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

Gameday Open Thread / Cubs @ White Sox

Rich Hill (0-1/7.04) throws against Nick Masset as the Cubs make their only visit to Tucson Electric Park this Cactus League season. (The Sox will travel to Mesa next Saturday.) First pitch is at 3:05, and the game will be telecast in Chicago on WGN, though described by the insufferable White Sox announcing team. (Wild guess: at some point in the broadcast, lifetime .239 hitter Hawk Harrelson will talk about how much more fundamentally sound baseball players were in the Old Days.) Pat and Ron will also have the call on WGN Radio.

Another reason for a Cub fan to love, or at least be fond of, Lou Piniella, from Chris DeLuca in the Sun-Times:

Piniella feels compelled to bring a competitive team to Tucson today to face the White Sox, but Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Soriano will stay in Mesa, along with Henry Blanco and Felix Pie, to work on their hitting. ''We have to take a representative team over there,'' Piniella said of the two-hour trip to Tucson. ''First of all, we're playing the White Sox. Second of all, the game will be televised back in Chicago.'

I have been unable to find any reports on the x-ray results following Alex Cintron's nasty encounter with that foul ball off the bat of Mark DeRosa yesterday. If you've heard or read anything, please post it in the Comments.

Update: According to cubs.com, neither Cintron nor Cedeno made the trip to Tucson. Piniella says Cintron "probably could've come today, He was a little sore. He's fortunate that he didn't get hit a little higher because it could've cracked his cheekbone." Cedeno stayed behind to rehab a tight hamstring.

 

Comments

Astros Kaz Matsui out 2-3 weeks with surgery on monday to repair an anal fissure, somewhere, Felix Pie's feeling just a little bit better.

OK, I was wrong. Murton isn't only a Left-fielder, he's a DH only. For those of you watching the game on WGN Channel 9: top of the 7th, Crede on 2nd with a double, and Uribe hits a fly ball to LF that Murton loses in the sun and drops between him and Fuld (ably backing up the freckled dunderhead) who throws the ball into 3rd where we now have runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Next batter flies out to Fuld who almost doubles up Uribe at home plate.....although the fly ball would have been the 3rd out. Then Thome hits a moon shot off Cotts to RF making the score 5-3 Sox when the Cubs should have been back in the dugout getting ready to bat in the top of the 8th still leading 3-2. For those of you who may not be familiar with how to correctly play the OF: (1) you pick up the flight of the ball and begin running towards it, (2) you put your glove up towards the sun blocking it until you get where the ball will be coming down,(3) you position yourself forward to catch the ball moving your glove at the last moment from the sun, and (4) push off your back foot throwing to the cutoff man. I have 14 year olds on my travel baseball team who know this and do it better than Murton. This isn't just one of those things, or happens once in awhile. Anytime a ball is hit to Murton, this can and often does happen. He's a modern day 'Dr. Strangeglove' out in the field.

AZ Phil, It seems to me that Micah Hoffpauir is ready to hit major league pitching. If he's not going to be a Cub, someone's gotta want this guy. Are there any trade rumors you're hearing about for him? Does he have any sort of outside shot at making the club as DLee's backup or does Ward/DeRosa render that impossible? What do you think? His AAA numbers were solid last year... so even though he's incredibly hot right now, I don't think it's beyond reach to expect him to hit major league pitching once the bell rings this year. Thanks.

Re: Fukodome-that sure was crappy coverage by the White Sox broadcasting team. The camera pulled away from Fukodome after the play, then Hawk and DJ never mentioned it again. Too reminiscent of Prior...

Submitted by TheHawk on Sat, 03/15/2008 - 5:16pm.

AZ Phil, It seems to me that Micah Hoffpauir is ready to hit major league pitching. If he's not going to be a Cub, someone's gotta want this guy. Are there any trade rumors you're hearing about for him? Does he have any sort of outside shot at making the club as DLee's backup or does Ward/DeRosa render that impossible? What do you think?

His AAA numbers were solid last year... so even though he's incredibly hot right now, I don't think it's beyond reach to expect him to hit major league pitching once the bell rings this year.

Thanks.

=============================

HAWK: I believe the Cubs plan to hang onto Micah Hoffpauir and that he will begin the 2008 season at AAA, and that he will get the call to replace Daryle Ward as the back-up 1B & LHPH if and when Ward goes down with an injury (as seems to happen occasionally).

I would think Hoffpauir will get a September call-up (at the very latest), presuming he doesn't suffer another season-ending injury, as happened in 2006 (oblique) and 2007 (knee surgery).

Then next year (2009), I fully expect Hoffpauir to replace Ward as the Cubs #1 LHPH and back-up first-baseman, available to give D-Lee a day off every week or two against a tough righty starter. What his future would be beyond that, I don't know.

Obviously, if another MLB club is looking for a young left-handed hitting 1B with power, Hoffpauir would be a good candidate. So I guess he could get traded, as long as the Cubs get back something that they really need. But otherwise they're not just going to dump Hoffpauir.

"You know what he's making me do?" Piniella said of Hoffpauir. "He's making me decide where I can put him on the field and get his bat in the lineup, that's what he's doing. It's as simple as that. He's swinging the bat better than anybody we have in camp. He's been getting work in the outfield. We'll see. "He wants a job, and it's good to see," Piniella said. "I wish we had a few more like him." http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080315&content_id=2428981&vke…

WISCGRAD, You continue to make my point about Murton's fielding prowess (or lack thereof). I should have said step 1A is calling for the ball. The play and Murton were in front of Torres. He's not going to run through Murton to get the ball and was rightfully thinking, "This guy knows how to catch a fly ball, right?". You can put him in the OF, give him a glove, but it doesn't make Murton an outfielder. He's a professional hitter playing in the league without the DH.

so has neil cotts pretty muchwrote his ticket to iowa yet? yes also has kevin hart has pretty much made the team ? yes will the cubs make one or two trades before beginning of season ? one just a few questions to anyone who wants to respond.

The Sun-Times had an interview published today with Buerhle and Zambrano. Question: Could you ever imagine pitching on the other side of town? Buerhle: ''Hmm, it has been brought up, kind of with the family joking around, being Cardinals fans. Being on the South Side now, North Side fans don't like me too much. One, because I play for the White Sox. And two, because I'm a Cardinals fan. But if no one else wants me and the Cubs want to sign me, then I have to have a job somewhere, so, yeah, I would sign there. But going into free agency, I never looked at the Cubs as an option.'' Zambrano: ''I told my family and my friends that before my career ends, I want to play for the White Sox. Right now, my priority is helping this club. That's what I am trying to do. But I used to be, when I was growing up, I was a White Sox fan. But every time I say that, the Chicago Cubs fans get jealous and pissed off.'' http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/845475,CST-SPT-soxcub16.ar…

this is 3/44 but even Bruce Miles in the Herald had a note on the Sun-Times rumor of Ceda/Veal/Gallagher/Cedeno offer for he who shall not be named. Pulp fiction: Some Cubs people were angered Friday to read a report saying pitching prospect Jose Ceda had joined pitchers Sean Gallagher and Donnie Veal and infielder Ronny Cedeno in a proposed deal to Baltimore for Brian Roberts. More than one Cubs person said no such deal is on the table. http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=154041&src=152

What happened to the old Cub reporter that I used to know and love? The old site was fresh with good banter and news and easy to use. I used to look forward to visiting the old Cub reporter. I see the future of this site as the same as Desipio: A once fledgling site now a shell of it's former self.

[ ]

In reply to by Rich_Hill_is_a…

I think the new site is an absolute improvement over the old site, but I agree that the "banter" on the comments is lacking for whatever reason. It doesn't make any sense to me. TCR has improved their site and kept the same writers, and we know MVN had nothing to do with the sites success. Maybe things will pick up once the season starts. It is, after all, March 16th.

Jerry Blevins was sent to AAA by Oakland but my guess is he'll get called up during the season if he does OK. he was the AA lefty reliever prospect sent for Kendall last year...I think the Cubs do get a draft pick via the Brewers as they signed Kendall before the deadline. Others can detail this better though. I also noticed that Kendall underwent Lasik eye surgery after the 2007 season...doubt that will help his throwing (maybe he wasn't able to see 2nd base?) but it might help his hitting.

Recent comments

  • 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...

  • 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.