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

Phoenix Top Dog in AFL East

Danny Espinosa (WAS) had three hits and drove-in four runs and Josh Bell (BAL) cracked a three-run homer to cap a seven-run 4th, as the Phoenix Desert Dogs drubbed the Mesa Solar Sox 11-1 this afternoon at HoHoKam Park, clinching the AFL East crown and earning a berth in the 2009 AFL Championship Game versus the Peoria Javelinas next Saturday afternoon at Scottsdale Stadium. 

box score

Starlin Castro (playing 2B and batting 2nd) and Josh Vitters (playing 3B and hitting 6th) were in the Solar Sox original starting lineup, but Vitters was a last-minute scratch. I don't know why Vitters was pulled, but he did suffer a muscle strain taking batting practice a couple of weeks ago, so perhaps that problem flared-up.

Castro got four AB, and went 1-4. He lined-out to the CF (laser-rope) in the bottom of the 1st, ripped a ground-single through the box into CF, stole 2nd, and advanced to 3rd on an overthrow in the third. grounded out 4-3 (outstanding stop & throw by Desert Dogs 2B Jemile Weeks) on a "bang-bang" play in the 5th, and popped out to 3rd on the first pitch he saw leading off the bottom of the 8th.  

Andrew Cashner is scheduled to make his final AFL start for the Solar Sox tomorrow afternoon against the Surprise Rafters at HoHoKam Park.   

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

The main problem with UZR for outfielders (besides the in the gap problem that applies to infielders as well) is that it doesn't take into account balls that both people can catch. If your RF always backs up your CF on catches that they both can make - guess who winds up with a great UZR and guess who winds up looking like crap at the end of the season. Any range factor metric is going to have this exact same problem. The +/- system takes a step towards addressing it, but does so at the expense of allowing in subjectivity.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I think you can make a case for all three pitchers, but in the end I think that it will be a Cardinal. Carpenter has the ERA, Wainwright made giant strides this year and has the innings, wins, and a nice k rate, while Lincecum rolls with the K's and doobies while equipped with an anemic offense. In the end, it goes to Wainwright.

Adam Wainwright- ERA 2.63; 233 innings; 8.19k/9; 212k's; 19 wins; WHIP 1.21 Chris Carpenter- 2.24 ERA; 192.2 innings; WHIP 1.01; 6.8k/9, but a 3.7:1 k/BB; 17 wins; 144 k's. Tim Lincecum- 2.90 ERA; 225.1 innings; 10.44k/9; 1.15 WHIP; 15 wins; 261 k's.

Anyone know if Bruce Levine has had any update on Bradley? Last week he said something about a trade in the next 3-4 days.

[ ]

In reply to by thedirtbag

I offer Grabow arbitration and wait to see if he takes it...chances are he will because a team doesn't want to give up a draft pick for a set-up man. That'll cost the Cubs probably an extra $1M this year, but if Ricketts is serious about propping the farm system, he'll roll the dice. Maybe the Cubs get lucky and a team with a protected pick signs him or one that signed a few other FA's and the Cubs score some extra draft picks. If he does sign with another team, I wait until February when inevitably some lefties will still be around and sign one or two on the cheap. I imagine you can find a few on the trade market for Jake Fox who will likely be traded, since he's out of options and in Lou's doghouse.

In general,  I could care less if the Cubs have even one lefty in their pen. It's a stupid unnecessary crutch for a manager so he can make safe moves that the media won't blast him on. The Angels did plenty good for awhile with their pen with no lefties (before Oliver and Fuentes). Better off finding good relievers that can get guys from both sides of the plate and you'll trust for an inning or longer. Cubs had a great LOOGY in Ohman and couldn't figure out to use him.

And I don't mind Grabow, he can get guys from both sides of the plate, I just think's just slightly above average and I'm also not sure Lou will use him properly, which is a full inning at a time, rather than a match-up lefty.

[ ]

In reply to by thedirtbag

You do not think that he would walk into the set-up role?

he could, but he's a reliever, they're more volatile than a sorority house right before their periods*.

If he has two lefties in the pen, he'll probably let him go longer, but if Marshall gets hurt and Gaub is not ready, he's gonna hold him back for lefty match-ups just like he did with Marshall when he was the only lefty in the pen, although he can get lefties and righties out as well.

*(buy your cheap misogynistic jokes right here)

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I don't really see what all the fuss was/is about Grabow to begin with? 5 BB/9 isn't really someone I think you just assume is an 8th inning guy. Lou will use him as a Loogy because he is a lefty. Splits aside. I just don't think you kill your budget on a Middle reliever. The better approach is to make your trades and fill the rest of the team out. Then you re-assess what is out there and what you have to spend. Last year Joe Beimel and Will Ohman BOTH took deals in March in the One year 2 million dollar range. Looking at their 2008 stats and Grabow's 2009 stats, and you can make that case to an arbitrator. I don't see any realistic way that John Grabow gets 5 million from an arbitrator. 2.5 to 3 million is absolute max. Hendry holds the hammer. He should excercise his leverage and give himself some payroll room.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

the guy is an innings guy...the guy is an iron-man when it comes to being able to throw many games a year without needing time off...the guy has a low/mid 90s fastball with a nice change and slider...he's left handed. the guy is looking to make 3-4m a year, not 10-15m... will ohman, unlike grabow, is a 2-pitch (fb/slider) loogie...btw. ...and joe beimel probably should be used more as a loogie than he is.

[ ]

In reply to by The Joe

maybe if he had more control...esp. vs. righties. he uses his change effectively vs. righties, but the fastball has to be "on" ...and his slider is almost ineffective vs. righties. he's got 3 pitches that are good, but in reality he's working with 2 pitches per batter, per side. his control, though not awful, is pretty important day-to-day to his effectiveness.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I doubt that scouting reports are going to come into play in a courtroom. Grabow is 31. He is what he is at this point. Stats, lefty middle reliever, age, Player A,B and C are comps and make 2 million per season. A note from Ma Grabow and a recommendation from TCR reader Crunch isn't going to get him double and a half what Ohman and Beimel got. That isn't how arbitration works. Someone with a BP script needs to look up his closest comps and see what they make.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

it goes by service time, not age and although you can argue anything, it's going to ultimately come down your basic stats of ERA, holds, IP, saves and that he was ranked a Type A free agent...

being a lefty isn't going to matter...

Affeldt might be a good comp, he got 2/7 plus a $1M bonus and guys like Howry and Eyre got in the 3.5 to $4M range, so I back off $5M. $3.5M-$4M is more reasonable...

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

fwiw, Ohman was his second comp on BP and the only recent one, not that it would ever get mentioned in arbitration case

amusingly, here' their 2007 take on him..

You can make a strong argument that no team needs a LOOGY. Mike Scioscia won 92 games and a division title in 2004 without having a lefty reliever on his team. LOOGies do more harm than good because they end up facing just as many righties than lefties as a result of walks and pinch-hitters, and take up precious roster space without providing enough innings.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

im saying what he is...not a recommendation. he is what he is. he's also not comparable to will ohman, fwiw. i'm giving you beimel out of his use, but the ONLY reason he sees batters vs. righties is ONLY because he can keep the ball in the park when he screws up vs. them. beimel the reliever's only saving grace being an innings guy rather than a loogie is his ability to keep the ball in the park.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I'm sure there's a point in there I'm failing to follow...

fwiw, and anyone that has paid attention in the last 30 years of baseball analysis woud note, a quick look at the top and bottom baserunning teams by BP's metric shows very little relationship between a good offense or a good team.

It's nice to have, and you certainly would prefer your team to be good at all areas of the game, but it's very much low on the totem pole of areas you need your team to excel at....

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

im still pissing around about wasting the best power hitter on the team in the 1 slot for a few years. the team hasn't been a base stealing team for years no matter where you put soriano and his power, though. i'm just glad this long-running stupid joke of soriano being a leadoff man is over. for all the bitching about guys like pierre leading off the soriano thing made even less sense to me by far.

So what did Jake Fox do to not play much in september and piss Lou off? Was he being benched to not hurt his offseason trade value. Or like one other player from previous season does Lou get pissed about player saying the wrong things in the press.

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.