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

I Predict...

Swami Murph will predict tomorrow that Todd Wellemeyer will retire!

OK, so it's just a tired old radio bit. Still, like a bad penny (I said BAD not Brad), Former 1969 Left field Bleacher Bums  mad Bugler (maybe it was a Coronet?),  Mike Murphy has returned to the Chicago airwaves on Sundays at 9AM. He's got a new gig with his old sidekick, Fred Huebner, on ESPN - 1000 (listen live link). ESPN has more WSCR refugees than the Orioles have ex-Cubs...although not by much (Orioles lineup today featured Jake Fox, Felix Pie, Ceasar Izturis, Kevin Gregg and DLee, not to mention almost Cub Brian Roberts).

Murph will host a regular show every Sunday from 9-1, bringing his 20 plus years of radio presence, dating back to the WLS "Fan Talk" days ("just fans talking to fans"). "Never been in a locker room Murph", he was never was afraid to read the tough questions from his yellow pad to Cub GM Jim Hendry or replay some of the great play-by-play calls from Jack Brickhouse or reminisce about his playing prowess in 16-inch softball with Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks.

...more after the jump

Murphy was embroiled in a legal despute with CBS and WSCR over a restrictive covenant issue. He has been off the air since June 2009 when his show was replaced by Dan McNeil. To me it was WSCR's final and not so subtle attempt to remove the featured hosts that were Cub fans. Although remaining host, Brian Hanley is a Cub fan, it's not like he wears his Cubness on display. Hanley usually expresses his embarrassment at being a Cub fan which suits WSCR (aka wsux) just  fine.  The catch was that Murphy wasn't fired and was still under contract with CBS Radio thru May 2010 (and apparently he kept getting paid till then). After the contract expired he filed  a class action suit vs CBS radio  which owns WSCR because the contract claimed to block local radio employment vs competitors for 6 months after contract expiration (and 3 months before expiration). The suit has yet to be resolved and as it's a class action suit, I presume there are other CBS radio personnel that were put in employment limbo with similar contracts that date back as far as Jan 2002.

Even though Murph's bits get repetitive and his theories (I like your "angle" sez Murph) are usually off the deep end, I admit I missed his Cub loving presence on Chicago radio. Since Ron Santo is gone, nobody on radio leaves his Cub emotions on his sleeve like Murph.

I'm sure many of the radio bits will be back. I do Hope Reverend Watkins is back too..."The Cubs don't have to be getting better, the other teams just have to get worse". Project .500 couldn't get a better motto.

P.S. Murph... Don't tell anyone this but I was secretly predicting you were going to be Pat Hughes sidekick. I can smell Swami Murph and Swami Fred now {{dons noseplugs}}

Comments

per E-man: CUBSTER: He has been on for two weeks now, IIRC. I listened to him last week. Its just like "old days" though. Good Sunday baseball talk show. --- Miss a little, miss a lot.

If the kool-aid is a little too sweet (or sour) on Murph's show... Barry Rozner and Matt Spiegel do a nice baseball show Sunday mornings over at WSCR.

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

I agree QM. Jessie Rogers, a former co-host of the show is an idiot and infamous for asking the Cubs former reliever Antonio Alfonseca about his six-finger hands, "So, how did you get those? Were you born with them, or what?" Last week, the same moron when talking about the Atlanta Hawks fans quipped, "I don't know about the Hawks fans there, if they are interested or not. I have no idea if they have had a playoff game there before..." Guess he never heard of Dominique Wilkens. This is someone getting PAID at a sports talk radio station in America's #3 market!

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

He has only had that gig for one or two years after jumping to WMVP from WSCR. He touts himself as a "Chicago Guy", and as a sports talk show host, to not know that in fact the Bulls crushed HOF's 'Nique's Hawks Playoff team is pretty bad. Its not like he is a 25 year old new on the scene. Not only did they lose to the Bulls in '93 and '97 (Jordan years), Wilkins is a TV analyst for the Hawks. Rogers is in the "media business". He is an idiot and I scratch my head every time he is on the air wondering how he got the job. In thinking about it now, I think it was Mike North. Another imbecile.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

I was never a Mike North fan. Guys who blow their own horn have always pissed me off, hence, I dislike North, Coppock, etc. Murphy might be a goofball but he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously. I can see people not liking him, but I can't see anyone hating him. He's like a fly, sometimes annoying but basically harmless. Speaking of Chet Coppock, Garry Meier, who is on WGN now, told a funny story a while back about how when he was at The LOOP and Coppock would come on after Meier (and Dahl), one day Meier and Dahl screwed with Coppock's microphone, I think they said they rigged it to the light came on like it was on the air, but it wasn't. So Coppock started his show, talking into the mic for several mins, and nothing was heard. They had to go to a commercial, figured out what was wrong, and Coppock started the show again, repeating everything he had said word-for-word, because, as Meier said, he scripted most of his show.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I'm already shocked the Giants haven't added a real shortstop to the roster, even if it's just one of the many good gloves on AAA rosters who barely hit.

watching the sf/col game..."i wonder what ben petrick is up to" (former COL catcher) popped into my mind. last i heard he retired years ago after being diagnosed with parkinson's disease. i was wonder how he's doing, etc... it turns out it was a misdiagnosis and he actually has lyme disease. what's even freakier is he's about to be on a PBS documentary about lyme disease. http://www.underourskin.com/tv i guess it's better than parkinson's, but that's a hell of a swerve on diagnosis.

I don't think that WSCR got rid of him because he was a Cub fan. More likely that he happened to be a Cub fan who was also unfortunately a whiney moronic twit who drove listeners like me away. BTW, who's wife did Coppock sleep with (alriiiight, everybody) such that a washed up has been like Murph gets a show before him? I mean, Coppock is washed up too, but once upon a time he did have something approximating talent.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

No shit. I still can't hear the name McPhail without also hearing the clown noises in my head. Murph had his moments, like when he was asking Hendry if it would be a good idea to 'back up the truck' and they got into a heated exchange. I think this is about when Murph stopped getting good interviews. There is a delicate nuance to journalistic probing and Murph just doesn't have it.

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

Coppock did Talkin' Baseball with Bruce Levine about two years ago or so. Couldn't stand him so I understand why espn radio got rid of him. I thought Coppock and North were doing the internet radio/telecast thing that went bankrupt after that.

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

Yeah, I think they both were with that company, and the owner had some financial issues and they were raided by the IRS or FBI, if I recall the story correctly. Last I heard, North had popped up on Comcast Sports Net in the mornings, and I think has moved to CBS. Dan Jiggets is/was with him. That might have been before the internet radio thing, I'm not sure.

Coello has been starting and improving gradually. Yesterday he pitched a beaut--8 innings, no runs, 4 hits, no walks, 7 strikeouts. He looks like the only pitcher at Iowa who wants that fifth-starter gig, and he may give Doug Davis an argument. I-Cubs won Coello's game 1-0 in the 10th on a home run by Brad Snyder. All five Cub teams, from Peoria up, won yesterday.

great outing by dumpster...crappy one for the bats. 2 runs given up by dumpster. he was taken out of the game for a bat in the bottom 7th. 81 pitches, 7ip 5h 0bb 3k...2er

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Nice. Ninja gets dogged a lot when he does poorly, but nobody has really said anything (until now) about his recent work. He's been doing a helluva job. Understandably, it will probably take some time for him to build up some fan confidence. The Ninja jersey's probably aren't yet flying off the shelves.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

all i see out of ninja is a guy that shows up in shape to play, works, doesn't bitch, and doesn't seem to have "baggage." he's just overpaid and not very good. his lack of upper level development is unfortunate, but it doesn't seem to be a result of laziness or lack of focus.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

He's obviously been pitching better, but his xFIP is still essentially 5. No HR's allowed and a BABIP of .182 aren't sustainable trends. I haven't seen any of the games where he's done well, but his problem has been that he didn't have a swing an miss pitch and poor control. He is getting some strikeouts lately, so I have to wonder if something is changed, or if it's just a case of a blind squirrel.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

When they called him up in 2008, his K pitch was an unpredictable splitter. The problem with that was that he had absolutely no control of it, and that showed in 2009 and 2010.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Well, I was just looking at his 2008 appearances this morning and if Gameday can be believed, he wasn't throwing splitfingers in 2008. He was relying on his four seamer almost exclusively by the end of the year and hitting 97-98 on the gun. He added a cutter last year and this. And, maybe as a result of that, his fastball has lost 2-3 MPH. But in his last appearance they have him mixing a 4 seam 93 MPH fastball, cutter, slider and changeup and doing it effectively. Has anyone? mentioned that back in 2008 Samardzija was used as a bridge between the SP and the tandem of Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood and now that Wood is back he's been recast in the same role. Maybe Wood (who also is using a cutter more often) has something to do with his success this year. I wish our braindead media would ask him.

Murph was one reason (the other being Mike North) that I couldn't stand listening to the Score for years. Now I'd much rather listen to Spiegel and Rozner (despite him constantly interrupting Spiegel) than dealing with Murph.

[ ]

In reply to by Tito

The score is almost always respectful of their Cub listeners. I like listening to them. The afternoon show... the 'by cracky' thing is decidedly annoying, however.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Boers and Bernstein used to bug the fuck out of me - similar to Bob and Tom who always seem to be laughing - but they're generally better than Mac/Carmen,Jurko & Harry. I find myself laughing while listening to them, so I guess they're growing on me. Kinda like tallest midget to be the best afternoon show

Milton Bradley DFA'd. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/05/mariners-designate-milton-bradley… MLBTR also says Rosenthal thinks the Cubs are in position to be contenders the next couple of years and should extend Hendry. I think they should extend Hendry a plank to walk into Lake Michigan with. This is not going to be a contending team the next couple of years unless they do something insane like sign Pujols or Fielder, AND add additional very good players beyond that, and have some kids develop fast and contribute.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Hmm. This offseason we lose ARam, Pena, Fukudome, Wood. Dempster will most certainly exercise his option because he's not likely to get $14 mil on the open market. So we need a 1b, 3b, possibly a RF if they haven't let Colvin or Jackson get some regular AB's by the end of this year, plus we need to either resign Wood or replace him. I don't see any in house candidate ready to be a rh late inning rp. Regardless, even if they sign Fielder or Pujols, they still need to plug someone in at 3b who can drive in runs, and the free agent market doesn't exist, other than ARam. Whoever replaces ARam is most certainly going to drop off in run production, perhaps a big dropoff. We still have old players in LF, CF, a huge question mark at 2b, and fun but inconsistent SS play. Oh, and a good hitting catcher who is stuck batting 8th. Not to mention no starting pitching depth. I'm not seeing this team compete for the division.

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

you mean .700 OPS Ramirez? (.745 last year) yeah, how will they ever find that replacement? Not to sound too VA Phil, but I think Marquez Smith could do that now.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Did someone ring? Smith is one possibility, though he's off to a slow start (again?) at Iowa. He looked great in a few at bats in ST but I can't say I ever saw him hit a ball to center or right. He may have a pull-ish tendency that doesn't play in the majors, especially for a small guy. Tennessee has Vitters at third plus two other guys, Flaherty and LeMahieu, who play third occasionally. Of the three, LeMahieu hits consistently. LeMahieu leads that team in doubles, by the way. Wait and see if Vitters can get himself straightened out this season. I'm not making predictions, but I'm hopeful.

Quade recently stated how he was struggling w/PT for Colvin. Wondering who is the next AA or AAA lefty in line to take his place if /when he gets sent down? Jackson?

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Well, they're not going to send Colvin down and call up Jackson, who would have the same problem Colvin does. More likely one of the AAA retreads or Aducci.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

I-Cubs, no thanks, but I'd gladly watch the Smokies or the D-Cubs over the Cubs. In fact, I drove a long way to see Tennessee play recently.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Hits from the correct side of the plate too, yes? Sign him up - i think the bleacherites would appreciate his passion for the game and he'd keep the locker room motivated.

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.