Cubs MLB Roster

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40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Springfield & Burruel Lead Cubs to Victory

Submitted by Arizona Phil on

Sergio Burruel smacked a bases-loaded triple to put the Cubs on the board, and Blair Springfield reached base four times on two singles, a double, and a walk, drove-in two runs, and scored two more, leading the AZL Cubs to a 10-5 victory over the AZL Rangers in Arizona League action at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in Mesa tonight.

box score

Cubs 2010 4th round draft pick LHP Hunter Ackerman (Louisburg JC) made his pro debut, working one inning (nine pitches - seven strikes), allowing no runs on two singles, while striking out one. He should have been out of the inning after having faced just three hitters, but the Bieneme-Chen DP tandem was unable to make a clean-exchange on what should have been a routine inning-ending 6-4-3 GIDP, getting just the force at 2nd for the second out, and prolonging the inning. Ackerman then gave up another hit, before striking out the final hitter he faced. 

The Cubs sent ten men to the plate and six of them scored in the bottom of the 2nd.

Jake McAloose reached base on an E-6 muffed grounder to lead-off the inning, and then Cody Shields reached on a bunt single and Anthony Giansanti drilled a single to left to load the bases with no outs. Xavier Batista struck out (looking), but Sergio Burruel (2009 19th round draft pick out of Trevor Browne HS - Phoenix, AZ) picked-up his teammate, ripping his bases-loaded triple into the right-center alley, giving the Cubs a lead they would not relinquish. Blair Springfield then got the first of his three hits and two RBI, driving a single past the shortstop and into LF, scoring Burruel. Vismeldy Bieneme lined a single down the LF line to advance Springfield to 2nd, and then Pin-Chieh Chen reached on an infield hit, as Springfield scored and Bieneme advanced to 3rd on a throwing error by the Rangers 2nd baseman, who was trying to throw the speedy Chen out at 1st (with the pitcher covering) after the batted ball deflected off the 1st baseman's glove. Ryan Cuneo capped the inning with an F-7 sac fly to the warning track in left-center, scoring Bieneme with the 6th and final run of the inning.

After struggling mightily throughout Minor League Camp, Extended Spring Training, and the first three weeks of AZL play, Blair Springfield had probably the best game of his pro career. He hit the ball hard to all fields, and showed patience at the plate, too, working deep into counts. For the first time since signing with the Cubs last Summer, the 19-year old Decatur, IL, native showed why the Cubs thought enough of him to make him a 7th round draft pick out of MacArthur HS. Now he just has to find a way to keep it up, because after having been moved to LF, he must hit to advance.

In what is the latest information regarding the Cubs future Spring Training plans, the powers that be in Naples, Fl, have (at least for the time-being) withdrawn their offer to be the Cubs new Spring Training hosts. Naples could revisit the matter if Mesa cannot get funding for a new Cubs Spring Training and Minor League campus, but as of now, it appears Mesa has won the game.

The City of Mesa has proposed relocating the Cubs to a still-secret location on the far east-side of town on open land owned by the City (perhaps as much as a square-mile) near the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (ex-Williams Field AFB), but any site out there would be a good 15 miles east of downtown Mesa (albeit with good freeway access), and about 25 miles from the Spring Training stadium and Minor League camp of the next-closest MLB team (the Giants in Scottsdale or the Angels in Tempe).

But the newest site revealed to be under consideration is one just a half-mile southeast of Fitch Park (HoHoKam Park being a half-mile north of Fitch), at the S/E corner of University & Mesa Drive, just across the street from the former site of Rendezvous Park, the original Mesa Spring Training stadium used by the Cubs in the 1950's and 1960's (and by the Oakland A's in the 1970's). This site would also be just a half-mile north of the Main Street light-rail extention expected to be completed into downtown Mesa in the next few years. (The light-rail presently terminates on Main Street west of Dobson Road, about three miles short of the proposed downtown Spring Training stadium).

The Downtown University-Mesa Drive site would be for the Spring Training Stadium ("Wrigley Field West") only, with the Minor League HQ at Fitch Park to be retained and upgraded. Whether the Cubs would accept this plan is still to be determined, but a location in downtown Mesa would certainly be good for the Main Street Business District, and certainly a lot closer to where most of the fans who attend Spring Training games in Mesa are located.  

Tags
Cubs Spring Training
Cubs Minor Leagues
AZL Cubs
Sergio Burruel
Blair Springfield
Hunter Ackerman

Comments

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 07:07 pm

Submitted by QuietMan on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 6:46am. AZ Phil: What do you hear about Hayden Simpson - illness wise? ===================================== QUIET MAN: I don't know what type of illness Hayden Simpson contracted, but it apparently had a major impact on his body to the extent that he is on the AZL Cubs injury list. Hopefully he'll get into some game action soon. 16th round draft pick RHP Ryan Hartman (Mt. Zion HS - Mt. Zion, IL) is in Mesa but he is injured, although I don't know what specifically is wrong. He's not wearing an elbow brace or a sling so he hasn't had elbow or shoulder surgery, but he is on the AZL Cubs injury list. RHP Gian Guzman (elbow), OF Melvin Camarena (sprained ankle), 2B Doug Cherry (???), and C Carlos Romero (???) are also on the DL. RHP Melvin Rosa (TJS), OF Manuel Pestana (shoulder surgery), and OF Dong-Yub Kim (???) are on the AZL Cubs 60-day DL and so they do not count against the AZL Cubs 35-man Reserve List/Active List. BTW, milb.com has Melvin Rosa listed as an outfielder and 3B Dustin Geiger listed as a pitcher, but that is just plain wrong. Rosa is a pitcher, and Geiger is a 3B.

Submitted by Mike Wellman on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 07:32 pm

AZP - what do you think about trying to acquire the hawaiian first baseman from the royals' omaha team in anticipation of end of the d. lee era & what might it take to get him?

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 07:14 pm

Submitted by Mike Wellman on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 1:32pm. AZP - what do you think about trying to acquire the hawaiian first baseman from the royals' omaha team in anticipation of end of the d. lee era & what might it take to get him? ============================================= MIKE W: Kila Ka'Aihue has been a Royals Top 10 Prospect in the past, but he has not been able to cross the line from AAA to MLB. He might be worth a look. As for what it would take to get him, I would think a position-player prospect like 1B-OF Matt Spencer (who would have three option years ahead of him once he's added to a 40-man roster, while Ka'Aihue will have one option left as of Spring Training 2011) and an MLB-ready pitching prospect like Jeff Stevens or Mitch Atkins would probably be what it would take to get Ka'Aihue. But that's presuming the Cubs don't plan to move Tyler Colvin or Alfonso Soriano to 1B in 2011. I would think playing Colvin at 1B and maybe taking a look at Brad Snyder in RF come this September and then again in Spring Training 2011 might be a better option than trading players just to give Ka'Aihue a shot at 1B (with Colvin remaining an outfielder).

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Submitted by Mike Wellman on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 07:40 pm

i don't know what sort of tap dancer he is around the bag but his obp #'s are consistently high plus his power #'s are good this year, the royals don't need him &, bless his heart, he hits lefty...i don't like idea of moving soriano to first because it's a more critical position than given credit for & think colvin's speed would be wasted defensively @ first...maybe we could snag the hawaiian & alex gordon both from the omaha club & move the one-time wunderkind back to the infield as a bridge from ramirez to vitters, although gordon's been manning LF in the pcl this year...

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 07:58 pm

Submitted by Mike Wellman on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 2:40pm. i don't know what sort of tap dancer he is around the bag but his obp #'s are consistently high plus his power #'s are good this year, the royals don't need him &, bless his heart, he hits lefty...i don't like idea of moving soriano to first because it's a more critical position than given credit for & think colvin's speed would be wasted defensively @ first... ========================= MIKE W: I would agree that Colvin's speed would be wasted at 1B (so did Clemson coach Jack Leggett), but if Brad Snyder (for example) were to get a shot with the Cubs in September 2010 and in Spring Training 2011 and shows he can hit big league pitching, moving Colvin to 1B and playing Snyder in RF in 2011 might accomplish the same thing as making a trade for Ka'Aihue, except no players would have to be sacrificed. And while I agree that 1st base is an underrated and under-appreciated defensive position, and that playing Soriano at 1B would almost certainly have a negative overall effect on the Cubs infield defense (I just can't see Sori doing the splits to nab an errant Castro throw), MLB clubs (including the Cubs) have had a long history of moving guys with leg and knee problems to 1B as they get older. And the Cubs are probably stuck with Soriano through the 2014 season, so a move to 1st base might be considered or even tried at some point, even with the aforementioned down-side.

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 07:23 pm

Submitted by Dr. aaron b on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 8:12pm. I don't worry about his defense. Its more a case of yet another marginal offensive player in the lineup. Especially at a position that is supposed to utilize a slugger. ================================= DR AARON: I don't think the Cubs see Colvin as a marginal offensive player. I think they project him as an everyday player in search of a regular defensive position, and in 2011 that will be either RF or 1B (or LF if Soriano were to be moved to 1B). It's also possible that Geovany Soto will get more PT at 1st base with the Cubs in 2011, especially if Welington Castillo improves his hitting enough by next season to play in the big leagues. Castillo consistently throws out 40%+ of opposing base stealers and slugs at or near .500 despite a BA in the 240's. The Cubs will be closely watching Castillo's development as a hitter over the last two months of AAA ball and in Winter Ball (he'll probably play in the Dominican Winter League).

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 07:25 pm

Submitted by Paul Noce on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 4:52pm. I read somewhere a week or two ago that Colvin played 1b in college. Not sure if he played much 1b or what. The Baseball Cube stats do not show fielding numbers for his time at Clemson. ================================== PAUL N: Tyler Colvin was a 1B in HS, and was moved to LF at Clemson to take better advantage of his speed. But he is a natural 1st baseman. I've never seen Colvin play 1B, but I talked to someone who played with Colvin at Clemson, and he said Colvin occasionally played 1B there and that he is a good defensive 1st baseman.

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Submitted by WISCGRAD on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 07:11 pm

I think the idea of Soriano playing first base is laughable. Scooping throws? Jumping for high throws? Charging bunts? 3-6-3 double plays? Acting as the cutoff on throws home? Handling pop ups around the mound, in foul territory, and near the catcher? Catching the ball consistently? Handling hard smashes with less time than he had at second? What in his career gives any indication that he could do this adequately? He switched to probably the easiest position on the field - Left - and will soon play his 5,000th inning there. He plays there in spring training every year, practices there when he shags flies, and has worked with various outfield coordinators on his play. And he has gotten better, but he is still not good. They pull him for defensive purposes with a lead in the late innings as it is. There is simply no way, in my mind, he becomes an adequate first basemen. Someone asked Bruce Miles this beneath one of his posts a few weeks ago and he basically said that the Cubs are not even giving this a thought.

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 07:28 pm

"Zambrano watch: Carlos Zambrano won't return to the Cubs in the Phillies series that begins the second half of the season Thursday. The Cubs insist they don't know when Zambrano, who's on the restricted list, will be back, or when he can begin his rehab, or even if he's done with his anger management therapy. "We're still in limbo," Piniella said." ............. whatever...can we drop this "anger management" b/s yet? i guess it's his own business, but how many weeks can we sit around waiting for something he hasn't started yet for reasons no seems to want to explain. hi, we run a business and this part we're paying 17m for...yeah, we have no idea when we'll get around to fixing it or making it a part of the team. go figure. you believe that yet?

Submitted by Cubster on Wed, 07/14/2010 - 07:29 pm

Its more a case of yet another marginal offensive player in the lineup. --- when I read this the first time, I was thinking the reference was to Soriano as the marginal offensive player over the next few years.

Submitted by QuietMan on Thu, 07/15/2010 - 07:37 pm

"The New York Mets, once considered to have the inside track for Oswalt, have turned their attention recently to Lilly -- and the Cubs are seriously considering their overtures. The Cubs, sources say, have been doing their homework on three key Mets prospects -- left-hander Robert Carson and right-handers Kyle Allen and Jeurys Familia." http://www.suntimes.com/sports/deluca/2499696,CST-SPT-deluca15.article (it's at the bottom of the article)

Submitted by navigator on Thu, 07/15/2010 - 07:41 pm

This is one for Arizona Phil. Why are the Cubs force-feeding Josh Vitters through their system? After putting up only mediocre numbers in A+, he's really struggling at Tennessee. 3 for his last 36 with a .203 BA. Is there any chance the Cubs will demote Vitters?

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."  

    Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa? 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Pro teams have to play their "big money" guys if they are healthy and not "locker room" issues.
    The Cubs wanted to deal JHey off well before they bought him out. They just didn't want to pay him to play for someone else for that long. Jed did give him 20+mil to play for LAD last yr.
    Jed might also let Kyle walk at some point this year. Similar scenario to JHey, except Jed thought Kyle was going to be good/solid in '24!!
    You'd think Smyly is in the same book as well. Same with Neris (he's a 1yr vet RP, so he's not really in this convo too much).
    That's ~35mil between those three and those three are going to get opportunities until at least late June) over younger guys even if their performance is "iffy".
    But, Jed is going to play Taillon a lot. They have to try and justify that contract and hope a veteran works out.
    So, Taillon, Imanaga, and Hendricks are locks for the rest of April and probably May.
    Assad, Brown and Wicks handle the last spots until Steele is ready.
    Now, you're question has real merit when Steele comes back. That will interesting if Brown is still good and Hendricks is still bad. But Taillon is entirely safe as long as he's healthy.

    And the bullpen moves were "money" based as well. Smyly has actually been okay. But he hasn't been clearly better than Little. Little had one bad outing. But Smyly makes 9mil. If they needed another RHRP and one of Little and Smyly had to go, it was going to Little. But that doesn't mean Smyly is one of the best 13 arms for the team. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: I think there was an issue with Luke Little coming into a game with men on base. He seems to need a "clean" inning to be dominant. So he is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AAA. Same goes for Michael Arias. He needs to come into a "clean" inning, and is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AA. Porter Hodge is a more versatile pitcher, a better version of Keegan Thompson (multi-inning RP). But Little, Arias, and Hodge (probably in that order) are the Cubs top three RP prospects (all three are Cubs Top 15 prospects).

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    So, let’s do a little war gaming. Taillon is back for tonight’s game. He pitched two rehab games, just a few innings each, and not especially sharp. Let’s face it, he hasn’t been lights out since the Cubs gave him the big contract. In other words, as flat out bad as Hendricks has been, the chances of Taillon being the savior don’t look exactly promising.

    If Taillon is equally ineffective or perhaps even worse, what’s the next move? Winning teams can often find a way to work around a dud fifth starter - kinda. Two dud starters make things much more difficult.

    I believe the biggest reason for the recent bullpen moves was dissatisfaction with the recent blowing of big leads and the recognition that the bullpen wasn’t all it was thought to be. In other words, they are exploring alternate options and configurations. If similar juggling becomes necessary (even more so than it already is), what kind of reasonable maneuvering do we think could be explored?

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Cubdom needs to prepare themselves for Wicks to be sent to Iowa for Taillon to come up.
    Ben Brown has 4 appearances. Wicks has 4 appearances.
    Ben has 16.1 IP.  Wicks has 17 IP
    Ben was a 1.1 WHIP.  Wicks has a 1.7 WHIP. Wicks does have significantly more SOs. 
    Ben has been better, though.
    I love Wicks. I think he's a fighter and his stuff has improved.
    But, Jed isn't ditching Hendricks just yet. He should. But he won't.
    Hendricks should go to the IL and Taillon-Imanaga-Assad-Wicks-Brown should be the rotation.
    Wont' happen though.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil,
    Did you agree with the demotion of Luke Little? He'd been pretty good up until the AZ/wild pitch appearance. I know that can't jettison Smyly (just yet) so they didn't need another LHRP. Especially with Leiter effectively being a LHRP. I still thought he deserved to stay. It's not permanent. He'll be back. Lots of moves to come with Taillon, Steele and other guys coming and going.

    Also, do you see Hodge being able to "control/command" his stuff to get a chance this year?
    Is Arias better than Hodge?   Thanks

  • crunch (view)

    just waiting to hear patrick wisdom and masterboney are spotted at the airport going in opposite directions...

    aj puk going for the marlins (lefty)...gotta imagine we'll see wisdom in the lineup.

    someone has to make room for taillon, too.

  • crunch (view)

    he's a low-level cubs star in the modern history of the cubs (c.zambrano, k.wood, r.dempster, etc), but that star has dimmed...and has been dimming since 2021.

    2024 has been ugly the whole way and we're only in mid-april.  homers aside (even though there's been 7 in 17ip) he gave up 29 hits in 20 spring innings and 31 in 17 regular season innings.

    he's pretty much only got 2 pitches at this point in his career and the mix isn't fooling anyone.  he threw a noticable amount more curves in his last start to add to the mix and it didn't help his issues.  he don't have many moves left to break out.

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