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 

 



 

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Looking at Lou

In preparation for the Cubs' three-game series beginning tonight in Seattle, Larry Stone of the Seattle Times interviewed former M's manager Lou Piniella over the weekend. The use of the word "weary" in the headline gives you a pretty good idea of the portrait which Stone paints. I thought this passage stood out.

I reminded Piniella of a quote he gave me back in 2007, when the Mariners played at Wrigley during his first season. Noting the difficulty of the Cubs' challenge, he said, "It ain't going to drive me crazy. I want to get it done, but it's not going to drive me crazy." That's still his story, and he's sticking to it. "Our organization hasn't won in a long time," Piniella said. "Because of that, there's a lot more scrutiny here. And because of it, it makes managing probably tougher than it should be."

What struck me about that quote was how perfectly it captures the difference between being the Cubs manager and being a Cubs fan. As manager, your inclination is to say, "I don't care about the 102 years or the goat or Steve Bartman. None of that happened on my watch. We're going to look forward and not dwell on all the misery." As a Cub fan, at least a devoted one, you have no choice. If you're in for the fun, you have to bear the pain, all 100-plus years of it.

Yes, Lou, it does drive us crazy. And there's nothing we can do about it except hope for the pain to end. 

Finally, here was another piece I came across from the Seattle Times, written in 2002 right after Piniella was granted his release by the Mariners, after ten mostly very successful seasons. This story, written by Bob Finnegan, paints the manager in an extraordinarily positive light, as the chief shaper of what was, and what remains, the brightest time in the history of the Seattle Mariners.

Comments

another over paid manager not expecting the pressure . So it will be upto ryno or brenley to answer the siren's call.

Wasn't Pinhead actually traded to the D-Rays for Randy Winn?

On a lighter side, this made me laugh: "Orioles acquired 1B Jake Fox from the Athletics for RHP Ross Wolf. Fox was designated for assignment by the A's last week after posting a dreadful .214/.264/.327 batting line over his first 98 at-bats. He's shown flashes of power in the past and the O's like his versatility..." This is via rotoworld's player update feed, so I haven't got a link.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

3 months ago it was just fine when beane was saying it. hell, he was even pushing playing him at C. yeesh. i guess they were hoping to have someone on the team capable of hitting 20HRs without K'ing 150-200 times.

Cubs should drill Milton Bradley the first two times too see how his anger management classes are going.

[ ]

In reply to by Tony S.

I will spend the rest of my life correcting people about the 2003 playoffs, Moises Alou and Steve Bartman did NOTHING to cause that collapse. Shoulder your blame on Alex Gonzalez, everyone's favorite shitty SS whose only real skill was playing defense and on the biggest defensive play of his life he fucks it up and costs the Cubs the game and the series. Everyone always forgets about Alex Gonzalez's epic fail in the playoffs and wants to concentrate on a foul ball hit into the stands. The foul ball didn't mean jack shit, but Alex Gonzalez's play meant everything.

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

Since when is Alex Gonzalez anyone's favorite shortstop? That's going a little far. But yeah, he blew it. But I think in general it is difficult to place blame on something like this all on one person - whether it is Bartman, Alou, or Gonzalez. Any number of things could have went differently to change the inning and the game. A double, walk, wild pitch, and single set up the Gonzalez play, and a double followed to actually tie the game. Then five more runs scored after that. Plenty of chances to get out of there with the lead, tied, or down by a run. Plenty of blame to go around.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

Alex Gonzalez was a teflon SS for the Cubs, he was sooooooooo awesome because he could hit for power. I guess if 15-20 HR's is power and a .240 average was something to praise, Alex Gonzalez got a ton of love on the message boards. You know why i like Ryan Theriot? Alex fucking Gonzalez and his .240 and .220 average with an OBP hovering around .300. He was god awful at the plate. He was your prototypical April hitter who then disappeared till August then disappeared till next season. Those were the only meaningful months in his career where he did something positive and it was still shitty. But it was just enough to remind Cubs fans of how awesome he was and he was ready to bust out in a big way. EPIC FAIL. At least he did play some decent D, but when that play happened, any positive thing left to say about that man was gone. The one thing he was good at it, and he finds a way to kick you in the nuts, its bad enough he couldn't hit his way out of a paper bag, but he misses the easiest grounder of his life? F him, F him till the end of Cubs history.

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

He was your prototypical April hitter who then disappeared till August then disappeared till next season. Don't you hate when facts get in the way: Alex Gonzalez, career OPS splits: March/April: 678 May: 656 June: 745 July: 653 August: 770 September/October: 659

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Hahaha, read the Dusty quote to end the article: "Like my dad told me when I was going to quit Little League: He said no son of his is going to quit any league," Baker said. "That's what kept me going in Chicago. At the end there, I didn't have the team that I started with. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter in the overall count of 101 years, or whatever it is." I didn't have the team I had when I started with? First, grammatically, that's wrong. Second, it was 4 years later, nobody has the same team 4 years later. Third, he had a better team with more talent at the end of his tenure than the crap fest 2003 team that had guys like Karros and Grudz and a bunch of fill-ins. Cubs c-ss in 2003: damian miller, karros, grudz, alex gonzalez. Cubs c-ss in 2006: michael barrett, dlee, todd walker, ronny cedeno. With the exception of Cedeno, the other 3 had more talent then their predecessors. Cubs 2003 bench included .218 hitter hee sopp choi, .209 hitting mark bellhorn (with 2 hr's), then tom goodwin and troy o'leary. Cubs 2006 bench included hank white, .254 hitting neifi perez, ryan theriot, and 12 hr hitting phil nevin. it wasn't great but it was better then 2003. Dusty has his head so far up his ass he's blind. And if he wants to complain about the pitching being different, that's what happens when you stomp on your young pitchers' arms, they get hurt. He's such a dumb asshole. Still doing the same shit in Cincy.

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

I just don't think this is an accurate picture of 2003-2006 at all. Barrett over Miller, yes, but D-Lee played in 50 games in 2006. Compare John Mabry and his .205 BA to Karros. Not even close. Walker and Grudz are pretty much the same player career-wise, and Grudz's 2003 season destroyed Walker's 2006. Cedeno sucked. Ramirez is on both teams, but clearly better in 2006. But would you rather have Sosa-Alou-Lofton, or Jones-Murton-Pierre? I mean, really? That's not even close. The 2003 OF had a combined 19 All-Star appearances compared to ZERO for 2006. As for the bench, I'd say it's a push. You can give Blanco the edge over Bako, but Ramon Martinez (whom you left out) hit .284 compared to Neifi's .254. Nevin had more HR because he had more at-bats (again, D-Lee injury), but for rate stats Randall Simon is right with him. And Tom Goodwin, though you knocked him, hit .287 with 19 SBs off the bench.

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

Agreed, Baker absolutely sucked and I hated this style and constant lineup changes. I blame Hendry for hiring these guys and not having the nuts to deal with them. I've heard Lou bitch about wanting a "Left-handed right-fielder who can bat 5th" since he got here. And he has used it as a built in excuse for every playoff loss that followed. At some point you need to shut up and manage the team you got.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

Not a single Cubs OF in 2003 made the all star team, so saying they had 19 all star appearances is deceiving. They didn't have all star years in 2003. Phil Nevin was one of the replacements for DLee in 2006, and he hit 12 hr's in limited ab's.

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

You started the conversation by talking about "talent" rather than performance, so in that sense All-Star appearances is not deceiving, but rather indicates the relative talent in the OF. But let's take a look at actual performance of that outfield in a "non-star year" (2003) compared to the 2006 outfield, measured by OPS+. 2003 Sosa: 133 Lofton: 120 Patterson: 114 Alou: 111 2006 Jones: 108 Murton: 104 Pierre: 82 Pagan: 76 By that measure, the 2003 team had 4 outfielders better than the best of 2006.

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.