Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

28 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 

Last updated 3-26-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 15
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs 99% Sure to Stay in Mesa

The Fox TV News affiliate in Phoenix has the infamous "source close to" the Ricketts (an executive apparently) saying the Cubs are likely to stay in Mesa. Apparently Bud Selig has even put in a word to the Cubs that he'd like them to stay there and I'm sure that will carry some weight with the new owners who appear to be the kind that don't want to rock the MLB boat.

Good news for those of us who prefer Mesa and who have Arizona Phil writing at their Cubs blog. Thanks to navigator for the link tip.

Of course it doesn't mean the drama is over, as the Cubs said they would pick a site to exclusively negotiate with first.  So if this is true, Mesa and Arizona still need to come up with the funding for all the new facilities that were promised

 


UPDATED: Kaplan and Co. are chiming in as well saying a Monday vote by the Mesa city council to approve funding is the last hurdle.

UPDATE #2: Here's the plan unveiled by Mesa today.

  • 15,000 seat stadium
  • city would own stadium and training facilities
  • Cubs agree to take over maintainence of facilities in exchange for advertising rights in stadium including naming rights of stadium
  • overall cost is in the $84M range and should be approved by city council on Monday
  • site yet to be determined
  • The Mesa city manager warns that even if funding is approved, Cubs have yet to formally agree to anything.

Comments

What is sheer madness is the length of spring training. With all the domed stadiums and southern locations, baseball could easily start real games much earlier. Start the season, rather than end it, with the 40 man roster for the month of March, then cut the roster down by April 15th (tax time-HA!). The season will end in September with the WS in October, with NO snowflakes during a what always was a summer, summer, summer game. Point is, clubs, villages and fans will not have to invest so much in meaningless games with huge facilities. Heck, they could go to colleges to work out like the NFL does. I know this would never happen because it makes too much sense, but I just don't think "Naples vs Mesa" makes for very exciting news. I'm Scott Brown and I approved of this message.

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

Nobody suggested taking June and July out of the schedule. Sheesh. You are proving my point. Cold weather cities (especially one that plays mostly day games) will get home games in warmer weather when attendance would be higher. Besides, domes like Minute Maid have a TON of Cubs fans there anyway. Even inter league games with Tampa would work. Think out of the box. College teams do this - they are already playing games, and teams from the Dakotas (for example) are in California for this month. Or are we really talking about the economies of Arizona and Florida? PS - TRN - HA HA, post season in Chicago in October?!?! Come on, you're a CUB fan...

[ ]

In reply to by artskoe

I think the point being made was that attendance is higher throughout baseball for all teams, and teams that would be forced to take on more games in March/April would lose out on that. Also, there's a rule of how long a team can be on a road trip which would need to be renegotiated.

at the very least they should cut it down a week, the players would be in favor of it much more than adding mandatory double-headers to the schedule and they could squeeze in a 7-game Division Series then and truncate the playoffs. of course, I'm also for a 154 game season...

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Gregerson seems exactly like the kind of guy the Padres would be desperate to keep. He's young, cheap and very effective. Bell makes $4 million this year, and unless Hendry has serious doubts about Marmol, giving up top prospects and taking on the salary seems to make little sense. Frasor makes more sense from the Blue Jays view, as he will be 33 in August and makes $2.65 million as a middle man who had a career-best WHIP (1.02) last year. This would be the best time for them to move him for prospects, and the Cubs indeed have some up and coming bullpen depth to offer.

[ ]

In reply to by Seamhead

Submitted by Seamhead on Thu, 01/21/2010 - 1:31pm. Gregerson seems exactly like the kind of guy the Padres would be desperate to keep. He's young, cheap and very effective. Bell makes $4 million this year, and unless Hendry has serious doubts about Marmol, giving up top prospects and taking on the salary seems to make little sense. Frasor makes more sense from the Blue Jays view, as he will be 33 in August and makes $2.65 million as a middle man who had a career-best WHIP (1.02) last year. This would be the best time for them to move him for prospects, and the Cubs indeed have some up and coming bullpen depth to offer. ================================================== SEAMHEAD: The big differences between Jason Frasor and Luke Gregerson is that Frasor has MLB closer experience and could become the closer if Carlos Marmol implodes, but Frasor also will be a FA after the season so the Cubs would be just renting him unless they sign him to a multi-year deal. I would think the Jays would want Angel Guzman back for Frasor. I would think if the Cubs are serious about acquiring Heath Bell it's because they don't trust Marmol as the closer, in which case the deal (if it's made) might be something like Marmol & Guzman for Bell & Gregerson. (Gregerson is a Chicago kid, BTW).

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

I don't think there's any way the Cubs trade Marmol. They've been very publicly confident in his abilities to handle the closer role, even if the fact that they're shopping for a good RH setup man indicates they're privately less confident. I suppose Guzman for Frasor wouldn't be terrible, since Guzman's always an injury risk, but we're not really gaining much there -- it's just substituting one good setup guy for another. Guzman's still relatively cheap, esp. if he can replicate last year's performance. If we have to add another nice BP arm, trade true prospects.

Anyone got an idea on Theriot's value? I'd kind of like to see them go to arbitration. With him asking 3.4 and the Cubs offering 2.6, we've got a easily rounded number to ponder. Is Theriot a $3 million first-year arbitration player?

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Yes. Of course. But if they go to the arbitrator, he would have to decide if Theriot's value is above or below the midpoint--in this case, it's conveniently the nice, round value of $3 million. If Theriot is worth a cent below that, he gets the Cubs offer. If he's worth that or more, he gets his own value. So again, is Theriot a $3 million first-year arbitration player?

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

It's impossible to say. The arbitrators can be quite arbitrary, they're not baseball people. He hasn't won any awards or anything, so that's in the Cubs favor. It all depends on who the arbitrator determines are comprable players, and what they got paid. I would put the liklihood of it actually going to arbitration at around 0.5%, so it's not worth agonizing over. The Cubs don't even go to arb with guys they don't like, and they love Theriot.

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

All I can say as to paying Theriot $3.0M or more is 'Come on, Starlin Castro and Hak Lee!' Or I'd rather pay the 'O' dog $3.4M for 1 year.

This is a bit off topic, but does anyone remember if there were any other teams competing with the Cubs for the services of Kosuke Fukudome? I'm trying to remember and I can't think of who, if anyone, was also seriously interested in him.

from the link in the update...
The Cubs and the city of Mesa are close to a final agreement on a new Arizona spring-training home for the next 25 years that would include a new stadium, for which the Cubs would have naming rights.

"The Mets and OAK might be in the best position to be aggressive, based on the agents' perception of who has money this late in the winter." - buster olney via twooter.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

increases in direct proportion to your lack of faith in Soriano. --- Soriano has had hamstring/quad injuries which cost him a month here and there... so a replacement for a few weeks could be very important (and I'm not thinking Jeff Baker for that issue) and that's not including Soriano's mystery knee (chondromalacia) problem from last year. ...and lack of faith in Fukudome vs LHP and the need for a righty off the bench with some pop. Reed Johnson does offer better defense but if Fuld is the 5th OF, that's not so necessary methinks. But it's all about the price tag.

Here's Wittenmeyer's full article...worth reading. Me likee a lot. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2004747,jonny-gomes-cubs-2…
...according to a baseball source with knowledge of the Cubs' interest. Gomes...is one of a pool of at least five OF's the Cubs are looking at, but comes with the advantages of relative youth (29), a willingness to sign a one year deal to fill the backup role the Cubs have available and a strong desire to play for the Cubs. "Absolutely," siad Gomes confirming the discussions. "...I'm a big fan of the Cubs, and a big fan of the city -- it's probably on of my favorite cities on the tour, as well as my wife's." ...but (Gomes) feels he's a better fit than some of the other players the Cubs have contacted. "Most guys are seeking multi-year deals. I think that's kind of where I stand out with other free agents," he said.

and we thought Dye was bad at defense...

Can't we just trade for Jake Fox instead?

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

No shit. What is Hendry doing?? Gomes is another DH floating around in the wrong league. Jake, on the other hand, was actually quite an adequate corner outfielder in the limited play he got out there last season. Plus, he's cheap. And, he can catch.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Submitted by crunch on Thu, 01/21/2010 - 11:58pm. gomes is pretty cruddy in the OF, himself... we'd probably still have jake fox around if hendry didn't want jeff gray from the A's in that miles/fox trade (or the A's didn't insist on hendry finding a way to make fox part of the trade). we don't need fox or gomes, though...we got bobby f'n scales. YEAH! BOBBY F'N SCALES!! ========================================================== CRUNCH: Jonny Gomes has one of the worst strikeout rates in MLB. He is a K-machine, especially against RHP. He had a horrendous year in 2008 (182/282/383), earning himself an August demotion to AAA in the midst of the Rays run to the A. L. pennant. He (understandably) got non-tendered after the '08 season, and then signed with Cincinnati. He had a MUCH better year with the Reds in 2009 (267/338/541) than he did with the Rays in 2008, but he benefitted from playing home games in an extreme hitters park (his home numbers were better than his road numbers). And then he got non-tendered (again) by the Reds. I suppose Gomes would be an OK-passable platoon-partner with Kosuke in RF with an occasional start in LF when Soriano is out of the lineup, but I definitely wouldn't want to sign him for more than one year. If the Cubs were to sign him for one year, he would be eligible for salary arbitration post-2010 (he has 4+097 MLB ST through the 2009 season, so he wouldn't be eligible to be an Article XX FA until after the 2011 season). He alao is out of minor league options.

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

yeah, im not even touching the bat thing...for all the pop he has he's a 1/3rd chance of a K. gomes for me is one of those guys i wouldn't mind too much, though, especially on a 1 year deal. it's either him or dye that can produce that kind of pop (or baldelli if you're really optimistic) still out there to snag. hell, i wouldn't mind either of the 3 as long as they're comfortable just snagging 200-300ab's barring injuries to others. as far as who i'd like the most...i really don't care, they all got their +/-'s when you weigh their talents.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Dye at least is a known clubhouse leader. He's clearly the optimal choice to me IF he's alright with 300 ABs and a reduced salary. He can spell Lee as needed as well and would be the first PH off the bench. And if Soriano goes out for any length of time, well, I'd prefer Dye much more than Gomes or certainly Baldelli.

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In reply to by Andrew

I have been supporting the idea of getting Gomes from the beginning. Not because he is the greatest thing since sliced bread but because he can deliver the best bang for the dollar and not be hanging around on a 3 year deal. The market for OFers is crap and the Cubs have some payroll coming off the books next year. Gomes makes sense if your going to target FA's next year. The team needs a legit threat against LHP, and a DH bat. Sam Fuld, Byrd, Baker, Font none of these people can strike fear into a pitcher. Gomes can if he is on. We put up with Glenallen Hill and we loved him. We can love Gomes as well. And thats the kind of role i envision him with this team. Unless Bobby Scalles is what you like in the OF.

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

Also in Gomes' favor is that he is actually lobbying the Cubs to sign him, and that has worked in the past for other players (see Milton Bradley). In his interview in the Sun-Times he says all the right things, that going to Chicago is his favorite road trip, that his wife loves Chicago, that he appreciates baseball's history (code word for saying he doesn't care about the lack of player-amenities at Wrigley Field), that he loved playing for Lou Piniella in Tampa when he first came up to the big leagues, that he will play anywhere the Cubs want him to play (and will be happy to even take some ground balls at 1st base in Spring Training even though he's never played there before), and (most importantly) that he is willing to sign a one-year deal for a "fair" salary. I'm surprised he hasn't offered to drive the team bus and help the ground crew on his days off. And I'm really amazed that Hendry hasn't signed him by now.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Boras got him a one-year deal at $3.25 million plus another $500k in incentives, so he could conceivably make more than Byrd this year. Not bad considering the injuries and poor performance of 2009. I'm betting he puts up solid numbers this year in K.C.

Yeesh, if you're white, young, and in the Cubs farm system the fans got your back, no matter how mediocre you are. Give Jake Fox a rest, people. He's okay, but he's no Matt Murton or Sam Fuld.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

But yes, more on-topic, I'd pass on Gomes, too. I think the money would be better spent on a bullpen arm just in case Marmol decides he, again, doesn't want to throw strikes.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

People making a big deal with Marmol being wild and some wanting him traded. You would think he turned in a 5.00 ERA season instead of a 3.41. I get it the walks are high but he doesn't give up many hits and he doesn't give up the long ball. And he can strikeout batters at will it seems like. I don't think people know how special it is to have a RP who can go 70+ innings only give up 40ish hits and strikeout over 90. If all that blemishes that is a high walk total you guys would be tripping over yourselves to get that player from another team that doesn't want him. Career stats from your 27 year old closer... 307 IP - 195 hits given up....getting excited now? How about 362 strikeouts (200 walks) in that span? And a 3.42 ERA (some of it inflated by his starting games in his rookie year). Not perfect but he is damn close.

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In reply to by MikeC

The problem I have with Marmol is that pitchers that have a hard time throwing strikes are inconsistent and have a difficult time beating good hitting teams that just wait them out. I would be more impressed with Marmols 40ish hits in 70+ innings if he hadn't walked 65ish batters during those same inninges. A 1.46 WHIP just isn't that exciting. But as you say Marmol has the potential to be something special so why not role the dice.

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In reply to by MikeC

No, you're right. Maybe I'm a little *too* tough on Marmol because a lot of the games he struggled through last year were very high-tension. And 3.41 isn't bad for a final result, definitely good enough for middle relief. I would like to see a veteran reliever added, still, as a backup plan. Someone who won't blow you away, but be a steady, low drama pitcher in case Marmol doesn't regain his control.

[ ]

In reply to by JohnT

yes, one month of anything in baseball is always a good idea to come up with firm conclusions. He's got great stuff, he has little control of it and to quote our pal crunch, "that's who he is". after 3 years in the league, hitters are figuring out that they don't really need to swing much cause he rarely gets the ball in the zone. but he's cheap and I do agree that he will be "fine". As for good...not necessarily.

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In reply to by MikeC

Marmol is getting worse, not better, every year. That's a warning sign to some. Also his BABIP numbers are not sustainable. He's been lucky, really lucky, and kind of lucky in his three seasons. If you even that luck out he comes to about a 4.20 ERA last year. It's entirely possible that he maintains his K rate, improves his walk and HBP rate and still has a worse season this year.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

2007-.260 BABIP 2008- .197 BABIP 2009- .240 BABIP Well, I'd guess that the 2008 BABIP is unsustainable. If he throws strikes this season, he should do well. If he doesn't he won't. Simple as that?

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In reply to by Dr. aaron b

he is tough to hit and I do believe BABIP numbers for most good relievers trends lower than what you normally expect (don't quote me on that though). But giving up 1-2 free baserunners an innings is never a good long-term plan and he's not that unhittable. If he goes back to 4-5 BB/9 innings, he'll probably get by just fine and be up there among the best in the league, but a near 8 BB/9 rate is never going to work. It'll be a disaster. His career BABIP is .247, better than Nathan, Rivera, K-rod, Papelbon for example

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In reply to by Rob G.

.247 is significantly better, and that includes .265 in his first season. Rivera: .276 Hoffman: .278 Nathan: .263 Papelbon: .282 F-Rod: .281 Yes it's possible that he is the one guy in the history of the game to control where guys hit the ball, but I wouldn't want to bet the Cubs season on it. Then you factor in that he didn't give up as many HR's as would be reasonably expected last year...

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Looking at the 2009 numbers for these same closers, here's how many runners they allowed/innings pitched: Hoffman 50/54.0 Rivera 61/66.1 Nathan 66/68.2 Papelbon 82/68.0 Rodriguez 90/68.0 Marmol 120/74.0 Of all of these pitchers, Marmiol gave up the fewest hits, yet allowed the most baserunners. It could be that Marmol is almost unhittable or it could be that it is unnecessary to get hits against him. In either case, I don't think as closer can be successful long term with the kind of BB and HBP numbers Marmol has.

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In reply to by Ryno

What does being white have to do with it. No prospects were more loved than Pie and Choi, and neither were all that white. Were any Cub players more loved than Banks, Williams, Jenkins or Sosa. If race is a factor with anyone, it is with you.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

I think it's a stretch to say that Sosa was traded because the fans boo'd him. Sosa was beloved during his time with the Cubs. But towards the end, he fell out of favor in the clubhouse as well as with the front office. Considering how badly his performance fell off once he left the Cubs, I've often wondered if the Cubs front office found out about his steroid use and moved him because of it. I think you give the fans far too much credit. They don't have the kind of clout it takes to force the Cubs to make personnel decisions.

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In reply to by Sweet Lou

So you looked at this sequence of events: 1. Hendry tries to trade Sosa 2. Hendry announces that he's not going to trade Sosa because he can't get good value for him 3. Sosa is uproarously booed at the Cubs convention 4. Hendry trades Sosa for little value, after saying he wouldn't do that and you can't figure out what the catalyst for the trade was?

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In reply to by The Real Neal

You're fooling yourself if you think MLB teams make personnel decisions based on a few fans booing. I can't tell you specifically why Sosa was traded, but it wasn't because of a handful of disgruntled fans. Also, it's a fairly weak argument to suggest that Hendry said one thing and then did another, so it must be because the fans were unhappy. Believe it or not, Hendry's not the first GM to say one thing but do another. In fact, I think it's in the job description.

Chirinos gets top billing for his exploits in game 1 of the VWL championship series. With 5 postseason HRs and 17 RBI in 15 games to add to his gaudy regular-season numbers, Chirinos should (one would think) bring the VWL MVP award to Mesa with him next month.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Yeah, they play a lot of games. Chirinos appeared in 48 of the team's 63 regular-season games. Then came a 16-game round robin (Chirinos played in 14) and now a best-of-seven championship series. Here is the team's website if you're interested. Click on Estadisticas. Baseball is a 12-month grind when you're a 25-year-old minor leaguer. It's not the majors but there's a big pool of players and they don't waste time on you. Ask Felix Pie about being sent home, or, more recently, Jim Adduci. Jake Fox tore it up for Licey (Dominican league) last year and it was a precursor of big things with Iowa and (to some extent) Chicago.

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In reply to by Rob G.

I can't read the subscription article beyond Jody Gerut but I assume it focuses on offensive numbers without regard to defensive position or ability. The key for me with Chirinos is that he's a catcher and that Jim Callis named him the top organizational catcher defensively, which was high praise alongside Castillo and Brenly. Of course, Callis could be wrong, but he's answering the right question. The recent numbers just tell me that Chirinos can swing the bat. So could Fox and Hoffpauir, and a lot of good it did them. But if you're a top defensive catcher and can swing the bat, you can play in the majors. Look at Koyie Hill, a crappy hitter who earned 69 starts last season.

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In reply to by VirginiaPhil

chirinos is legitly worth looking at though the verdict is still out on whether he can catch 100+ a year. jody davis helped him turn a corner a couple years ago, legit. his plate approach is fresh. right now he's still bench-filler as a ceiling, but it's only been the past 2 years his ceiling has been redefined. the real bonus right now is he wasn't moved from infield work because of his glove (he was/is still an infielder along with catching) and he can cover at least 2nd/3rd along with C. see you on the bench in 2011 if you can beat clevenger and wellington castillo out.

Sosa was traded to Baltimore due to Baltimore being on the coast, thus its proximity to ships of trade. This gave him an advantage in choosing his next boombox as many, many models were available to choose from. BTW, I was at the Ball Park in Arlington when Sammy hit his 600th. The Rangers posted a few ushers and usherettes to pass out commemorative flyers of the 600th occasion. By the time I got to the front of the line, the 30,000 were gone, which was interesting since there were only 12,000 paid in the park. I'm wondering, what do these commemoratives go for these days? Has anyone seen them on e-bay? I'd prefer a baseball card of the man who gave up the 600th homer, a one Mr. Jason Marquis.

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...