Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Garrett Cooper
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

"Geo Tagging" with Geovany Soto

Submitted by CubbyBlue on

 

For you and me, "geo tagging" means putting geographical information on things like a video or a photo, so when people see it online they know where it was taken.
But for Geovany Soto, "Geo Tagging" has nothing to do with a camera or a computer, and it doesn't happen in the digital world.
Because when Geo tags something, it'll feel some pain even if it's a baseball.

In Sunday's loss to the Pirates, I bet Jason Jaramillo won't ever forget getting Geo Tagged in the chin when he tried to score from third in front of Tyler Colvin's astonishing one-hop toss from right.

And yesterday when the Cubs needed a little insurance, Kam Mickolio watched one of his pitches get Geo Tagged into the left field wall at Wrigley Field for a nice little insurance run as the Cubs went on to beat the Dbacks 4-1.

That hit from Geo yesterday, plus Alfonso Soriano's homer earlier and the ones from these first 4 games - this team isn't great by a long stretch but it feels like I've already seen more clutch hitting than they managed all of last June.
Even with the pain of Sunday's loss, the games have been pretty fun to watch, and the guys are all... likable I guess is the word.

Like Geo. 
The sophomore slump and pot things are way in the past, he got his arm fixed, he looks comfortable.
I never really believed the rookie season All-Star Geo - I thought he was lucky to be the guy on that team in that year with the not so stellar competition around the NL.
But this season, I'm looking forward to lots of Geo Tags.

And today marks the first Major League start for young Andrew Cashner.
Remember, he's just a kid, he's nervous, and his mother probably thinks he needs a haircut.
So cut him some slack and try to enjoy another one of the talented Cubs kids trying to make it in The Bigs. 

Comments

Submitted by Old and Blue on Tue, 04/05/2011 - 04:02 pm

I'm gonna go out on a limb and predict two hits from Castro today, and one misadventure from him in the infield. Because I'm nothing if not gutsy in my predictions. I haven't had a chance to see much yet but it does seem like there's a little more spring in their steps. Must be that 24 hour batting order.

Submitted by Paul Noce on Tue, 04/05/2011 - 04:08 pm

Funny bit on Cubs pre-game on Comcast... Reporters gathered around Carlos Pena in locker room, getting updates on his thumb, he said he could play in an emergency today but they are just being cautious and hoping a little rest will heal it quickly. Then a reporter asked Pena, "You're not worried about Colvin going 4 for 4 and you being Wally Pipp'ed today?" and Pena replied, "I hope that happens...(Laughter)... Not the Wally Pipp part, but Colvin going 4 for 4."

Submitted by The E-Man on Tue, 04/05/2011 - 04:53 pm

The more Samardjia implodes, the more liklihood that Hendry will dump him. A failed conversion. So, a silver lining there. I have been saying the guy is a bust for two years now. Prove me wrong, Wide-Out! This would have been a perfect spot for Wellemeyer. Sigh...

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Submitted by Paul Noce on Tue, 04/05/2011 - 04:38 pm

It's something called a Nasty Factor. For real. What is the Nasty Factor? The Nasty Factor evaluates several properties of each pitch, and rates the “nastiness” of the pitch on a scale from 0-100, based in part on the success or failure of opposing hitters against previous similar pitches. The Nasty Factor incorporates several different factors for each pitch, including: Velocity — The greater the pitch’s velocity — as compared to that pitcher’s and the league’s range of speed for that pitch type — the greater the nastiness; Sequence — The more the pitcher mixes up his pitches, the greater the nastiness… and certain pitch sequences are nastier than others, too; Location — The closer to the edges of the strike zone is, the greater the nastiness, while pitches closer to the middle of the plate, and farther away outside the strike zone, decrease in nastiness; Movement — The more movement the pitcher applies to the pitch — as compared to that pitcher’s and the league’s range of movement for that pitch type — the greater the nastiness. The Nasty Factor also adjusts for how often the pitcher has faced the current batter during the game, as well as how often he has used the same pitch type against the same batter in the current at-bat and previously in the game. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:PvQMb74x0HIJ:www.i…

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 04/05/2011 - 04:50 pm

chris rose and kevin millar are horrible on MLB's "Intentional Talk"...they should "Best Damn Sports Show" the whole thing and add a couple more guys to eat mic time and play banter off each other.

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Submitted by Dusty Baylor on Thu, 04/07/2011 - 04:26 am

Neal.....he was in the battle for 5th starter in ST. HE was a starter at AAA last year...He pitched reasonably well in 5 of 8 starts last season. Carlos Silva isn't here. Coleman is the best available option to step into the rotation until Cashner returns. I'm not thrilled...or naming Coleman ROY. I'm saying, at least he's been starting pitcher in AA and AAA, with some success at each level, and with a few good starts last season in the bigs. If some mystery option is available...I'm all ears.

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Submitted by The Real Neal on Thu, 04/07/2011 - 04:41 am

My point is that Siva is, always was and probably for the next five years always wil be a better option that Coleman, and he cost less money, so he should be on the team. End of story. I'd actually prefer Diamond over Coleman, but it looks like we're going to get both. If you are trading away prospects for 3rd starters, your sixth starter should not be a guy who can't strike out 5 PCL hitters over the course of 9 innings. Going into the off-season the Cubs had Carpenter, and Silva, who both should be ahead of this loser, and now they're all options who are off the table. Why? Who knows. I realize that Coleman is the 6th starter, what I am pointing out is that is a woeful posisiton for any organziation to unecessarily be in. He deserves to be a starter a little less than Samardijza should have been the closer in '09.

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Submitted by The Real Neal on Thu, 04/07/2011 - 04:04 pm

I don't know which Silva shows up, but he, unlike Coleman wasn't doing it with smoke and mirrors last year. Last March Silva gave up 3 HR's against 2 BB's in 16.1 innings. This March he gave up 4 HR's and 2 BB's in 17.1 innings. Now all of the sudden he's useless. It's just a continuation of the Cubs not understanding how not to make decisions based on small sample sizes (like Wells and his three bad innings last year). "How did Silva cost less money than Coleman?" Unless I am mistaken, Coleman doesn't get the MLB minimum unless he gets called up, whereas Silva was getting his guaranteed money regardless, so by releasing Silva the Cubs also wind up increasing their payroll by about $330K (minus whatever Silva DL time works out to).

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 04/05/2011 - 04:17 pm

Welington Castillo has been assigned to Daytona where he can DH on a regular basis until the physical problem that is keeping him from catching (reported during Spring Training to be a thumb injury) is resolved. The Cubs did the same thing with Tyler Colvin a couple of years ago when he was rehabing from TJS, since Daytona and Peoria are the only full-season Cubs minor league affiliates that use a DH every game. (Iowa and Tennessee only use the DH when they play a road game at an A. L. affiliate). I did see W. Castillo DH for Daytona vs Inland Empire on Sunday at Fitch Park, so apparently it wasn't just for that day.

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 04/06/2011 - 04:30 am

wow...attendance is getting 1980s-level pretty early on in 2011. from some of today's games. bos@cle - 9,025 was@fla - 10,482 hou@cin - 11,821 cws@kc - 12,641 laa@tb - 13,173 arz@chc was 27,039...looked like less actually showed up, though.

Recent comments

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
    I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
    I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
    That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
    I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
    We'll find out soon enough!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Teheran minor league deal is done, per MLB.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Based on Phil’s sound analysis it sounds like a no brainer for Almonte to be placed on waivers as today’s roster move. We shall see.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."  

    Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa? 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Pro teams have to play their "big money" guys if they are healthy and not "locker room" issues.
    The Cubs wanted to deal JHey off well before they bought him out. They just didn't want to pay him to play for someone else for that long. Jed did give him 20+mil to play for LAD last yr.
    Jed might also let Kyle walk at some point this year. Similar scenario to JHey, except Jed thought Kyle was going to be good/solid in '24!!
    You'd think Smyly is in the same book as well. Same with Neris (he's a 1yr vet RP, so he's not really in this convo too much).
    That's ~35mil between those three and those three are going to get opportunities until at least late June) over younger guys even if their performance is "iffy".
    But, Jed is going to play Taillon a lot. They have to try and justify that contract and hope a veteran works out.
    So, Taillon, Imanaga, and Hendricks are locks for the rest of April and probably May.
    Assad, Brown and Wicks handle the last spots until Steele is ready.
    Now, you're question has real merit when Steele comes back. That will interesting if Brown is still good and Hendricks is still bad. But Taillon is entirely safe as long as he's healthy.

    And the bullpen moves were "money" based as well. Smyly has actually been okay. But he hasn't been clearly better than Little. Little had one bad outing. But Smyly makes 9mil. If they needed another RHRP and one of Little and Smyly had to go, it was going to Little. But that doesn't mean Smyly is one of the best 13 arms for the team. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: I think there was an issue with Luke Little coming into a game with men on base. He seems to need a "clean" inning to be dominant. So he is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AAA. Same goes for Michael Arias. He needs to come into a "clean" inning, and is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AA. Porter Hodge is a more versatile pitcher, a better version of Keegan Thompson (multi-inning RP). But Little, Arias, and Hodge (probably in that order) are the Cubs top three RP prospects (all three are Cubs Top 15 prospects).

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    So, let’s do a little war gaming. Taillon is back for tonight’s game. He pitched two rehab games, just a few innings each, and not especially sharp. Let’s face it, he hasn’t been lights out since the Cubs gave him the big contract. In other words, as flat out bad as Hendricks has been, the chances of Taillon being the savior don’t look exactly promising.

    If Taillon is equally ineffective or perhaps even worse, what’s the next move? Winning teams can often find a way to work around a dud fifth starter - kinda. Two dud starters make things much more difficult.

    I believe the biggest reason for the recent bullpen moves was dissatisfaction with the recent blowing of big leads and the recognition that the bullpen wasn’t all it was thought to be. In other words, they are exploring alternate options and configurations. If similar juggling becomes necessary (even more so than it already is), what kind of reasonable maneuvering do we think could be explored?

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Cubdom needs to prepare themselves for Wicks to be sent to Iowa for Taillon to come up.
    Ben Brown has 4 appearances. Wicks has 4 appearances.
    Ben has 16.1 IP.  Wicks has 17 IP
    Ben was a 1.1 WHIP.  Wicks has a 1.7 WHIP. Wicks does have significantly more SOs. 
    Ben has been better, though.
    I love Wicks. I think he's a fighter and his stuff has improved.
    But, Jed isn't ditching Hendricks just yet. He should. But he won't.
    Hendricks should go to the IL and Taillon-Imanaga-Assad-Wicks-Brown should be the rotation.
    Wont' happen though.

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