Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

42 players are at MLB Spring Training 

31 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE at MLB Spring Training, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 
11 players are MLB Spring Training NON-ROSTER INVITEES (NRI) 

Last updated 3-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 17
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

NRI PITCHERS: 5 
Colten Brewer 
Carl Edwards Jr 
* Edwin Escobar 
* Richard Lovelady 
* Thomas Pannone 

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

NRI CATCHERS: 2  
Jorge Alfaro 
Joe Hudson 

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

NRI INFIELDERS: 3 
David Bote 
Garrett Cooper
* Dominic Smith

OUTFIELDERS: 5
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

NRI OUTFIELDERS: 1 
* David Peralta

OPTIONED:
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, RHP 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, RHP 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

 



Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cub Fan Dads: Happy Father's Day

I figure there are a number of you who have this same "my dad was a Cub fan, taught me everything I know..." story.
One day, probably still a long time from now, we'll be able to write a different joke without the sarcasm.

Okay, probably a long, looooong time from now.

Comments

Happy Fathers day to the Dads among us! My Dad passed Cubdom down to me. I'm passing the same affliction onto my daughter. Hopefully we all see a Banner while all three of us are still kicking?

This is my first Father's Day as a dad. Our daughter is 9 months old now. It's been pretty great so far. More fun than I ever thought possible. If all goes well we'll have another in December/January. I'm really hoping it's a boy simply because of the relationship I have with my dad. If not we'll be delighted and I'll try again (and again). Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there. I'm glad to have joined your club

Reed, Castro, Baker, Ramirez, Soriano, Soto, Montanez, LeMahieu, Wells vs. Gardner, Granderson, Teix, ARod, Cano, Swisher, Martin, Nunez, CC

Thanks Navigator as one with a 14 year old daughter i was hoping things got easier at 18 or at least 21. I will throw the darts for Quade tomorrow. Fukadome,Castro,Dewitt,Rameriz,Pena,Soriano,Soto,Campana,LeMahue. For some reason I am picking Dewitt for DH.

Pooholes with a broken left forearm. Out 4-6 weeks... The moment I saw the replay of him getting hurt, and saw the wrist flapping around, I knew there was something broken....

Pretty amazing: the Cubs are last in the MAJORS in BB drawn (176) and first in BB given up (284) - a differential of 108. Sad, sad, sad.

[ ]

In reply to by Ross_Barnes

Just messing around with runs created formulas, that 108 walk differential looks like it might account for around 37 runs of the Cubs -71 run differential so far.

lineup RF Fuke, SS Castro, LF DeWitt, 3B Ramy, 1B Pena, DH Soriano, C Soto, 2B LeMahieu, CF Campana vs. pierre7, omar4, q9, pk3, dunnDH, ram6, aj2, rios8, teahen5, gavin1

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Soto has gotten worse offensively each year since his rookie season and we know that Koyie Hill is also offensively challenged. Luckily, I am not a writer, and only loosely follow the Cubs, so I am not obliged to point out that your premise of Soto getting worse each year is incorrect. The prediction of Castro moving to third to make room for Barney so the Cubs could sign a FA second basemen is equally priceless... though 250 PA's of 86 OPS+ hitting probably has got the Cubs brass convinced that Barney is a the real deal.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Flaherty I would absolutely agree with. 100%. Vitters wasn't hitting that well at the time, you can use whatever measure you want. LeMahieu hit at Daytona, and was on fire at AA. Unsustainably, of course.....and if they were going to bring him up to mostly sit, then they just should have brought up Bobby Scales or something. LeMahieu sure looks like he's punchless at the plate though....hit the weight room kid, or his swing needs work..or something.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

I think you're asking the wrong question. The question should be who has a better chance to score more runs, the guy with the higher runs scored/PA ratio or the guy with higher OBP? Look, anecdotally, at Tony Campana. In limited action with the Cubs he's scoring runs at around a .131 R/PA clip even though his OBP is 150 points lower than Kosuke. Over his career he's around .144 R/PA with a 25 point lower OBP than Fukudome. Fukey so far this year .397 OBP .109 R/PA (career .372 .123) (-- on base more and scoring less) Average of all plate appearances in NL this year .318 OBP .107 R/PA Kosuke has scored 0.4 more runs than the average hitter has with 200 PA's

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

"Could that be a function of a shoddy cubs supporting lineup?" Barney and Castro have the same supporting lineup, plus Fukudome gets on base ahead of two hitters who have been around .300 all season. Barney's runs-per-PA is .128 (34/265), Castro's is .131 (42/319). Fuke's is .108 (26/240). In the Yankee series, the network announcer was upbraiding Fukudome for not going from first to third on a routine single to center (by Castro, I think). Fukudome was running on the pitch, but stopped at second. He should have been around second with a full head of steam before the CF touched the ball. A good runner (Barney, Castro, Johnson, Byrd) would have made third without drawing a throw. There's a reason why leadoff hitters are usually speedy. The Cubs are squeezing the most out of Fukudome, and for once he is being mildly productive, but not to the extent that the OBP indicates. (Don't mention this to prospective trading partners.)

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I'll bring it back. Yes a free swinger can buck the odds and have a career. An MLB lineup can support having a free swinger penciled in. However 1) The odds of making it in MLB baseball greatly diminish if you are a free swinger (Even Soriano has 50 points from career Avg to OBP) 2) A lineup isn't going to be consistently good if you have a bunch of free swingers in it The thing that is dumbfounding is how Jim Hendry and Co haven't yet figured this out? The 2008 team had 98 wins and conversely led the league in OBP. Yet instead of building on that success, they got caught up in handedness and a playoff series defeat. There just isn't any rhyme or reason in how this organization conducts business? And it permeates through all levels of the organization.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Well, it's not like Hendry moved against OBP after 2008. He got rid of Pie and Cedeno, which would do nothing but help OBP. Miles was signed as a back-up coming off a .355 OBP season. DeRosa was shipped out, which hurt OBP, but Bradley was signed with OBP in mind. So there wasn't a shift in doctrine after 2008, mostly because I doubt there was much of a doctrine before 2008 to change. The team dropped 22 points in team OBP from 2008-2009, despite Lee, Ramirez, and Fukudome all IMPROVING in OBP. The main reason for the 22-point drop was: Soto -43 Theriot -44 Soriano -41 Fontenot -94 (with more ABS) And the bench was all around much worse. So it's not like Hendry said "screw OBP," he basically ran the same lineup out there with Edmonds-DeRosa swapped out for Fontenot-Bradley. Fontenot was coming off a .394 OBP in nearly 300 PAs, and Bradley is know for OBP.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

The way I see it, OBP is the effect, not the cause. The cause is knowing the strike zone and not chasing bad pitches. There are free-swinging hackers and then there are those that work a count. This might seem nuanced and/or hair-splitting, but I'd take a guy that knows the strike zone before I would look at guy's numbers. Also, a couple free swingers are a good thing in the lineup. The problem is this lineup is chock full of hackers and guess hitters.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Just speaking about Josh Vitters only, I can tell you that he is a laid-back Southern California dude where nothing seems to phase him (a lot like ROB G), and if there was ever a personality who you would think would (by nature) take a lot of walks, it would be Vitters. But I think if you asked him he would tell you that with his bat speed and plate coverage, he believes he can hit any pitch close to the strike zone, and that if he does strike out he would be just as likely to get called out on strikes as strike out swinging, and so all things being equal, a double or a HR is better than a walk. He thinks like an old school RBI guy. D. J. LeMahieu has a similar approach. But then there are other guys who don't walk much because they are "dead-red" fastball hitters who struggle to hit breaking balls (like Nelson Perez, for example) and who know that the most likely pitch where they will see a fastball is the first pitch they see, and so they sit on it and are always anxious to swing at the first pitch. And then there are other "toolsy" guys who maybe have power and/or speed but are not particularly good hitters (like Tyler Colvin, for example), and they know they are dead meat once they get two strikes, so they try to avoid that by swinging at every opportunity early in the count. Somehow the Cubs seem to find all of these guys. But one more thing to note is this. The Cubs Player Development Department likes guys who are aggressive and display passion on the field. (This is true for pitchers, too). The players know this, so they tend to be transfer some of their aggressiveness to their Plate Appearances (Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney do this), when actually they should limit the hyper-activity to areas where high energy is actually useful (like playing defense and running the bases). The Cubs Player Development Department needs to improve communication in this area, not just to the players but to the minor league managers and coaches, too.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Submitted by Dr. aaron b on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 1:57pm. Thanks for this AZ Phil. In your opinion what needs to happen for this culture to change? Is the current regime willing or capable of change. or do we need a complete house cleaning? ==================================== DR AARON: I don't think a house-cleaning is needed. Just better communication about what being aggressive means and how it really does not relate to hitting. The main problem I've noticed is that I don't think the Cubs have a real specific overall organizational hitting philosophy, per se. Rather they tend to accept each hitter for what he is, and then try to maximize that particular hitter's stengths, whatever they may be. Which is not a bad thing, because you can't make somebody be something they aren't. But it also means you don't ask your scouts to look for certain types of hitters (like those that already have plate discipline, strike zone judgment, etc). Instead the scouts will look first for hitters with the raw tools you can't teach, like power, bat speed, etc. BTW, Tom Beyers is a good Organizational Hitting Coordinator. But of course he can't be everywhere at the same time, so he has to rely on the individual team hitting instructors to do the day-to-day season-long work with the hitters, and I'm not sure that all of them (and their managers) are necessarily aware that there is a problem. A couple of them might be more concerned with developing the player's hitting skills than with the player's overall approach to each AB, perhaps seeing that as something the player will pick-up later in his career as he matures and gains experience. One of the problems with a hitting instructor at any level (and this is true for any organization) is a tendency for the coach to identify with players who remind the hitting instructor of himself, and then they might tend to bond more with those guys than with some of the others on the team. If I ran a team, I would be more-inclined to sign a Rudy Jaramillo type of hitting "guru" to be the Organization Hitting Coordinator rather than just be the MLB Hitting Coach. Then I would put the Organization Hitting Coordinator above all of the individual team hitting coaches, including the MLB hitting coach.

From Jim Callis at BA: I was having an email exchange about third-base prospect Josh Vitters with Mark Peel, who knows more about Cubs prospects than anyone this side of the Cubs, when something crystallized for me: Projecting plate discipline and patience for a high school hitter may be the most difficult job in scouting...... http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2011/2611971.html

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I looked at the Cubs roster today and any AA/AAA players to see who (in my opinion) could hold down a major league job next season. I came up with: Castro (at a position to eventually be determined). Dempster, Z, Garza (SP) Marmol, Marshall (RP) Barney (Utility IF) Byrd (OF - if not traded) That was about it unless the NL implements the DH and then add Soriano. Colvin, LeMaheiu, B. Jackson, Vitters, Flaherty, Castillo, Carpenter - who knows? Am I missing anybody? And if this is close to reality, how do you trade or sign enough FA's to make this team a competitor before 2014-15?

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

The players might notice that. Unfortunately the Cubs brass doesn't seem to understand it. The story AZ Phil told us last year about Jody Davis taking guys out of the game for called strike 3 was absolutely harrowing. Where is the organizational oversight to allow that to happen? How can Hendry be considered anything OTHER than incompetent when he made that hire? The whole thing is broken. Someone competent needs to be brought in to rebuild from the foundation up.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

you can't teach plate patience. they either get it or they don't...it's a personal journey. some people, most people, are swingers. you can have a guy look at sliders all day, but the pitchers who throw them do it in so many different ways with so many different breaks that you can't just sit them in front of a machine and toss them in for practice. arm slots...picking up spin and actually doing something about it...deception in delivery...it's gonna look different. also, jody davis was a horrible manager for many reasons...he's been dealt with.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

most people who can "learn" how to tinker with their plate discipline...not counting those who suddenly click something in their game...are people who can already see what's being thrown and the only real hurdle is mentally locking down on only swinging at certain pitches in certain counts...using a 2-0, 3-1, or etc. type count to your advantage. that said, to even sharpen this skill you have to know what's being thrown at you and guess correctly where it's going when it leaves the pitcher's hand. there's other stuff, but this seems to be type of approach to plate discipline that organizations work on across the board.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I agree with the general consensus here that plate approach is a key to hitting, and even that "a walk is a good outcome," although I don't think you should be trying to get a walk, which is what I saw from Bradley when he was a Cub, and what I see from Fukudome every day. When you have two strikes on you, the object should be to get to 3 and 2, because otherwise you're not going to get a pitch to hit, so why bother? Nobody is a good hitter on 0-2 and 1-2. So if you're trying to get to 3 and 2, you're going to get some walks, but that's just a by-product of trying to get a hitter's count. I've seen guys who figured this out in their thirties. I don't know why it wouldn't be teachable. It doesn't strike me as a "tool" that you look for in younger players, unless the tool we're talking about is intelligence. You have to be able to think like a pitcher, which takes brains. Don't we generally think pitchers are smarter than hitters? When I look at Colvin hitting, all I see is dumb, dumb, dumb. Doesn't he realize that a pitcher would be stupid/crazy to throw him a strike on 0 and 2? Short answer: No.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

I think the problem with a lot of Cubs hitters is that they don't employ much of an approach other than to try to put the ball in play. I don't think a lot of our hitters are going to the plate with the idea of making the opposing pitcher work to get them out, and if the pitcher can't throw the tough strikes to produce an out then often you earn a walk - examples: KFuk, Soto Another plate approach would be to take a few pitches to wait and see if you get the pitch you're looking for in the location you're looking for - examples: Cubs might not have one, maybe Castro, but not really. Maybe Pena Yet another approach would be to swing at any ball that you think you can hit, regardless of whether or not you can drive the ball. This last one is used by a lot of Cubs and other big leaguers and minor leaguers. These hitters are playing checkers against pitchers playing chess.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

As an observer it just seemed that his whole approach matured during that 98 season. Even before he went on that power surge when the weather warmed up. He started using Right Field (which he NEVER did before) He started laying off the obvious bad pitches that had traditionally hurt him (face high fastball, breaking ball in the dirt) Maybe the roids helped the bat speed and the overall On base skills. I just think the overall maturing of his approach had just as much to do with it.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

You all are forgetting that back in the "Roids Era" the game's big stars were given preferential strike zones by individual umpires (my guess is that had to come from the commissioner's office but who knows?). It got so bad, and so obvious, and baseball games got so long that the commissioner decided to announce that the strike zone would be enforced evenly across leagues and no more favortism for certain hitters would be allowed. (I remember Sammy Sosa saying that he thought the ruling wouldn't last the season and sure enough, in 2001 he set a personal high for walks and OBP).
USA TODAY, 2001 - No longer will the American League strike zone be smaller than the National League strike zone, and the commissioner's office won't tolerate any longstanding grudges between individual umpires and players or preferential treatment of star players. "Major League Baseball doesn't feel that players should have to adjust to different umpires," Nelson said. "Teams should not have to adjust to individual umpires and take three innings to have a feel where each strike zone is. Whether the player is an MVP or a pitcher is a Cy Young winner, a ball is a ball and a strike is a strike." Said Diamondbacks ace Randy Johnson, who already has won three Cy Young awards: "Hitters have had a lot of advantages in this game. To have a strike zone that has been with the game of baseball for 100 years ... it's not like we're getting anything back, it's something that was supposed to be there initially and hasn't been in a while." Certainly, spring training games have gone at a quick pace this season, averaging about 2 hours, 40 minutes compared to 3-hour games during the regular season. It's unknown whether the high strike zone is responsible for the quickened pace. Yet, while hitters can complain about the strike zone, they also will be protected. Umpires have been told that they can freely issue warnings or ejections if they feel that a pitcher intentionally threw at a batter. Gone will be the days of pitchers feeling free to drill hitters after giving up back-to-back homers or being upset at a home run trot.

Pena. Not a mistake pitch, just nice work by Carlos Pena. And he caught a break on the chopper to first base that went just foul earlier in the AB. Excitement level just went from 5% to 10%. woo.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

A manager shouldn't be kicking the opposing player's equipment, period. He could have pushed the mask out of the way to have room at home plate to point where he thought the ball went, there was no need to kick Geo's mask 20 feet. Ozzie is a loudmouth punk who deserves to get his ass whipped, and I'm tired of him being passed off as "Ozzie just being Ozzie." That's enabling negative behavior. Sometimes you have to stand up for yourselves, and Geo laughing about Ozzie kicking the mask is not the proper reaction. In any league I ever played in that would have started a fight, and rightly so.

"Marlins interim manager Jack McKeon said that Hanley Ramirez is not in Monday's lineup because he "didn't like the way he was running yesterday."" daaaaamn.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    SF snags b.snell...2/62m

  • Cubster (view)

    AZ Phil: THAT is an awesome report worth multiple thanks. I’m sure it will be worth reposting in an “I told you so” in about 2-3 years.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The actual deadline to select a post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agent signed to 2024 minor league contract (Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta) to the MLB 40-man roster is not MLB Opening Day, it is 12 PM (Eastern) this coming Sunday (3/24). 

    However, the Cubs could notify the player prior to the deadline that the player is not going to get added to the 40 on Sunday, which would allow the player to opt out early. Otherwise the player can opt out anytime after the Sunday deadline (if he was not added to the 40 by that time). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024: 

    * bats or throws left 

    Angel Cepeda, INF 
    * Miguel Cruz, P
    Yidel Diaz, C 
    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
    Fraiman Marte, P  
    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

    And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.

    Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect. 

    F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season. 

    The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically. 

    Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).

    Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day. 

    Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.

    The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required. 

    They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).

    If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.

    If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil, 
    Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
    If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!  

    And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).