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 

 



 

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Game 127 Thread / Reds @ Cubs (3 of 3)

Game Chat | Press Pass | BR Preview

SP Josh Fogg
SP Carlos Zambrano
  2-5, 7.71, 38 K, 24 BB, 65.1 IP

12-5, 3.38, 107 K, 53 BB, 157 IP
       
LF
*Chris Dickerson LF
Alfonso Soriano
SS Jeff Keppinger
SS Ryan Theriot
RF
*Jay Bruce 1B
Derrek Lee
2B Brandon Phillips 3B
Aramis Ramirez
1B *Joey Votto CF
*Jim Edmonds
3B Edwin Encarnacion
2B Mark DeRosa
CF *Corey Patterson
RF *Kosuke Fukudome
C *Paul Bako
C Henry Blanco
P Josh Fogg
P #Carlos Zambrano

 

The Cubs try to take two of three from a team so bad, they have given more than 250 at-bats to a player hitting less than .200, are granting a 12th start to a pitcher with a 7.71 ERA (ERA+ of 58), and sent an apology letter to their fans...with 35 games still left in the campaign.

Carlos Zambrano goes for his fifth consecutive win against the Reds, hoping to bounce back to #1 form after three unimpressive outings.

Comments

I think this game is one of the most important of the year. Not in terms of winning. Winning would be nice, but the Cubs earned themselves a margin of error. It's critical that Zambrano rights the ship, and does it now. With the bitch schedule in September and heading into the the playoffs, if he doesn't get his #1 stuff back, that significantly weakens our outlook to get deep in September. Cincy's awful offense can hopefully get him on track. If not, it doesn't get any easier in the remainder of his starts.

Z looks shaky and Double Play Lee does it again. Not a good start. Is DLee ever going to hit another home run? I think it's time to experiment with Soriano in the three spot, bat Theriot lead-off and move Lee down in the order where his ground balls to shortstop with men on base will come more often with two outs.

If the Cubs can beat teams they're supposed to beat, like Corey Patterson and the Reds, Washington, etc., losses to the Brewers or Cardinals in September won't matter so much.

Nice win, have to hope that this is just another annual August hiccup for Z. Gotta love that it never effects his batting, though. That tater was crushed.

That game didn't do much to pacify my worries about Z. He was behind everyone the first 4 innings. It was certainly and improvement o0ver the last 2 outings, but something is still clearly "off".

so, with 4 more wins, Cubs will have a winning record for the 5th time in 8 years (2001,2003,2004,2007,2008)....versus only 5 winning seasons from the 29 years from 1972 - 2000

Z cracked his mollar(tooth-sp?)during warm ups today. He said he did it by chewing gum. Yikes.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

cracked a tooth by chewing gum? i wonder if he's getting training supplements from neifi these days. for a guy with dehydration issues he's been showing up on the mound so hyped this year...whether its coffee, redbull, pills, or whatever...he's putting too much of it in him it seems. at least he's not overthrowing on the mound. -edit- speaking of...from ye old world o' roto... someone forgot to tell j.sosa that they drug test a bit more harsher and a lot more regularly in the minors... "MLB suspended RHP Jorge Sosa 50 gamesfor testing positive for amphetamines. Sosa, who opened this year in the majors with the Mets, had spent the last month with Seattle's Triple-A club. He'll miss most of April next year, so the interest in him on even a minor league deal figures to be pretty limited."

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

I bought some Upper Deck Box seats a few Wednesdays ago from a scalper for $65/seat. At first I thought it was a littly pricey, until I realized fucking face value was $55. The price of seats these days is really getting out of whack. But yeah, if you wait until right around game time, they'll unload for at least close to face. Unfortunately, tix are in such high demand this year I've been a few times where the only seats they have left are singles or those dugout box seats for $300 a pop. Better Craig's List than sorry on a Saturday, me thinks.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

what on earth was his excuse for picking cliff lee for AL MVP? hamilton and quentin aren't exactly runaways...and hamilton isn't on a contender... great year...great pitching...great consistancy...but mvp? btw...that stuff is all subscription.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

hence, the "if you can't read it" comment...

Cliff Lee leads the AL in WARP-1 would be the argument. Kinsler and Mauer were 1 and 2 for position players in WARP-1. 

My vote goes to Joe Mauer. 

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

MVP on a team that finishes in last place (or close to)? Yes there is precedence but it's totally stupid. Second, he only plays in 35 games a season.

[ ]

In reply to by johann

That has nothing to do with it. How are you the MOST VALUABLE PLAYER when you didn't add that much value? You take Cliff Lee off the Indians and they still suck.

[ ]

In reply to by Chad

They just suck a lot more then another team would suck taking their best player off the team. I'm not even having this argument because it's been had before. My bigger point is that a great pitcher to me adds more value to a team then a great hitter despite the every 5th day thing. Also, a great pitcher can win you a World Series, a great hitter generally doesn't.

[ ]

In reply to by johann

Totally wrong. I would an Albert Pujols or an A-Rod long before I took any pitcher. and as far as the MVP award goes, the World Series is meaningless.

[ ]

In reply to by Mitterwald

well, considering how run differential is such a popular stat these days, yes, it would have counted for more. I am mildly concerned about our offense...aisde from a couple gappers in Florida, the offense has really not been on all cylinders since leaving Atlanta. Lee's power has completely dissapapered, Aram isn't far behind, Fukudome looks more lost at the blate everyday. Thankfully, 1-8, the team is deep so there are enough people to drive in runs, but I'd feel much better if Lee and Aram could start hitting the ball out again.

I was at the ballpark today -- very weird atmoshpere. No real excitment in the crowd -- first run was on a DPLee DP, which was more a cause for grumbling than cheering, then 2 solo shots from relatively unexpected sources (DeRo and Z) in the 2nd and 3rd -- no anticipation or build up. No offense at all after the 3rd inning. Z seemed mediocre against a crap lineup -- never really seemed in control (I mean, when you walk Corey...) and the crowd seemed frustrated by his mundane outing. Thank goodness for Henry Blanco's throwing. Only real excitment in the crowd was for Kerry's final K. Weird. Nice win, but weird. I think Lou should sit Fukky all weekend. Something needs to change -- we can't have RF be an offensive wasteland for the rest of the year.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

So the Cubs only won the Cincy series because Z pitched well and hit a home run? Ground control to Cubs offense? Are you there? Never in my life have I felt so "blah" about a team with the best record in baseball in August. I completely relate to the crowd's "weirdness". Maybe it's that we're all so used to losing that we don't know how to handle a dominant Cub team. Or maybe we're jaded from what transpired in the '03 NLCS, so we're like, "yeah, the playoffs, who cares".

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Part of the feeling is that nobody is hot right now, so there's not much anticipation when the big hitters come up. Theriot is the only regular hitting over .290 (and he only hits singles), DLee has hit 2 HRs since June 21st and is a DP machine, Fukky is a disaster, Soto's and Edmonds' power have cooled, Soriano had a blah series, Rammy hasn't yet had a really hot streak, etc... ..and yet, it's the best offense in MLB.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

I have been to 15 games so far this year (14-1 and probably the first and last time this will ever happen). I'd agree that most times the fans are pretty lethargic. Until there is a home run, or something else really exciting happens. The exceptions are for the rivalry games - Milwaukee, Cards, Sox, and other division leaders - in my view those games people are much more attentive and into every inning. I have noticed that for the "dog teams", many people around the park could care less what is happening on the diamond, and it a point of annoyance for me when someone at a loud pitch is talking about cell phones during a key AB, but that's just me perhaps.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Yeah, I'm not sure I buy into that too much either. The team is playing fantastic, and has all year except for a few small stretches. Yet, it doesn't feel like it. I'm convinced that most of us Cub fans are simply miserable beings and when the Cubs finally win the world series we'll all, collectively start bleeding from the ears as our brains explode inside our skulls. *sigh*

Next crap outfit up is Washington--worst team in major league baseball. ========= still, I'm glad the Gnats ended their 12 game losing streak thursday...now they can relax and start another one.

How in the world does Josh Fogg still have a job as an MLB pitcher? He has a craeer ERA of 5.07.

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.