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

Spring Training Battles: Closer

The Cubs are a little over two weeks into spring training with about three weeks before Opening Day. It's time to check in on the yearly ritual of spring training battles. What's the fun of spring training without a little competition? The Cubs have a few spots up for grabs and today I take a look at the competition for the fabled closer role between Bob Howry, Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood. It's the final piece in the series and I know you will all miss my Wrestlemania-inspired graphic.

The closer battle is probably the least crucial of the spring training battles this year, for two reasons. First, the closer role is generally overrated. The closer protects more three-run leads with nobody on than he does one-run leads with the go-ahead run coming up. Set-up men are often asked to wiggle out of more difficult jams than closers, who are usually brought in just to start the ninth inning with a clean slate. Second, all three candidates can do the job just fine, so Lou really can't lose on this one. Sure, you'd like to pick the best, but those outs in the seventh and eighth are just as crucial; and the two "losers" will slide into the set-up men roles. Plus, if the winner out of spring training can't hack it, the Cubs have two ready-made options ready to fill-in, possibly three if Ryan Dempster isn't cutting it as a a starter. As they say in the old country, it's a good problem to have.

Let's take a closer look after the jump....

Bob Howry
2008 PECOTA PROJECTION: 62 IP, 3.55 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 1.9 WXRL

2007 STATS: 81.3 IP, 3.32 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 3.1 WXRL, 1.64 WPA

Howry entered camp as the favorite to win the closer job based on past experience and past performance. He was the closer for the White Sox early in his career, with a career high 28 saves in 1999. He also filled-in last year for the Cubs when Ryan Dempster was out with an oblique injury, saving seven of eight chances, although with a bloated 4.97 ERA in 12.2 IP.

Entering the final year of his contract, Howry certainly has the financial motivation to earn the closers spot, as the job title earns a premium compared to other relievers.But I guess Howry just isn't about the money, because his performance so far in Mesa has been downright dreadful. In seven games and 5.1 IP, he's given up seven runs with an 11.81 ERA, 12 hits, a home run....well you get the point, it's been ugly. I'll keep him in the discussion just to see if anyone votes for him.

Carlos Marmol
2008 PECOTA PROJECTION: 50 IP, 3.84 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 1.4 WXRL

2007 STATS: 69.3 IP, 1.43 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 3.7 WXRL, 2.77 WPA

Dubbed the Cubs MVP of 2007 by many, Marmol showed up in May and the Cubs immediately went on a tear...wait, check that, the Cubs lost 5 of the first 6 games he pitched in - but right after that the team went nuts. Marmol did throw up an incredible 1.23 ERA through June, an ERA that never rose above two the entire season. He coupled that with 16 holds, a 12.46 K/9 rate and stranding 87.8% of inherited runners. He also gave up the go-ahead home run in the Game 1 of the NLDS (go away pessimism, go away).

Despite all that mostly wonderful good pitching, the projection systems all say he's due to bounce back this year with guesses ranging from a 3.75 ERA to 4.54. We'll see if he bounces back that much, but it's certainly reasonable to expect that he won't be sporting a sub 1.50 ERA this season.

Marmol warmed up for the spring training competition by taking over closing duties for the Licey Tigres in the Dominican Winter League and Caribbean World Series, which Licey ended up winning. He's had a solid spring with six innings of work and no runs allowed, although he's suffered from fits of wildness.

I have little doubts that Marmol could handle the closer job and do it well. But if Lou is still willing to use him for more than just one inning, his best role is probably that of a set-up man that can get the team out of jam. Of course, that's a bit of a double-edged sword that I hope Lou and Marmol don't fall on. It seems to me he's thrown a lot of innings between last season and the Winter Leagues for a converted catcher that's only been pitching for a few seasons. A trip to the disabled list is certainly a concern.

Kerry Wood
2008 PECOTA PROJECTION: 39.7 IP, 4.37 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 0.8 WXRL

2007 STATS: 24.3 IP, 3.33 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 0 WXRL, -0.21 WPA

Even the most casual of Cubs fan knows about Kerry Wood and his struggles with injury; and subsequent miraculous recovery last season. His triumphant return wasn't all that triumphant at first, as his ERA ballooned to 5.55 at one point. But he finished the season strong with 8.2 IP of scoreless ball and maintained his normally lofty strikeout rate with 13 K's during that time. A free agent this past off-season, teams were still skeptical of his injury woes and Wood decided to re-up with the Cubs on an incentive-laden one year deal.

Those incentives are mostly for finishing games, so we know the financial motivation will be there. Wood's struggled a bit this spring, with a 5.40 ERA in five innings pitched which sure doesn't mean much. The diminutive two strikeouts though in that time period is a little worrisome, but from what I've seen on television, his fastball isn't lacking any zip. The closer role looks like it's his for taking, with Howry struggling and Lou most likely hoping to keep Marmol in a set-up role where he can be used for longer than an inning at a time. Of course, there's nothing stopping Lou from using his closer for more than an inning at a time, but apparently that breaks all sort of unwritten baseball rules.

 

Comments

FYI - in case anyone hasn't seen this yet, Sutcliffe has cancer: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/842381,CST-SPT-sut14.artic… No doubt Cubster can detail his treatment options in a more professional manner, but I can tell you that this won't be a walk in the park by any means for The Red Baron. I went through extensive chemo and a stem cell transplant for Non - Hodgkins Lymphoma (Stage 4) almost four years ago, and it was an event to remember. But I do understand that unless this is in an advanced stage, his prospects for a full recovery are good.

Supposedly Wood is throwing harder than he has since 1998, which is quite exciting. He is still my pick for the closer role, assuming that he shows that he can pitch on back-to-back days. He has the best stuff, he has a fierce competitive mentality, and (a really big) if he can stay healthy, he will be one of the top closers in baseball. Marmol is really, really good. And I like him in the role of putting out fires. And one day he will be an excellent closer. Maybe even this year. But I would just rather see Wood in the role. Howry is also really, really good, but for some reason think he will pitch better in a set-up role than a closer role, especially considering his tendency to get off to a slow start.

Has Wood pitched on back to back days at all this spring? Has anyone for that matter or is that something they don't do til later in the spring? I guess I've never paid much attention to how much work the relievers get in the spring.

i really like the idea of having Marmol spending one more year as a set up man. Plus it looks like the back end of the bullpen should be one of the best in the league and make most games a 6 inning affair.

From MSNBC.COM: "The Chicago Cubs have sold more than 2,775,000 tickets and had just 500,000 remaining at the start of the week." wow!

I know I will be in the minority here for saying it. Ryan Dempster is the best candidate to close on this roster. He went 28/31 in save opps last year. He has demonstrated that he has the stones to close (Anti-LaTroy). And he seems the least suited to come in and put out fires in the middle of innings. To me it diminishes the strength of our pen to not have Wood,Howry and Marmol to save the game in the middle innings. Dempster loses style points with his ugly appearances sometimes. However you can't discount his success % at closing games when he gets consistent work closing games.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Good Doctor- A few more stats to round out the Dempster profile: 2-7 record, ERA of 4.73 in 2007. Both of which were improvements versus 2006, when he was 1-9 with a 4.80 ERA. I realize wins are tough for a closer to get, but still... So, for 2 years, he is 3-16 with an ERA of 4.75 in 141 IP (not a small sample size). No thanks. However, I agree with the other comnents about Wood -- those who assume Kerry will be healthy are lining up to play 3-card Monty on a street corner somewhere.

Bob Howry as a closer in "true" save situations in 2007 (not including "blown saves" in 6th, 7th, ot 8th innings, which shouldn't even be called blown saves):

9 save opportunies

8 saves

1 BS (Cubs came back to win in bottom of 9th)

8 IP

5 H

3 R (3 ER)

1 BB

12 K

3.38 ERA

.172 OBA

In seven of his nine "true" save opps, he retired the side 1-2-3 (no hits and no walks) and struck out 11.

In one of his save opps he gave up three hits (including sa three-run HR) and had one K. And in the other save opp he gave up two hits but no runs.

Not perfect, but he throws strikes and doesn't mess around.

Personally, I don't have a problem with Howry as a closer.

Carlos Marmol and Michael Wuertz were two of the best relievers in the league in '07 as far as stranding inherited runners, so I believe both would help the Cubs best coming into an inning with men on base.

Marmol is also effective without men on base, so he can pitch 1+ innings when he enters a game in the middle of any inning, including part of the 8th and then the 9th, but when he does that, you probably don't want him to pitch two days in a row. Wuertz is best used to just get out of an inning, but you can use him that way just about every day.

Until more can be learned about Kerry Wood's ability to bounce-back and pitch two or three days in a row, I would use him as a one or two-inning reliever, but always starting an inning, just like he would have done as a starter, and with at least a day off between outings. Since he wouldn't be used every day, he could pitch two innings when he is used (depending on how many pitches he throws of course), including even the 8th and 9th innings (for the "old school" two inning save).

Scott Eyre is only good for garbage work, but Kevin Hart certainly has the stuff to pitch quality and meaningful innings out of the pen.

The 7th bullpen slot is still TBD. As things stand right now, it would have to be the loser in the starting rotation derby (either Dempster, Lieber, or Marquis), but if a trade solves that problem, Piniella will probably want a second lefty in the pen "just because," and right now that means either Neal Cotts or Carmen Pignatiello.

Piniella has shown with the "Nasty Boys" (Myers, Charlton, and Dibble) that he almost prefers to have multiple closer alternatives. 

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

Actually Charlton wasn't a closer in 1990. He was a swing man who got one save where he pitched the 8th the team gave him a bigger lead and he was allowed to stay in on May 6, then got one more three inning save and finished the year in the rotation. In 1991 they moved Myers into the rotation. The legend of the 'Nasty Boys' is a one of those things that get's a little foggy in hindsight. With Lou's best team, the 2001 Mariners, he had settled on the '1 guy' Kazuhiro Sasaki who had 45 saves and Rhodes, Nelson and Charlton (all left handers..) set him up. I suspect he's going to try to keep roles as set as possible. Marmol, Howry, Wood with Weurtz and the lefties to bail guys out of jams, maybe Marmol doing it occasionally to stay sharp and if Weurtz loses his feel on the slider.

Submitted by The Real Neal on Fri, 03/14/2008 - 1:51pm.

The legend of the 'Nasty Boys' is a one of those things that get's a little foggy in hindsight

 ==========================

REAL NEAL: I know I'm senile and I hate to nit-pick a nit-picker, but didn't Charlton and Dibble both have 25+ saves in the SAME season one year for Lou Piniella when Uncle Lou was managing in Cincinnati?

And, how is that working for us right now? He's (Ascanio) had some nice implosions for us this ST. We traded our crap to Detroit, and then Infante and Oh-Man! to Atlanta, for their crap.

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.