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 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

A's Bats Hot in Cubs Cactus League Opener

The Oakland A's outscored the Cubs 15-3 over the final eight innings to overcome a 4-0 1st inning deficit, pounding out 18 hits while thrashing the Cubs 15-7 in what was the Cubs 2011 Cactus League opener, played in 50 degree temperatures after an all-night rain before a disappointing crowd of only 6,892 at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, AZ, this afternoon.   

box score

The Cubs got off to a quick 4-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st against A's starter Travis Cahill. Lead-off man Kosuke Fukudome drew a walk, and advanced to 3rd base as Starlin Castro roped a single to RF. Castro stole 2nd base (uncontested), and Fukudome scored and Castro advanced to 3rd base on a Marlon Byrd line-drive RBI single to CF. Aramis Ramirez followed with an RBI single, and after Carlos Pena grounded into a 4-6 FC, Alfonso Soriano ripped an RBI double down the LF line, scoring Byrd and sending Ramirez to 3rd. Geovany Soto grounded an RBI single to LF to plate Ramirez, before Blake DeWitt grounded into a rally-killing inning-ending 6-3 DP.

Meanwhile, Carlos Zambrano was mowing down the A's over the first two innings on just 25 pitches (16 strikes), striking out Coco Crisp and Daric Barton to open the game (both swinging), and allowing just a lead-off walk in the top of the 2nd to Kurt Suzuki, who was immediately erased on an Andy LaRoche 4-6-3 ground ball DP. Zambrano's sinker was working well, and he dominated the A's hitters over his two innings of work, getting routine ground balls when he wasn't scoring a strikeout.  

New Cub Matt Garza came into the game to start the 3rd, and proceeded to load the bases on two singles and a walk. Coco Crisp (batting left-handed) then unloaded a towering grand slam HR over the pavillion well beyond the RF fence, tying the game at 4-4 before Garza could retire a hitter. Garza did settle down a bit after that, allowing one more run on two hits while striking out one. For the day, Garza threw 36 pitches (24 strikes) with a 1/4 GO/FO in 2.0 IP. Garza will probably struggle some in the Cactus League, because he is a "fly-ball pitcher," and fly ball pitchers generally give up more runs in Arizona Spring Training games than they will during the regular season.

Although he did not walk anyone, Jeff Samardzija was behind on most of the hitters he faced in his one inning of work, allowing a run on two hits (a one-out double by Daric Barton followed by a Josh Willingham RBI single). Although he did allow a run on two hits, The Shark did get an inning-ending 6-4-3 DP where he shattered Andy LaRoche's bat.

Carlos Marmol struggled with his command in the 6th, but he did not allow a run in his one inning. Justin Berg, however, got hammered in the 7th as the A's broke the game open, allowing seven runs (all earned) on six hits and a walk, while retiring just one hitter. Berg is one of about ten pitchers battling for (likely) one open spot in the bullpen, and he did nothing to help himself with today's miserable performance.   

John Grabow (who is a lock to make the Cubs Opening Day roster) had a poor outing, allowing a single, a double, and a triple (and two runs) in the top of the 8th. 

The Cubs did mount minor rallies in the bottom of the 7th and in the bottom of the 8th, scoring one run in the 7th on a Max Ramirez bases-loaded SF to RF following Fernando Perez and Bryan Lahair singles and a Brett Jackson walk, and two more in the 8th on a Jeff Baker lead-off infield hit, a Darwin Barney double off the left-centerfield fence, and a Josh Vitters line-drive RBI single.

Alfonso Soriano had a nice day at the plate, collecting three hits (the 1st inning RBI double followed by singles in his next two ABs), and Starlin Castro had two singles (both line drives, both to the opposite-field), as did Marlon Byrd.

On defense, Blake DeWitt was charged with a missed-catch fielding error that really should have been scored a FC (the runner waa already safe at 2nd base when the throw arrived), Tyler Colvin bobbled two line drives to RF in the top of the 7th that resulted in runners scoring from 3rd base after they had held up, and CF Fernando Perez misplayed a routine fly ball to left-center into an extra-base hit.  

The Cubs play the Brewers tomorrow at HoHoKam Park.    

Comments

Az Phil: Garza will probably struggle some in the Cactus League, because he is a "fly-ball pitcher," and fly ball pitchers generally give up more runs in Arizona Spring Training games than they will during the regular season. Garza may struggle some in May through September Wrigley field for that reason as well. Day one of spring training and Garza's performance here is meaningless as a predictor of his performance during the year. But as I don't believe the addition of Garza makes us a contender (even with Wainwright's injury) and I believe Guyer, Archer and Chirinos will be in the majors by 2012, with Archer and Lee (arriving around 2013) becoming extremely good players, I have opposed the trade since the day it was made. I hope Garza becomes a star and proves me wrong, but I think the Cubs will continue to miss the playoffs for now (and, in a few years, contend regardless of Garza) while Tampa will turn around because of this trade. The fact that the Rangers, who have a legitimate argument that a top pitcher can get them to the World Series, offered less than us lends credence to my belief we overpaid, imo. By the way, Guyer (0-2) and Fuld (0-3) held hitless, while Chirinos hit a pinch-hit home run in their first day as Rays, which I know is just as meaningless as Garza's performance, but is just the first day of performances of Garza and those traded for him that I hope do not meet my expectations.

[ ]

In reply to by springs

I don't see how that trade is going to "turn around" Tampa. 1. Tampa won their division last year. Unless by "turn around" you mean the trade will make them worse. 2. Tampa got a backup catcher, a backup outfielder, a no-power SS who is years away, and a pitching prospect who even if he develops and stays consistent is still not going to do much better than Garza, who won 15 games for them.

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

Tampa is in a division with teams spending lots of money to improve. They lost significant pieces (Garza, Crawford) and are getting younger. Yes, turn around may have been the incorrect usage, but they are getting rid of veterans and going with younger players...does rebuild work for you? I don't believe I agree with your determination on what we gave up either: 1) A "backup catcher" -- seems there are many scouts and analysts who disagree with your immense knowledge on Chirinos' ceiling. All we can go on is perceived value, with many perceiving this value higher than "backup". 2) A backup outfielder -- Guyer hit .340+ at AA at an age appropriate 24 years old. Will this be a high point for him? Perhaps. But he also hig .340+ in winter ball. He always had speed (30-33 stealing last year) and showed developing power last year, with 39 doubles and a .588 slg percentage. Perhaps he is never but a 4th outfielder...hell, perhaps he never makes the big leagues. But to say at this point that he is "a fourth outfielder" is premature...this may be his high point, but he had also previously fought many injuries and this could be a pre-cursor to continued success of .300+ avg, good speed and decent power. 3) A no-power SS who is years away: Hell, why not trade every player in A ball and below at this concept -- they are all years away. And certainly they have reached their power potential at the age of 20, so if they are putting up high slugging by then, screw them. Lee could have a bright future and power (in terms of slg% or HR, rather than projection) is not something I concentrate on when considering the value of a player in A ball, particularly a shortstop. 4) A pitching prospect who even if he develops and stays consistent is still not going to do much better than Garza: If Archer develops and stays consistent, or in another words reaches his potential, he will be significantly better than 42 wins and 44 losses, 3.97 ERA, .252 avg against by the age of 27. If Archer reaches his potential, he is a number 1 ace, something Garza is not close to being. If we gave so little, why did Tampa do the trade? And why not take any prospect from the loaded Rangers system, who all are better than these bums the Cubs offered? Why...because we overpaid. And we overpaid to possibly (and I stress possibly) get over the .500 mark, not to make the playoffs. It was a terrible trade even if done for fair value and ridiculously bad because we got ripped off. More importantly, the trade was bad no matter how the players turn out. Prospects have value and, if a trade is going to be made, a team should get commensurate value in return. Corey Patterson may never have developed, but that doesn't mean it would have been good when he was one of the top prospects in baseball to trade him for a serviceable middle infielder like Jeff Baker, even if Baker has turned out to have a better career.

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...