Cubs MLB Roster

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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

Matt Holliday, Bill Buckner and Steve Bartman Star in "Droppin' The Ball".

(Click on image for the full size drawing)

Well...again, kinda mean. But right or wrong these guys'll be linked by post season blunder and playoff disaster and high pressure fumbling.

Maybe if they had a pr department and some Hollywood agents, they could have fun with it. Create a tv show called "Droppin' The Ball" with writing about the scale of "Two And A Half Men". And throughout the show, they just...drop stuff.
Matt: What happened to Rhonda?

Bill: Your girlfriend?

Steve: Don't you remember - you dropped her!

(LAUGHTER)

Matt picks up his cell phone, drops it. Looks to audience.

(LAUGHTER)

He dials.

Matt: Rhonda? Hey it's Matt. Listen about the other night I...Rhonda? RHONDA?

Steve: She hang up?

Matt: Nah, phone company dropped the call.

(LAUGHTER)

Enter the dog, LEON.

Leon: WOOF!

Bill: Leon! Leon catch!

Bill picks up a rubber dog-bone, tosses it to Leon. It goes between his legs.

Bill: Good boy!

(LAUGHTER)

You get the idea. Ron Santo can be the crotchety neighbor who lets out a yell every time something is dropped...Brant Brown can be the milkman with the signature "No use crying over spilled milk!" line. Always gets a laugh. Plus there could be a parade of minor characters coming through, depending on who "dropped the ball" that week. This week could guest star the ump that missed the fair ball call in the Yankee/Twins game, or even David Letterman.


Tim Souers is the illustrator and author of Cubby Blue and appreciates the opportunity to guest blog here at The Cub Reporter.
http://www.cubby-blue.com

 

Tags

Comments

To be fair, Bartman actually caught the ball. Maybe it should be Alex Gonzalez instead. [Disclaimer: I love Alex Gonzalez, but he's the one who actually dropped the ball. I know there is a figurative sense to this, but it's well past time to let the Bartman thing die, and knowing in my heart that Alex Gonzalez is a good-natured wonderful human being, I think he would willingly throw himself on that grenade.]

None of these guys dropped anything. Buckner never even touched the ball. But I think there's still a hit show here. Maybe Holliday can play someone who tests products for safety with each episode featuring him, in full Cardinal uniform, being hit in the testicles by a series of products shot from a small cannon. It can be taped in front of a live audience of Cardinal fans who, instead of providing a laugh track, can, in unison, explain why they're the greatest fans in the all the history of great fans whose greatness at being fans is not matched by any fans anywhere.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

Who has a lot of money to spend and needs a corner outfielder? The Red Sox, Mets and Giants are the first three to come to my mind, though Holliday's poor play in Oakland might scare off AL teams. I have trouble seeing anyone besides New York or San Fran making a serious push.

Wait so because of one play St. Louis isn't going to try and bring back Matt Holliday? Ohhhh give me a break. The Cardinals tend to spend money on sure bets and Matt Holliday hitting behind Pujols is a sure bet that they will try very hard to bring back. That offense and Holliday himself were awesome after the trade. He has more of a chance of signing with St. Louis than any team in baseball. That franchise is great at retaining the talent they want.

I actually think the Yanks have the best shot at obtaining Holliday, and the crazy part is that they will still be shedding payroll while giving him a 19-20 million dollar a year deal. Damon and Matsui made a combined $26 million this year and will both be free agents. Holliday is an upgrade over both and would sadly represent a better financial bargain than those two. They still might bring one of them back at a reduced rate to be their DH, but the more I think about it, the more I am positive he is a Yankee. The Cards can't afford to pay Holliday $20 million a year for 5 years, when Poo-holes will be getting $30 million a year after next season. They just don't have the revenue for that.

some team is going to make a Soriano-like blunder signing Matt Holliday to a 6-7 year deal...good luck to them.

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/2743 My gut says Hendry will pull out the lasers again and land Jaramillo or die trying. Even though first baseman Derrek Lee expressed his feelings on the last day of the season that hitting coaches are overrated, Hendry doesn't believe that at all. Lee is talented enough to know his own swing, and Cubs hitting coaches have pretty much left him alone. But others such, as Ryan Theriot, Geovany Soto, Mike Fontenot and even high-priced guys like Soriano, fall into patterns that a coach can get them out of in a few days.

~grain of salt alert~ According to WSCR Terry Boers' "cubs insider", Rickett in no financial shape to "eat Bradley" contract. With Bradley's suspension he can see scenerio where Cubs will not have a trade partner and that the Cubs will be forced to trade another player or two on their team to free up money to release Bradley if he can not be traded. I would say this would be the worse case scenerio. Jim Hendry is a moron.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

I heard the interview too. Grain of salt, but yeah. As I stated yesterday, personally I think we are in for some shit for the next year or two. We had the "window open", and the fucker got slammed on our fingers. Or Hendry's. Basically, Boers said that the Cubs know they have to dump some salary, but they will not (obviously) be candid about it, and stuff will go down like it did for Marquis and DeRosa. This wouldn't be too bad if there was really great talent to bring up. But according to AZ PHIL the other day, our better players are position players at AA, right? Not pitchers. Demp should have a better year in 2010. He had so many off-the-field issues, that would mess with anybody. Lilly - how much longer can he have "career years"?

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

I'd rather Cubs management was just open about it and tell us they're going to rebuild. If they do that and get some good baseball people in there to rebuild the organization the right way I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a Cubs fan who would object. And by "rebuild", I don't mean the team revolves around it's farm system... this is a big-market team and they should act like a big-market team, but it would be nice to turn out a legit hitters every once in a while and stop signing guys like... well everyone Hendry signed the 2009-2010 off season. I've said it before and I was laughed off: I don't think Hendry's job is safe, I don't give a shit what the Ricketts said before. Look at it this way: If the purchase of the Cubs still has to be approved by MLB you're not going to be running around talking about how you're going to rip up the front office. Lilly - how much longer can he have "career years"? Every year Ted doesn't pitch in the AL east might feel like a career year. =)

how about eat Lou and Hendry's contracts... --- I hear there is a nice restaurant in LA that serves a dish that makes one diner feel like $30M bucks and the rest of the group fills up with TREMENDOUS gas. --- “We knew we had to make the right choice. We knew we had to get the right guy. Not only did I come away [from the dinner] thinking TREMENDOUS things about him, but I also felt really good about him because as we left the restaurant and stood on the curb waiting for the driver, Milton said, ‘I know it’s going to take some time, but I want to tell you I want to be a Chicago Cub if you want me.”

1 of 4 in LDS series...awesome, but still got my World Series winner.

Yanks over Angels in 7

Phillies over Dodgers in 6

Yanks over Phillies in 5

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.