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

Home Run Howry Returns to Cubs

UPDATE: Apparently CSN Chicago jumped the gun on that one as Sullivan is saying that nothing has been agreed upon, although the Cubs are interested in bringing Howry into the bullpen fold.


It appears that Carlos Zambrano's return to the rotation can be partially credited to the return of Bob Howry to the Cubs. He'll join the team this weekend after being released by the Diamondbacks earlier in the week.  Howry was 1-0 with the Diamondbacks and that's where the good news ends. He also had a 10.69 ERA in 14 IP, 1.674 WHIP, struck out 6, walked 6 and I guess this isn't a typo, but gave up 6 home runs in those 14 IP.  Howry did have a decent season with the Giants last year with a 3.39 ERA albeit a 2-6 record to follow up the 5.35 ERA he put up with the Cubs in 2008. If Fangraphs data can be trusted, his fastball is averaging 89.4 mph, down about 2-3 miles from where he's been most of his career.

Speaking of Z, he'll throw a 60-70 pitch simulated game on Monday and he may have found his spot in the rotation after tonight. Sloth was pitching a gem against the Phillies before a line drive knocked him out of the game hitting his bare pitching hand. Grab-Ass came in to finish the 7th inning and they head to the bottom of the 8th, up 2-0 and looking for their 4th straight win.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Of course I have. I just would have never thought to do a image search for the term "holy macaroni", much less expect that there would be a picture that could adequately convey that idea effectively. Cubster seems to come up with surreal visuals (video or pictorial) that address an incredible array of topics we discuss here at TCR. It's a talent that deserves commendation, not trivialization. Anyone can type in a Google image search. Few have the vision to make it yield so much.

sounds like a play theriot might [wink, wink] not have made...howry? really? don't you wish you were in a fantasy league w/ hendry?

Actually, I thought Tim Stoddard looked pretty good in the booth with Len and Bob the other day; why not sign him?

Anyone know the single season record for K's per inning pitched? And, anybody know what Marmol is on pace for? Seems like about 2 per inning.

via ye olde world o' roto: "Kerry Wood suffered a massive implosion on Wednesday night, blowing a save and giving up five earned runs while getting just one out against the Royals. Wood tossed his glove into the stands as he was booed off the field." wow.

So is this actually confirmed anywhere? Len and Bob reported on the air during the game that the team explicitly denied the reports that a deal had been reached with Howry, and I don't see it reported anywhere else. Still annoyed at watching Howry get rocked down the stretch in 2008 while seeing Eyre help the Phillies get to the World Series

“If it happens, it would give us some experience in our bullpen from the right side,” manager Lou Piniella said after Wednesday's 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. “I’m not saying anything’s going to happen. I’m saying when we had him before he was a rock in the clubhouse. He was great with the younger pitchers.”
sounds like Kaplan is closer to the truth than Sullivan, probably just waiting for a physical and medical reports.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Oh goody, a clubhouse chemistry move. What could possibly go wrong with that? But no, I see the need. Young pitchers like Russell and Marshall have clearly been the problem, and it's not like the Cubs have anybody like Greg Maddux around to lend them a word of advice. Can he also be a rock with veteran pitchers? Can he hit Grabow with a rock? /had my Sarcasm Wheaties this morning

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

I'm still annoyed at 2003 when Beck had 20 saves and a 1.78 ERA in 35 IP for the Padres after leaving his Des Moines trailer, while we watched guys like Afonseca and Veres suck it up on a regular basis. Maybe Beck improves the bullpen down the stretch, maybe the starters don't throw so many pitches in August and September, maybe the playoffs turn out differently. We will never know. I'm generally a fan of Hendry, but seeing bullpen guys like Beck, and Eyre, and Wuertz get away, while he continually signs guys like Grabow (and maybe now Howry) irks me.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

So by that logic, GMs with high payroll's can never be good at the their jobs? That makes no sense. Also, this year and last year the Cubs were third in payroll, but in previous years they were 8th, 8th, 7th, 8th, 6th, and 11th. You can find all of those rankings here: http://www.stevetheump.com/Payrolls.htm#2003payroll Take a look a many of the teams with higher payrolls than the Cubs. A lot of top 10 payroll teams suck. This should prove to you that even with a high payroll, the GM has to know what he is doing. Hell, the team ranked 2nd the last two years behind the Yankees is the Mets! Also, you can find all of Jim Hendry's signings and trades here, with my commentary below them: http://wiklifield.thecubreporter.com/Jim_Hendry_Transactions The vast majority of the time he unloaded veterans at the right moment. Gained prospects who developed while trading away Cub prospects who did not. And his gambles like signing Ryan Dempster paid off. Yes, he has screwed up a bunch of times, sometimes royally, that's to be sure. But on the balance, I think he has done a pretty good job. You are, of course, free to disagree with me.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

I guess I think it is more than just the Ramirez-Lofton and Karros-Grudzielanek trades. See Choi for Lee for example. On that page I linked to you can see dozens of trades in which the Cubs gave up nothing and got something, even if it was just a bench bat or a reliever in return. He comes out ahead way more times than not. Also, there were 28 other teams who could have picked up Ramirez then if it was so easy, but no one else did.

[ ]

In reply to by Craig A.

It's a wiki article, so I was hoping others would add to and update it when I put it up last year! It's also not formatted too well. Feel free to make any changes. But I thought it would be nice to have a record of transactions all in one place. I also hate when looking at transaction lists that I have to go to baseball reference to look up the stats to see things like "how did he do after getting traded away." So I tried to put those types of things in there as well.

Happy to pick up a game on the Cards and Reds. More disappointed that we're just a half-game ahead of a team with a -100 run differential.

Anyone else have an ominous feeling about today's game? I think this is gonna be one of those throwaway games that Lou pulls, where he blatantly forgets that even games on getaway day count. I see Hill at C, Baker at 3rd, Fonty at 2nd, Colvin in LF, Nady at first... The regulars will be on the bus by the 7th inning...

Lineup per Muskat... Fukudome, Theriot, DLee, Byrd, Soriano, Fontenot (3B), Castro, Hill, Dempster ARam held out due to a sore thumb (per Sullivan tweet) Marshall will be in closer role today, giving Marmol and Z day off (also Sullivan)

TO THE PEN!!! that was some dumb pitching...3-0 on Rollins with first base open and he lays it down the middle.

6th inning Another throw by Marlon Byrd that goes wide right of target allowing a runner to take second. The Chicago media doesn't seem to notice his wildly innacurate arm, but believe me, opposing team broadcasters do.

the cubs are like the car in front of you in traffic; you must follow @ a safe & sure distance...monitoring on a daily basis, the # of failures to score w/ 1&3; no outs, etc. really lead to madness - didn't they do the same thing in the 1st inning last night? so much for the 'streak' -

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=5202119 Re: if Lou will finish the year with the Cubs...
"As the owner I don't guarantee anything, it's Jim's decision. (edit) I think [Piniella finishing the season] is what to expect. The fact is we like Lou, we support Lou. He's done very well for this team. He wants to win. He's the kind of guy you want leading your team. The players respect him and he's doing a good job.""
~snip~
"I think everyone has been very impressed with [Sandberg's] performance as a manager," Ricketts said. "He's done really well. That kind of decision is in Jim's court. You hire a general manager, you make him accountable for what happens on the field. To try to take that decision away or to try to control it kind of undermines the guy you are supposed to support.
"When that discussion comes up, we'll be in the room and see what the reasoning is behind any decision. Ultimately, you've got a guy you've made accountable for winning, and you can't overrule him and then get mad at him for not winning. We've got a guy we trust who has put together some pretty good teams over the years, and we're going to back him."

loads the bases with 0 outs in the 9th and a 2-run lead -edit- and coughs up 3 runs for the loss

The stats look good so far overall, but would like to see more results - steping up more to the challenge as the team's defacto staff ace. 4 runs in 6 IPs not getting it done to keep the team hot.

Levine reporting Howry signing tomorrow, will be in Texas.

Is Lou too feeble to remember to give Stevie Grabow the Scott Eyre or Will Oh-no-Man doghouse treatment? I'm hating the fact that Lou continues to use Grabs as a one inning guy, he needs relegation to blowout games or one batter Loogy at most. Based on Iowa performances, I'm excited to see Thomas Diamond and Andrew Cashner get their chance in the bullpen at Wrigley...Shark and Gray still sucking with the I-Cubs (which probably is a good thing, consider them to have blown their chances this season).

Holy balls, Howry? That doesn't make much sense. Even if the Cubs were still in this thing (and after going 1-5 to the Pirates, how can you seriously still consider yourself "in it"?), even if, how does Howry help? I'm not as much as a Howry hater as some around here, but still, this move doesn't make sense to me.

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

Submitted by QuietMan on Fri, 05/21/2010 - 1:35pm. Patton's number don't look good this year. Maybe they felt this was a good time to get him off the 40 man and not end up losing him to another team. But I'm no expert like AZ Phil. ============================================= QUIET MAN: I believe that's exactly what the Cubs werre thinking, because it would have been very easy to open up a roster slot for Bob Howry by simply transferring Angel Gznman to the 60-day DL. But having had a terrible Spring Training and Minor League Camp, then getting demoted all the way down to Daytona, and then even struggling there, Patton's value is pretty low right now, and if the Cubs want to get him through waivers, now would probably be a good time to try it.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

our berg was drafted in 03 and is from wisconsin. that said...check this out from 05 “When I heard I would not be a good candidate for LASIK, I was disappointed,” said Berg, who is in Tampa at the Yankees’ spring training facility. “However, I was an excellent candidate for an implantable contact lens and Theda Clark and Dr. Vrabec have more experience than just about anyone.” dude has implanted contact lenses.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    yeah, for me this isn't about who's better at 3rd.  it's madrigal, period.  for me it's about who's not hitting in the lineup because madrigal is in the lineup.

    occasional play at 3rd for madrigal, okay.  going with the steele/ground-ball matchup...meh, but okay, whatever.

    seeing madrigal get significant starting time...no thanks.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Yeah I am very disappointed Madrigal is starting. He has no business as a starter. He is AAA insurance, a back up at best. Sure his defense looks fine because he plays far enough in that his noodle arm isn’t totally exposed. It comes at the cost of 3B range.

    He’s garbage, and a team serious about winning would NOT have him starting opening day.

  • crunch (view)

    in other news, it took 3 PA before a.rizzo got his 1st HBP of the season.

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • 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.