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

Zambrano Returning to Bullpen...Once He Returns to Cubs

From Paul Sullivan in the Tribune:

After Carlos Zambrano returns to the Cubs following his suspension—the Cubs are trying to find out from MLB how long they can be suspend him and whether they'll have to play with 24 men for the duration—he'll be returning to the bullpen. Tom Gorzelanny is returning to the starting rotation.

Also, Lou Piniella and Assistant General Manager Randy Bush were none too pleased that Zambrano had dinner with Ozzie Guillen last night instead of reflecting on what an ass he was yesterday afternoon. I'm thinking that if Carlos was self-aware enough to reflect on his behavior, he might not have acted that way in the first place. Just a thought.

Cubs lineup vs. Freddy Garcia (8-3, 4.85; 4-0, 1.25 all-time vs. Cubs)
Fukudome 9, Byrd 8, Lee DH, Nady 3, Ramirez 5, Soriano 7, Castro 6, Soto 2, Theriot 4

White Sox lineup vs. Carlos Silva (8-2, 3.01; 4-11, 5.33 all-time vs. Sox)
Pierre 7, Vizquel 5, Rios 8, Konerko 3, Quentin 9, Kotsay DH, Ramirez 6, Castro 2, Beckham 4

Comments

I went 0-3 with two strike outs yesterday. I am batting .165 on the season, and batting fifth in the lineup for the Chicago Cubs. Who am I? I have a .404 OBP following yesterday's game. I am batting eighth for the Chicago Cubs. Who am I? I am a major league manager, who's deteriorating mental abilities have reinforced addled senior stereotypes to the detriment of millions of Americans. Who am I?

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Rickets: So, has Z had these anger management issues prior to yesterday's outburst? Hendry: Well.....yes. He once fought with his catcher in the dugout and then punched him in the clubhouse...........Oh....and he destroyed a Gatorade machine before. Rickets: And this was before or after you gave him a five-year, no trade, guaranteed $91.5M contract? Hendry: Uh..........before. Rickets: Jim, you're fired. (Now, back to reality) My understanding is that Hendry/Crane Kenney got contract extensions through 2012 as a condition of the sale. So Rickets would have to eat that money on top of most of the $45M left on Z's contract if he wanted do what most upper management type's would do in this situation. .........and the hits just keep on playing.

From June 18 Nils (Darien, CT): Is McNutt having sucess with smoke and mirrors or does his stuff match his results? What kind of ceiling does he have? J.J. Cooper: It's solid plus stuff, especially his fastball. A lot of people may think he's come out of nowhere, but if you have the Prospect Handbook you'll see he was No. 16 in the Cubs system coming into the year, which is a very high ranking for a 32nd-round pick with 28 pro innings—that right there tells you he's a serious prospect as he ranked ahead of every other Cubs' 2009 draftee except for their first and second-round picks. This isn't some soft-tosser tricking people, he can blow guys away with his stuff. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-hot-sheet/2010/…

<------Pushes self away from table. I'm done. Fuck you, thank you for wasting my time. See ya in March shitfuckers. If I were the Rickettseseses, I would stay in Africa, they've got some BIG decisions to make when they get back. Best case scenario, they hijacked a diamond mine, killed all of the children working there and come home with a plane full of diamonds to help offset the contracts of Z, Fukerdome, and Soriano.

Man, this crap is better than watching Cops with a cheeto-stained wife beater on. My respect for DLee has been firmly returned, which means he'll probably be traded within the week. I hate to say it, but will trading Z be the 'spark' that turns the 2010 Cubs into a baseball team??

This isn't even fun anymore. We repeatedly get our asses beat. We have in-house fighting. There is no passion. There is no will to succeed. We aren't even good enough to suck. Of the many seasons in which there was pain (to watch an absolute joke of a team perform), embarrassment, and ineptness - all of which are key components to the term 'Cubbery,' this has to go down as one of the worst 1st halves to start a Cubs season. I can't tell you the last time I was actually excited to sit down, relax and crack open a cold one to watch a game this season. My DVR has ceased to record any games. My "W' car flag has the same amount of dust as does the Cubs win column. I have even white-outed the W and now just let the white flag wave. This is fricken pathetic. We need a major overhaul. If we get to .500 this year it will be a miracle. As much as I love the vets who have been the faces of our beloved team for the past 5 years - decade, it's time to tear down the walls and start fresh. I mean, shit, what's another 5-10 years without a championship?

[ ]

In reply to by granolaCUB

"I can't tell you the last time I was actually excited to sit down, relax and crack open a cold one to watch a game this season." me, too. i'm not one for giving up early and i don't think the cubs are 100% done...but it's pretty boring baseball all around. i don't mind missing games as much when i don't have much hope for things "righting" themselves. there's not much on the horizon giving the 2010 a lot of hope unless aram regains his stroke and even then they're they have to get to .500 before we care how far they are from 1st place or the wild card.

i wonder if he'd waive his NTC? i keed. Cubs are being somewhat consistent with how they treated Bradley last year. That's nice. On a sidenote, it's admirable how they are still pretending that the next 89 games or so aren't just an exhibition.

Ron Santo mentioned during his guest appearance on the Fox broadcast--God, please don't let the Cubs hire Mark Grace for color duties!--that Derrek Lee has been having back problems since returning on the long flight from Seattle. Can't help but wonder if that is now the party line to explain why he didn't dive after Juan Pierre's ground ball on Friday. Regardless, if Lee's back is that bad, why was he in the lineup and why was Colvin sitting last night?

Off season priorities: 1. Bullpen... yet again. And no, Samardzija doesn't count. Go get a couple boring veteran arms that you can rely on to not screw up too many games. 2. Find a 3B. 3. Find a decent 2B, like Orlando Hudson or something. ?

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

My priority list #1 First Base. I don't see anybody in the system to take Derrick Lee's spot. Resigning Lee to a reasonable 1 year deal or finding his replacement is in my book off priority numero uno. Lee has been one of my favorite players for years but I prefer the latter of finding a replacement. #2 Starting pitching. Assuming Big Z and Lilly are gone, the rotation looks like Dempster, Wells, Silva, Groz and a rookie. I'm starting to get a Rich Hill feeling for Wells, I can't believe Silva. Also, by bringing in a quality #2-3 type pitcher, we aren't watering down the bullpen further. If used properly (aka never pitching Howry), a backend of Marshall, Cashner and Marmol could be very effective. Third base is Arams. No need to waste time, energy or keystrokes on it at this point. Just have a quality back up player so when Aram does get hurt, its not the end of the season.

[ ]

In reply to by Sonicwind75

I don't think filling specific holes will be quite so important this offseason. Moving the last of the "bloated" contracts needs to be priority 1. Anyone that isn't helping in 2012 should be on the block right now. Lee Lilly Grabow Theriot Baker Fontenot Silva Aramis Fukudome Soriano Marlon Byrd Dempster Zambrano Tear this thing completely down as far as possible this offseason. Instead of overpaying vets to fill this spot or that spot, just be terrible for a season. Then spend really heavy in the draft/latin America/Pacific Rim and so forth. Lyle Overbay or Adrian Beltre aren't the answers to 2011. Spending 20 million untapped talent will be the answer. No more chasing our tails.

I have to believe Brett Jackson and Aaron Shafer are due for promotion any day now. Jackson is now hitting .316/.420/.517 and is leading or in the top three of just about every offensive statistics in the FSL. Shafer's ERA is a miniscule 0.96 and he's sporting a WHIP of 0.84. When Jackson moves to Tennessee, I'm curious as to how the Cubs will deal with Campana. He's played well enough (.333/.395/.396) for promotion, but the Iowa outfield is already pretty packed.

Theriot, Colvin, Byrd, Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, Soto, Castro, Wells vs. Tabata, Crosby, McCutchen, Jones, Milledge, Alvarez, Doumit, Cedeno, Maholm.

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...