Cubs MLB Roster

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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

Game 151 Recap: Cubs 7, Brewers 6 (12 Innings)

Brewers Give the Cubs a Game, Cubs Happily Accept

 

W - Wood (5-4), Rob G's childlike faith in spells, fairies and magical comebacks
L - Villanueva (4-7), Brewers' base-running coaches.

 

 

Things to Take from This Game

 

1. Harden reprises Marquis
Like Marquis the night before, Harden got into all sorts of trouble in the first before settling down.  The difference between the two starts being that Harden escaped with only one run allowed. Three very economical innings allowed him to get to the fifth, where Harden again struggled.  There he snuck out of a bases loaded jam with 115 pitches thrown, and just the one run from the first.  Velocity looked good, but Harden had no command on the fastball.  6 walks, 9 K's

 

2. DeRosa struggles at 2nd, Cubs struggle in 6th.
DeRosa had a throwing error in the first as he chose to try to turn a very tough DP instead of going to first.  The first run of the game scored on the play.  A bobbled grounder in the sixth helped spark a big inning for the Brewers, abetted by Samardzija's struggles to throw strikes.

 

3. Solo Scoring
Edmonds and Ramirez hit solo home runs, but that was the extent of the Cubs scoring.

 

4.  Crazy-ass rally.
The Brewers ran into two outs on the basepaths in the top of the ninth, squandering a chance to blow the game out.  Instead it's "just" 6-2.  Bottom of the ninth, two outs, and Ramirez squeaks a double just under Braun's glove. Edmonds and DeRosa single, scoring Ramirez.  Soto, who had made a nice block of the plate and nice throw in the top of the inning, takes the first pitch from Salomon Torres and hits a game-tying 3-run homer.

 

5. Lee wins it.
With runners on 2nd and 3rd in the bottom of the 12th, Lee singles up the middle to drive in the winning run.  The Brewers had 25 (yes, TWENTY FIVE) runners LOB to the Cubs' 11, plus the running gaffes.  The Cubs certainly had their issues between Harden's wildness and DeRosa's early-game defense, but overall the Brewers deserved to lose this.

 

The almost-there details, below.

 

Game Recap

  • Messmer belts out the anthem, and my mlb.tv feed seems willing to play ball today.  woo.
Inning 1 - Top
  • Harden starts 3-0 on Cameron before throwing a 90mph fastball for a strike
  •  91mph for ball four.
  • 90mph fastball inside corner for strike one to Durham.
  • Durham with a nice bunt down the 3b line, Ramirez waits for it to roll foul, just a few feet before reaching the 3b bag.
  • full count to Durham
  • and ball four.
  • Nice slider to start off Braun, swing and miss.
  • deep fly to center, Edmonds catches it and Cameron goes to third.  Change up got elevated.  Sounded ominous off the bat, wind held it up.
  • Fielder rolls one into the hole between 1st and 2nd, DeRosa gets there, and makes an ill-advised choice to spin, throw to second avoiding the runner.  Poor throw, (can't quite tell on my feed, but told it hit the runner) ball gets away from Theriot. Cameron scores from third while Durham and Fielder are safe at 2nd and 1st.   1-0 Brewers
  • Harden walks Hardy.  29 pitches so far.  One out.
  • Bases loaded, and Hart K's on three pitches.  elevated fastball for strike 2, changeup low and away for strike 3.
  • 2-2 on Counsell. Fans really in to the AB.
  • 3-2.  Harden then K's Counsell on pitch number 38, a high fastball at 94.  Good damage control, actually, but horrid pitch count.
Inning 1 - Bottom
  • Soriano bounces out to second.
  •  and Theriot flies to Cameron
  • and Lee K's looking.  Helluva start to this game.
Inning 2 - Top
  • 3-2 on Kendall, before a swinging strike out.  3 Ks in a row for Harden, still has the no-hitter going.
  •  Brenly not sure if fastball is up on purpose, or due to wildness. 
  • and K's Bush swinging.
  • 0-2 to Cameron.  Bottom of the lineup allowed Harden to find himself?
  • 95 mph just off the outside corner.  Crowd boos. Slider, er, change, off the corner.
  • Foul-tip K, 5 Ks in a row for Harden.  54 pitches 
Inning 2 - Bottom
  •  Ramirez with a sharp bouncer to Counsell, makes the play
  • Edmonds takes a slow, 70 mph curve up in the zone, blasts it out to just left of center, high up in the bleachers.
  • DeRosa K's
  • Soto flies out, Hart makes a nice running, diving catch in the right-center gap
Inning 3 - Top
  • Durham flies to left
  • Theriot with a nice diving stop, Braun out at first
  •  3-2 on Fielder, fastball 94 mph inside corner and Fielder goes down swinging.  10 pitch inning.

Inning 3 - Bottom
  •  Fukudome flies to Braun
  • Harden bounces back to Bush
  • 3-0 on Soriano
  • 3-2 count, Soriano takes a close pitch just off the plate for ball four.
  • Soriano caught stealing by the suddenly strong-throwing Kendall.
Inning 4 - Top
  • Hardy flies out to about two steps short of the ivy in center.    Wind blowing in helps, again.
  •  Hart K's looking.  Wow, Hart is just lost up there.
  • From behind in the count, Counsell comes back to work a BB.  Breaks a string of something like 10 straight set down by Harden.
  • Kendal flies out to right. Harden still has a no-hitter, oddly.
Inning 4 - Bottom
  •  Theriot grounds to Hardy
  • Lee hits one that sounds good off the bat, crowd roars, and Cameron catches it several feet short of the warning track.
  • Ramirez hits a rolling..... something.... into the left field well bleachers.  Another lined bullet, very similar to the HR from last night.  2-1 Cubs. 
  • Edmonds flies out to Braun, just short of the warning track.
Inning 5 - Top
  • Gyeh.  Count goes full to Bush, and Harden walks him. Not the way to start the first inning where the Cubs have a lead in a game and a half. 8 pitches to Bush
  • Harden at 94 pitches, and no one up in the bullpen.
  • Cameron with a tapper up the line, Harden takes it to the bag.  Bush to second.
  • Fly down the right field line, Kosuke either misplayed it, or deked Dave Bush into thinking he was going to catch it.  Brenly and Kasper think the later.  If so, it worked:  Bush stayed at third on the Durham double.  No-hitter over, and finally the bullpen gets moving. My mlb.tv feed isn't good enough to allow me a judgment on the play.
  • Braun pops to Lee in foul territory.
  • which allows Harden to IBB fielder.  Bases loaded for Hardy.
  • Harden at 107 pitches
  • 3-1 pitch, Hardy check-swings at a called strike.
  • 115th pitch, a long full-count battle ends as Hardy flies to the warning track in right.
  • (It won't show up in the box score, but that deke did save a run, which, as I write this part in retrospect, was pretty crucial.)
Inning 5 - Bottom
  •  DeRosa pops to Hardy
  • Soto K's looking
  • From 0-2, Fukudome works a walk.  Good to see it.
  • Hoffpauir hits for Harden.  Samardzija to pitch
  • Hoff flies to right
Inning 6 - Top
  • Samardzija in, Hart grounds to Theriot.
  • sweet, I know how to spell Samardzija by memory.
  •  A Cubbie Blue and White beachball is on the outfield track.  How embarassing.
  • Counsell walks on a 3-2 pitch
  • Kendall hits into a potential 4-6-3 DP, but DeRosa bobbles a tricky hop.  Everyone safe.
  • Lamb hits for Bush, runners on 1 and 2
  • Lamb rolls one to Theriot a bit towards the hole, gets the force at second.  1st and 3rd with two outs for Cameron
  • Cameron singles to left, run scores.  2-2 game.  Samardzija hasn't thrown a first-pitch strike yet.
  • and Durham rolls one through the right side for a single.  Lamb scores from second, Cameron goes to third on Durham's single.  3-2 game.
  • Braun floats a single into right.  The throw  goes to third, is offline and hops away from Ramirez a bit, letting Braun go to second.  4-2
  • Fielder intentionally walked, again, and loads the bases, again.
  • Samardzija out, all runs so far are unearned.
  • Randy Wells in to face Hardy with the bases loaded and 2 outs.
  • Four straight balls.  5-2 game
  • Hart is a total disaster right now.  After 4 pitch walk issued by a new, MLB inexperienced pitcher, he flies out to right on the first pitch he sees.  Inning over.
Inning 6 - Bottom
  •  Coffee in for Bush
  • Soriano with a soft liner past Hardy for a single.
  • Theriot hits into a 5-4 force, as my computer freezes up.
  • I'm told Lee GIDP, 5-4-3.   A very quick and futile inning for the Cubs and my internet connection.

Inning 7 - Top
  •  Wells stays in, Counsell rolls out to DeRosa
  • and mlbtv loses sound. Hah.  I'm told there were cheers for DeRosa making the routine play
  • woo, sound returns.
  • DeRosa with a backhanded 4-3 putout of Kendall
  • Big Brad Nelson pinch hits for Coffee, lazy fly out to Edmonds on the first pitch
  • some random hockey players sing the stretch. Incredibly slow tempo
Inning 7 - Bottom
  • Gagne in for Coffee
  •  Ramirez rolls one to first, Fielder leisurely tags him out.
  • Edmonds bounces back to Gagne
  • and DeRosa flies to Cameron on the warning track.  Very quick inning.

Inning 8 - Top
  •  Wells still in, Cameron flies to Soriano close to the left field line, in the shadows
  • Durham bounces into an easy 4-3
  • Braun breaks a bat, Ramirez with a nice play to his right, easy 5-3, easy inning for Wells

Inning 8 - Bottom
  •  Mota in for Gagne
  • Soto flies out toward the right field line, Hart catches it
  • Fukudome K's swinging
  • Fontenot in to hit for Wells, walks.
  • Soriano K's swinging
Inning 9 - Top
  • Neil Cotts in for Wells 
  • and first pitch, Fielder just misses an opposite field HR, doubling high off the wall in left, close to where the well begins.
  • Cotts out, Wuertz in.
  • Hardy bunts one up the first base side.  Wuertz fields, might not have had a good grip, can't flip to first as he's running in that direction, finally decides to take it to first  himself, is late.  Runners at 1 and 3
  • Hart splits the left-center gap, ball goes to the wall.  Fielder scores, Hart tries to score from first, is easily out on a nice relay throw from Soriano to Theriot to Soto.  6-2 gam.
  • Wuertz bounces one way in front of Soto.  Hart tries for third, Soto guns him down.  Replay suggests he may have been safe.
  • Counsell pops to DeRosa
Inning 9 - Bottom
  •  Salomon Torres in. Torres, Mota, Gagne...  The Brewers bullpen could be a The Surreal Life: Relief Pitcher Edition cast.
  • Theriot lines to Hardy
  • Lee flies to Hart.
  • Ramirez with a sinking liner right at Braun, it sinks just below Braun's glove, goes through his legs to the wall.  Braun had been playing very deep, normally that's caught easily.  Ruled a double.
  • Edmonds bounces one off the mound, it gets into center.  Ramirez scores, 6-3 game.
  • DeRosa singles to right-center, runners at 1 and 3.  Tying run comes to the plate.
  • First pitch to Soto, he hits a shot out to left-center for a game-tying home run.  Four runs with two outs in the ninth.
  • Fukudome grounds to Hardy.
Inning 10 - Top
  • Marmol in.
  • Kendall rolls out to DeRosa, nice backhand play by DeRo. 
  • Rickie Weeks makes his first appearance of the series, pinch-hitting for Torres.  Looks at strike three.
  • Cameron K's looking at a slider on the outside corner.
Inning 10 - Bottom
  •  Seth McClung in for Torres
  • Reed Johnson in for Fukudome and a double-switch, Marmol hitting eighth, Reed hitting ninth and leading off the inning.
  • Reed called out on a check swing at a ball in the dirt.  Might not have swung, but home plate ump made the call on his own
  • Soriano also called out on a 3-2 check swing.
  • Theriot K's swinging at a high fastball.  Nice inning by McClung.
Inning 11 - Top
  • Wood pitching.
  •  Durham K's looking at a tough breaking pitch
  • Braun K's looking at a nasty curve over the outside corner.  Rapuano has been calling the outside corner pretty consistently.
  • Wood absolutely blows away Fielder on three pitches.  Big rising fastball for the wiff.
Inning 11 - Bottom
  • Lee K's swinging. 
  • Ramirez wails at a 3-1 pitch, just misses it, fouling it off
  • And then walks.
  • After looking at a called strike 2 that probably was wide outside, Edmonds makes a few remarks to Rapuano, who quite suddenly tosses Edmonds from the game, mid-AB.  Kasper thinks Edmonds was saying "that's a ball."  Strike one was also a called strike that likely was outside, too.
  • Pie takes over the 1-2 count as he comes in to hit.
  • Pie bounces to Fielder, tries for the 3-6-3, but Pie safe at first.
  • DeRosa lines a sharp single to left, Pie gets to third easily.  Runners at corner, two outs for Soto
  • DeRosa takes second uncontested
  • Soto flies out to center, just short of the warning track.  Nuts
Inning 12 - Top
  •  Wood out for another inning.
  • Hardy singles back up the middle
  • Hart hits an 0-2 pitch into the left-center gap.  Hardy to third, Pie gets to it, almost gets Hart at second.  But it's a double, 2nd and 3rd with no outs.
  • Marshall and Howry warming up.
  • They pitch to Counsell, with 1st open and Kendall, Pitcher's spot up.
  • Infield in, Counsell grounds to DeRosa.  1 out, runners hold.
  • Kendall up, bounces to Ramirez. Ramirez bobbles it in his glove, but is able to get Hardy in a run down.  Throws toSoto, then back to Theriot at third for the out.  2 outs, runners now at 1 and 2 for the pinch hitter, Joe Nelson.  Horrible, Horrible base-running by the Brewers today.
  • Blazing 95 mph fastball, 0-2 on Nelson
  • Nelson just barely checks his swing on a high fastball.  Reed Johnson was called out for less.
  • Grounds out to Theriot, 6-3.  Huge escape by Wood, with help from the Brewers.
Inning 12 - Bottom
  •  Ward hits for Wood, Villanueva in to pitch
  • full count to Ward, he walks on a close pitch.  Marquis runs for Ward
  • Reed bunts him over.  One out, runner on 2
  • Soriano intentionally walked.  Theriot's had a tough day, comes up with runners on 1 and 2, 1 out
  • Theriot flies to Hart, Marquis tags and goes to third with ease.  First and third, two outs for Lee
  • Soriano takes second uncontested
  • Lee lines a slider up the middle, a bit towards shortstop, and into center for a single that scores Marquis without a play.  Cubs win as the team comes out to celebrate and the fans sing.

 

Parachat Recap
Inning 1
  •  Me and blockhead sit around and wait for more parachatters.
  • Real Neal helps pick up the slack.  tips on parachatting and watching mlb.tv at same time.
  • America's Next Top Model.
  • New theories on Fielder's expanding girth.
  • DeRosa's fielding decision.
  • Following a tense half-inning
  • Evaluating Dave Bush:  Real Neal and I actually say intelligent things.  No kidding.
  • The socialization of AIG.
Inning 2 
  •  Carlos reduces the heat on the political/economic debate.  Boobs.  And Bees.
  • Monitoring Harden
  • A Recap Exclusive:  first ever video of me in real life, up on you-tube
  • Insulting communication profs. and majors.

Inning 3 
  • The Chad School of Test Prep.
  •  Jesus was fat?
  • Will this be Harden's last start?  Will Z start again?  (They'll both start one more time, working about half of a normal load.  Mark it down.)
  • Astonishment at Kendall's newfound ability to throw
  • mocking playoff baseball network broadcasters

Inning 4
  • an illegal use of "oh, fuck"?
  •  FUDGE!
  • What's clogging Rob's shower drain?
  • Blockhead informs us Harden is on pace for a 184 pitch no hitter with 9 BB on 16 K
  • Sheets' elbow.
Inning 5
  •  big heads and the hats that pop off of them.
  • Rob identifies the sign behind home plate:  Allied Waste: Official Waste Hauler of the Chicago Cubs.
  • Johann with the early standard in Allied Waste Jokes.  Allied Waste:  We Got Rid of Izturis for You.
  • The alleged Fukudome deke.
  • Following the tough top of the fifth.
  • Carlos's personal updates.
Inning 6
  •  Mocking the Palins
  • Oh dear god.
  • Rob socializes with bloggers
  • Rob's like the Foster Wallace of Cubs Bloggers: brilliant but slutty. - Andrew
    • I wish I knew who Foster Wallace was.
  • Redneck-powered Internets.
  • Extending the franchise to the world.
  • My crappy upstairs neighbors have awoken for the day.  I know because they're playing their latest re-mixing of 8 crappy frat-party songs from 1992.  Hooray for apartment-living in Arkansas
  • Groaning at the top half of the sixth.
  • And more general expressions of frustration.

Inning 7
  •  Critiquing the 7th inning stretch performance
  • Columbia grads.
Inning 8
  •  Fernando Perez of the Rays is "articulate."  Discussion ensues.
  • More insulting of communication majors.
  • Rob tries to provide boobs, fails.
    • Rob redeems himself
  • Zack Hample?
  • Catching balls at games.

Inning 9
  •  Rally Caps?  ehh.
  • RALLY CAPS?  Sure.
  • Lex Lugor
  • Rob G is a Prophet.
Inning 10
  • explaining what happened to those who missed it
  • bad Blackberry updates.
  •  I am informed I missed a "douchebag tourny."
Inning 11
  •  Everything we know about Seth McClung.
  • 24-0 Cubs games.
  • Gossip Girls
  • Hawkeye likes his women like his whiskey.  16, Irish, and with coke.  Oh my.
  • Juvenile Wood puns.
  • Go, Cubs, Go! Turned into No, Carlos, No!
Inning 12
  •  gurf.
  • Amazed at the brewers' running.
  • Cheering on Wood, infield-in defenses.
  • BABIP
  • Parachat speculates that the brewers would be better off pitching to Soriano than Theriot, as Theriot makes more contact. Not too sure that I agree on that one.
  • Pleading for a hit.
  • Cheering for the hit.
The Cubs improve to 12-6 in games recapped.
Tags

Comments

Take that, Dale Sveum! Think you may have overstated the Brewers LOB -- they had 9 hits and 9 walks and one batter reached on an error. That's 19 baserunners, and 6 of them scored. How did they leave 25 guys on?

[ ]

In reply to by Jace

2 debate coach nerd proffs....homegirl was prevented from judging their team cuz homeboy that was screaming and mooned a room full of people cited low marks given by her in other competitions. evidently this "asking a person not to judge" is not only normal, but they have a specific term for it and it's commonly used in all tourneys by many teams...or so i've been told. homegirl played the race card for reasons that were not explained... then the 2 professors acted like spoiled 12 year olds and both got fired after embarrassing the hell outta their respected colleges. it happened almost a month ago, but was held up except for a few blips by the 24-7 coverage of sarah palin by the...what's it called...hmmm...oh yeah, liberal media. damn that liberal media and their liberalocities upon humanity.

It sounds like Samardzija didn't pitch that badly at all. He got behind hitters, but he walked a guy, then gave up a bunch of ground balls. He just got unlucky on where they ended up.

[ ]

In reply to by Chad

are we talking who deserves it or who the voters will target?

Pujols deserves it...the fact the Cardinals were even relevant this year is pretty much all on him with a small assist to Ryan Ludwick. Howard's going to get a lot love for 45 HR's and 137 RBI's and "pushing' his team to the playoffs with a great September. Kind of bogus in my opinion, but so be it.

I'm not sure who the Cubs MVP is though, seems to have come down to Soto or Ramirez and I think I'd give the nod to Soto without checking the numbers too closely. I think both will get top 10 votes, maybe a few will go to Soriano as well. Soto might get some top 5 votes as well.

 

The Knock on Smardijza has been his control...and the last two games he hasn't had it. I think that's worrisome no matter how hard the other balls are hit. That was a pretty epic comeback. Those are amazing to watch and be a part of...but come playoff time, I'd really prefer us not wait until the 9th inning to get shit going.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

you're very confused...

It’s coming along real well. I think going back onto your other question about being moved up, I think that has a lot to do with it. I’ve been throwing my other three pitches [changeup, slider, sinker] for strikes and that’s kind of been the biggest thing. They haven’t just been show pitches; they’ve been for a reason, and I kind of feel confident. Obviously, I love my sinker and I go to that a lot of times, but my confidence in my other pitches is just up there with my sinker now, which helps me out on the mound and helps me go deeper in the games.

I called it a change/splitter because that's what Len calls it and they do the same thing with Dempster, I think because of the way he grips it. Wilkin called it a splitter too in an interview for whatever reason.

Nonetheless, 96 mph sinker

95 mph 2-seamer/backdoor slider (whatever the fuck you want to call it)

change he throws once in awhile

and a slider he throws even less

didn't say they're not works in progress, but as a reliever, he's not really working on them right now cause he dont' need them much.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I cannot clarify more that he's a reliever right now, not a starter. Why would he throw a third pitch more often when he's having success with his other 2? (granted less success lately)

relievers usually stick to their best 2 pitches, occasionally mixing in a third or fourth if needed, which is exactly what samardzija has been doing.

and yes, he's a future starter who would probably start using those 3rd and 4th pitches more the 2nd and 3rd time he goes through a lineup...like most starters. There's just no good reason to go to your third or fourth best pitch when you don't have to.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

"Just because you grab the ball differently, doesn't mean you're throwing different pitches. Also, just because gameday or whatever says you're throwin different pitches, doesn't mean you are." Are you serious Neal? Think about what you are saying for more than a few seconds. The fact of the matter is this: The reason pitchers change grips, rotation, way of throwing, etc. is to make the ball behave differently each time. When the ball comes to the batter, what matters is how the ball behaves. If one thrown ball behaves in a different "manner" from another (ex. one comes in flat, another breaks in to RHB), then those are 2 different pitches. It doesn't matter how the pitcher "grabbed" those balls. Also gameday is just calling the pitches based on the input of the data and how the original programmer chose to categorize that data. The programming is also not grip-based or even dependent on what the pitcher calls his pitch. Gameday is dependent on the behavior of the ball after it leaves the pitchers hand, and bottom line that is really what matters to a batter on whether 2 thrown balls are different pitches or not.

thanks to the brews own failures with SP the last 2 days (injury and suck) they're going with jeff suppan vs. reds on 3 days rest tomorrow. was supposed to be mcclung. way to go cubbies...welcome to the big chair sveum.

Wow... I assumed the Cubs lost today until I read the recap. Wow. And... I'm watching the replay on CSN and this is exactly why I don't give a shit about the demeaning loss to these douches. The extra bases they try to sneak in. Trying to steal 3rd. It's all BS. They play like a bunch of assholes. Fuck them. They can spend October watching ESPN.

I'm going to the game on Sunday with my two boys. I am laying 60% odds that they will have clinched before then. One of my sons and I went to the clinching home DH in 2003. Good times.

Brewers back a game and a half. Astros lose too, looks like they're done.

1) What's more likely: pitching a no-hitter or coming back from four runs down with two outs (and nobody on base) in the ninth? I would bet that the latter is more likely. There have been two no-hitters in MLB this year (Lester, Zambrano), but how many such comebacks? 2) The comeback on May 10, 2000 was even more amazing. The Cubs trailed 8-3 with nobody on and two outs in the ninth and rallied to beat the Brewers 9-8 in 11 innings. Willie Greene's RBI single won it. 3) If Samardzija continues to struggle, Howry will continue to get chances with the game on the line. He's only walked 11 guys all season, and Lou will continue to give him chances as long as he doesn't walk people. Lou will tolerate a pitcher who gives up homers but walks very few (Howry) more than he will a pitcher who walks a lot of guys but gives up few homers (Eyre). 4) The shadows were horrendous, but that's the best Wood has looked in at least two weeks. 5) I'd rate Wells above Guzman among relievers who could shock us and make the postseason roster. Michael Wuertz botched a bunt play today, and I'm guessing he's toast. 6) Cotts' stuff is too good to be a LOOGY.

"Scouts from two major-league teams say the book on Kosuke Fukudome is that he's afraid of being hit, and the biggest surprise is why it took more than a month for pitchers to take full advantage of busting him inside. ''Ichiro [Suzuki] was the same way,'' one scout said. ''The difference is he takes his hands with him [through the strike zone]." this morning's Sun Times

Sori has more walks than Braun -- 41 to 38 -- in considerably less playing time. Also has him beat in OBP (.352 to .334). Kind of miss scoreboard watching. Kind of.

Enjoyed a steak sandwich at Bernies Got to our seats behind home plate above main aisle. Jerseys seen($ 250 variety mlb kind) Pinella- 2 Fontenot Most puzzling- Reed Johnson I was thinking of the least likely seen jersey would be Cedeno. Place was packed a few Brewer fans were there and they were in good humor considering their situations. Can't believe Edmonds ball got out and Braun and Hardy's didn't. The speed gun had Harden at 96 mph a few times. Couldn't tell, but it looked like Harden was just missing. Tough break for Smardizja and Dero. Overall great game with come back. Lets end it today and pitch Marquis and Marshall everyday. I also believe you shut down Harden until playoffs. Go Cubs

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.