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

The Tao of Q-Ball

You've probably read or heard about yesterday's dugout fracas between Carlos Slim and Aramis Ramirez after the first inning. The Cubs continued their defensive indifference that has plagued their early Cactus League games with 3 errors in the first inning - 5 total on the game (Yahtzee!) -  and that led to a 6-run first inning. You try not to infer too much meaning in spring training results, but despite what Carlos said at the Cubs Convention about not having to compete for a spot in the rotation, the reality is that it's between him, Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner for two of the spots. And while his hefty contract may earn him the benefit of the doubt over Wells or Cashner, both of whom still have minor league options, you hope he will have to demonstrate some modicum of success in March. Thus he was somewhat justified in his anger if he felt his teammates let him down in the first. But like his namesake has hopefully learned by now, you can't act on it in the dugout in front of witnesses.

But I write today not to discuss the minor scuffle, but the reaction by the Cubs new field general. Q-Ball dismissed the incident as "boys will be boys". Fair enough and it being early March, the incident is probably going to be ignored or forgotten by the majority of Cubs fans, so wise to not make a big deal of it. Now my first thought was would this have happened under Ryne Sandberg? I do this only because I'm an unabashed Sandberg groupie and whether Q-Ball ends up being the right decision or not for the Cubs, damn straight I'd rather being rooting for old #23.

Of course there's no way of knowing, I don't think Sandberg has any magical powers to prevent Slim from shooting off his mouth and Aramis from reacting. But would have they hesitated for a second out of respect to an ex-major leaguer and Hall of Famer? Doubtful, but that doesn't stop me from wondering.

I also wonder how Sandberg would have handled the media afterwards. It's sort of the unappreciated skill of a manager. Dusty didn't know how to do it, the city hated him. Lou did and despite similar results to Dusty, certainly was more well-liked over his tenure. Joe Torre was a master at it and don't think that's not a big part of his New York city legend. Q-Ball by all accounts, seems to be doing it well, but I can't say I wasn't disappointed by the reaction yesterday. What I wanted to hear was, "Boys will be boys and I'll deal with it tomorrow. But instead of jawing at his teammates for making mistakes, Silva should worry about picking them up and not getting lit up like Charlie Sheen on a coke bender. He should also try switching to diet soda. I've been getting on Castro a bit for what I feel are mental lapses on the field, but don't think it doesn't apply to the veterans as well. I may be more public about it with the rookies because fans and media lap that shit up like a dog at a running water hose, but Ramirez needs to remember he doesn't have a contract for next year and took a 2-month siesta to start last season. Koyie should remember that $850K is a dime in a water fountain to a major league club."

Okay, I probably took that too far and sarcasm aside, that kind of honesty sure would be refreshing. I sure would have preferred something more along the lines of, "Silva should have worried more about the home runs he was giving up and this sloppy play from the veterans to kids is either going to improve or guys will find the bench, maybe not as immediately as fans want, but it will improve or I'll find guys that can do it"

But the recent talks with Castro and the brushing aside of veterans mess-ups was the same stunt that Q-Ball pulled last year. He got all over Castro in the media and did everything behind closed doors with the vets or not at all. In return, he got their support when it came time to find the full-time guy. It worked for him and the team and it's certainly nothing new out of the manager's handbooks. Hell, it's pretty much standard operating procedure. But if a breath of fresh air from Q-Ball is what you wanted, you should keep expecting a jet stream of the hot variety.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by sbwilliams

4th'd. But I guess if you're going to get the SOS from your manager, it's an improvment not to pay him $3.5 million, so in that regard the Cubs took a step in the right direction... too bad it wasn't added to the payroll. When I was reading the hypothetical Q-Ball rant, I kept wondering "did Rob G forget to close his quotation mark at some point?" Very funny and it would be refreshing.

i thought dempster deserved the opening day nod so glad he got it, but...did his cheerleading for mr. clean last fall give him an edge, sub-conscious or not, in the decision-making this spring? we'll never know...

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

has Cashner in there, but I would assume he goes to Iowa if he doesn't start in the majors. That would leave 3 spots open for (pseudo-ordered by favorites) Ninja, Maine, Caridad, Wellemeyer, J. Berg, J. Russell, J. Stevens, B. Looper, Coello, Diamond, Gaub, M. Mateo, A. Cabrera, Dolis, J. Jackson, Carpenter, S. Rice, McNutt Grabow, Wood, Marmol, Marshall are assumed to be locks.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I can't get to either of those projections at work, it looks like the Cardinals is pre-Wainwright (2-16) - and the Redlegs is coming up as a gambling site, is that also pre- TJ surgery for the division's best pitcher? Something seems off about the NL central having 4 x 86+ win teams - like that forecasting method doesn't total up to 2430.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

it is pre-Wainwright, but if I understand it correctly it just adds ZIPS projections up and projected playing times, converts it to runs and runs allowed and uses Pythagorean to spit out a win number. In other words, unless the NL East and West are for some reason exceptionally bad, it won't add up. It has 80 wins for Pittsburgh for example. The 2nd link is Baseball Prospectus. They have 85 at the moment for Brewers/Cards, 82 for Reds and 80 for Cubs (71 and 68 for Pirates and Astros).

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Thanks. My "2-16" was from BP, so the Cards probably figure to take a 3-4 win hit once the replacement for Wainwright is worked in. If you figure out the systemic issues taking 210 innings out of your rotation causes, I'd bet it's more like 7-8 wins.

Well, KHill craps himself with a RISP to end the game. He is hitting .000 for the season. I know, I know AZ PHIL. The pitchers love pitching to him. In two instances when he could have made a difference in the game outcomes recently (yes, it is ST), he failed miserably. When will Max Ramirez start getting a more serious look? If at all? I mean, this kind of thing will certainly continue in the regular season in all liklihood.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

i wonder what they'll do with m.ramirez, myself. he doesn't have the power or consistancy for 1st even though he's not a good catcher...and the regular mlb backup, if k.hill doesn't get cut, should be w.castillo (imo)...and where does that leave chris robinson? we got 3 guys for 2 slots in AAA...though it probably should be 1 backing up in the majors and the other 2 in AAA...but then there's k.hill mucking up that line of progression.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Answer-Man-Billy-… at least Billy Beane has a sense of humor, imagine Hendry trying to pull that interview off. DB: The past three years or so, suddenly it's OK for the A's to start stealing bases and bunting again. How could you betray Sabermetrics like that, Billy? Beane: We never had a problem with the stolen base; we always had a problem with the caught stealing. So I think as long as we avoid those, we're all fine with it. DB: And the bunting? Beane: Uh, yeah, we're going to have to talk about that. But, as a result of having more sacrifice bunts, we've also managed to bring up the rear in runs scored in the American League [chuckles]. DB: Don't you have to give your manager something to do? Beane: Listen, we've been offensively challenged, and we'll try and scrape out any possible run and base that we can at this point. So we're not overly choosey.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

I think P. Hoffman is one of the better movie actors around, so I'm sure he can pull it off. As long as he doesn't get naked again and bang Marisa Tomei. Social Network was a huge hit, Moneyball sure can do well... The book is still #4 on Amazon's top 10 baseball sellers.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

$20M of that to Brad Pitt probably that's still a very modest budget in today's Hollywood to be honest... they'll spend $20M+ advertising it as well... Soderbergh wanted closer to $60M to do his version and they nixed that and went back to an earlier vision of the script. director has only done one other movie, "Capote" which explains the Hoffmann casting. -edit- guess Pitt took a bit of a discount, originally $15M but took less upfront after Soderbergh quit and more on the backend if the film makes anything. Aaron Sorkin apparently did the last rewrite, so that's good.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

it's not like i think they'll take a bath on it, but unless "Tree of Life" reminds people brad pitt still exists it could be a long haul through DVD releases before they see their money back...unless they have some way to sell this movie to non-baseball fans.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I actually forgot that Soderbergh had the gig early on. I only said that b/c he seems to like to take on lower-budget projects that could be "cool", or interesting (Bubble, The Good German, his last film), if not lucrative. So, maybe $40MM-$60MM is "not much" in Hollywood these days when compared to Inception or Avatar. Juno, with a budget of $7MM, has grossed $143.5MM Domestic, so far! How I would have loved to invested $100 bucks!

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

well I don't think Juno is going to make much more at this point. :) I think it's been about 10-11 years since Soderbergh made a good movie, seems more interested in experimenting or hanging out with the Ocean's 11 crew. I mean the first was watchable, but the next two...ugh. So probably good that he's not doing Moneyball, his version had an animated Bill James talking to Billy Beane and interviews with real baseball players interspersed through the narrative.

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.