reply to by Thisistheyear

Fuck, man. Cubs fans are getting dumber and dumber. Some guys might hear boos and want to work harder and prove the fans wrong. I have a feeling Milton Bradley hears boos and says, "Fuck those assholes I'm not going to try anymore." The other thing that's really starting to piss me off is how the fans boo every single ex-Cub this year. Booing Jerry Hairston is absolutely ridiculous. The guy was never supposed to be any good, and he lived up to those expectations for us. And to top it off, he's a local kid. Why boo him? I feel like the retards going to games this year would boo Maddux if they saw him on a golf course in Vegas.

IF (big if) the Cubs do indeed just release Vizcaino after releasing Gaudin, Hendry and Crane Kenney can go blow each other. After feeding us the B.S. that the Cubs had a budget and needed to move DeRosa and Marquis to save money, they just blew $5.6M.

F them and apologies to all who sniffed this out long ago...

and F the mass media if they don't take them to task for it...

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

If it is Vizcaino, I don't get it. In 3.2 IP he has given up just 2 hits, 0 walks, 0 runs, and struck out 3. At least let a guy fail before you boot him. He had a bad season last year in Colorado, which is not surprising, but in the SIX years prior to that he had a 4.06 ERA, averaged 71 IP a year with nearly a K per inning, and a 1.2 WHIP. Sure he cost too much, but you are already paying him and if you release him you don't save any money. The likelihood that both Patton and Guzman will put up better numbers this year is, in my opinion, pretty low.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

"The likelihood that both Patton and Guzman will put up better numbers this year is, in my opinion, pretty low." What's the logic of that emphasis on "this year"? Patton and Guzman can't be optioned, so you're keeping them for this year and for subsequent years.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

The emphasis on this year is that I would like the team to win this year. And I am not disagreeing with the fact that one might also outperform him. I just think that given the 3 pitchers, at the end of the season Hendry will not have jettisoned the worst of the 3.

why take Lilly out in the 8th? 96 pitches isn't all that much, I definitely think he could go to 110 and was cruising along just fine. If they did manage to keep it 1-0 heading into the 8th, Soriano singled and you probably try running there or a hit and run. But down two, you don't risk it. Also, can Angel Guzman learn to put away a hitter or an inning? 1-2 on Hairston and 0-2 on Votto and both get hits...bah.

They'll be making a big mistake on a small sample size with Vizcaino. Relievers are volatile and he had a solid track record before hitting Coors last year. Just stick him in the back of the pen and let him sort it out, for Pete's sake. It's like Lou just can't believe those lying eyes of his regarding Cotts.

Yeah, this Samardzija stuff makes no fucking sense. I like the guy and he'll be good enough in the pen, but Vizcaino has been fine so far in the regular season. Exactly what is precipitating this move? Cotts and Gregg have sucked so far, but it's Vizcaino that gets booted? Brilliant. Why not just tell your pitchers to man up and stop throwing shit? Or put Gregg's ass on the DL to get his knee straight and then bring up help for the pen. Even if you do want to get rid off Vizcaino, releasing him is going to cost you a pretty little sum, which won't make any fucking sense after Hendry cried poor this offseason. So, you gotta trade him, but leave it to the fucking Cubs to announce Samardzija's promotion BEFORE any trade actually takes place, absolutely killing any leverage you might have had with other teams in trading Vizcaino. Really, what's the point of announcing the fact Samardzija's getting called up an entire day before it happens? There's nothing gained by it. All of this is not to mention that Samardzija is supposed to be our only starting pitching prospect of any worth. Yet, it's no surprise if the Cubs mis-manage this prospect too, burning option years for temporary bullpen help. It's as if they don't really understand the difference between starting and relief pitching, as if the two are interchangeable. The past couple years being a Cubs fan hasn't been so bad, despite the fact that the front office has continually bungled roster moves like this one. I just don't understand either part of dumping Vizcaino (why even acquire him in the first place if you didn't want him?) or bringing up Samardzija. Perhaps it's just Hendry overly catering to his manager again, but if that's the case, I'm going to jump on the MannyTrillo bandwagon and call for his head. You're the boss, Jim, not Lou -- start fucking acting like it.

[ ]

In reply to by Andrew

"why even acquire him in the first place if you didn't want him?" There is an answer to that question. The Cubs had zero interest in Vizcaino. The Rockies must have given the Cubs something like the following proposal: We like Marquis but for $5 million, not the $10 million you're paying him. Either pay half his salary, or pay $1 million and take Vizcaino. The Cubs saved $5 million by "trading" Marquis, with our without Vizcaino. Also, you're not getting a return on the $1.3 million you're paying Samardzija when he's in Iowa.

many job cuts announced at the Tribune yesterday including several well known sportswriters...Melissa Isaacson, John Mullin, Bob Sakamoto and Terry Bannon were all sacked (makes sense for a football writer like Mullin to be sacked, if Paul Sullivan or Phil Rogers was on this list you might say they were K'd...not as aesthetic if Sullivan wrote an article saying Felix Pie got sacked.) The odd part is that it was announced in Craine's Chicago Business (but not in the Tribune or Sun-Times). http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=33794

Useless? The dude has a bum groin. Ever had one? It sucks. He shouldn't be back in the lineup yet, IMO. In all fairness to him, one of his punch-outs was very borderline. It's a shame for a guy with such a keen eye at the plate to be fucked by umpires because of being fiery. Give it time. Weather heats up, so will he and you'll eat some crow.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Vitters just has that easy bat speed that you love. Agree with the guy's assessment (narrow sample size caveate) that Flaherty looks a lot like a 3rd basemen.

I agree with Newport completely. To think that Patton will be a servicable pitcher all year is absurd. I don't have to go into his history, it pretty clear that spring training was a fluke. If Viscaino is the guy cut or traded for a PTBN or low level prospect, it would be the second vetern with a proven track record let go keep Patton. This will bit us in the ass. I'm not saying Vizcaino or Gaudin are or were good bets, but at least they had a track record and relievers rebound often.

Hope this isn't 3/44 or Scott Eyre is broke-ish, but WSCR reporting Bradley out of the lineup until he "comes to Lou and tells him he's 100%". And when he comes back he won't be hitting cleanup. Probably 6th. Also being urged by Lou & Hendry to talk to the media a little bit.

According to ESPN.com, Chicago was trying to trade Vizcaino before bringing up Samardzija from Triple-A Iowa. But while general manager Jim Hendry attempted to work out a deal with other teams to save money -- including the Nationals -- the 34-year-old reliever will now be on waivers for up to 72 hours. After that, the Cubs will have seven days to release or trade him.

I realize Vizcaino had yet to give up a run but I can't really be the only one who felt uncomfortable when he pitched those rolling sliders down the middle in every outing am I? I distinctly remember his first outing of the year even Bob Brenly commented on how Vizcaino got away with several sliders that never broke. He had the results so far but I just had the feeling of impending disaster every time he stepped out on the mound. All that said, DFA'ing him is criminally stupid. Somebody somewhere would have probably been willing to take on at least part of his salary (or maybe give up a mid-level prospect if we paid for the whole thing) if they'd waited a while first.

Bradley is also out for not running out ground balls and balls in the OF. You may want to believe its because of his injury, but this is just how Bradley plays baseball. He has done it on every team he has ever been on. I am sure he lied his ass off to Lou that he was a 100% and ready to go only for Bradley to lay the abortion of a game he played last night. Don't want to run? Don't want to hustle? Don't want to even give a shit? Fine your out of the game until your fully healed (if the Cubs were smart they would start running his DL time so that 3rd year doesn't kick in) and your being dropped in the order. Fellas its going to get a whole lot worse with Milton "I got my 3 year deal" Bradley. His only goal in life is not getting 75 DL days. He can milk the shit out of his injuries without ever hitting the DL. He missed 36 games last year doing it. Don't think he won't do it in Chicago. What a waste of a roster space, and money.

Recent comments

  • 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).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.