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

Milton Bradley's Fill In The Blanks Apology

Am I piling on?
You bet.
Sue me.


 

Comments

I forgot to mention this a few days ago but Milton was blowing off his commitments to media way back in May..... http://trueslant.com/georgecastle/2009/08/27/where-is-milton-bradleys-c… Bradley re-scheduled the interview through the Cubs for Saturday, May 30, prior to a 3:10 p.m. national Fox game. Once again, though, he was a no-show. I got the word that he apologized, that he simply forgot. OK, the third time will be the charm. We were re-scheduled for early shot 3 1/2 hours prior to the 7:05 p.m. ESPN game on Sunday, May 31. as told to wait in the Cubs dugout for Bradley. Complying, I then walked back into the clubhouse, saw Bradley by his locker, showed him the 1996-vintage Marantz recorder on which we’d tape, and left figuring he’d join me in five minutes. But the clock kept ticking in the dugout toward pre-game stretch. The interview window closed again as the players assembled on the field. They began their little jogging routine, but there was no sign of Bradley. Suddenly he burst up the dugout steps, the last player on the field, and joined the stretch routine in progress. Not a word of explanation or acknowledgment to me. I was later informed he wasn’t feeling well and had retreated to the trainer’s room prior to stretch. ..... But no man is an island. Bradley could not have continued his own business as usual, and expected the waves of affection to wash over him in Chicago. He needed a commitment to himself above anything else. If he couldn’t do that, he couldn’t commit to others. To me for three days. Much more importantly, to the franchise that paid him his life- security contract and millions of fans that wanted to accept him, yet now are pushed away, kept at a distance. Bradley has time to change, to grow as a man. However, the way he is steering his life, it will be best done elsewhere, and maybe away from baseball. He also has a sweet article on the shitty Cubs farm system over the decades that I harp about, plus a cool or sad Theriot fact.... http://trueslant.com/georgecastle/2009/08/24/cubs-power-less-to-develop… Part of the Cubs’ problem has simply been mediocre scouting and player development overall with position players. When Shawon Dunston came up to play shortstop in 1985, he was the first home-grown position play to grab a regular’s job for awhile at Wrigley Field since Don Kessinger in 1965. And when Ryan Theriot seized the shortstop’s job from Cesar Izturis in 2007, he was the first home-grown middle infielder to become a stable regular since Dunston!

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Just ignore the part where Bradley agreed 3 times to do the interview and then stiffed him each time. And the reporter mentioned it 3 months after the fact when Bradley started into his death spiral. If you don't want to do the interview, then just say so. Don't agree to it and co-ordinate with the Cubs and then just blow it off. Thats what you call being a prick. This is one of those incidents that Jim Hendry said has been building all year. It goes to the character of the individual who is unwilling to to even live up to his own word, much less his commitment to the team. Something was going wrong way before May for Milton to be acting that way. And i say he came in the with the notion of not giving a shit because he got paid, and the Cubs were the suckers who believed he could be a better man. It was a con crunch, it was an elaborate game to steal as much money as he could from his next team. I say mission accomplished on Miltons part.

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

hate to see what you think of lou doing the same thing (not showing up for his post-game press conference) 2 times for the first time any cubs manager has in 30-ish years. what a con...what a prick...fire him! the 3rd time he did it he at least told the reporters he wouldn't be showing up. of course he followed that by deciding he would have the conference where he threw milton under a bus for not talking to reporters. it's not that milton blew him off, it's that the sportswriter made a story out of it...pooooooooor him! i cry for him. he owes me an interview i can read! damn u milton. wait, isn't he a baseball player?

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Part of your job in baseball, part of what you get paid for, is to deal with fans and the media...and treat them with an ounce of respect. Lou has had some well documented lapses in judgement this year, and people have called him out for it. But Lou also has 2007 & 2008 in a Cubs uniform where he showed if nothing else, that a team can perform to expectations under him. Bradley has no such luxury. Pinella earned the respect of fans with how the team turned around the 2nd half of 2007 that lasted through 2008. Pinella did none. As for your comments about the writer...I think you've completely lost your head over defending Bradley ad nauseum without ratione or reason. If the writer wanted to make a huge story out of it, he would have a long time ago. The skelton is out of the closet and this is just one more anecdote that really goes to show why no insiders on the team, in management, or in the media, came to Bradely's defense. He is a very bad apple, a bad apple who walks away with $30 Million dollars because he isn't comfortable doing his job and earning his pay and the respect of fans.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I think you can read George Castle's article the way you did, Crunch. Castle didn't get his interview and all he wants to do is complain about it. I didn't see it that way. Castle was simply doing his job. He requested an interview through the Cubs (he didn't go directly to Bradley) and the Cubs made the arrangements for him. Bradley agreed to the interview (three different times), but failed to keep the appointments. He didn't have enough professionalism to cancel the interviews and he didn't have the decency to apologize for missing the interviews or inconveniencing the reporter. The point, as I read it, is that Milton Bradley never takes responsibility for his actions. Castle was looking more at the commitment angle, but I saw it more as a responsibility issue. Bradley has failed to take responsibility for his actions throughout his career. I read Castle's article to say that Bradley is early in his time with the Cubs, but he's already displaying a lack of responsibility and commitment, a concern that many people had about Bradley when he was signed.

Bradley has flaws but at least he has apologized (unlike those who condemned him before he did anything). Sadly, that makes Bradley a better person than about half of Cub fans.

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In reply to by Steve Christmas

Oy Vay. I'd apologize too if it meant giving myself a better chance to make millions of dollars a year. You can't truly believe that after the entire year of not apologizing. The entire year of blaming everyone else but himself, the entire year of not doing what he is paid to do (and I'm not talking about poor hitting or fielding)...that you are going to buy this crap? I gave Bradley the benefit of the doubt early on. I was worried about the fact that he burned major bridges with every other team he has been on. I was worried when he exploded and got kicked out in his first home game. I worried when he stopped talking to the media. I worried when he started saying he had no friends on the team. I worried when 3 months into the season he couldn't hit the ball...but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. But you know what. I was wrong, I should have known better. Cubs fans do not owe Bradley an apology. They were right, they gave him the respect he earned and deserved from fans...which was none. He is truly a bad apple and you need to look no further than the fact that not one single teamate came to his defense. Not one. Is Bradley, single handidly responsible for the Cubs failures this year? no. Soriano's decline was probably a much bigger issue, but when a bad man with a bad track record comes in and does nothing to earn respect, walks home with a $10 Million pay check and says that he dreads working overtime and dealing with the people who help pay his salary...he is done. He loses. Cubs fans owe him nothing more than to respect the fact that he is a human being (regardless of race), and that's it. We are Bradley's clients....he is the one that owes us.

Wait a minute, there are TCR archives to prove that a bunch of you putz's (putzi?) were not willing even to give Milton a chance in spring training. He did well in Texas, yeah, as a DH, but nobody expected him to put up Juan Pierre numbers running the bases. SO Cubs fans and media have proved that they can still run somebody out of town on the rail. Ain't you proud of yourselves? This isn't going to spiral for one year, because nobody gonna want to play right field unless they can't speak English. Maybe Hendry's problem isn't his judge of player character, but his manager, who didn't give a flyin' leap that his team disintegrated at his own bidding ("more left handed"). Your wrath, Cub fans, should not be in the behavior of a player, but in the constant refusal to play the game by a team, e.g. a player who "hops" when he catches a ball and injures himself, a manger who plays AAA Scales in August, a manager who Marmols and Greggs you to death, who was out coached by TLR, Ozzie, even Cecil in Houston, and you expected him to be able to handle MB? Heck, Ken Washington did but Sweet Lou can't! Are you so mesmerized by Lou's rings you think no one could do better? He's just building a bigger retirement home in Tampa while he laughs at Hendry taking the heat.

I gleefully didn't give Milton a chance from day one. But thats because I understood the individual i was dealing with. I knew he was a prick, a liar, a faker, an excuse maker. Been that way his whole life. He talked a big game about doing more in 120 games than most do in 162 and thats what i wanted, nothing more, nothing less. You can't even do that? Fuck you, get the fuck off my team you worthless sack of shit. I couldn't stand him before that, i certainly liked him even less when he is the same insufferable prick with 40 RBI in September.

I just feel bad for the guy, and no amount of piling on is gonna change that. The dude is too intense for his own and his team's own good. Dempster nailed it when he said it doesn't seem like MB is capable of just having fun. His background is kind of messed up but you would think that anyone who has achieved what he has -- being a major league baseball player, the thing most of us I bet dreamed of when we were little, would up his mood a bit. The fact that it hasn't means he has a bit of a mental condition. I am not a believer in pharmaceuticals, as a whole, since they knocked my mom to the ground, but in this case it may be worth it for him to consider a little visit to the local psychiatrist and get himself a script. Having said that, the piling on is ridiculous. Fucking ridiculous. Leave the fucking guy alone. He plays hard as far as I can tell, and that's really all I ask. The issue is the original signing. Not him. Pile on Hendry for ignoring the fucking warning signs that were there from the beginning and leave this guy a fucking lone.

Do you know anything about how Milton Bradley was perceived by his teammates, manager Ron Washington and the front office? I have read snippets over this year, mostly from national writers, to the effect he wore out his welcome with the Rangers. But other than maybe not wanting to tough through some injuries at the end of 2008, I never saw anything specific at the time. Do you think the Rangers would be open to having him back, if the Cubs eat a lot of salary? — Michael, Texarkana Bradley got along well with his teammates, and Washington still wishes he had a hitter with the plate discipline Bradley showed last year. But opinions cooled some in March, when he told Gil LeBreton that he could have played at times last year but opted to sit out to make his stats look better for potential suitors. That didn’t sit well some players and management, especially when Young was playing with broken fingers on each hand. Bradley pushed himself way down the wish list with those comments, and probably pushed himself off it completely. http://www.star-telegram.com/284/story/1634376-p2.html

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

Hendry absolutely did fail this year. But the player, who is getting paid $30 Million dollars to do a job, needs to do his job. I can not even fathom how you can say he gives it his all? When you sit there blaming everyone else for your problems, easing up on numerous fly balls that fly short, don't have a clue on the status of the game, insult the fans, insult the management, insult the media, ignore the media, ignore your coaches, ignore your teammates, don't play when a coach tells you to play, throw hissy fits in the middle of the game...you are not giving it your all. Hendry absolutely deserves blame for signing Bradley at that dollar gfigure...but the player has a responsibility too, and I truly can not fathom that anyone watching what happened this year can possibly claim that Bradley is some innocent victim of circumstances. This is not some 13 year old child prodigy. This is a grown man...a grown man getting paid a lot of money to entertain people. He earned the respect he got from fans.

"Young was playing with broken fingers..." That's the 2nd time you've quoted that article from the Startlegram, Rob - that's all you got, for all of 2008? Nelson Cruz, who replaced MB, had about 30 more RBI's than Milton and batted .262 in over 400 ab's this year. Don't tell me MB wasn't missed. --And Josh Hamilton was playing with girls in a bar in spring training, apologized and was forgiven. Milton helped revive baseball here in Arlington with a terrific OBP and 22 HR's in '08. I don't get it. All this Milton bashing, then it turns to Hendry bashing. There is an "I" in win, and Pinella. How many lineup changes? Playing favorites (my Dusty favorite) or doghouse. Zambrano looks lost. Guz is shot, Harden is shot, The Marmol Twitch...Theriot, Fukudome up and down in the order, Soriano running (or watching fly balls) like he's got something in his britches...and the Lou is bullet proof, just snickers at MB. Let's have him back to sing the 7th next year. If Jim knows what he's doing, he will get a skipper who cares.

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In reply to by artskoe

"Don't tell me MB wasn't missed." Cruz 2009: 506PA 73runs, 21 2B, 1 3B, 32HR, 74 RBI, 20 SB, .260/.334/.523, OPS+ 121 Bradley 2008: 509PA, 78 runs, 32 2B, 1 3B, 22 HR, 77 RBI, .321/.436/.563 So far all of MB's gaudy numbers in 2008, he ended up with 3 more RBI's, 5 more runs scored, and 15 more doubles, his Cruz also plays RF, and has 11 assists this season, with 3 errors, and his RF/9 and RF/G fielding #'s are well above average. The Rangers fiinished second last year, and are second this year, but have a better record this year. Yeah...they are pining away for good ol' reliable, Milton Bradley.

BTW - Cubbie Tim - wonderful, funny, creative art today. Your pen and ink drawings are nice - but this is just so "on it"! It could make a terrific screen-saver. Thanks.

Why does it seem here that whenever you say something bad about one person or player, it somehow morphs into meaning that that is the only guilty party. Why in threads on Milton Bradley, must we caveat everything with saying...well, Hendry sucked too. Oh, but then that's not good enough, Can't leave out Pinella. Oh, what about Soriano! Such an odd thing that I've noticed repeatedly this year on this threads...as I've been a reader all year and done little posting. Here is who I would say deserves significant criticism and share of the blame this year for the Cubs failings in no particular order: Hendry Pinella Soriano Bradley Soto Gregg Marmol Zambrano Fontentot I'm sure there were more. But 10 wrongs do not make a right. Because 10 other people failed at their jobs, doesn't mean that one should be excused for being a complete and total jackass of a human being....repeatedly refusing to do his job and biting the hundreds of thousands of fans that feed him.

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In reply to by blockhead25

I'm not really into the criticism game too much when it comes to players. Major league baseball has to be the hardest thing to do on earth, and for me to criticize a player seems like bullshit to me. I couldn't even get out of little league baseball, for God's sake. I was a good shortstop but couldn't hit anything faster than 60 miles an hour, and if it had any break on it I fell to the ground sobbing. No, the real criticism to me always needs to go the GM. If he doesn't get the right players, he makes us all very unhappy campers and we fight like TNR and Mike C. Even Soriano, he just messed up, man. He wanted to play injured and he couldn't help himself. Good athletes often don't even know how hurt they are. Remember Urlacher playing almost an entire half with a broken wrist? Ya, I get the whole, fat ass thing about Z and Soto but I really think at the end of the day these guys have enough pride to bounce back. Money is a huge thing in today's baseball world but these guys got here because they did stuff we can't imagine doing. And Fontenot? How can you criticize him? He's lucky he's gotten this far. The problem is Hendry and his difficulty in scouting position players (and in Milton's case, their mothers). He is great at scouting pitching talent. That's how he rode to the top of this org. And he made two killer trades. Other than that, I think he's a bit of a waste product and it's time for him to take a hike.

I'll explain further what happened on that last weekend of May. Previously, I approached Milton directly at his locker to pitch him the idea of explaining himself (and all the controversy over the past decade) for the bulk of the full hour of "Diamond Gems." Just Milton and me, nothing else. As host and producer, I control the airtime and I thought this would be informative. Plenty of time by broadcast standards for a celeb to get in-depth about himself. I even gave Milton a copy of my latest "Sweet Lou and the Cubs" book to boost my credibility. As I talked to him, a Cubs media-relations official stepped in and suggested he'd try to set up the session. We agreed and the first interview time was set up. I'm not crying or whining over the blown interview. We all get "stiffed" in the business. But not three times in four days. Even Barry Bonds, as hostile to media if not more so than Bradley, fulfilled several interview commitments to me. I cited the messed-up sessions as an example of Milton's behavior. You treat others the way you want to be treated. Obviously, he has a disconnect in this area.

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In reply to by Old and Blue

Yet again, Milton Bradley is not 13 years old. He is not a child. He is not playing highschool baseball for fun. It's his job and he does it for a living, and gets paid handsomely to do his job. He gets paid because there are fans who watch on TV and go to games. He gets paid as an entertainer, nothing more nothing less. Part of the job of a professional athlete is dealing with media and dealing with life as a public figure open to scrutiny. With the risks of that public life, come handsome rewards. Clearly, you didn't read a thing this guy wrote. There was nothing said or mentioned that Bradley was bothered by this guy. There was no indication that this guy (based on what we know) was out of line or was doing anything other than his job as a reporter. Bradley and the Cubs set up an interview time, and Bradley did not follow through on his obligation. To blame anyone else but Bradley for that is honestly downright strange.

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In reply to by Old and Blue

"Leave him alone," Old and Blue? He agreed to the interview in the first place, apologized when he was late the first time and re-scheduled it thru the Cubs, did not show up the second time and seemed certain to do it on the third day by showing up early. If a man says he's going to do something, why can you take him at his word? That's Milton's problem. To show you how bad this was, LaTroy Hawkins did a similar interview for a past book in 2004. He was WAITING FOR ME in the dugout when I arrived at the appointed time at 3 p.m., four hours before a night game. LaTroy explained why he was so media-hostile. He kept his commitment. Hawkins simply did not like doing interviews, but one on one, off the cuff, he's a good conversationalist.

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In reply to by crunch

Media bashing by know it all holier than thou message board posters in both politics and sports gets really old, really fast. I respect blogs and understand what it takes to run them and the commitment of those that read and participate regularly. But this constant irrational media bashing and dependancy on every man for himself "journalism" means not only a complete loss of journalistic integrity and a complete lack of understanding that there is consequence for action...but also a loss of investigative journalism in general. These stories are about who Milton Bradley is. It's about what makes him tick and what explains some of his on field and off field actions. This is the information we crave most as fans (and then quickly pretend we don't care or aren't interested, because it's not the cool thing to do) and this is going to be lost as newspapers continue to dissapear and budgets are slashed significantly in terms of sports coverage beyond the box score and game recaps. But who cares, we all get ot be invistigative journalists these days. We all pretend we know everything and spew it out and will, and blame everyone else who dares say something that doesn't neatly fit with our pre-concieved beliefs. You guys are so wrapped up in defending Bradley at all costs, against absolutely any and all criticism, that you repeatedly and completely miss the point, over and over and over again. Welcome to journalism in the 21st century.

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In reply to by blockhead25

lots of things get old on the internet. we're here to rant or pass education. what you just read was a rant. i'm a bit burnt out on the media bitching about their issues with milton. hey, tell us a bit more about the von j. incident...not yours. and yes, this statement is broad because most aren't solely concentrated on that...it's just i really don't care anymore about it. i want a better story. btw, i'm not "you guys"...go investigate that v.j. story if you want to welcome me to journalism in the 20th century. keep your 21st.

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In reply to by GeorgeCastle

The thing about journalistic integrity is that it requires integrity. This is the behavior we've seen from the Cubs based media: 1. Not to report on their issues with Bradley, though some have hinted that they have had troubles with him. 2. Bradley gets suspended 3. Throw the guy under the bus, publicly, including now bringing up 4 month old stories. When you act this way it's not 'integrity' it is totally self serving. If Bradley was a jerk to you in May, write about it in May. Don't wait until you're sure you won't have to deal with him anymore and then write about it. It's either newsworthy, or it's not. If was newsworthy, you should have said something in May. By waiting until now, you're showing everyone that you didn't want to alienate the player, probably so that you could have future contact with him. Now that you see there's no chance to have future contact with him, you think 'screw it, I will throw him to the wolves", with the added benefit that the Cubs brass will approve of my actions, so I will hopefully get access to more of their players in the future. How is that professional? How is that showing integrity? How are you not as self serving and immature as the media accuses Bradley of being? George Castle, Whittenmyer et al. Don't ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for you.

PS, When Milton was not agitated or standoffish, I actually found him articulate. He knew hitting mechanics cold (unfortunately could not apply them hitting left-handed). The "good" Milton, though, was overwhelmed by the suspicious or paranoid Milton. I felt strongly enough to let him know Andre Dawson kept his commitments, including two interviews at his Miami home. Hawk's word was his bond. I still talk to him. He's a true gentleman, the greatest free-agent pickup in Cubs history. Yosh Kawano said Dawson was the best man he ever had in five decades in the Cubs' clubhouse. What a contrast between Dawson and Bradley.

Also, I see "George Castle" and have no clue who he is. I read his recap and did not see "George Castle has a beef with a player. I read that Milton Bradley is a complete jackass of a human being, and that has been supported through numerous different sources, from the players to the announcers, to the team management. This was an anecodote to the overall picture...but the story has been and is about Milton Bradley. The only people making this into a story about the media, is those that happen to have pre-concieved beliefs that don't align exactly with what the media is reporting...so they start pointing fingers. This discussion mirrors political treatment of media perfectly. We need to be spoon fed exactly what we want to hear and what we want to believe. Those that give us that story are praised as being "fair and balanced", those that don't are part of the "Evil empire".

"The "good" Milton, though, was overwhelmed by the suspicious or paranoid Milton." Reminds me what was said about Richard Nixon being his own worst enemy -- and that he was the kind of guy who wouldn't take "yes" for an answer. Milton Bradley (like Nixon) had a lot of qualities that made you empathize with the guy -- and also a lot of qualities that made him damn hard to live with day after day. I really wish him the best. I just don't have the energy it takes to deal with having him around. To George Castle: Reading your book The Million-to-One Team awoke my in-depth interest in the nuts and bolts of how a successful major league team is developed and sustained. I dove into it shortly after the 2003 season and I soon afterward discovered this website (TCR) and have since wasted countless hours on all manner of things involving the Cubs. Your book was one of the best things I've read from an analytical standpoint about the causes and reasons for the Cubs' unfortunate history. I want to offer my sincere thanks for what must have been a true labor of love. It read like something that you must have poured everything you had into. It is truly a compelling, intelligent, high-quality piece of work. Thank you very much for it. I am now motivated to re-read it again.

I'm a big George Castle fan. --- To George: Thank you for writing 'Entangled in Ivy'. You can really really spin words together. The introduction alone was priceless: "I remember that enormous bloodshot eye staring at me predator-style, like Moby Dick's cold, calculating orb pierced Gregory Peck's obsessed Captain Ahab as he was lashed to the great white whale and the beast plunged to the depths. Worrying that the same fate would befall a landlubber such as me, I usually kept out of the reaching distance of Dave Kingman, owner of that eye..." http://www.amazon.com/Entangled-Ivy-George-Castle/dp/1596701897 If you added some update chapters, I think your intro on the MB chapter would have painted just as intense a vision (that is, if he had shown up for the interview.) (Not many writers were fond of Kingman either but at least he could drive in runs)

Thanks for the kind words, Cubster and Joe Pepitone. Have you seen the third in the trilogy of books after "Million To One Team" and "Entangled In Ivy?" It's "Sweet Lou and the Cubs," which came out last spring. It was originally designed as a march-to-the-World Series book. Unfortunately, there was the little matter of a nervous, jittery team last October... Some of us do some good work on the Cubs, and try to give you the story-behind-the-story. Unfortunately, if you're not working as a traveling beat writer for the 3 core newspapers or the 2 sports stations in Chicago, you don't get credit for that. BTW, Crunch, what are your fan credentials? Before I was in media, I was out in the RF bleachers for 55 games in 1976, suffering thru abominable pitching and some bad managing by Jim Marshall. And my grandfather was out in those same bleachers in the 1930's.

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In reply to by GeorgeCastle

my fan credentials? i'm a level 50 wizard mage. when im in the bleachers everyone buys me beers, pays attention to me, and what i tell them to chant rather than watching the game. how's that for awesome? i just said i'm sick of writer-du-jour "milton done kicked muh dog and it up n' died" stories. yours was just dragging up the pack...it's not you, it's just another "im a reporter and here's how milton got in the way of me pushing my pencil." story. it's nothing personal. i'm just burnt out on the media side of "here's what milton did to me". it's getting a little thick and whiny on that topic lately. i'm not even counting the "tweeter" stuff some other writers have thrown in the mix that makes it seem like they just conquered the dragon killing the kingdom.

George: Was the "basket" up in RF yet in '76. I used to cut HS in '73-'74 to sit in RF and CF (Jose Cardenal years), but just don't remember anymore. Thanks for "stopping by" and don't be a stranger in the future either!

i'm a level 50 wizard mage. when im in the bleachers everyone buys me beers, pays attention to me, and what i tell them to chant rather than watching the game. --- Testimonial... It was the honorable crunch who originated, "right field sucks" (and that was before they had ivy, trumpeters or baskets)

if George writes that article in June or July, folks just say he's stirring up controversy for no reason. And the article was written on Aug. 27th, which is good 2 weeks before this latest shit all started. On the other hand, I don't think he's breaking any new ground, we all know Bradley's kind of an ass, it's just another log on the fire. I do take exception in the article when he says, "The $30 million right fielder, who is just starting to hit conveniently too late to help the Cubs, even hinted at racism from some of the lunatic fringe in the ballpark." I've brought this up before, but that's just a distortion of the facts. Bradley was down to .738 OPS on July 21, the Cubs came back home and he finished July strong. At that time, the Cubs were 2.5 back and got up to .5 game up in the standings. I'm not sure how that can be categorized as too late. He continued to hit through August, and yes, the team fell way back, but trying to imply that he just turned it on when the Cubs were out of it is incorrect.

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.