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

Golden Bear Cub Comes Through When It Counts

Brett Jackson rifled an RBI single into the LF corner with two outs in the bottom of the 9th to score Jim Adduci from 2nd base with the winning run, as the Cubs scored one in the 8th and one in the 9th to edge the Cleveland Indians 2-1 in Cactus League action at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in sunny & warm Mesa this afternoon.

box score

Randy Wells got the start for the Cubs today, and threw four shutout innings (57 pitches - 35 strikes, 6/3 GO/FO), allowing a single and a walk while striking out two. Kerry Wood pitched the 5th and struck out the side (S. Duncan-Valbuena-Donald) after allowing a lead-off single to Travis Buck, and Andrew Cashner pitched the final four innings (55 pitches - 33 strikes), allowing one run (a solo HR by Jayson Nix, the second batter Cashner faced). Cashner's command was a little bit spotty, but he got a ton of ground balls (7/1 GO/FO), and may have taken the lead in the battle for the 5th starter job (with Randy Wells now solidly #4) with his performance today. For the day, Cashner allowed just the one run (the Nix HR) on three hits and a walk, plus three stikeouts and one GIDP, in 4.0 IP.  

Meanwhile, Cleveland pitchers threw 5.2 IP of no-hit ball at the Cubs, as Tribe starter Justin Masterson threw three perfect innings (with five strikeouts) and Jeanmar Gomez followed with three innings of one-hit shutout ball (including three punch-outs). The Cubs didn't even have a baserunner until one out in the bottom of the 6th, when Koyie Hill drew a walk. But with pitcher Andrew Cashner at bat, Hill was thrown out at 2nd base on a busted "butcher boy" hit & run play where Cash faked the bunt and then swung away (and missed), and then Cashner immediately followed the Hill CS with a line-drive single to left, the Cubs first hit of the day.  

Down 1-0 going into the bottom of the 8th, Marquez Smith ripped a one-out double down the left-field line off Frank Herrmann, advanced to 3rd base on a Wild Pitch, and then scored when Indians catcher Chun-Hsiu Chen made an inadvisable (and errant) throw to 3rd base trying to nab Smith (who had already arrived at the bag). Chen had a bad day behind the dish today, with the critical E-5 and a PB.

With the score tied 1-1, Jim Adduci led-off the bottom of the 9th for the Cubs, beating out an infield hit. Fernando Perez then laid down a bunt and reached safely on a SH-FC when Cleveland pitcher Vinny Pestana tried to force the speedy Adduci at 2nd base (Pestana had absolutely no chance). But Scott Moore popped-out into short LF and Josh Vitters popped out to right-center, leaving it up to Brett Jackson (the Cubs 2009 1st round draft pick out of Cal), who came into the AB hitting .063 (1-16) in Cactus League action. And the Golden Bear came through, hammering the first pitch he saw into the LF corner, scoring Adduci from 2nd base with the winning run. 

Today was "Ron Santo Day" at HoHoKam Park, with a pre-game ceremony featuring the Ricketts Family, Ferguson Jenkins, Billy Williams, Randy Hundley, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, and Ronnie's wife and kids. There were a lot of #10 jerseys at HoHoKam today.

Comments

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In reply to by QuietMan

Submitted by QuietMan on Thu, 03/10/2011 - 7:17pm. Great as usual AZ Phil. How did Colvin look at firstbase? ================================= Q-MAN: I like what I've seen of Tyler Colvin at 1st base (so far). He has the actions of a 1st baseman (not hard to understand since he played there in HS and in his Freshman year at Clemson), and can make all the plays. I'm not saying he's Gold Glove material, but he's not bad. But Colvin has really been struggling with his outfield play in Cactus League games. He has misplayed and misjudged several pop ups and line-drives, and just doesn't look comfortable out there. I guess some would wonder if working out at 1st base has had a negative impact on how he is performing defensively in the outfield, but I don't know if that's true. Colvin was never a good defensive outfielder in the minors (passable is how I would describe him, with plus-range and an adequate arm but poor instincts).

Today is the first day since the end of the World Series that Draft-Excluded Players (anyone eligible for selection in last December's Rule 5 Draft who was added to a 40-man roster after August 15th) can be sent to the minors by outright or optional assignment. The four Draft-Excluded Players presently on the Cubs 40-man roster are Alberto Cabrera, Robert Coello, Scott Maine, and Kyle Smit. And next Tuesday is the last day clubs can option or outright an injured player to the minors, as long as the player did not accrue any MLB Service Time last season. So the Cubs have to make sure to send Alberto Cabrera, Rafael Dolis, John Gaub, and Kyle Smit (the four players presently on the Cubs 40-man roster who did not accrue MLB Service Time last season) to the minors by next Tuesday. Otherwise, if the player is not sent to the minors by Tuesday and then gets hurt, or reports an injury that the player claims occurred sometime earlier, the club has to place the player on its MLB 15-day (or 60-day) Disabled List and pay the player at the major league rate (at least $414K pro-rated) while on the DL, and the player also accrues MLB service time for as long as he is on the DL, too. So I would very much expect the Cubs to option Cabrera, Dolis, Gaub, and Smit to the minors by no later than Tuesday (probably after the weekend Vegas trip). Minor League Spring Taining games start next Thursday, so I would expect the younger NRI players in camp (like Carpenter, Clevenger, B. Jackson, J. Jackson, McNutt, and Vitters) to get sent to Minor League Camp by next Monday or Tuesday. The younger NRI players are not competing for big league jobs (at this time). Rather, they were invited mainly so that the player can get a feel for the big league environment, and so that the manager and coaches can get to know the player's personality and the player's strength and weaknesses for future reference. Next Tuesday is also the last day a player signed to a non-guaranteed major league contract can be released where the club only has to pay him 30 days salary (about 1/6 of his 2011 salary) as termination pay. Players with non-guaranteed major league contracts who are released anytime starting next Wednesday up until MLB Opening Day get 45 days salary (about 1/4 of their 2011 salary) as termination pay. All major league contracts become guaranteed starting on MLB Opening Day, and so a player released after the start of the MLB regular season gets 100% of his salary as temination pay (minus the pro-rated portion of the MLB minumum salary if the player subsequently signs a major league contract with a different club), regardless of whether or not the player signed a guaranteed major league contract. In addition, it's very possible that one or more of the MLB veterans signed by the Cubs to minor league contracts during the off-season (OF Reed Johnson, RHP Braden Looper, INF Augie Ojeda, and RHP Todd Wellemeyer) have an opt-out clause in their contract where the player can demand his release if he's not added to the Cubs 40-man roster (and 25-man roster) by a certain date (usually MLB Opening Day). All things being equal, having an opt-out clause might have an impact on whether a player is cut or not, and that's why (for example) Reed Johnson might win the backup OF job over Fernando Perez (who has one minor league option left), why Augie Ojeda might win the middle-infield back-up gig over Darwin Barney (who the Cubs might want to play everyday at Iowa), and why Wellemeyer and/or Looper might capture a slot on the pitching staff when other pitchers (who have options remaining) have performed just as well.

The Cubs have released 21-year old 6'5 Australian LHP Cody Hams. He's the former cricket star (bowler) who paid his own way to the MLB Australian Baseball Academy in 2007 to try his hand at something called "baseball." The second baseball game he ever saw was one where he was the starting pitcher. (Talk about a blank slate!). The Cubs liked what they saw of Hams and gave him a $150K bonus to sign in March 2008. He apparently did not progress as fast as the Cubs had hoped, however, although I thought that he would get at least another year to prove himself given his lack of baseball background and a solid performance working out of the bullpen in the AZL last summer. With Hams having just been released, and with RHP Adam Spencer and OF Sean Williams getting released a year ago, only one Australian player (RHP Ryan Searle) is left in the Cubs minor league system.

The entire extent of the SunTimes' coverage of yesterday's game: At the plate: Outfielder Brett Jackson gave the Cubs the win in the ninth with a single to left field, which was just one of four hits the North Siders had on the day. They also went a dismal 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position. On the mound: Right-hander Randy Wells continued to make his bid for a spot in the starting rotation, pitching four shutout innings and allowing just one hit, while fanning two and walking one. Kerry Wood also threw a scoreless inning, while Andrew Cashner picked up the win. Up next: vs. White Sox, CSN, 670-AM, MLB.com.

gwah...ninja c'mon...3 run 9th, 2 outs so far also, yet another homer where adults barrel over kids in the OF to catch a ball. i've seen a LOT of this this spring. saw it twice earlier in the week during a LAD game where a kid got absolutely plastered. i'm yet to see one of these class acts give the ball to a kid, either...especially one they trampled over.

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...