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 

 



 

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Thread for Games 142, 143 / Cubs @ Reds

Update: We decided to try the losing thing all over again. A brutal, brutal, brutal 9th inning made possible by Kerry Wood's lack of control, Ronny Cedeno's inability to field a ground ball, and the offense's inability to take advantage of the myriad opportunities it had to crush a horrible team.

Good news—the Brewers lost and nearly got themselves perfect-gamed by Chris Young of the Padres, thus ending a 2-5 homestand which included a four-game split with San Diego. What's more galling: splitting four with the Padres at home or losing two of three to the Reds in Cincinnati? (There appeared to be so many Cub fans at the Great American Ballpark this weekend, I think these games should go against our home record.)


Update: The losing streak is over; the winning streak has begun.

Jason Marquis gave up just two ER over 7 1/3 Saturday night, and Cub hitters beat the Cub bullpen, 14-7.

Micah Hoffpauir started in right field, and Dave van Dyck writes that former Rookie of the Year candidate Kosuke Fukudome may want to get used to the view from the dugout.


If adversity really does build character, the Cubs are on their way to having a locker room full of Albert Schweitzers and Abraham Lincolns. Since August turned into September, the Cubbies, losers of six in a row for the first time since last June, are hitting .228 and the pitchers have a cumulative 6.32 ERA.

Saturday: Jason Marquis (9-8, 4.46; first appearance vs. Reds in '08) vs. Johnny Cueto (8-12, 4.65; 1-2, 3.66 vs. Cubs in '08)

Against the Astros last time out, Marquis whiffed a season-high 8 and allowed just 2 ER and 5 hits over 6 IP, though he took a loss. Cueto makes his first start since 8/24, when he suffered an elbow strain. Not coincidentally, perhaps, the 22-year-old Cueto is about to break his personal professional high for innings pitched in a season (155 IP so far against a previous high of 161.1 last year as he rose from 'A' ball to Triple-A).

Sunday: Sean Marshall (3-4, 4.03; 0-0, 6.00 in 3 IP vs. Reds in '08) vs. Aaron Harang (4-15, 4.24; 0-3, 7.27 vs. Cubs in '08)

Young Marshall fills in once again for Carlos Zambrano after the lefty had a bumpy 5 1/3-inning go last week against the Phillies (9 hits and 5 ER). Harang is 1-4 since his own visit to the Disabled List with forearm problems, but has a 2.84 ERA over his last three outings.

 

 

Comments

i hope we see a extra leftie in the lineup tonite and i dont mean d. ward fukadome fontenot hoffpauer edmonds i am all for lee and soriano sitting on the bench maybe right next to gerald perry.

this is Lou's lineup: Sori/Riot/DLee/ARam/Soto/Hoffpauir (RF)/DeRosa (2B)/Johnson/Marquis vs. Dustbuster's "the ex-cub factor" lineup: Dickerson/Keppinger/Phillips/Votto/Encarnacion/Bruce/Patterson/Bako/Cueto

Brandon Webb crushed again vs Dodgers...the Dodgers won 7-2,so the Snakes are in 2nd place. 5.2 IP, 5H, 7 ER, 7R, 6 BB, 6 K, 1 HR (Manny being Manny) and Randy Johnson has been scratched for his start on Sunday vs Dodgers due to shoulder fatigue.

Soriano putting the damn team on his shoulders...ok lets finish it off and get back on track...I'm no big fan of Marshall but Harang has been simply awful this year, we should be able to win tommorrow.

good thing lou did not take my call about lineup soriano is killing it and should have one more ab i still cannot believe all those lefties on bench vs. a right hander.

for those watching on Comcast telecast, it's been fun watching Brenly calling signs from the pitcher all night, 7th inning Marquis changeup, and 6th inning Bako call for pitchout and the old fake 3rd/1st by the pitcher...he even gave details about the hook (index,little fingers) and shaking that is the 1st/3rd...a fist is a pitchout. Fun also Marquis sucks (just kidding)...MAJOR KUDO's Jason. This was so very important to pitch well in Sept...not to mention hitting a HR in the 8th!

Oswalt pitched a 1 hit complete game shutout vs Rockies in colorado...so some of the streak was due to that buzzsaw ...hope we don't see him next weekend (if we do, it will be friday night)

Well let's hope Soriano continues to be on a homer hot streak, just like he was in September of last season. He definitely ignites the offense like nobody else can.

i think wuertz is gonna be right behind howry on the pecking order lou was not happy if i as lou i would have went to mound and told wuertz thats why you spent 2 months at iowa. and why you wont be here next year. lou plays fontenot just enough seems like he always gets a hit fontenot has been are cleanup hitter a few times recently, you can only hope to slow him down.

Back in '03 McFail lamented that if Guzman hadn't been hurt in August the Cubs would have brought him up and, replacing such notables as Veres and the six-fingered wonder, the Cubs would have made it to the World Series. Now, five years later, a Cub nation turns its lonely eyes to you, Angel Guzman. If the offense can get it going, he may be the key the last three weeks - the bridge from the starters to Marmol and Wood.

I have no idea why some fans are shocked ------------ I don't think it's about him being a #1 pitcher, it's being shocked that he's back to full health again.

Lou's "thinking outside of the box" lineup: Soriano/Hoffpauir (RF)/DLee/ARam/Soto/DeRosa (2B)/Edmonds/Theriot/Marshall vs. Dusty's ex-Cub lineup being benched Dickerson/Keppinger/Phillips/Votto/Encarnacion/Bruce/Cabrera/Hanigan/Harang

the sori hop...he nearly gave away a free baserunner again today. neat. yesterday...bases loaded...2 out...runners going on contact... soriano runs, camps under the ball, jumps, goes off-center, and catches the ball wrist-crooked with about 2' of air under him from his hop. that's inexcusable, dangerous, and with all runners going on contact could have scored all 3 if missed. he's in no position to throw when he comes down off those hops...his momentum to the plate is halted (and in some cases he jumps backwards)...and it's getting to be just plain old bad baseball even when he does catch it. the reputation of your arm can only go so far when you can't/won't fundamentally catch a simple popup and be in position to continue the play afterwards.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Something like that is harder to get over than you think. I have a similar issue when I bowl and take free kicks and can't get rid of it no harder than I try. Plus Soriano got another kill today.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

honestly...i could live with it if he wouldn't do it with men on. i could even live with him just not doing it with men in scoring position. that hop makes it practically impossible for him to move to RF and take advantage of his arm. i'd like to see him take care of this tick in his play before that becomes an option again. yes, he's probably a LF'r for at least another 2 years, but having the option to move him around based on his given skills would be nice. beyond that "future" stuff i really don't like the unnecessary motion and it's not like he's been doing this since age 15 or something. hard or not, i wish he's streamline his game to curtail it in more important situations.

How isn't this Wood's fault? Sure, Cedeño made the error, but Wood loaded the bases against incredibly subpar hitters. When a closer doesn't have it, he doesn't have it; "Quick Hook" Piniella should have one in the ninth inning, too. Sigh. If tomorrow's an off day, we're fucked.

That was a 9th inning of Cubbery if there every was one. I felt like I was watching a mid-90s game or something. At least the Brewers are going to lose as well...

As bad as that play was by Cedeno that should have ended the game----Wood just didn't do the job---two walks in the 9th will always lead to trouble---thats a tuff lost

It's games like this that make me wonder why I weast so much time, energy, and emotion on something I have absolutely no control over. I blame wood completely...you can't walk people in the 9th trying to be too cute...but this is reason #1 you bring your closer into non save situations if he hasn't pitched for 2-3 days.

Definitely limping to the finish here :(...gotta get going again. We are pretty much a lock for the wild card but it would be dissapointing to have a season like this has been for 5 months and not win the division.

Thank you Kerry Wood for the choke performance. Lou's gotta be loving the bullpen's performances of late. Why does this team suck so bad in September? Lou needs to bench Lee if he's serious about winning. This has been putrid. Completely Useless By.....

sharp grounder on the SS side of second base, hit the edge of the grass and had a minor deflection from this but still hit Cedeno in the glove and squirted into short cf. Should have been a double play to end the game. No question it's an error...in fact it reminded me of Alex Gonzalez in game 6 because it didn't end the game but at that point the game was lost (although AGon's grounder was in a different location).

Brewers do play 4 games vs Phillies next week (starting thursday), so the magic number (either division or wildcard) will drop 4 points total due to that series. Phils @ Milw 9/11-9/14

Maybe Lou will decide that now is the time to give his best reliever the job of closer. It's hard to dislodge a $48 million right fielder and to replace a closer in September, but maybe this is the good that will come from the Cubs' mini-swoon. In other news, the Iowa Cubs' suspect pitching has caught up with them and they are being eliminated in the semifinals this afternoon. Daytona, on the other hand, doesn't have much of a batting order but they have plenty of pitching--starters Hung-Wen Chen, Jay Jackson, Casey Coleman, relievers Schlitter, Jordan Latham, Blake Parker, among others--and lead 1-0 in the FSL finals.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

Good God, this is stupid. 1. Marmol walked someone Sunday, and walks about twice as many per inning. 2. Marmol gives up home runs about 3 times as often as Wood. 3. Marmol pitched Saturday, and gave up another fucking home run, this one with the bases loaded to some slugger named Jolbert Cabrera with a .676 career OPS - after the homer. 4. Going into yesterday's game their ERA's were about 1 run from being the same, and had Cedeno made that play they still would be. 5. Wood hadn't pitched in four or five days, he was rusty. 6. Had Wood done the same thing in the 7th and 8th, we still would have lost. 7. Marmol came in with the tying run at the plate, which is a 'higher leverage' situation than nobody on anyway. But besides that, good plan.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

By "good radar" I meant control. When Wood reaches back for something extra, he not infrequently throws a fastball that misses by a foot, like that 2-2 pitch to Javier Valentin. Valentin will swing at anything with two strikes on him--certainly anything that Marmol throws--but not a fastball that misses by a foot. Two more bad pitches (sliders) and Wood had walked Valentin, not an easy feat. I thought it had been obvious to everybody for a long time that Marmol was the ace of the bullpen. The only interesting question was whether the ace should close. But this is September, you've got to close the door on games like this.

I was thinking more along the line of Leon Durham when I saw Cedeno's ole' of that DP grounder - the kid seems to get some bad brain cramps in crucial situations. But I agree that Woody should have been yanked - but in favor of exactly whom at this point?

well this sucks thought it was a win changed the channel then came back to game only to see reds celebrating well this is just gonna be a all around bull-s sunday if only he bears could win well like i said a bull shit sunday.

All on Cedeno -- Wood was rusty and had no slider -- routine play. He rushed it -- very definition of a choke. Lou choked as well -- should have walked the enxt hitter to laod the bases. Too nagry to think.

1. marshall deserved a better fate. 2. hard to blame this on wood, having only pitched once in a week. then again, hard to blame cedeno also, but he sure did look away from the ball at exactly the wrong moment. why not call it a draw? 3. any explanation for lou using soto in the day-after-the-night-game? soto's only offensive contribution was a hbp. will soto disappear in sept 2008 as theriot disappeared in sept 2007? 4. one can only hope harden does not have a rust problem the way wood did. if harden only goes 2 or 3 innnings in st louis in the first game of the series, the bullpen will be a mess from then through houston. especially with zambrano being a question mark. 5. the next 20 games should be quite the roller coaster ride. isn't this what we all wanted to begin with? is it the ride, or the destination? i'm perfectly willing to be greedy, and say "give me both".

On the bright side, if they would have hit a 3 run homer in the 9th, it would have been sudden and shocking. At least this way we had some time to warm up to the fact that the Cubs might not win the game even before it was over.

on other injury news... from the Astros mlb website: Oswalt is scheduled to start Thursday vs Pittsburgh (phew). The 'Strohs don't have a day off Monday or Thursday. Cub killer (especially in Houston)...Wandy Rodriguez is scheduled to make his next start on Friday vs. the Cubs, but it would not be surprising if he is scratched. Cassel is a candidate to start in Rodriguez's place. The Astros' injury bug spread to the starting rotation on Sunday, when left-hander Wandy Rodriguez left the game after one inning due to a strained right oblique muscle. It was the same injury that forced Rodriguez from his prior outing, but that one lasted 5 2/3 innings. This time, Rodriguez felt the pain right away, soon after he threw his first pitch to Rockies leadoff hitter Clint Barmes. "I felt it [while warming up] in the bullpen, but not too much," Rodriguez said. "When I faced the hitters, I tried to throw harder, and I felt it a lot." -------------- also Ty Wiggington is out 7-10 days sustaining a left groin strain on Saturday http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080906&content_id=3428643&vke…

OK -- ugly loss to a bad team and a horrible starting pitcher, injuries in the rotation and pen, the $48MM RF fix has been exposed by the league and will have to completely re-tool his swing next year, and the Cubs travel to trouble spots St. Louis and Houston this week. Time to find out if this team has any backbone.

Normally a pitching team, Daytona has been pitching and hitting in the playoffs, so the other teams have no chance. Tonight, 9-1 at Fort Myers; yesterday, 5-1. Now Daytona goes home for three games, needing one win for the FSL championship. In the playoffs against Dunedin and Fort Myers, Darwin Barney is hitting .350, and five other guys--Tony Thomas, James Adduci, Blake Lalli, Steve Clevenger and Jonathan Mota--are hitting better than that. Jay Jackson pitched tonight and was lights-out, as usual, for five and two-thirds. I don't see anybody from high-A being called up to the Cubs this month, but there is a lot of young talent on this team.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

Postseason is a small data sample, but it's still the postseason. It's not spring practice. ML teams in contention sometimes get a boost from young call-ups. The Cubs this year, not so much. They get Hoffpauir playing out of position in right field, and a defense-oriented catcher. Pitchers called up so far are Kevin Hart (7.97 ERA in 20.3 ML innings this year) and soon-to-be ex-Cub Michael Wuertz. The talent was pretty thin at Iowa and Tennessee this year. (Iowa won mostly with retreads.) Daytona is a bright spot. Maybe some of the talent will help the Cubs next Sept.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

Postseason is a small data sample, but it's still the postseason. It's not spring practice. It doesn't matter. We are still talking about 15 plate appearances, which is a completely meaningless sample. Here are the more relevant season lines for they guys you mentioned: Darwin Barney: .262/.325/.357 OPS: 682 Tony Thomas: .266/.320/.400 OPS: 720 James Adduci: .290/.380/.365 OPS: 845 Blake Lalli: .343/.386/.519 OPS: 905 Steve Clevenger: .313/.393/.405 OPS: 798 Jonathan Mota: .260/.320/.362 OPS: 682 With a couple of exceptions, it is a bunch of mediocrity, at best. You only have 2 players with OBP above .325, and only one guy with an SLUG over .405. But go ahead and be impressed with 15 plate appearances or so.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

The Cubs also have received boosts from Samardzija, Marshall, and Gallagher. Also, still enjoying having called up Fontenot and Marmol last year. The Cubs have just gotten their boosts prior to September. Who's left to give playing time? Daytona has been a bright spot, I'd agree. But when most of your minor league talent is on your major league roster, it's not surprising that AAA and AA haven't been great. The prospects that have remained in the minors (Pie, Colvin, Ascanio) are still there because they haven't performed well--Hendry has shown his willingness to call up guys who are playing well, hence our weak AAA and AA rosters.

So, for Halloween this year, will Ronnie Cedeno be Brant Brown or Alex Gonzalez?

All the races are really close. Aside from the Angels who have a double digit lead, the next biggest lead in a division is the Cubs who are 4 up.

Must be getting pretty crowded in Lou's dog house -- he may need to add on another room, or they may have to start sleeping in shifts. Dodgers lose a whole bunch in a row, then immediately win a whole bunch in a row. Cubs, please take note. Odd sport, this. The defense has been pretty lousy during this nasty stretch -- Ramirez had a brutal few games, the Cedeno play yesterday, giving up a steal of home, etc. Time to focus and tighten up, gentlemen.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

for the most part "lou's doghouse" seems to be a big myth made up by fans who assume lou is gonna lay down the law or something...butt patting, holding players out of the lineup for extended periods, screaming, whatever... fuku got a hits a couple days in a row and the story of him "having a talk" with fuku was the difference maker. there's a ton of reasons this makes little sense starting with "why not have this talk months ago," but that "story" and presumed outcome died its own quick death. tiz the cycle of the assumed responsibility and roles of the manager in the public eye... and yeah...the D has been f'n nasty during this stretch. even stuff that didn't go for errors could have been handled better. "the aram D game" was amazing.

Lots of hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth here following an ugly loss in a tough stretch. That's good. This has been one of the few "Cub-like" stretches in an otherwise very alien, otherworldly season. This team had to get tested at some point and better now than in three or four weeks. The games are starting to really matter (not that they didn't up 'til this point, but still) and the pressure is intensifying and only truly special teams deal with it effectively. Is this team special? Do they have the collective stones to get through this and come out stronger? Or are they going to crap their pants at the first sign of pressure or a prolonged bad streak? That's what we're finding out. What's been missing from this team is that sense of angry togetherness that usually comes from doubters having their say. Well, the doubters are out in force now, so it may be time to shed the cool, confident demeanor of this year's club in favor of a slightly more angry, driven approach. And I'm not talking about the whiney, petulant, play-the-victim babies from Dusty's '04 team. I'll settle for the focused and steely-eyed take-no-prisoners cliche.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

Well, that might be part of the issue. This team is loaded with nice character guys, which makes it a great team to root for, but not necessarily a team that's built to win it all. I remember Indians players bemoaning the loss of Albert Belle, saying the team lost its sense of ruthlessness when he bolted. Of course they never won it all either. Character and chemistry are tough things to measure. Talent obviously drives most results, but everyone knows the most talented teams don't always win it all. Ditto for players. ARod and Bonds are arguably the two most talented players in the past couple of decades and they have zero rings between them. Sometimes it's the team that feels they have nothing to lose that ends up going all the way through ('03 Marlins, '06 Cardinals). Look at the Bears last night. They played free and easy, while the Colts looked tight and frazzled. Of course, no one would ever accuse the Bears of having too many nice character guys. So who would the guy(s) be to lead by example (either verbally or by performance) in the Cubs' clubhouse? The three guys you mention definitely are of the quiet leadership demeanor (and they also sphinctered up in the playoffs last year). Zambrano could be that guy, but who knows what the other players think of him. He may be too volatile. Dempster and Wood could fit the bill. They both seem to be on a mission this year. In terms of position players, Edmonds has been there before (even if he's new to the club) and, er, hmmm.... Reed Johnson has a swagger to him but has he ever even been in the post-season? Soto and Theriot are probably too young. DeRosa's an Ivy League guy and seems too bland and nice. Fukudome's been mired in a four-month slump. Who does that leave? A bunch of bench guys? Maybe DWard can conjure up the ghost of Randall Simon and Henry Blanco can convince each guy to grow a mullet as an homage to the '93 Phillies. Of course, that team ended its season by having one ex-Cub give up a walk-off to another ex-Cub. Oh crap. We're screwed.

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.