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

Major League Cubs Lineup Takes Opener

The Cubs put up a four spot in the first and make it stand for the 6-3 series opening win over the Houston Astros. 

Why the Cubs Won:  Most of the regulars were back in the lineup sans Derrek Lee who took another day off as the bulging disc issue flared up again.They worked Mike Hampton over in the first inning to the tune of 35 pitches. On pitch 25, with the bases loaded, Reed Johnson lined the ball deep to the gap in left field that a diving Michael Bourn just missed and the ball rolled all the way to the wall. It had the makings of a possible inside-the-parker, but Johnson settled with the stand-up triple and the Cubs took the quick 3-0 lead. A passed ball by Gold Glover Ivan Rodriguez during Micah Hoffpauir's 10-pitch at-bat scored Johnson and the Cubs never looked back.  Another passed ball scored Johnson again in the 6th and an Aramis home run in the 7th accounted for the other runs.

Rich Harden bounced back nicely from his last outing to lower his ERA to 4.83, which would have been even better if he hadn't come out for the 8th inning where he gave up a single, a 2-run homer to Lance Berkman and another single before finally being removed. The strikeouts weren't there - just four on the night - but he seemed to get stronger as the night went on retiring 10 in a row at one point including a few fastballs in the 94-95 range before the gas ran out in the 8th.

Carlos Marmol looks like he may be finding his groove again, needing just 10 pitches (8 for strikes) to clean up Harden's mess and Kevin Gregg just needed 12 (9 for strikes) to get the three-up, three-down save.

Armchair Managing:  Rich Harden and his fragile arm were up to 92 pitches through seven innings. Not something I would normally worry about, but with a five run lead, having an at-bat in the top of the 8th and it being Rich Harden, thought Lou might might want to be quick with the hook.

Death Pool: You still have to think Bobby Scales will get sent down by Friday to make room for the starter that night, but with Bradley's suspension about to start and Lee hurting, maybe they'll DL Lee to keep a position player around a little longer.

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Comments

Funny that the only regular that played Tuesday is the one that could have used the day off. And also, I'm glad to see Gregg finally settling into his role. That's what he's all about: A boring 9th inning.

This was sort of weird. I missed the first innning waiting for the bar to turn on the game, so I checked on my phone and it was 3-0, then it was 4-0. But when the game came on, which I believe was the top or bottom of the 2nd, the score was 3-0. So I was totally puzzled. The game description on my phone seemed reasonable, but how could a TV station have the score wrong for that long? I don't know when they caught up because some whiny Mets or Phillies fan made them change it back to their POS game, and when that was over I think the score was 6-1.

Yeah, TRN, I think the Houston feed had the score wrong for a while. Parachatters speculated that they were in denial about that 4th run. Submitted by Ryno on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 11:12pm. And a BB RBI on a pitch that looked like it was headed for the upper deck. Literally. God, this isn't good baseball at all I should go to bed. The pitch is at 0:30 on this reel. And you think the Cub's bullpen is struggling...

"with Bradley's suspension about to start" Have the results of the hearing been released?

"Why the Cubs Won" - Two Words: HarDen I have not seen any appeal decision, personally. Is there a "snowball's chance in hell", that Gathright will be the one sent along. I'm into Scales over that dude, at least.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

DeRosa played mostly second, a fair amount of right field, some left while Soriano was injured and a handful of games at third. Because of DeRosa's other duties, Fontenot was able to get 243 at bats, less than half a season's worth. Who will get DeRosa's at-bats this year? Fontenot will get most of them. The rest will be divided among Bradley, Hoffpauir, Soriano (unless he gets injured again) and Miles. Cedeno didn't do much last year except take up a roster spot. Miles takes over his duties and also much of Fontenot's backup role. If Gathright gets at-bats--and he hasn't so far--it will be because Fukudome tails off again.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Cedeno had an incredible shrinking role with the Cubs last season after a torrid April. April and May, 97 PAs. June, 45 PAs (in which he batted .214). July and August, 48 PAs. Then in September, with the Cubs solidly in first place (by 4.5 games on 9/1, 7.5 on 9/14), Cedeno got a lot of starts. Lou made a big point of wanting to rest Theriot in particular before the playoffs. Replacing someone who had 48 PAs in those two key months would not be a full-time job for Miles. Fontenot's main job was to play second when DeRosa was playing outfield. For 221 of DeRosa's 593 PAs, he (DeRosa) was playing an outfield position. That job of backing up an infielder/outfielder doesn't exist this year. The Cubs' infielders in 2009 play the infield exclusively, so they can do the job with one fewer body. Daryle Ward had 119 plate appearances in 2008. Hoffpauir already has 54 this season. At this rate he will have over 300 PAs. Some of Hoffpauir's at bats and many of Bradley's would have gone to DeRosa last season when he played right field. Did Miles take Fontenot's role? No, that role doesn't really exist any more. Did Hoffpauir take Ward's role? No, Hoffpauir's role is much larger. Did Bradley take Edmond's role? No, or he would be playing center, with Fukudome in right. Did Gathright take DeRosa's role? Not at all. Did he take Cedeno's role? Partly, in the sense that he can pinch-run when a base needs to be stolen.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

You rambled for quite a bit, but I will pull out one point: "That job of backing up an infielder/outfielder doesn't exist this year." Correct. That's the problem. Because, as you say, "The Cubs' infielders in 2009 play the infield exclusively" we have less versatility and one less player capable of playing infield on this roster than we did last year. This isn't brain surgery. When Ramirez went down for a few days, all 3 of those guys were starting - Theriot, Miles, Fontenot. This mean NO remaining backups for the infield. Whether it's a starter like DeRosa or a backup - the team would benefit from someone who can play both infield and outfield on the roster, rather than someone like Gathright who can only do OF.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

the three remaining real outfielders (not including Hoffpauir) are all starting. Huh? First of all, I think that it is pretty clear that the Cubs do see Hoffpauir as a backup corner outfielder. Not a good one, but they will use him in the outfield. But sure, if you go ahead and not count one of the backup outfielders, then the Cubs do have one less backup. That means that the Cubs have a backup outfielder. Scales is also an outfielder, having spent fairly significant time in the OF over his minor league career. So the Cubs have three back up outfielders - Johnson, Hoffpauir, and Scales. They now have two backup infielders - Miles and Scales. Got it? Of course, Freel doesn't steal bases any more, so a slow team gets slower. Well... as I have long said, Gathright is/was fast, but not very good at using his speed. He was a mediocre base runner and a pretty lousy outfielder. He won't be missed. At all.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

Yeah did this guy not see Samardzija pitch this year? Sure he put up great numbers in that stretch last year but since about the end of August 08 his major league results have been pretty horrible. And how bad of a personality problem does Luis Vizcaino have not to already be in the Washington bullpen?

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

Okay, they are very similar managers, I can agree with that, but I think one of the bigger differences is if Lou were on pace to lose nearly 100+ games for a season, he wouldn't take the field day after day half asleep and mumble his way through interviews. I believe he brings a fire to the team. You all can scoff at that if you want, but I believe it's true. Plus, Lou isn't quite the "hands-off" manager Dusty was.

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

Looks like Manny is going to say that he must have tested positive by taking a doctor prescribed medication. No word yet on that medication, but maybe it was just a Jim Miller situation. It will be interesting to see this play out. All i know is that ARod is probably thrilled as when he comes back Friday the national attention won't be on him nowhere as much now. And Selena Roberts can't be happy that Manny will be taking headlines away from her book. Oh well...

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

My personal feeling on Manny tends to believe that he didn't intentionally take anything. I wonder if it's true, and assuming Manny had the sense to give the doctor the list of banned substances if Manny will sue the doctor. One more excuse for the insurance industry to jack up malpractice insurance is just what we need.

Good to see the I-Cubs, T-Cubs, P-Cubs and D-Cubs being groomed for the fire sale at the end of the season or the Peavy trade in July. At least there is an action plan by Hendry. Good show! Pressure is on Rothschild. Talent seems to be there (or was there) but he either doesn't communicate well or it's an outright rebellion. I predict this as his last season even if they win it all. And I just don't like these 2 game series. There were a lot of them in '06, if I recall, and the extra travel took its toll. Off topic: Does anyone remember the "Musical Scoreboard" after games on WGNam in the 60"s? I'm trying to remember if it was Jack Quinlan who hosted that post game show...thanks. (yes I'm that old)

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ys-ramirezsuspension050709&prov=y… The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the substance is supposed to boost sex drive. It is not Viagra, but a substance that treats the cause rather providing a temporary boost in sexual performance, the source said. and his statement... Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was okay to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I’ve taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons. I guess it can be tough to keep up with the groupies. The article does say he was tested twice, once in spring training and another one more recently. Shouldn't that be 100 days? Back by July 3rd...it'll be like making a trade at the deadline.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

This is also why he can claim he never tested positive for steroids. The levels were too high, but that is not a violation itself. The investigation also never demonstrated steroid use - just use of HCG, which is a banned substance (although in conjunction with steroid use is pretty much the only reason someone would take it). He was actually banned under the "just cause" provision of section 8.G.2 of the joint drug agreement. That allows players to be penalized for use, sale, or distribution of banned substances. So the elevated test in spring training led to the investigation, but in theory if MLB just randomly found a box of evidence linking him to buying, selling, distributing, or taking this drug, the result would have been the same.

Eat a dick if it's already been discussed, but Viscaino has been signed by the Indians. I'm guessing we're paying most of his salary, which sucks. Are they our new reject collectors? Wood has been shit so far...I want him to succeed, but I'd also hate it for him to be too awesome away from the Cubs.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

interesting read...some real cheap shots in there, though. i'm not a fan of trot nixon the player or the person, but he's been worked hard for everything he's gotten (or failed to get). sure, i can't say if he's used or not, but geez...the guy showed up on the "fake" list that was leaked and hasn't lived it down. some other names are thrown around a little casually there, too, imo. btw...i get the point that the questions that surround the era and how we rumor-monger our own "who's on what..or not" without knowing for sure is part of the narrative...still...

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.