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

Playoff Predictions

When no clear answer presents itself, go with the most obvious..

LDS:
Cubs over Dodgers in 4
Phils over Brewers in 3
Angels over Red Sox in 5
Rays over White Sox in 5

LCS
Cubs over Phils in 6
Angels over Rays in 7

World Series
Cubs over Angels in 5

Past the time until first pitch by doing some ball hawking.The playoff roster has been announced as well.

C - Blanco, Soto

INF - Lee, Ward, Fontenot, DeRosa, Theriot, Cedeno, Ramirez

OF - Soriano, Edmonds, Johnson, Fukudome, Pie

SP - Demspter, Zambrano, Harden, Lilly

RP - Wood, Marmol, Samardzija, Cotts, Marshall, Howry, Marquis

With DeRosa limping, the Cubs needed someone who could play the outfield when Lou needs to pinch-hit for Fukudome or the couple dozen other late-inning possibilities. Hopefully the only time we see Bob Howry is if the Cubs are nursing a 13-0 lead after Sutcliffe and the Penguin homer.

Comments

It is playoff time--where is the decorative bunting for the TCR website? I demand red, white, and blue bunting!

Howry on the playoff roster is atrocious...As I have said before, let's send him to Mesa with the other guys who didnt make it and have him learn a new grip on that fast ball so that it actually moves a bit...Realistically, I would have been fine with them taking another hitter instead of him.

LDS- Cubs in 4 Phils in 4 Rays in 4 Angels in 5 LCS Cubs in 5 Angels in 7 WS Cubs in 6

He's on the roster and I don't get it. Same goes for Daryl Lard and Lob Howry. yuk

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

You're so clever. You must write these days in advance, right? It's just consistently too good. Pie is not poison, because he's not there to start. He's there for defensive replacement and, perhaps, running the bases.

Predictions: LDS: Cubs over Dodgers in 4 Phils over Brewers in 4 Red Sox over Angels in 5 Rays over White Sox in 4 LCS Cubs over Phils in 5 Red Sox over Rays in 6 World Series Cubs over Red Sox in 6

Predictions: LDS: Cubs over Dodgers in 3 Cubs over Brewers in 3 Cubs over Red Sox in 3 Cubs over White Sox in 3 LCS Cubs over Cubs in 4 Cubs over Cubs in 4 World Series Cubs over Cubs in 4

Prediction*: Dodgers 3 - Cubs 0 * last predictions I made in 2006, I was 0-7 in predicting series winners. Here is to continuing my streak!

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2008/columns/story?columnist=star… The biggest reason to pick the Dodgers would be their improved, Manny-fied offense, right? Well, what does it tell you that the Cubs outscored the Dodgers over the past two months (275-250) even with Manny Ramirez, and outscored L.A. by 155 runs over the course of the season? One NL executive's description of Manny's supporting offensive cast: "Thin." We agree. The Cubs' pitching is rested and recharged. The Dodgers need too much to go right. Cubs in four.

LDS cubs in 4 phils in 4 redsox in 4 w-sux in 5 LCS red sox in 5 cubs in 6 WS cubs in 6 hangover on october 30th and sick from work

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

nuh uh...it only appears to always be open. Sure if you click on it now you can get in, but what actually happens is I get a message that someone wants to get in, run down 8 flights of stairs to a wooden lever hidden in the basement of my job and let you guys in. To the reader, it just looks like Java is opening, in reality it's a portal to the other side of the world.

 

Cubs in 4 Phils in 4 Angels in 5 WSox in 5 Phils in 6 Angels in 7 Angels in 6 I feel dirty.

Cubs 163, Dodgers -4 lets see how the west coast pansies handle 50 degrees, 10+ mph winds and the nastiest crowd they have seen all year. We have a Canadian pitcher (2 actually). p.s. love lilly in dodger stadium if we need it, his downside is the HR and that park is big. good job lou.

"LDS: Cubs over Dodgers in 4" So, everyone thinks Lilly will beat "The Unknown Pitcher" in game 4. But, which game do we lose? Dempster vs Lowe? Zambrano vs Billingsley? Harden vs Kuroda?

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

based on pitching matchups alone, I think the Cubs could lose all 3 of those games.... or win all 3 of those games. But if I went for percentages, chances are probably best the Cubs win 2 of the 3. Here is my game by game prediction. 1: W (low scoring game that scares the hell out of us all) 2: L (Z sucks) 3: W (game goes to bullpen early, Cubs almost give up lead, but hold it) 4: W (Lowe on 3 days rest, pitches well, but Dodgers offense is bad) Anyway, let's just get this done in 3, and move on to the fun stuff.

12 of 18 ESPN folk pick the Cubs to win the NL, 6 of 18 pick them to win the WS.

Angels > RSox in 5 Rays > WSox in 3 Cubs > Dodgers in 4 Phils > Brewers in 4 Rays > Angels in 6 Cubs > Phils in 7 Cubs > Rays in 5

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I'm guessing that some writer noticed that Soriano finished the season in a pretty significant slump and is seeing a good "told you so" opportunity. Sounds like some of the posters here, actually.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

in terms of Soriano's playoff performance last year...can't say I disagree with him. I thought Sori was tight and nervous and it showed, and it set the tempo for the team on offense. I really do think he is the top key to this series from an offensive stand point. He doesn't do anything, we are in trouble. He has a good series, we should be in great shape.

[ ]

In reply to by blockhead25

Here are the three players who need to absolutely need to take at least the first goddamned pitch: Ronnie Cedeno, Soriano, and Felix Pie. Those three remind of Corey -0 and 2 -Patterson. It's going to be cold, so it will probably be small ball that wins the game. Trying to rip one out, is probably not going to work. I hope these games go longer only if we're working the pitch counts. Who wants it more, Cubs?

[ ]

In reply to by Mike Vail

Not only cold, but lots of wind blowing in from the north (basically straight in from left field). Hopefully a good day to be Ryan Dempster.

What's the over/under on Derek Lee ground ball double plays in the NLDS? Cubs in 5 Phils in 4 Rays in 4 Angels in 4 Cubs in 7 Angels in 6 Angels in 7 (The billy goat curse is replaced by the Uggla curse.)

I generally don't like Couch, but aside from the article's snide tone, he has a point about Fonzie. At least try to take some pitches tonight vs. Lowe, don't make it easy on the guy. Sounds like basic advice, but we all know that sometimes Fonzie gets homer - happy up there. OTOH, what do I know? When he gets hot, it doesn't matter what his plate discipline is at the time, he hits everything anyway.

Couch grudgingly admits that Soriano has drawn more walks this season. Actually, his BB/K is much better than last year, .417 (43/103) to .238 (31/130). He seems much more disciplined to me. He takes a lot of close pitches. I wonder how many of his strikeouts were called-strike-threes compared to last year, but I don't know where to find that. Soriano got a huge contract specifically for October games this year and the next couple of years. Okay, Sori, you've got the spotlight.

[ ]

In reply to by blockhead25

Well, Rich Harden is one who was certainly acquired (at a high cost) for a single season that was not expected to end in the first playoff round. And they didn't care how few innings he pitched along the way--just keep babying him and try to get him to Game 3. Lilly was their best pitcher in September but won't pitch till after Zambrano and Harden get a turn. Did Zamabrano get them to October more than Lilly did? No, but he's a star, and this is when the stars come out. Fukudome is in the lineup tonight and batting second, not because they hope he continues to do what he's been doing. He was a star in Japan and in the World Baseball Classic, so you put him in the spotlight and expect him to perform. Soriano is a high-maintenance guy who may or may not get you to October, but he can carry you for a week or two when a championship is at stake. I think that's why they got him.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

You like to be wrong, don't you. - Harden was not acquired for a single season. - Fukudome is not playing because he is a "star." He is playing because, as Lou said, he wanted to focus on defense. - Lilly was not the best pitcher in September. Both Dempster and Harden had better ERA's, though Lilly did have a better WHIP.

I'm at work and, once again, am really happy to be able to watch the game online. And, once again, screw you MLB.

Late to party, but: Red Sox lose to Angels in 4 White sox lose to Rays in 3 Angels beat Rays in 7 Cubs beat Dodgers in 3 Phillies beat Brewers in 3 Cubs beat Phillies in 6 Cubs beat Angels in 7

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    yeah, for me this isn't about who's better at 3rd.  it's madrigal, period.  for me it's about who's not hitting in the lineup because madrigal is in the lineup.

    occasional play at 3rd for madrigal, okay.  going with the steele/ground-ball matchup...meh, but okay, whatever.

    seeing madrigal get significant starting time...no thanks.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Yeah I am very disappointed Madrigal is starting. He has no business as a starter. He is AAA insurance, a back up at best. Sure his defense looks fine because he plays far enough in that his noodle arm isn’t totally exposed. It comes at the cost of 3B range.

    He’s garbage, and a team serious about winning would NOT have him starting opening day.

  • crunch (view)

    in other news, it took 3 PA before a.rizzo got his 1st HBP of the season.

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022.