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 / Angels @ Cubs

The Angels (10-6) visit HoHoKam this afternoon at 3:05 to play the Cubs (6-12). The game will be carried on WGN Radio, WGN-TV, mlb.tv and Gameday Audio, but no one will be tuning in, as the world's attention will be focused instead on the University of Illinois' attempt to secure an NCAA Tournament berth.

Carlos Zambrano starts for the fourth time this spring. He's yielded just one earned run and one walk in nine innings--with eight strikeouts.

Among the hitters, Micah Hoffpauir remains the hittingest one we've had--18-for-37 (.486!) with a slugging percentage of .811(!!).

On the other hand, Kosuke Fukudome is getting cranky.

Comments

Cotts has struggled since he was a valuable member of the Sox's bullpen that helped win the 2005 World Series. "I'll take him back," manager Ozzie Guillen said after being asked about Cotts' problems. "Oh, that's tampering. He's my friend. I told Thome after the homer, 'Why don't you hit it off somebody else?' "Neal will come out of that. Neal knows what he's doing. He still has good stuff." http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/cs-080…

"I was a little mad at myself," Fukudome said. Wait till he sees how mad Cubs fans are if he is batting .229 at the end of April.

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

Ahh, the sad truth is that this is the terrible attitude that too many cub fans have. We wanted to run JJ out of town before he even got into the batter's box the first time. Many are already saying that Pie is a waste of time. Maybe some people need to relax a little bit. I hope that Fukudome is every bit as good as avertised, but I don't think anyone should expect him to be a world beater right out of the box. To be honest, there are times that I skip reading the comments here because so many are just plain right down negative about everything. This is my team and I will support them through thick and thin. And by the way Manny, if you judge a GM by the teams record, then Hendry is one of the best GM's the cubs have ever had. In his time here we have 2 playoff apperences, and one season that we just missed on. How many other GMs in team history can say that?

[ ]

In reply to by JohnT

John T: "And by the way Manny, if you judge a GM by the teams record, then Hendry is one of the best GM's the cubs have ever had. In his time here we have 2 playoff apperences, and one season that we just missed on. How many other GMs in team history can say that?" The Cubs have not won a World Series in 100 years. Making the above statement is like saying Hendry is the tallest midget.

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

That is a stupid analogy, at best. The height of midgets? That's what you are resorting to? By your logic 1 in 30 GMs has a chance to be good each year. It also means that the Astros cannot have had a good GM in team history, nor can the Rangers, Nationals, Mariners, etc. etc. It's just dumb to measure a GM by World Series Championships alone.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

WISCGRAD, It might not be the best analogy, but it was in response to his statement of Hendry being the one of the best Cubs GM's ever. But when you consider the team hasn't won in 100 years, that isn't saying much.

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

And again the glass is half full...chalk me up for being the eternally optimistic Cub fan. To each his own though. Just sayin... Go Cubs! Let's carve up the Central this year!

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

hendry's got a 33% success rate at getting a division title...that puts him in some elite company. oh wait...that don't mean squat. is brian cashman a genius or does he have a payroll twice+ the league average? these are guys in suits who push pencils and sign talent...that surround themselves with the people who become the "brains" of the operation... wanna look at prospects given up vs. talent recieved as a point? woo...hendry wanna look at talent passed on vs. talent signed? woo...a pissing contest wanna look at counting on wood/prior 3 years in a row? boo...hendry we're all gonna see him differently, but there's no one sure-fire metric for measuring it until some bored nerd decides to push his/her set of numbers and rules on people. we need more stats for pencil pushers. =p

You guys should think about doing a short product review of the new book: "Cubs Forever: Memories from the Men Who Lived Them." They are talking it up a ton here during the game in an interview with Bob Vorwald from WGN.

Z's 6th... 4 pitch F7, 2 pitch triple (Pie's cup almost hit the fence **clank**) to break up the no-no (thanks Big L), 4 pitch K on a flying bat toss whiff and a 5 pitch K. (15 pitches, 73 thru 6)

Z's afternoon is done, he's being interviewed on WGN. Brenly asks him if Lou has talked to him about moving up in the lineup (answer: no)

I don't think anyone should expect him to be a world beater right out of the box. What are the chances he's even as good as the Cubs composite right fielder of last season (.293 .375 .419 .794 12HR 80RBI)?? Realistically? Slim. Fukudome doesn't fix the problem we had with right field....lack of home run power.

...has a poll where you can vote on which team you think will win the NL Central (spoiler: the Cubs are way ahead). With unique and engaging content like that, why do I even come here?

Kudos on the features on the new site. I especially like being able to edit my comments after the fact. Saves a lot of follow-up comments correcting mis-spellings. Go TCR!

Judging by the fact that there's only 29 comments on a thread that would normally have 100+ comments in it, you're in the minority of liking new sight. I agree with another poster in another thread, that my main complaint would be, the font size of this sight. That DEFINITELY needs to be adjusted.

[ ]

In reply to by Rich_Hill_is_a…

I'm not sure what browser you're using, but most browsers let you manually adjust the font size using CTRL + (plus) or -(minus) if you feel it's a problem.

I am working on something to set-off the headline a little more as they look particularly small in IE (you should be using firefox anyway). I think the tweak I made  on the byline for the comments should suffice.  The font size on the posts looks about the same size between MVN and here. 

 

100+ comments on a Sunday spring training game? Not true at all. Also, you've been a member for 5 days now. So first, how do you even know how many comments a likely game should have? Also, since you've only posted a few times within the last 5 days and only to comment on the website, you are contributing to the problem as you see it. Why don't you try posting regularly and giving us your opinion on the game, the Cubs, etc. for a while. I bet you'll find this "new" website just as rewarding as the old.

Although I will say, that I'm checking out the Angels "halo haven" on the SB Nation sight, which BCB is mirroring it's new format after tonight, and whoa, it's a freaking mess!! Talk about slooowwwww!!! I can't wait to read the "this new format sucks!!" posts on BCB when it's up and running!!!

[ ]

In reply to by Rich_Hill_is_a…

all the avatars and such are a little much for me personally. I can actually change a few things here real quick and allow them, but I'd rather not.

 The auto-refreshing comments they've introduced is nifty. Actually something I'd wanted to try and bring here. If anyone is familiar with AJAX (you are if you have a google email account and use the web interface), I wanted to use that so that adding comments wouldn't require the whole page to reload and it would automatically update with new comments without a refresh. It would take some programming, which means money and we don't have any left. But once we build up some, that's one of the first things I'd like to pursue.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

Thanks, we're actually sending out the word tomorrow that we've moved to the Cubs Blog World and various other outlets. Up to this point, we had just relied on that 2-week window when we're simultaneously posting here and our old site and people finding us. His link is correct, it does point to the MVN one, but they've since made an agreement with View from the Bleachers and it forwards there.

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...