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

Cubs Win Second in a Row

The Cubs take a nail-biter from the Reds to open their series, winning their second road game in a row.

Why the Cubs Won:  Well, Joey Votto is on the disabled list, that probably helped a lot. The Reds offense wasn't much before that and Votto has killed the Cubs in his brief career. Zambrano looked good though, no-hitting the Reds through four and a third. He got into a bit of trouble in that fifth inning with runners on the corners and one out, but got Micah Owings swinging and Jerry Hairston Jr. to fly out to end the threat.  Z finished with 6.2 IP and runners on first and second before giving way to Angel Guzman who got the hold when Johnny Gomes grounded out to Ryan Theriot for the force.

That set-up Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg for the eight and ninth and they did their job - I suppose - although it certainly wasn't pretty. After a leadoff walk to Hairston Jr. and ground out by Chris Dickerson, Marmol left a fastball over the plate to Brandon Phillips that was ripped to left center. The scorer graciously awarded a triple to Phillips although Alfonso Soriano probably should have been able to cut it off in the gap. Phillips did a bit of showboating, stopping his slide short of third base, jumping up and clapping his hands together and then slowly taking the final step to third base as Soriano's throw was way off the mark. Now only up 2-1 with the tying run on third and less than two outs, Marmol got Lance Nix to pop up before walking Ramon Hernandez. He got the hold though by making Jay Bruce look silly on a few sliders before finally grounding out. 

Kevin Gregg then got the benefit of facing the bottom of the order and retired the first two Reds before finally throwing one too many sliders to pinch hitter Ryan Hanigan who singled to center. After going down 3-0 on Hairston Jr., the count worked back to 3-2 and Hairston Jr. chased strike three but for the second time in a week, Gregg fell victim to the dropped third strike. Koyie "Three-Finger" Hill lazily tried to back-hand the ball instead of moving his body to try and block it and with the runner going, the Reds had runners on the corners. Two pitches later though, Chris Dickerson mercifully popped up to third base to end the game.

The Cubs worked Micah Owings to over 30 pitches in the first including three walks one of the bases loaded variety to force in the first run of the game. The only other offense for the Cubs was by big Z himself who struck out his first time at-bat from the left side. He switched to the right side in his second at-bat and launched one out to center field. It's unclear whether there was an injury or he'd just been talking to Andres Blanco.

Armchair Managing: Lou pretty much played this one by the book, although I'm not sure why he didn't just pinch-hit with Reed Johnson for Micah Hoffpauir in the top of the 8th with lefty Arthur Rhodes pitching. Hoffpauir was removed in the bottom half of the inning for defensive purposes as is and Marmol wasn't going to go two innings tonight.

Cubs face rookie lefty Mike Maloney tomorrow and Bronson Arroyo on Sunday, thus missing Johnny Cueto, Aaron Harang and the injured Edinson Volquez on top of Joey Votto and Edwin Encarnacion being on the disabled list. It feels like a good time for a sweep.

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Comments

Alls well that ends well. Would have liked a few more runs, but a win is a win. Marmol and Gregg were there usual 'interesting' selves. Confidence not very high in close games with those 2. Hill and Blanco are automatic outs at this point, not that Soto is any better. I for one am actually looking forward to the return of Aaron Miles and I hate to say that but he has been a much better hitter than either Blanco or Scales over his career. This series does matchup favorably for us, of course I remember thinking that a few times this year only to be dissapointed so we will see.

[ ]

In reply to by Jeff_Pico

Who said this year was great? Hill's .280 career OBP has come in a grand total of 316 plate appearances. Don't get me wrong - I have very low expectations from Koyie Hill. But to say that he is an automatic out ignores the fact that he has actually been pretty decent/good this season. Now, I don't necessarily expect that to last, but he has definitely not been a problem for this team so far.

I wouldn't mind seeing Z hit 8th. I can understand not doing it when the regulars were there, but with Andres Blanco hitting 8th ... I really wouldn't mind it. Solid win for the team. Micah swung at some bad pitches, but he made up for a poor offensive night with that "running, bumbling play" (or whatever the Cincy announcers said ... was watching on mlbtv). I also would've liked to see Reed come on to PH for Micah as well.

White Sox get shut out again. DeRo goes yard -- now with 9 HR and 37 RBI. And we're choosing between Scales and Blanco. Heavy, heavy sigh.

I call bullshit..... "After this contract, I'm gone," he said. "I'll betcha $100. I'm serious." "Because I don't want to play," he said. "I want to help this team. I want to do everything possible to win with this team. And after five years, four years, or whatever is left on my contract. ... "You know how many Mother's Days I haven't spent with my mother? Twelve. You know how many things I've been [missing] in my life? It's good to be here, it's good to play baseball. But in five years. ... I will retire. And I won't have to see you anymore." http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-06-cubs-reds-chi…

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Well said on both points. How come Grandparents Day isn't so big? or Fetus Day? Between birthdays and Hallmark holidays we end up buying gifts for people every couple of weeks. Then I hear my dad tell stories of how his mother would mix 1 pound of ground beef into mashed potato's for the 15 person family's dinner. He says there was so little beef on each plate it looked like specks of pepper in the potato's. We have it so easy compared to just a generation or two ago, and Z is bitching about the hassles of making 91 million dollars. Go eat shit, Z. If it's such a pain in the ass, retire now. I don't want to hear 5 years of this nonsense.

pinella said he has to see what fox can do may put him in right saturday. maybe lou should have put johnson in for soriano not hoffpauer. most outfielders cut that ball off and hold runner at first or second,luckily it all worked out in the end. saturdays starters soriano,johnson,fox fontenot,theriot,blanco,lee soto

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I really think Angel Guzman is the guy. With the way Marmol is off with his command this year, I'd like to see Angel get some 8th inning looks. Marmol's still the guy, as we knew we'd have to live and die with his command (after all, the Cubs made him a pitcher because of how much movement he got when throwing the ball from behind the plate), but if Angel can get some looks, it might ease the pressure on the pen and save some innings for Marmol. I really want to see Ascanio get more usage. If we could have those 4 arms to rotate late, with Ascanio/Guzman as 7th inning options, Guzman/Marmol as 8th inning options, and Marmol/Gregg as the closers, it would (obviously) be a big help. We've got to see what Ascanio can do, though, and he hasn't pitched in awhile. Then, with Marshall and perhaps Waddell (another guy they need to get work for) back there, that would have our pen as close to being set as possible. With other potential concerns this year, I'd hate to have to look at pen trades midseason.

[ ]

In reply to by toonsterwu

I wasn't counting Marmol. He's pretty useless about now. He seems to have no idea where his pitches are going, and now his slider doesn't always break. Ascanio hasn't shown me anything. Not sure if he's trying to over throw, or what, but the catcher may as well call for all the pitches right down the middle because he's got no clue where they're going.

I asked Z's mom and she doesn't really want to see him on mother's day after all the stunts he pulled as a kid.

Will Carroll's latest Cub UTK update: The good news is that Bradley's strained calf isn't as bad as the Cubs originally feared. The team doesn't think they'll need to DL him, but they aren't sure exactly when he'll be back either. In the meantime, Bradley's hitting isn't enough to make first base an option, and with no DH there's some thought that he could miss as much as a week, leaving Lou Piniella shorthanded again. It's also beginning to make people wonder if Bradley might not be shopped to some American League teams. The downside here is that the deal would have to be payroll-neutral, and unless Bradley really picks things up between now and the deadline, that's going to be very tough to make happen. (It's not just Bradley; Jim Hendry can't take on any new salary until the team's new ownership is in place.) In other news, the Cubs have benched Soto for a few games, though they insist that the shoulder is only a small part of his current issues. If Koyie Hill can hit even a little, they'll keep Soto on the bench for as much as a week. There's even some talk about Jake Fox putting the gear on for a game. I remain unconvinced that Soto's problems don't have a larger physical component, and I will continue to follow this closely. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9004

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

If Milton is out for an extended period, we really need ... well, we really need Mark DeRosa basically, a guy that can handle corner OF and play some 3rd. That said, money will be an issue, although Crane Kenney did say in an interview (I think over on BCB) that there was midseason money. I can live with Jake catching once a week, I think. I mean, our options are limited right now. That said, if Milton is out for an extended period, I'd like to see Jake get some corner OF reps. It won't be pretty, and it could very well be bad, but it's the easiest way to get him in there and we need to see what his bat can do.

Totally unrelated to the Cubs, but Jonathan Broxton is on pace for: 17 -0 71 innings 80 hits 28 BB 128 Ks 37 Sv 1.29 ERA That will get you some Cy Young votes.

The gelded I-Cubs start a homestand tonight w/ Aaron Miles in the lineup & Rich Harden slated to pitch tomorrow. I will try to blow off some previous engagements to get a look @ Harden...

With regard to Fox and his glove...if he's in the lineup you KNOW he'll come to the plate 4 times; you don't know how many balls will be hit in the vicinity of him; it might be zero! And of those that are, he's gonna catch some of 'em! Limited range, yes, but he can't be any more of a dice roll defensively than most of our bullpen is on the mound right about now...

And if Fox is going to get penciled into the lineup, why would it be @ catcher; the most defensively demanding of all his possible positions? I think you gotta play him @ an outfield corner & hope for the best...

Dubois is not mentioned on the team's injury report...Harden scheduled for 5 IP's/75 pitches - whichever comes first [bet it's the pitch count]...

Soriano, LF Theriot, SS Lee, 1B Fox, J, RF Johnson, R, CF Soto, C Scales, 2B Fontenot, 3B okay, whatever...also 25 xbase hits, 26rbi and a .303 ob% for our fearless leadoff hitter who's been leading the team in homers and doubles pretty much all year... here's to hoping dlee/fox/johnson can deliver.

is getting annoying...

fontenot responsible for 4 runs today...for the reds...soto with an assist on whiffing on that wild pitch.

The not-having-an-experienced-3B-backup chicken really came home to roost tonight. In Fontenot's case, he has no experience. Thanks Hendry, you BLOCKHEAD!

wow that sucked. happy to see lou take soriano out his defense has costed us on the road trip more so then normal and his offense well. angel guzman lous new seventh inning guy.

The great thing about Fontenot, see, is that he hits left-handed, which has been a huge plus so far this year. The last thing we need is DeRosa's RH bat driving in a bunch of runs. I expect the Cards to dump Pujols soon for the same reason. Just wondering -- after Hendry dumped DeRo for nothing, who did he think would back up A-Ram, who has been injured pretty much every year? To be fair, Fonty is out of position. Sheesh.

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In reply to by billybucks

I think Miles was suppose to be the guy, but the sore shoulder seems to have prevented him from playing the position. I mean, they never explicitily said the shoulder kept him from playing third, but they did say it's been bothering since spring training and it was weird that they've played Fontenot the whole time before Miles hit the DL.

Not that Miles has a lot of experience there (15 games, 11 in 2008), but well that's more than Fontenot.

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In reply to by Rob G.

on that note...

Aaron Miles played for the Iowa Cubs on Saturday, part of his rehab from a sore shoulder. He played five innings at third base and went 2-for-3, scoring a run in a 3-1 win over Round Rock. Miles was expected to be activated Wednesday when the Cubs are in Houston.

you can see where that's headed...

I understand that this is the first really bad game that we've seen Fontenot have at third. That said, if he's going to make errors over there, then fucking put Jake Fox there and deal with the mistakes. I'd rather have his bat and the shitty defense instead of the 695 OPS and the shitty defense. Honestly, the way we're running right now, his bat in there everyday is what we really need, anyway.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Even David Wright only makes that play in the 11th one out of three times. That's a tough fucking play. I completely disagree. That is not a "tough fucking play." Most 3b make that play. He had plenty of time. All you need to do is to take one step into the field so that you are not trying to throw into/over the runner. It is the same type of play as when a 1b has to step out of the baseline when fielding a pick off throw and then throwing to 2b. I would say that Fontenot messed up that play because he is not used to having to deal with a runner running down the baseline like that. It was an error due to lack of experience.

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.