Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

39 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (one slot is open), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL and one player has been DESIGNATED FOR ASSIGNMENT (DFA)   

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, three players are on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-23-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Hector Neris 
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 9 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 3
Kyle Hendricks, P 
* Drew Smyly, P 
* Justin Steele, P   

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

DFA: 1 
Garrett Cooper, 1B 
 





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Rule 5 Draft 
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2008 NLDS Preview: Cubs Run Prevention vs. Dodgers Scoring

Cubs Offense vs. Dodgers Pitching and Defense

Let's finish the preview and see what the Cubs pitching can do against the Dodgers bats.

Dodgers Offense vs. Cubs Pitching and Defense

Dodgers Hitting: .264/.333/.399 .732 OPS(11th in OPS), 126 SB's at a 75% success rate (3rd and 5th respectively)
Cubs Pitching: .242/.316/.395 .711 OPS, 3.87 ERA (1st in BA, 3rd in ERA, , 2nd in the rest,)

Dodgers Hitting vs. Right Handers: .260/.326/.390 .716 OPS
Dodgers Hitting vs. Leftt Handers: .275/.350/.419 .769 OPS
Cubs Pitching vs. Right Handers: .237/.302/.385 .687 OPS
Cubs Pitching vs. Left Handers: .249/.336/.409 .745 OPS

Dodgers are 53-57 when a right-handed pitchers starts the game, 31-21 when a left-handers starts.

Cubs Defense: .706 DER (1st in NL), .832 RZR (6th in the NL)

Cubs Rotation: Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, Ted Lilly

All Dodgers vs. Ryan Dempster (link) : 175 AB's vs current Cubs with an aggregate line of: .303/.376/.474 .851 OPS, 2.92 ERA in 12.1 IP versus the Dodgers this year.
Best Dodgers Hiiter: Andruw Jones has a .908 OPS against him in 40 AB's
Worst Dodgers Hitter: Jeff Kent has a .688 OPS in 33 AB's.
Trend: 5-2 in his last 10 starts with a 3.10 ERA

All Dodgers vs. Carlos Zambrano (link) : 199 AB's vs current Cubs with an aggregate line of: .221/.313/.296 .609 OPS
Best Dodgers Hiiter: Russell Martin has a 1.513 OPS against him in 13 AB's
Worst Dodgers Hitter: Rafael Furcal has a .384 OPS in 23 AB's.
Trend: 2-2 in his last 9 starts with a 7.28 ERA

All Dodgers vs. Rich Harden (link) : 34 AB's vs current Cubs with an aggregate line of: .147/.293/.441 .734 OPS
Best Dodgers Hiiter: Manny Ramirez has a 1.519 OPS against him in 11 AB's
Worst Dodgers Hitter: Casey Blake is 0 for 8 against him in his career.
Trend: 1-0 in his last 3 starts with a 2.65 ERA

All Dodgers vs. Ted Lilly (link) : 144 AB's vs current Cubs with an aggregate line of: .243/.315/.528 .843 OPS
Best Dodgers Hiiter: Manny Ramirez has a .959 OPS against him in 42 AB's
Worst Dodgers Hitter: Casey Blake has a .673 OPS in 21 AB's.
Trend: 4-0 in his last 4 starts with a 1.93 ERA

Cubs Bullpen: 4.10 ERA as relievers was 8th in the NL. 1.73 WPA was 5th in the NL.

Likely to See: Neal Cotts, Sean Marshall, Jeff Samardzija, Carlos Marmol Kerry Wood

September Stats for Dodgers Hitters (link):

Nomar Garciaparra: 1.403 OPS
Jeff Kent 1.375 OPS (in 8 AB's)
Andre Ethier 1.249 OPS, 8 2B's
Manny Ramirez 1.218 OPS, 8 HR's
Blake DeWitt .872 OPS, 18 BB's
Pablo Ozuna .833 OPS
Russell Martin .785 OPS
Juan Pierre .758 OPS
Matt Kemp .750 OPS
Casey Blake .711 OPS
Angel Berroa .689 OPS
James Loney .526 OPS
Rafael Furcal .522 OPS (in 4 Ab's)
Danny Ardoin .500 OPS

Some Questions:

  1. Will Ryan Dempster keep it going in the playoffs?
  2. How healthy and effective are Zambrano and Harden?
  3. Who will bridge the gap between the starters and Marmol and Wood?
  4. Can the Dodgers offense sustain their recent hot streak?
  5. How effective will Rafael Furcal be?
  6. Will the Cubs pitch to Manny Ramirez and if not, can the rest of the Dodgers lineup make the Cubs pay?

Thoughts: The only reason this series has any chance of being interesting is because questions linger on whether Carlos Zambrano and Rich Harden are healthy enough to be at the top of their games.  That and the fact that Lou might use Bob Howry in a game. Nonetheless, the Dodgers offense certainly did improve with the addition of Manny Ramirez, going from 4.14 Runs Scored per game to 4.70, which if they had done that all year would be good for the 6th best offense rather than 13th. I already brought up my concerns that the Dodgers hot streak was inflated by a soft September schedule, but there's no doubt they are a better team than their full season numbers show.

Unfortunately no one but Zambrano and Harden (and maybe Lou) really know if they're at full strength and if they're not, there isn't much any Cubs or their fans can do about it. Sure, Lou could move Lilly up earlier in the series, but the Dodgers have had a lot more luck against lefties than righties, so there isn't much to gain.

The only real concern I have is if the starters can go at least six and hopefully seven innings. The bridge between the starters and Marmol and Wood is the weak link of this team and every pitch made by someone other than Dempster, Zambrano, Harden, Lilly or Marmol is a going to be a dangerous one. 

Defensively, the Cubs probably have been pretty solid all year. Lee and Fukudome are probably the two best defenders but there really isn't a weak member in the entire group. Soriano can be a little adventurous, but he also keeps teams from even thinking of taking an extra base and Ramirez's little bout of wild throws seems to have ended. 

Final Prediction: Cubs in 4.  They split at Wrigley and the Cubs take both at Dodger Stadium.

 

Comments

I'm hoping the Cubs can take the two at home. I have over 40 years of horrid memories of late nights watching the Cubs blow games on the west coast. (actually I lived in LA for over a decade so a quarter of the bad memories are first hand) Just so many games where the Cubs held what was often an anemic Dodger offense down for eight innings only to have someone like Ken Landreaux (sp?) beat them with a two-out two run bloop double just inside the line. I remember many times turning off the TV before Brickhouse or Harry could even finish saying the game was over. Dodger Stadium is a great example of what's wrong with Los Angeles. It, like too many major gathering places in LA, is a suburban entity with zero public transportation set down in the middle of a city. But it's the Cubs losing too many heartbreakers there that really makes me hate it. And everyone always saying how great Dodger Dogs are. And the fans who come late, leave early and don't make a peep until the scoreboard or music on the PA tells them to.

The fingernail-biting began Monday for me. Thank goodness there actually were baseball games to watch and not a whole lot of nothing. I think the most relevant question for Dodger run production less whether Furcal contributes, but whether the hitters batting before Manny Ramirez get on base. Before the last week of the season and Furcal's return, the 1-2 hitters had been Martin and Andre Ethier, who did a nice impression of Pujols in August and September. But in last week it had adjusted to Kemp and Martin, Furcal and Kent, or Furcal and DeWitt, with the occasional dose of Juan Pierre thrown in. Keeping the Dodger 1-2 hitters off base, no matter who they are, will be the key to this series. Do that and take pitches from Derek Lowe tonight and we should be fine. Should be.

Recent comments

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Things I've been wrong about:

    -Tauchman is fine as a 4th OF. I knew that. I just want a better LH DH option and he was really the DH for us until Seiya got hurt. I'm glad Mervis is getting a chance at it. Caissie is coming for that job for sure. But Tauchman continues to be highly useful as a 4th OF with Seiya being hurt

    -I wanted Yency to go to get guys at Iowa a chance. Guys like Palencia and Sanders or RileyT. Maybe even Hodge! But Yency has been better the last two plus weeks. He did hit 96 the other day. He was 93 in Texas to open the season.

    -Leiter has his split working enough. It just needs to stay there

    -I was surprised Jed picked Wisdom over Cooper. I wonder if this happens if Seiya wasn't hurt. Wisdom has more power. Cooper is the better hitter. Jed picked Wisdom and Wisdom had an option left as well.

    -Palencia just doesn't miss enough bats. Similar to ManRod, just two yrs younger. ManRod is killing AAA for TB right now!

    Things I got right so far:

    -Hendricks. Sorry Kyle. You got paid though!

    Jed, you missed there.

    -Smyly. If Jed could've traded him before or during ST, then he should have and saved some cash.

    -Mastro.  Not a LH DH. Pinch runner. Defensive utility. Maybe he's better than Madrigal but didn't get a legit chance to prove it.

    -Luke Little is good. He's had one bad outing. That's it. Needs to get better entering with guys on base. But he needs to stay in MLB.

    -Oh yeah....Morel is doing fine at 3B! He'll get better as well!!

  • crunch (view)

    bellinger "right rib contusion"

  • Childersb3 (view)

    South Bend just lost the lead in the bottom of the 9th on the weirdest scenario, ever.

    It's absolutely pouring rain....men on 1st and 2nd, 1out....JPatterson asks for a new ball, but no time out was called....he throws the old ball toward the dugout (not sure if it rolled out of play).....the ump declares the runners get two bases each so one run scores. Then a single up the middle ties the game.

    The rain was coming down in buckets at this point.

    Just weird

  • crunch (view)

    ...and bellinger is gone in the 7th because of that 2nd blown chance and the wall he bounced off of...

    hopefully his rib cage/shoulder feels better tomorrow, we just got happ back.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil,

    Any thoughts on Y. Rojas' stuff and Y. Melendez's game (I believe I've asked about him before, sorry)?

  • crunch (view)

    wow, things are moving fast.  hopefully it continues.

  • crunch (view)

    morel with 4 clean plays in 4 innings...showed off his 100000000mph arm a couple times.

    cody bellinger not having a good 4th, though...5 run leads are handy when your CF is making your pitcher have a 5-out inning.  2nd blown chance was ruled a hit even though it went in/out of his glove...1st was lost in the lights, also ruled a hit.

  • crunch (view)

    welcome back happ!  double off the wall 1st PA back.

  • crunch (view)

    oh yeah, totally, i was just chiming about why i fan like i fan.

    i would like nothing more than hendricks to keep on hendricks'ing.  guys with his stuff can throw for a long, long time as long as it works.

    he velocity is actually up a minor amount this year.  it's really "damn" when a guy like him not only has gas in the tank, but it's looking like it was years ago.  he added a curve a few years ago and it helped a little bit, but he's throwing it less and less while the fb/change combo are less effective.

  • Alexander Dimm (view)

    CRUNCH—There is no one person in this community I’m talking about.  My remarks were not directed at you or anyone, but at a tone I’ve noticed lately. 

    You have a great, dry sense of humor and there is thought behind your comments.   You and I don’t always agree but I always understand your position.  

    Lastly, and I’ll be quiet, I agree with you on Hendricks.  We can dislike the recent performance but still love the guy.  Lots of questions about his future.