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

What the Fox!?

Ordinarily I have little to say while the I-Cubs are on the road. My commentary usually takes the form of eyewitness accounts. But one big club is wandering the desert [both literally and otherwise] which means a long day's journey into gametime and another big club is in Nashville laying waste to PCL pitching staffs. I thought we might kill some time with a closer look at the latter.

After last night's two-homer game Jake Fox has a pile of stats like the stack of chips in front of the big winner at a poker game.

In 18 games he's hit 11 trotters and knocked in 29 runs! 19 of his league-leading 31 hits have been for extra bases. He's batting .443 with an OPS of 1.549. He already has amassed 73 total bases, just over four per game! True, he's fanned 20 times against only eight walks, but he's also played errorlessly so far at 1B.

For the sake of some perspective it might be useful to note that Big Jake's competition at the top of some of the PCL's hitting categories is none other than Matt Murton. Murton's off to a .411 start with Colorado Springs but 20 of his 30 hits have been singles. His OPS is 1.133 but he has, get this, swiped five bases without being caught. Fox is 1-1 in that category, he being more of a distance runner than a sprinter.

Last year Micah Hoffpauir totaled 100 RBI in just 70 games with Iowa. Will Fox be here long enough to find out if he can equal or surpass that remarkable rate of run production?

IN OTHER NEWS:

Jason Waddell, the bullpen lefty, is pure no more. He gave up his first three runs of the season and took the loss in Saturday's road trip opener...Is Jose Ascanio being stretched out or just exiled? Last year's sometimes I-Cub closer has had four starts and leads the league with a somewhat misleading ERA of 0.54. But his innings pitched have been four, four, four and two thirds and four. The corresponding pitch counts were 55, 54, 74 and 68. Are they extending him to be a long reliever? Mission accomplished...Bobby Scales has played 3B in all three games since Aramis Ramirez was hurt on Saturday afternoon in St. Louis...MW

Comments

Another Fox is tearing it up at AAA. Chad Fox is 2 for 2 in saves and has an E.R.A. in the low 2's. Dump Patton and bring up Chad Fox. The Cubs bullpen is not great.

[ ]

In reply to by majcne

The difference between the Cubs current bullpen and a great bullpen is Chad Fox? If we lose Patton and bring up Fox, who do we bring up next Tuesday when Fox is out for his bi-annual TJ surgery?

What about former Indians pitcher Jeff Stevens? Please no more Chad Fox..no more broken down 36 year old pitchers...

The Cubs need to either bring up Jake Fox now or trade him while his value is somewhat high. Instead, the Cubs will probably wait another few weeks and bring up Fox just in time for him to completely cool off. This type of production can't last forever, and it's being wasted in minors.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Oh, voice of reason, go away. This was a fun video game before you got here. Ryno: Color me uninterested in Joe Beimel. Yay! A loogy! My life is complete. I just don't see how a loogy is all that important. I like AZ Phil's idea of letting some Cubs minor leaguers compete for that role. John Gaub seems like he might be able to make something of it.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Yes, I think 11 HRs in 70 ABs will raise your value. I don't think he's suddenly a top prospect, but I'm sure other teams have noticed what he's doing and would be interested in having a cheap power option to pinch hit or fill in at 1B. If you replace Fox with Soto or Hoffpauir in this scenario during their breakout years in the minors you could have said the exact same thing. Sometimes guys just finally put it together. I'm not sure Fox has put it together 100%, so that's why I suggested trading him while his value is at its peak. There's no spot for him on the Cubs current roster, so why not send him to some small market team looking for a cheap power option in return for a decent middle reliever?

[ ]

In reply to by Doug Dascenzo

I'm sure other teams have noticed what he's doing and would be interested in having a cheap power option to pinch hit or fill in at 1B. If you say so. But I am also sure that other teams know about hot streaks and sample sizes and bad defense. If you replace Fox with Soto or Hoffpauir in this scenario during their breakout years in the minors you could have said the exact same thing. Sure... but again, no team is going to give more value for Fox after 15 games or so.

[ ]

In reply to by Doug Dascenzo

Trade him. You bring him up, he hits a mediocre 265 with little power and then nobody wants him. Trade him to DET for Nate Robertson. Or to the Nats for Joe Beimel. Not sure why the Nats would want a 3rd DH, though.

Submitted by The Real Neal on Tue, 04/28/2009 - 9:33am.
The difference between the Cubs current bullpen and a great bullpen is Chad Fox?

====================================

REAL NEAL: It's not that the difference between the current Cubs bullpen and a great Cubs bullpen is Chad Fox (or anybody else at Iowa). It's a matter of trying to improve the current Cubs bullpen to make it better.

BTW, I was at the Cubs game last night, and it was not good. As usual, there were a lot of Cubs fans at Chase Field to help cheer them on ("Let's Go, Cubbies!!!") and give them a road game "home field advantage," but the Cubs played like they were in the Astrodome circa 1968.

On the brighter side, Aramis Ramirez took pre-game ground balls at 3rd base and looked OK, making solid throw after solid throw to 1st base, and then he hit some bombs in BP, and Milton Bradley took BP from both sides of the plate and ran the bases a bit, too, between his BP rounds. No sign of Derrek Lee, though, although Carlos Zambrano hit with the position players in BP and put on quite a power display from both sides of the plate. He's fun to watch.

 

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

Everyone can see that the Cubs bullpen is bad. If Hendry's intention was to pitch Patton in high leverage situations, he should have never drafted him. He should only be pitching in games like last night, where we have little to no chance to win. As long as he's not facing Pujols with the game still in question he's been fine. You don't draft a Rule V guy out of A and expect him to dominate in the big leagues. You expect him to be your mop-up guy. He hasn't done anything, in my mind, to merit losing him for the privilege of watching Fox give up home runs to Albert Pujols.

Az. Phil, I am dying for one of your fabulous Fitch reports.

Submitted by Ryno on Tue, 04/28/2009 - 10:02am.

Trade him. You bring him up, he hits a mediocre 265 with little power and then nobody wants him. Trade him to DET for Nate Robertson. Or to the Nats for Joe Beimel. Not sure why the Nats would want a 3rd DH, though

==========================================

RYNO: As an Article XX MLB FA who signed after the conclusion of the post-2008 Free-Agency Filing Period, Joe Beimel got automatic "no trade" rights through June 15th. He can waive this right, but even if he did do that, he could only be traded for cash and/or player contracts with a maximum aggregate value of $50,000. And as a player on a 40-man roster who is on optional assignment to the minors, Jake Fox is making at least $65,000.

Submitted by Charlie on Tue, 04/28/2009 - 10:29am.
Oh, voice of reason, go away. This was a fun video game before you got here.

Ryno: Color me uninterested in Joe Beimel. Yay! A loogy! My life is complete. I just don't see how a loogy is all that important. I like AZ Phil's idea of letting some Cubs minor leaguers compete for that role. John Gaub seems like he might be able to make something of it.

=======================================

CHARLIE: The Cubs have three legitimate LOOGY candidates at AA and AAA (John Gaub, Jeremy Papelbon, and Jayson Ruhlman), and since there are six slots open on the 40-man roster and since all three will be eligible for selection in the Rule 5 Draft post-2009 anyway and would need to be added to the 40 by 11/20, might as well give one of 'em a two-week try-out right now to find one if he can get big league left-handed hitters. And if the first one doesn't work out, option him back to the minors and try one of the other ones.

Ruhlman just got promoted to Iowa, so it will be interesting to se how he fares against the more-experienced hitters he will face in AAA (especially left-handed hitters).

In Fox's shadow, Brad Snyder is having a good first month: 5 homers and 18 RBI.

Daytona got no-hit today, by a Brevard County (Brewer) pitcher named Anundsen. Nine innings, one walk, 10 K's. Final score 1-0 (8th inning run).

the problem with Jake Fox is everyone else in baseball knows he's no more than a DH and only 14 teams need one and most of them already have DH's. We went through this with Dubois.

The problem with guys who can't play the field is that to have any value at all, they better be seen as potential 40 HR, .900+ OPS guys. Frank Thomas is still sitting around waiting for his phone to ring and I would bet that Frank is probably still just as good a hitter as Jake Fox will ever be.

[ ]

In reply to by Aisle 424

Not a big Fox fan, but I can count. If he hits 40-50 this year, he'll get a shot somewhere. For one thing, there will be a lot of pressure to move Derrek Lee. Fox hit his twelfth this afternoon, BTW.

half a dozen more TB's; all in a day's work...as for defense, there aren't many more gold glove winners than there are DH's...I see Fox as a RH Matt Stairs

[ ]

In reply to by Mike Wellman

Dude is he bashing everything or is he picking on fastballs? Also, is he a strict pull hitter? The kind that extends on the outside pitch and yanks the ball or does he go with it and put it over the RF fence? Any idea where this power came from? I wish I had paid more attention to Fox during ST now. Anyways, you can bet if he saw big league time he'd see, at least initially, a ton of breaking balls on the outside corner.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Fox has always had power. In 2006 he hit 21 homeruns between A+ and AA. In 2007 he hit 24 homeruns between AA and AAA. In 2008 he hit 31 homeruns between AA and AAA. He's hit a new level with the 12 homeruns in the first month AND this is the first time he's really hit much at AAA. Well, he did pretty well in 2007, but he stank up Iowa in 2008. Should we be surprised that he's hitting better now that he no longer has to worry about catching?

also today, Ruhlman, the newly promoted lefty, got tagged for 3 in 1/3 of an inning & Scales was again @ 3B [0-5]; C. Fox tossed another scoreless frame w/ 2 k's...

The Rockies had this guy, Jack Cust, that Jake Fox reminds me of. It took him years before he made the majors, because all he could do was hit... He plays for the A's now. Certainly is good for plenty of power, but I don't think anyone can say that he has set the world on fire...

[ ]

In reply to by Jace

Cust and Fox's power output in individual minor league seasons is pretty comparable. So is their defense, I think. But this year Fox is on pace to completely outdo any of Cust's seasons. Of course, that on pace thing is kind of ridiculous; he's also hitting over .440. But Cust really has more in common with Adum Dunn. They both posted .425ish and .520ish OBPs and Slugging percentages in the minors. Jack Fox has a .351 OBP and a .521 slugging percentage--he's always been up there looking to hit the ball. Cust and Dunn leave the bat on their shoulders a lot more often, and though Fox strikes out a lot, he doesn't strike out at the rate that Cust does. Hmm. This was off point. Just carrying the example farther, I guess.

As I recall, Cust K's a lot. Thanks Lou, for sitting Soto. I did not think I'd be saying that for a while. Anyone think Pudge would have come to back-up in Chi if he was offered a contract by Hendry?

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Back when he was with the Rockies, Cust could play OF like Fox could play catcher. I don't care what anyone said about his arm, you have to get the ball for the arm to come into play. He rarely did...

[ ]

In reply to by Jace

just saying...the guy has more than 1 tool at his disposal besides his bat. his arm really is that "plus" that it's part of his game when you consider placing him somewhere. that said, yeah, he's not exactly a gazelle going after the ball.

This is not purely about minor leaguers. There's a DeRosa connection. Besides, this is a minor-league thread. The Peoria Chiefs played two 7-inning games today, and Cedar Rapids put up 14 goose eggs. The starters for Peoria were Chris Carpenter and Chris Archer. Archer's line: 5 innings, 1 hit, no runs, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

Carpenter has got about a K and inning and a 1.71 GO/FO ratio after four starts. Looks like Hendry may have finally hit on one of his injured pitcher drafts.

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.