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

Hart-Fox Battery Charges I-Cubs

Two things of note from the Iowa Cubs' road win in Salt Lake City yesterday:

1. Jake Fox played catcher after a game at 3B earlier on the trip. Is his versatility on display for potential trade suitors?

2. Kevin Hart threw three innings of perfect relief highlighted by five strikeouts in easily his most encouraging outing of the season.

In more routine news, Fox also slammed his 17th homer of the year, drove in four more runs and was named the PCL Player of the Week for last week. Ho-hum...MW

Comments

If he can channel Lloyd McClendon in his "ability" to catch for 3-4 batters when a team is losing and a double-switch is needed, and to stand once every three weeks at 3B when David Wright needs a day off or there's a blowout, he would be a good fit for the Delgado-less Mets. But do the Mets have anybody we'd want back in return?

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

heck ... we might have better than Neal Cotts (I wouldn't be against Casey Lambert getting a look ... I still think his future is in the pen, and I think he has pen ready stuff right now). As for Fox, I think an AL team is probably the best fit, for obvious reasons. He can DH, play some first, occasionally pinch in the corner OF, act as the emergency catcher, and every blue moon, play 3rd. The Mets plan seems to be, based on an article that came out last week (forget where) to go with what they have and see how far along FMart is come June. If he's ready, Dan Murphy could pinch at first. If not, maybe they'd investigate the trade market, but this being New York, and Omar, I'm not sure they'd go after a minor leaguer unless Fox got some big league AB's.

[ ]

In reply to by toonsterwu

Why the big hurry to trade Jake Fox? This team has lost its best hitter for an extended period of time and are trying to patch it up with three guys who weigh a total of 450 pounds. Why not bring Fox up, cut Patton loose, and put Fox out there for a couple 7 inning games a week at 1B and 3B? Is Patton that good that the Cubs can afford to carry a spare part just to have a reliever next season? I find it almost embarrassing that Jake Fox still sits at Iowa with those numbers while we tread water with an underperforming infield (minus the shortstop). At worst we'd have a pretty good lefty/righty pinch hit tandem with Hoffpauir and Fox that might negate a bullpen move or two.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

No, Fox is not the hitter that Ramirez is, but it's a possible asset to use in place of a known non-asset (Patton). Fox > Miles? Fox > Fontenot? Fox > Scales? Why not find out? Strike while the iron is hot. Maybe it's early to call this stretch "treading water", we'll see what they do against teams a notch above Houston and San Diego before that terms settles in. Piniella seems to think the term fits.

While it is much, much too early to evaluate the DeRosa trade, I was curious to see how the three pitchers the Cubs got back were doing so far. John Gaub is a 6'2" 200lb lefty, pitching in relief for AA Tennessee. In 11.2 IP he has 20 Ks, a 1.54 ERA, and a .154 average against. Christopher Archer is a 6'3" 180lb righty, starting for A Peoria. In 25 IP he has a 1.80 ERA with 30 Ks and a .181 average against. Jeff Stevens is 6'2" 205lb righy, pitching in relief for AAA Iowa. In 16 IP he has a 2.16 ERA with 13 Ks and a .143 average against.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

It was never as bad a deal as people made it out to be, although it was certainly disappointing when it happened as DeRosa was a good team guy. Haven't heard velocity reports on Gaub - up until his junior year, he was in the low-mid 90's, but then got hurt, iirc, and since then, was only low 90's. Off the top, a plus slider. Very solid LOOGY prospect. Stevens is sort of in that Kevin Hart mold for me - capable of filling some role in the bigs, but not sure how key of a role it would be. Archer was the prize of that trade, with the plus fast/plus curve. Love how he's done so far, and love his starting potential. Definitely has work to do with, um, the change, along with command, but Archer and Carpenter have been excellent down in Peoria (wouldn't mind seeing Carpenter get a look in Daytona soon - Archer has a ways to go and is young enough to keep him in Peoria for the whole year, imo).

Someone asked AzPhil's thoughts in a post yesterday, and I just wanted to ask it again. I was messing around with a list, just my own fan's take, for fun. As with all lists, more for discussion value. But I was messing around and in a quick run through, a possible top 10 I came up with is below. 1. Josh Vitters, A-. Power has been showing up. 2. Jeff Samardzija, B+. Easy to forget his 3rd full pro season. Control in AAA has been sharpened but more work. I hated the call up.. 3. Jay Jackson, B. Slow start, but has gotten it going. I was one of those that had him highly ranked entering this year (had him 3rd, same order as above) and don't see a reason to change it. 4. Dan McDaniel, B. I was huge on him last year, but this has been better than I thought. Yes, I'll take his value ahead of Cashner. Cashner's got better stuff, but I don't think it's by enough to offset McDaniel's starting potential. 5. Andrew Cashner, B. I'm still not huge on Cashner due to the control. 6. Ryan Flaherty, B. Hasn't had the huge season, but I'm not worried as the discipline is there. 7. Tony Thomas, B. Very disappointed with the SB%. That's just eh. Other than that (and defensive concerns), excellent season that's sort of gone under the radar nationally, IMO. 8. Starlin Castro, B-. If he simply stayed afloat after the huge jump, I would've been happy. The fact that he has a 7 game hit streak and has gotten his offense going is just pudding. 9. Marcos Mateo, B-. Control has been better last couple of times out. 10. Dae-Eun Rhee, B-. Wary of ranking him higher until he gets back out there, but that's me being conservative. Anyhow was wondering what folks thought on that quick run through. I think the system is improving, and I think there's hope, particularly lower down. Had a bunch of names that I pondered in the last few top 10 slots (Jose Ascanio, Hak-ju Lee, Chris Carpenter, Tyler Colvin, Jake Fox, Casey Coleman, Steve Clevenger, Welington Castillo).

[ ]

In reply to by toonsterwu

Unfortunately I fear that Vitters is really over-rated at this point. His walk rate has been Ryan Harvey-esque up to this point. Even Brian Dopirak put up big Midwest league numbers in his 2nd full pro season. As Corey Patterson,Felix Pie,Harvey,Dopirak have all shown us over the years. If you can't control the strike zone, you can't be a consistent offensive force at the major league level.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

the low walk rate concerns me, but almost all the scouting reports suggest he controls the zone real well and that it's a case of the pitching at the lower levels basically not being challenging enough. At some point, one wonders if his plate coverage can really compensate, or if he can learn to take more walks as he mvoes up, but I'm not too worried yet. That's why I think, within a month's time, I'd really like to see vitters at Daytona. Keedy doesn't interest me all that much, tbh, and Rosa's future may be at first anyways (big fan of Rosa, but he had an injury and those swing problems this year so he has struggled). I was more concerned about Vitters' power, to be honest. Only time will tell.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

I really think for guys at that level it's more about what they are capable of rather than what they actually do and Vitters is very nicely built and has nice potential. Now it's up to Cubs coaching to teach him how to be a real ball player.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Vitters's low BB rate bothers me a little, but less so since his K rate is pretty low. The dude seems to be hitting everything he's swinging at. Ryan Harvey, for example, swung and missed a lot. The numbers seem to say that Vitters is swinging a lot, but not missing anything.

Completely unrelated question. I used to watch the Daily Rewind on MLB.com all the time. It would be a 25 minute video with 2-3 minutes of highlights per game, that would recap every game from the day before. Basically, Sportscenter without all of the other crap I don't really care that much about. It's been a couple of summers since I watched it regularly, but I can't find it now. Does anyone know if MLB.com did away with it?

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

May 9, MANCHESTER – Brian Dopirak clobbered the Defenders in a career night, leading the Fisher Cats to an 18-6 slugfest win at Merchantsauto.com Stadium last night. The hulking slugger homered twice, doubled twice, tripled and finished with eight RBIs in the 5-for-6 outing. All eyes were on Dopirak in the eighth inning to see if he'd single for the first-ever cycle in franchise history. He doubled, leaving him with a mere 15 total bases, easily the best single-game hitting performance in Fisher Cats history.

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

Good to know, but it won't help my particular situation. I no longer have cable, basically because they took away WGN. I kept it mainly just to watch some of the Cubs games on real TV rather than MLB.TV. Now I am just watching them all online and canceled my cable. But I did enjoy watching sportscenter during breakfast to see what else was going on in baseball. Now it seems my only option is to watch each highlight individually on MLB or watch each games very short highlights (with commercials to start) on ESPN, which is simply not doable. I want something I can play and leave on for a while I am getting ready in the morning.

Seriously-- is Jake Fox going for the best AAA season of all-time? 34 G, 126 AB, 54 H, 13 2B, 2 3B, 17 HR, 50 RBI, 16 BB, 26 K. .429/.513/.968 (1.462) I realize that there's not really any place to put him-- the only positions he can play (poorly) are already blocked by people making a lot of money (LF Soriano, RF Bradley, 1B Lee). But those offensive numbers are SICK. I suppose it might make sense to try him out at 3B, which is what Iowa did a couple nights ago (Fox caught last night and had 2 PBs), but I guess the Cubs aren't feeling they need him there right now (which I understand because, well, the Cubs are playing fairly well at the moment). I wonder would be see Fox only if Lee had/has to go on the DL, or if Bradley or Soriano get injured (not that I'm advocating more injuries, just wondering). Mike Wellman-- are you able to watch Fox in the field? What's he like out there? My guess is that Fox is an insurance policy right now and if he continues to rake, he might be worth a missing part or two around June/July.

"toonsterwu"?? ROMERO, welcome to the site - lol! Thanks Mike for the "Heart-full" report. Unfortunately, to this point, as soon as Kevin gets to a major-league ballpark, and makes it to the mound, he forgets his control - and that hitters in the MLB sit on fastballs with no movement. He does not suffer from lack of talent. With Hart, its all "upstairs". If the team had a sports psychologist, like the Red Sox and a couple other teams, it would do him some good, imo. I want to nominate "toonsterwu" for the most weird "handle" of the month!

Fox at third for a month? Count me in. ...just to see if he can outhit Fontenot. It would put Fontenot in a role he's more useful at (backup IF) and gives Miles even less playing time which I'm all for. Unfortunately it would probably end the warm and fuzzy feelings of Bobby Scales being up here. Might be an ugly glove but I see it as an improvement for the offense until ARam returns. He can't be too much worse than Ryan Braun was (or this years Matt Gamel experience at 3B) and it just might upgrade his trade value (to an AL team) as well as helping as righty DH in the interleague games coming soon.

I hate to burst the Bobby Scales bubble, but he can't field 3b, and if teams consistently start throwing him breaking balls he's already proven he can't lay off them and can't hit their either. So he's a mediocre 2b, which Hendry seems to collect by the bunch.

[ ]

In reply to by The Joe

No, I was happy for the guy getting his shot, and his hitting has been a pleasant surprise, but opposing pitchers seem to be having brain cramps when they pitch to him. His first week he showed repeatedly he can't lay off a breaking ball and can't hit them, looking terrible taking weak half swings. But they keep throwing him fastballs and he's been doing a good job hitting those. If I were pitching to him and could get my breaking balls over the plate for strikes, I would never throw him a fastball. And those scouting reports will get around.

A new Inbox will be posted later Monday -- I know the hirejimessian people will be happy to read that. I get a lot of repeat mailbag questions so will try to address some here: The Cubs abandoned the high tech batting helmets they used last year because they were always breaking. They also have dumped the red-billed caps because it's easier to deal with one. There's nothing I can do to get more games on WGN or to realign the divisions. And Matt P. of Tampa will be happy to know the equipment guys are working on straightening out the crooked "C" on some of the batting helmets.

glad Muskat knows her fans...

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

She forgot: "Why do you suck so much?"

[ ]

In reply to by The Joe

Let's see, who can we hate today? There's always Muskat. She did a nice job the other day when she interviewed the Japanese coach who helped Fukudome in the offseason. The walking Pulitzers in the dailies missed that story. I guess they've been distracted by other things, like the suspicions surrounding Theriot.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

Virgiana Phil disagrees with me. The best validation I can hope for.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Hilarious. I just thought she ignored that blog but now I have a newfound respect for her. Good for her -- I'm really glad she took it lightly.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

The Real Neal: Question: What do Bobby Scales and Felix Pie have in common? Answer: They both strike out in a quarter of their at bats. I'll go out on a limb and wager $5 virtual dollars that Scales will outproduce Pie at the big league level this year in terms of OPS. And it's no mistake or mystery. Scales knows how to hit and Pie does not. Sure Pie might have more ability or raw talent, but when you're swiping the bat around like a retard that doesn't really matter much.

I hope Scales becomes our Pujols, but I suspect he's only a darker Dan Rohn. Speaking of Pujols, Garry Meier on WGN Radio today was having people come up with their best Pujols nicknames. One of the few he said he could read on the air was Albert "Cleans My" Pujols.

Sori, Riot, Fukudome, Lee, Bradley, Fontenot, Soto, Miles, Lilly vs. Ryan, Rasmus, Pujols, Molina, Duncan, Stavinoha, Barden, Pineiro, Thurston

Many are saying that McGuire's tuteledge of Chris Duncan is in part responsible for the player's resurgence this year. The dude is raking big time. So far, he's not come up with a positive test result, either.

the only thing that could have made tonight's game worse would be a crapload of errors. lilly didn't pitch that bad. his curve was pretty damn nice tonight.

Yes that was embarassingly feeble, maybe Piniero had the night of his life but the guy doesn't usually have dominate stuff and usually bad control on top of that. I hope this isn't the kind of game that sends the offense into a funk. Just have to move on tomorrow and hope Carpenter isn't 'old Carpenter' tomorrow.

Given the crappy Cub performance vs Joel Fuggin Piniero, The Blackhawks losing in OT, 3-2... Kerry Wood caps a bad night... enters bottom 9th vs KC with a 5-2 lead. Guillen GO 4-3 Jacobs HR Teahen HR Olivo BB DeJesus Triple, RBI...Blown save 5-5 Bloomquist SF. Loss 6-5.

i think larussa took pinearo off the scrap heat there should be no way he shuts us out oh wait a minute he did. scales,fontenot,miles two of them have to start each night cubs definately need a better option for third,i would guess fontenots struggles are worse, because he is playing third. i would have iowa start fox at third base a few games in a row,his numbers are much better then other three mentioned. which pitcher goes on friday?

If we swing at the first pitch all the way through the lineup all game long, it almost doesn't matter who's pitching. No way to really know if Piniero had a great night, the way the Cubs hitters handed it to him. Jeez

yeah i just saw where he threw 92 pitches in nine innings. maybe we need to dust off freel and let him start a few in a row at third.

New RSS feed headline: Piniella: 'We need Fontenot to hit' (AP) Um, just take him out of the lineup and replace him with Scales. Who plays baseball like it runs his groin? Why the fuck is this so hard for managers? And I hate it when they say, "He hasn't been there". I was there dude. Played wide out and got my face creamed into the soil. So don't ever say that again. I mean, I love Lou but I don't like him talking like he's a fucking God cuz he was there and I wasn't.

Need Fox Now this is ridiculous that we have Miles, Scales, Freel, Johnson, Hill on the bench - that has to be the lightest hitting bench of all time. Hoff is the only respectable bat on the bench. Fox was a catcher all through college and his first seasons in the minors - I can't believe he can't be serviceable there given the bench is calling every pitch. Give Soto/Lee some days off and get Hoff and Fox some at bats!

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.