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

Trade Deadline Open Thread

I had a more thorough analysis of the trade partially written up, but then my dog ate it. C'est la vie.

And unfortunately I won't be around my computer much today, so feel free to continue the discussion here and any other deadline deals.

Otherwise, the Cubs march into Florida, a place that hasn't been too kind to them over the last few seasons. They beat them 2 of 3 last year, but in 2006 and 2007, were swept out of LandShark Stadium or whatever they're calling it these days. Rich Harden vs. Christ Volstad tonight, Zambrano pitches for the Cubs Saturday, but I don't see a starter listed for the Marlins anywhere. Sunday brings old friend Ricky Nolasco versus Ryan Dempster.

Comments

I had a more thorough analysis of the trade partially written up, but then my dog ate it... --- we'll eagerly await your analytical report when you get it back. Don't forget to use a pooper-scooper.

So who will leadoff again left-handed pitching? Jeff Baker? I hope it's not Soriano--he really seems to have settled in batting sixth.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Cubs fans need to realize its July 31st and a RFer posting a .250 average with 8 HR's and 26 RBI at the tread deadline is pathetic. I am also glad to hear people still waiting for Milton Bradleys power to show up. Please point me to all his 30-40 HR seasons as proof of his power hitting ability. Please show me all of his 100 RBI seasons as proof of his ability to knock in runs. Hell i will make it easy, you can include all of his 80+ RBI seasons as proof of his run production ability. His power hovers somewhere between Mark Grace and Alex Gonzalez (the Cub one). Yeah they can get in double digits but your pushing it if you expect 20 HR. His run production ability is somehere between Neifi Perez and Jaque Jones. Bradley is still on pace for a 50 RBI season or less. Its taken him 4 months to get 26 RBI. 2 months of the season are left...can he get 24 more? He is going to be pushing it to do that and people are happy with him still? You deserve to lose your job if your that bad over the course of the season. His ass was paid to sit in the middle of our lineup and knock in runs, not to hit like a back up middle infielder. For as bad as Mike Fontenot has been at the plate he still has managed a .230 average, 8 HR, and 32 RBI. And yet Fontenot is the king of suck at 2nd base and Bradley is still worshipped for doing worse.

Here's hoping the Dodgers don't get Halladay, which now doesn't look likely - I think he would have been this years C.C - come over to the NL and just dominate for a while. Heck he's dominating the AL now. It's too bad the Cubs are payroll constrained otherwise he would have been a nice piece to mortgage the future for a run this year and next. I'll bet a Vitters, Cashner, Wells, Samardzija type package would have gotten it done and Roy would be more dominate than Peavy IMHO.

[ ]

In reply to by Banks1954

I don't want Halladay in the NL with a potential playoff opponent. That gives me bad dreams. I think the Cubs are stuck with Samardzija, he has a no trade clause and I think his agent has made it clear he will not accept any trade. The bigger problem is he sucks. Why he's on the big league roster is a mystery. Another bad contract move by Hendry, couldn't he have gotten him to sign that giant contract without giving him a no trade clause?

Off topic but I was thinking about something last night. Rob G said that the Cubs righties had been as effective against left handed hitters as Grabow has been this season, but I have to wonder, were those the same hitters? It seems like if a tough lefty comes up, Marshall or earlier Cotts may go in to face them, whereas a righty pitcher may face a lefty but not the really good ones.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Like Curtis Granderson? Marshall came in only to face Granderson two nights in a row. Struck him out both time, total 6 pitches (3 pitches each at bat). That was when I decided Marshall has massive cajones. And good job thinking outside the stats. Don't get me wrong, stats are important, but numbers always need interpretation.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Marmol, Gregg, Guzman and Marshall had better OPS against versus lefties than Grabow. Marmol and Gregg pretty much pitch the 8th and 9th no matter who is due up, so not sure if that's much of an issue, Guzman and Grabow are about the same and Lou will play match-ups more with Guzman.

Hendry in that video interview Cubster linked to indicated they were worried about Marshall burning out, especially having to warm up, sit down and warm up again.

If he takes Ninja, Heilman or Stevens spot in the pen, all the better...

I think Hendry may have done well to deal Hart when his numbers looked best, though time will tell. Hart's w/k ratio was scary and was probably going to catch up with him. Not pitching like someone Lou would rely upon. Let's hope for the best.

Remember when MLBTR was nothing more than a complete joke? I believe TCR collectively disclaimed anything coming from Dierkes for awhile. They've enjoyed a nice ride to the mainstream over the last year or so. It would be interesting to see a piece on their progression.

[ ]

In reply to by Little Nate Lewis

I remember when Tim started out, it was maybe a step above Al Yellon. Then he reversed course and started linking to breaking news, a simple concept but executed very well. It's nice to see him succeed and grow that site. And I must say Ben, the main guy Tim has filling in for him while he's waiting for their baby to be born has done a great job too.

[ ]

In reply to by Little Nate Lewis

the site is on my perm shitlist for the MASSIVE spamming efforts and history revisions to make their predictions/writings the truth after the fact in the earlier days. They were also fond of taking other people's scoops and not crediting them while calling it their source. ...also bans for those that asked them to quit spamming their sites or called b/s on them for changing "news" after the fact. i'm sure they're doing just fine without my help and support, though...hehe if someone wants a piece on their progression i'm sure the 1st year or so of it would make a lot of people pissed off at how annoying they decided to launch their themselves on the back of others at any expense.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

MLB Trade Rumors just copied and pasted off of Fox Sports Rumors section and then added in their own ridiculous rumors. They always claimed they had sources but i found out early on it was bullshit. I remember years ago explaining that on TCR when people would qoute that site and say they had sources. They were no different than you and me sitting at the keyboard. They had no inside knowledge, they had nothing. I refuse to visit a site that operated in that manner. Like crunch said, what they have now is off the backs of others.

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

I wasn't around for MLB Trade Rumor's early days, but I think they do a nice job now. As far as claiming they had heard things from unnamed sources, how is that different from 90% of the "legit" rumor mongers out there? Most of those guys just throw shit against the wall and see what sticks. If Tim has changed his MO, it's working. It's nice to go to one site (rather than several) to see what's going on.

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

the "spam missions" bugged me the worst. bans for criticism and proof of where they stole their "exclusive" breaking news (with timestamps before the post date on their site) was just crass. the "stealing other people's news without credit" and having crappy "sources" is just another thing that didn't make the whole 1st year+ of that site any fun for a lot of people on the baseball side of the net. at least now they stick to recycling other people's news, with credit, rather than being on some huge self-promotion kick while trying to look like gods of all baseball rumors with super-inside knowledge. i can do without them and i'm pretty sure they're not missing me.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Just because they may be legit now doesn't make what they did right. They basically do like the mafia, lie cheat steal to gather their resources and then open a legit business. Nevermind the fact they stepped on everyone in their way and used them. If they are making money, are they giving any of that to all of the people they stole from? Hell no, they are just as pathetic now as they were then. By visiting the site, you just tell them it was ok to steal and lie. Because the ends justified the means.

Is it just my browers or did I miss the memo about only posting in italics?

Well, if the Phillies getting Lee, Cards getting Holliday and the Dodgers getting Sherril are the only big adds by the NL contenders, I think the Cubs dodge a bit of a bullet when they were hamstrung by the ownership situation at the deadline. The one thing about the Phillies, even though their offense is ridiculous, their pitching is heavily left handed (Lee, Hamels, Happ likely all in their playoff rotation) and for example righties are hitting over .300 against Lee (see, DLee, Aram, Bradley and Soriano batting against lefties all series) The Dodgers are still a tough matchup and I don't think we've done much to improve our chances from last year, but at least they didn't get much better either and hopefully Manny doesn't go off in the playoffs again.

I'm still holding out hope that the Cubs land Teahan. We'll have to see would be a nice addition to the bench. He could replace Hoffpauir and is way more versatile.

WTF? MLB Network claims Rosenthal says Dodgers are working on blockbuster deal with Pads for Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell. Can't find any link to it on the web.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Won't the Padres be shooting themselves in the foot (or somewhere worse) by trading Gonzalez and Bell within the division? Unless the Padres are giving up any hope of competing for the next several years, I don't see this kind of trade making sense. I feel the same way about the possibility of Toronto trading Halladay to the Yankees or Red Sox.

It'd be sweet to land Hermida or Teahan somehow, but I'm not really interested in offering up the top guys for either of them. Maybe another scrappy middle infielder? Either one.

So Dodgers are going after Adrian Gonzalez now, too? Wow. On the bright side, next year's ASG selections for the NL will be very simple, just send the Dodgers. Yeesh.

Whole bunch of trades just went down... 1b Laroche back to Braves LHP Beimel to Rockies Jerry Hairston Jr. to Yankees

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

MLB Network reported earlier in the day that Youkilis had thrown a fit over sitting a game or two so Laroche could play. I figured they picked up Laroche to get some time at DH and some at 1b, maybe with Youkilis playing a little at 3b with Lowell banged up. Looks like the Red Sox have been very reluctant to admit Ortiz should spend most of his time on the bench. But tell me how trading for 1b Victor Martinez, who really shouldn't catch very often, and then adding a defensive 1b in Kotchman makes the picture any clearer? It's like Boston has so much money and prospects they don't know what to do and can afford to change their mind every few minutes.

This is 3/44, but can anyone recommend an inexpensive wired router? My Netgear is causing problems. Thanks.

Rumor that Halladay was traded to the Angels. Heyman will be on MLB Network in a minute. And Peavy is on the DL, so what are the Sox thinking? I hope the Peavy trade is true so we don't have to listen to the rumors to the Cubs again. UPDATE: Heyman says the Peavy deal is done but he has to approve it and wonders if Peavy already approved a deal before it was made. He could be ready sometime in August. If I were a Sox fan I would hope Kenny got Towers to pay a big chunk of that contract. Halladay Update: No deal.

WSCR and other sources discussing Peavy to WSux for Aaron Poreda, Clayton Richard, Dexter Carter, Adam Russell

WSCR/David Schuster said Peavy has agreed to approve the deal Interesting that Clayton Richard was scheduled to start vs Yankees tonight

cubs should use the "cash for clunkers" program to turn miles/blanco into something worth having on the roster.

The Cubs still have to be sniffing around looking for a right handed hitting OF'er,while JH is at it why not look for a lefty as well? White Sox grabbing Peavey who figures more for 2010 than 09. Teahan aquisition between now and next season could right the wrong done by Hendry when shipping out DeRo.

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but Brett Jackson has moved up from Boise to Daytona. There might be more corresponding moves, but I haven't noticed any quite yet.

[ ]

In reply to by Black Earthling

Jackson was moved up from Boise to Peoria. Jose Made was moved from Peoria to Daytona to fill the roster spot created when Josh Harrison was shipped to Pittsburg. Jackson played for Peoria last night and went 2-6, 2 RBI, 2 runs. Despite losing Vitters in June, the Cubs currently have a lot of talented players in Peoria including Kyler Burke, Ryan Flaherty, D.J. LeMahieu & Brett Jackson. I am quite encouraged by the progress of Kyler Burke this year. He is very athletic, plays a great center field, has a plus arm, hits for power and has raised his average to nearly .300. Although not there yet, the Cubs farm system certainly appears to be headed in the right direction.

[ ]

In reply to by rob9999

Agree about Burke, Peoria, farm system. Burke now has 35 doubles, plus 10 outfield assists. After losing Vitters and Harrison, the Chiefs can still put together a potent lineup. The first five hitters last night--Jackson, Flaherty, Ridling, Burke, LeMahieu--produced thirteen hits. After that you get Rosa (.316 in 79 ABs at Peoria), Brenly (.291), Lake (.257). Flaherty hit his 15th home run on Thursday in a game that was washed out, so he's back to 14. People hear the name Brenly and think the Cubs did their announcer a favor by drafting him, but the kid can catch and hit. Ridling is starting to look like a serious prospect, not just a big kid with a big swing. He's a run producer with 73 RBI. Chiefs have won eight in a row. One other minor-league note. I found this in the Daytona Beach News Journal:
Daytona 3B Josh Vitters missed his fourth straight game because of a hand injury.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

We mentioned age in a previous thread, and that's what's in Burke's favor. Put it into a bit of perspective, he's younger than Flaherty, just about the same age as LeMahieu and Ridling, and, if you want to stretch it, is younger than everyone on the Tennessee roster. Seems he (Burke) turned a real corner this year. Every stat is improved, most notably his K rate, which has dropped (25% in '08 to 20%'09). As would be expected, his walk rate has risen accordingly (8% to 12%). Looking at more detailed metrics though, are his stats a bit deceiving as his BABIP is .358? That's well out of line of anything he's done prior. Now, of course, he could be hitting the ball harder, as he's swinging at better pitches, but seeing a jump this far out of line does make me hesitate a bit in heaping too much hope on him.

[ ]

In reply to by Black Earthling

Without any info on his groundball, line drive, and fly ball rates, it's hard to say how much of that .358 BABIP is luck, though I'd wager that even if we assume improved line drive %, at least a small part of that has to be luck. The real question is going to be, though, whether Burke can keep the strikeout rate reasonable and still regain some of his homerun pop (will some of those doubles turn into homeruns).

[ ]

In reply to by Black Earthling

Assuming those numbers are accurate, it looks like Burke's line drive rate is actually down a smidgen from 2008, but up from 2007. So for that increase in BABIP to be really, he either has to be hitting the ball harder on a more regular basis, or he has to be aiming it better (hitting more fly balls in the gaps and more ground balls up the middle)--which depending on your opinion could be construed as mere luck.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Hitting the ball harder on a more regular basis is a great way to describe Burke so far this season. One of the biggest changes I have noticed this year is his plate discipline. He appears to have sharpened his command of the zone and rarely swings at a ball out of the zone when he's down in the count. He has a slightly expanded zone with fewer than two strikes as he looks to drive the ball, but he really tightens it up in two strike counts. I am surprised to hear his line drive rate is down because it seems that nearly all his hits are ropes about 10 feet above the infielder's head. He has done a good job hitting to all fields and really looks like he has figured some things out. I was a bit usure when he started playing CF as he had always played RF because of the big arm. But he has played a solid CF with good speed and excellent instincts. Its fun to watch Peoria with Burke in CF and Perez in RF. Their arms get plenty of respect and plays at the plate are rather infrequent!

[ ]

In reply to by rob9999

Thanks, Rob Quadniner! You should post here more often. This sort of qualitative, eye-witness description is one of the reasons we all love AZ Phil, Mike W, etc. It's the kind of stuff that's harder to find on the net, whereas the stats are fairly simple. As far as the line drive rate goes, I'm not sure about the accuracy of that site, with which I'm unfamiliar. I usually rely on fangraphs for that sort of stuff, but not much batted ball is available there for Mr. Burke.

Looks like the road offense woes are back for tonight. Going to have to hope that the Astros really are the Cards nemesis.

ROB G: Yep, that Julio Lugo sure does suck, right?: .393 .414 .714 1.128 With the Cards! That is almost as good as Fontenot, I tell ya! Good call.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Fontenot is a AAA ball player. Cardinals, Dodgers, none of the top-tier teams would have this scrub on their big league club. But Cubdom is in love (that kind of irrational Matt Murton love), so don't try convincing them otherwise. And Gooz & Marmol need to swap roles. Gooz will still walk his share, but I'm am so tired of walking the first batter in the 8th inning of close games. Blah

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

I'll take the one who has the 343 OBP. Not the guy who has the 386 OBP. Or the one with the 73 OPS+. Not the one with the 102 OPS+. Or the guy who has a 588 OPS in the last two weeks. Not the guy who has a 1.039 OPS in the last two weeks. Or the guy who hasn't had an OPS under .800 since 2007. Not the guy who hasn't had an OPS under .800 since 2004.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

So - you wanna go Retro? Let's do it! Lugo, last 28 days: .333 .351 .639 .990 (37 PA) Last 365 .305 .361 .447 .808 (156 PA) Fontenaught, last 28 217 .242 .417 .659 (62 PA) Last 365 .251 .325 .394 .719 (403PA) Lugo Career: 10 seasons - .272 .336 .392 .728 You're still going by the "Lugo sucks" moniker? Think Esther is going to stick around and do this well - not that he's hall of fame material, but the whole point was that I'd rather have Lugo as our 2B or SS, than who we have now - and he was available on the cheap. Certainly with Pedroia at 2B, and their excellent SS, Lugo's AB's were limited. But the guy can hit better than Esther, which is who were are stuck with - or Blanco - phenominal glove and no bat.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

arrested for allegedy slamming his wife's head in a car door, claimed he was innocent from the very beginning. His wife was apparently treated for  injuries. Went to trial and was acquitted when he his wife recanted and said it was some sort of accident.

so other than Lugo and his wife, who knows what happened, but they obviously felt they had enough of a case to go to trial and somehow she got hit.

I'm all for second chances and hell, maybe the guy's innocent, but it sure sounds suspicious.

Don't understand why Lou had Baker pinch-hit for Hoffpauir instead of Soriano in that situation. If you weren't going to use Soriano there, when were you going to use him? As it turned out, never. Soriano ended the game in the on-deck circle. Meyer wound up striking out Baker, and the momentum seemed to shift back to the Marlins. BTW, does Jake Fox ever NOT swing at the first pitch? He drives me crazy, though I admit he's fun to watch hit. Also, Len automatically calls every Harden non-fastball a "changeup." But it sure looks like he throws about 10 or so sliders a game to right-handed batters. Had great stuff tonight.

Soto update from sun-times: Catcher Geovany Soto (oblique) is scheduled to start a minor-league rehab assignment today as the DH for rookie-A Mesa, then travel Sunday and play Monday through Wednesday for Class AA Tennessee. Barring a setback, he then would join the Cubs for Friday's series opener at Colorado. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1695666,CST-SPT-cubnt01.ar… also something about not giving Grabow his #34 jersey, so he took #43. Kerry Wood had another blown save vs Tigers last night but the Indians won in extra innings. I guess the Tribe blogs probably posted something about Marmol taking another loss (file under, glad we don't have both of them?)

It has been a few weeks since I looked but the Cubs offense has made strides: 10th in NL in total Offense "Up to" 14th from 16th in success with RISP (how bad is that, though?) 5th in NL in "total" pitching (3rd in holding RISP) 4th best starting staff (tie with Dodgers, Cards 2nd) 6th best relievers (Cards 11th)

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • 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...