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

Samardzija throws 4-2/3 of a No-No at Fitch Park

Jeff Samardzija threw 4-2/3 innings of no hit ball, Luis Flores clubbed a solo home run, Shawon Dunston, Jr hammered a two-run homer, and Carlos Penalver had three hits, scored a run, and drove-in another, in Extended Spring Training intrasquad action this morning at Fitch Park in Mesa, AZ.

Samardzija walked one and struck out four, threw one wild pitch, and had the opposing hitters pounding his pitches into the ground (8/2 GO/FO) throughout his outing. He threw 62 pitches (42 strikes) in his 4.2 IP of work.

Frankie de la Cruz followed The Shark to the mound, and was as bad as Samardzija was good. Vying for a spot in the Cubs bullpen, de la Cruz allowed five runs (all earned) on seven hits (including three doubles and a HR) and a walk in just 2.1 IP. He just flat-out got pounded... by kids who couldn't make the Peoria Opening Day roster.

Here is the abridged box score from the game:

SQUAD “A” LINEUP:
1. Shawon Dunston, Jr, CF: 1-5 (3-U, 4-3, 4-3, HR, F-9, R, 2 RBI)
2. Javier Baez, SS: 2-5 (5-3, 4-3, 1B, 2B, K, R)
3. Ryan Cuneo, DH #1: 0-3 (K, 4-3, 4-3, BB, R)
4. Xavier Batista, RF: 1-3 (P-6, K, 2B, BB, R, RBI)
5. Rock Shoulders, 1B: 1-3 (6-3, 4-3, 1B, HBP, RBI, CS)
6. Jeimer Candelario, 3B: 1-4 (P-1, K, K, 1B, RBI)
7. Anthony Giansanti, DH-C: 1-3 (6-3, 1B, BB, F-8, R)
8. Dong-Yub Kim, LF: 1-2 (BB, 2B, 6-4 FC, BB, RBI)
9. Luis Acosta, 2B: 1-4 (K, P-3, 4-U FC, 1B, R)
10a. Yaniel Cabezas, C: PLAYED DEFENSE ONLY - DID NOT BAT
10b. SLOT WAS SKIPPED LAST TWO TIMES THRU BATTING ORDER

SQUAD “B” LINEUP:
1. Brian Inoa, 2B: 1-5 (6-3, 1B, 1-3, 4-6 FC, K, R, SB)
2. Carlos Penalver, SS: 3-5 (K, 1B, 1B, E-5, 1B, R, RBI)
3a. Luis Flores, C: 2-2 (HR, 1B, R, RBI)
3b. Wilfredo Petit, C: 1-3 (5-4 FC, 1B, 6-3, PO)
4. Dan Vogelbach, 1B: 1-3 (E-6, 1B, 4-3, BB, HBP)
5. Delbis Arcila, RF: 0-2 (3-U, BB, K, BB, BB, RBI)
6. Jair Bogaerts, 3B: 0-4 (P-3, K, BB, L-6 DP, 4-6 FC)
7. Trevor Gretzky, DH: 1-2 (1B, E-4, BB, BB, R, SB, CS)
8. Jeffrey Baez, CF: 2-4 (1B, K, 1B, K)
9. Garrett Schlecht, LF: 0-3 (K, K, K, HBP)

SQUAD “A” PITCHERS:
1. Jose Rosario: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 77 pitches (49 strikes), 2/1 GO/FO
2. Hunter Ackerman: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 37 pitches (22 strikes), 4/0 GO/FO
3. Charles Thomas: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K, 21 pitches (12 strikes), 0/1 GO/FO
4. Brian Smith: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 2 K, 2 HBP, 2 WP, 38 pitches (17 strikes), 2/0 GO/FO

SQUAD “B” PITCHERS:
1. Jeff Samardzija: 4.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 WP, 62 pitches (42 strikes), 8/2 GO/FO
2. Frankie de la Cruz: 2.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R (5 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 57 pitches (34 strikes), 4/2 GO/FO
3. Ryan Hartman: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP, 30 pitches (12 strikes)

SQUAD “A” CATCHERS DEFENSE:
1. Yaniel Cabezas: 1-3 CS
2. Anthony Giansanti: 1 PO

SQUAD “B” CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Wilfredo Petit: 1-1 CS

SQUAD “A” ERRORS: 5
1. SS Javier Baez - E-6 (throwing error allowed batter to reach base safely)
2. P Jose Rosario - E-1 (errant pick-off attempt at 2nd base allowed base-runner to advance to 3rd)
3. 2B Luis Acosta - E-4 (fielding error allowed batter to reach base safely)
4. 3B Jeimer Candelario - E-5 (fielding error allowed batter to reach base safely)
5. P Brian Smith - E-1 (errant pick-off attempt at 1st base allowed base-runner to advance to 2nd)

SQUAD “B” ERRORS: NONE

ATTENDANCE: 19

WEATHER: Sunny, cool, and VERY breezy with temperatures in the 60’s

Comments

Peoria has posted their roster. Rosario is on it, but he pitches in an EXT intersquad the day after getaway day. Why post a roster if it isn't accurate? Geiger posts on facebook he's going to Peoria. He's not on the roster either. I know it's early, but we're making errors already. Let's go people , let's go.

[ ]

In reply to by Childersb3

Austin Reed, Bryce Shafer, and Scott Weismann took the Peoria roster slots from Hunter Ackerman, Ryan Hartman, and Hayden Simpson, who were left at EXST. Hartman and Ackerman pitched in the Fitch Park intrasquad game today, and Hartman could not throw strikes. I don't know that Roariuo was left at EXST to stay there, He might have pitched in the intrasquad game today to get his pitch count up (he threw 77 pitches today) in preparation for starting at Peoria. SS-2B Kenny Socorro was supposed to be a player-coach at Peoria, so apparently he will be activated right away. Wes Darvill was moved back up to Peoria and Eduardo Gonzalez and Taylor Davis got last-minute moves up to Peoria from Boise/Mesa, replacing Dustin Geiger, Sergio Burruel, and John Andreoli, who (apparently) got moved up to Daytona at the last minute. I know Yaniel Cabezas was left at EXST because he is unble to hit, and there was an opening for an infielder at Daytona after Elliiot Soto was moved up to Tennessee to replace Junior Lake. I'm not sure why Andreoli would have been moved up.

[ ]

In reply to by Childersb3

I suppose it's possible that Hayden Simpson got bumped-up one level rather than the other way around. He wasn't throwing with much velocity, though. As for the names not listed, it's possible that some of them ended up on the Diabled List. The last Daytona squad I saw on the field was: DAYTONA (24+4) PITCHERS (14) Zach Cates * Gerardo Concepcion * Frank del Valle Eduardo Figueroa Ty’Relle Harris * Eric Jokisch * Austin Kirk Matt Loosen A. J. Morris Brian Schlitter * Matt Spencer (ex-OF) Larry Suarez Brett Wallach Tony Zych CATCHERS (1+1): Yaniel Cabezas (REHAB - was left at EXST) # Micah Gibbs INFIELDERS (5+2): # Arismendy Alcantara Leugim Barroso Dustin Harrington * Richard Jones Pierre LePage (INACTIVE - injury rehab) Greg Rohan (INACTIVE? - may have been released or quit) Ronald Torreyes OUTFIELDERS (4+1): Abner Abreu (INACTIVE? - may have been released) Eliecer Bonne * Nelson Perez * Rubi Silva Matt Szczur So as of this past weekend there were openings on the D-Cubs Active Roster for at least two position players (presumably why John Andreoli, Sergio Burruel, and Dustin Geiger would have been moved-up to Daytona from Peoria--if they were--although that means one more position player is either going on DL or released). From the Daytona Cubs press release, it looks like they added Hayden Simpson (from Peoria) and Casey Harman (from Tennessee), and Cates, Concepcion, and Spencer are deleted. Cates could start the year on the DL (although he looked fine a couple of days ago), and Matt Spencer could remain at EXST for a while since he is a position-player converting to pitcher. Same goes for Concepcion while he assimilates. For the position players, there is one roster opening, but no mention of Andreoli, Burruel, or Geiger, or any specific mention of the third outfielder (presumably Bonne) or the other three infielders besides Greg Rohan, Richard Jones, and Ronald Torreyes (presumably they would be Alcantara, Barroso, and Harrington, although they might have Rubi Silva listed as an infielder since he also plays 2B in addition to OF). Rohan is listed in the press release (he has been a Fitch Park MIA for a week) and so is Chad Noble (also a Fitch Park MIA for a week).

[ ]

In reply to by toonsterwu

Mon, 04/02/2012 - 10:14pm — toonsterwu That'd be interesting. Another third base prospect for them that might not stick at 3rd. I forget, was it just one player we are offering, or did they get to pick 2? As an aside, any thoughts on how Brett Wallach looks as a power pen arm this spring? ================================= TOONSTER: The Padres supposedly get to pick one from a list of 12 prospects, none of whom are on the 40-man roster. There was a Padres scout at Fitch Park the past couple of weeks, and he spent most of his time studying (and taking video of) the Peoria and Daytona squads, and Geiger did have a good camp. Brett Wallach hasn't shown much improvement in the control department, although moving him to the bullpen was a good idea because he does throw hard. Now if he can just find home plate...

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Just to offer a counter-argument- I think Zambrano's issues were external and more an issue of expectations. If you expected Zambrano to be what he really is, a number 3 or number 4 starter, then you would have been pleasantly-surprised every time he went out there and dominated, and been all like "Meh" the rest of the time. But when you pay a guy ace money you expect him to pitch like an ace. And when he doesn't he's branded a failure. Maybe the problem was elevating him to a level where he was ensured failure. Hendry drank the "Zambrano has 'potential'" koolaid and paid him for potential rather than results. This is a big vulnerability for us non-stat-heads when it comes to predicting future results.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

this park is so weird looking. it's got some great seats in a mix of configurations. i really like the OF seats that are flush with the ground with a mesh fence making up part of the OF wall. the upper OF pool area seats are kinda cool. the skyline view is awesome except for the freakshow of an "art sculpture" that goes into motion when someone homers. the walls are a freaky shade of green...it's pretty tacky in contrast to all the blue in the park and orange on the MIA uniforms. the electronic scoreboard is an adventure in ADHD with 10000 bits of information being shown to the audience.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Miami Marlins Construction Crew Completely Unaware They've Been Building Baseball Stadium MIAMI--Speaking with reporters while putting the finishing touches on Miami's new stadium Saturday, construction workers at Marlins Park admitted they had no idea what the structure would be used for, despite having built baseball stadiums in the past. "We installed a big pool back there, so maybe all the seats are for people waiting in line to swim?" said foreman Frank Davies... "But there's that giant rainbow thing with the pink flamingos we built at the edge of the grass that sometimes lights up and moves like a windmill, so I'd say my best guess is this is a really big miniature golf hole or a theme park for disabled children."...
God bless The Onion. :)

Catcher Alberto Mineo has left Fitch Park (actually he left Minor League Camp a couple of weeks ago) and is playing for Team Italy in the MLB Academies Tournament in Germany. Unknown when he will be returning to Arizona, but he is on the AZL Cubs Reserve List. Mineo was signed ($225K bonus) as an International free-agent in August 2010 two weeks after he turned 16. He spent that season at the MLB European Academy in Italy, then played at the MLB Australian Academy last Summer, before spending a few days at AZ Instructs last September.

h/t nsbb/raisin. Per peoriachiefs twitter, Jensen/Francescon/Rosario are the first three starters. I'm glad that guys with power stuff like Jensen and Rosario are being given a chance as starters. Francescon has command and enough polish to go with his stuff that he could move fast, so that wasn't surprising. Will be curious what Kopitzke/Villone and their bosses decide. Leaves a ton of arms for the final few piggybacking/rotation roles, though. Assuming Weismann/Lorick/McKirahan/Shafer aren't up for those spots (more because I hope higher-ceiling guys get shots than those 4), that leaves Wells/Wang/Liria/Cruz/Burke/Reed. My guess is that Reed is in the pen for now, with his mechanical consistency perhaps an issue as a starter. It's tough for me to see them have 2 lefties in piggyback roles and 2 lefties in the pen, so I imagine a lefty grabs a spot (guess is Burke on upside/age, as he could move to Daytona soon if he performs well). I'd put Wells in there on youth/sinker/frame (his biggest issue, IIRC, wasn't necessarily stamina (as many have been saying) but high pitch counts. Could be wrong ... maybe stamina is an issue, but I recall a few games where he had 80+ pitches by the 4th). One other factor may be who closes. Maybe Arizona Phil can shine some light on this. My guess is Weismann, as he was Clemson's closer, but it wouldn't surprise me if they opted to move a hard throwing arm like Liria into such a role. Also, I guess I could envision Reed in such a role, akin to when Huseby had his problems and they moved him to the pen (granted, not exactly the same problems).

"We need more talent," Epstein said in a 30-minute session with Cubs beat reporters. "We lack impact talent. We have a number of interesting guys, especially at the lower levels. Every organization has interesting guys at the lower levels. "We need some more impact talent and we need some guys who have the ability to break through. It'd be nice to get a breakthrough player or two this year and have someone move from that interesting prospect category to that potential impact category."

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Is 2 enough of a list? George Altman is suggesting that the Cubs get two pitchers who would both be better than Garza. The Cubs also have to either extend Garza or replace him with a pitcher of equal value. That means they have to be the highest bidders for three pitchers of Garza quality or higher. And while, as toonsterwu points out below, pitchers like Anibal Sanchez are interesting, they are not clearly better than Garza. If the Cubs brought in an Anibal Sanches, would that clearly push Garza back a slot in the rotation? I doubt it. Here are the "better than Garza so far" lists as I see them: 2013 Cole Hamels Zack Greinke 2014 Tim Lincecum Ubaldo Jimenez Here are the "comparable to Garza so far" lists as I see them 2013 Anibal Sanchez James Shields 2014 Matt Garza Josh Johnson (great results, but injury concerns) Jair Jurrjens (ditto) Johan Santana has an option, it looks like, plus, he'll be a bit aged at that point. I'm no expert on the contracts of these guys, nor am I an expert on their pitching. But it looks to me like the Cubs would need to sign two of Hamels, Geinke, Lincecum, and Jimenez over the next two years to do what Altman suggested. The Cubs would also have to either resign Garza or sign one of those comparable guys. That sounds awesome, but it also sounds like a fairly monumental task to put in front of a front office that also needs to build the farm system and potentially improve at positions currently filled by Soriano and Barney. Do the Cubs have a quality LF and 2B in the upper minors? We might need to replace Soto, too, and Castillo is no sure thing. Do we want DeJesus starting in RF in 2014? Will Jackson succeed at the MLB level? Will Rizzo succeed at the MLB level? There are a lot of questions in addition to the rotation, and I have a hard time imagining Lincecum, Hamels, Greinke or Jimenez getting much less $$ per year than Matt Cain. The point I really wanted to get to, though, is that Free Agency is not going to solve everything for the Cubs. Some of this stuff is going to have to come from the minors--probably via trades.

[ ]

In reply to by toonsterwu

and that's essentially the point I was trying to make. Given the lack of top of rotation arms in the system, but a somewhat interesting group of position prospects (Rizzo, BJax, Castillo, Szczur to go with Castro), the free agent focus should be on first-time FA starting pitchers (ideally #1/#2 types) and re-sign Garza. For me, it always starts with pitching and defense. As to who those targets would be in 2013 and 2014, I have no idea given who might be available. This approach would seem to fit the Theo-vision -- paying for future performance, building around core assets, etc.

Recent comments

  • 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. 

  • 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.