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

Friday Funnies: Anthony Rizzo, Devin Mesoraco, and the play at the plate.

 

It's always been my favorite play, the play at the plate.
When Starlin Castro blasted one off the wall with Darwin Barney on 2nd and Anthony Rizzo on first, you knew it was gonna happen.
Not really that big an explosion, but if I'm Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco I'd be thinking about lots of stuff including Rizzo's size, the collision that's about to happen, holding onto the ball, and...my health.

Rizzo slid.
Safe.
Cubs end up winning on Alfonso Soriano's 2-run blast in the 8th.
Victory over the first place Reds.
Not that I'm supposed to care about wins this year, but it just makes for a better evening, don't you think?

Comments

Vogelbach and Peralta on Baseball America's Hot Sheet. Starling Peralta Team: low Class A Peoria (Midwest) Age: 21 Why He's Here: 1-0, 1.29, 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 BB, 14 SO The Scoop: It took Peralta three years in the Dominican Summer League to show the Cubs enough to earn a visa to the States. It's taken him another two years to establish himself as a legitimate prospect, but these days Peralta has proven he's one to keep an eye on. He's still somewhat inconsistent, but what was once an 89-92 mph fastball is now a 92-94 heater that tops out near 96. His slider comes and goes, but on days like Tuesday it's a plus pitch. Clinton sure couldn't hit it, and Peralta put together one of the biggest strikeout nights (14) we've seen this year. His previous career high was eight. Dan Vogelbach Team: short-season Boise (Northwest) Age: 19 Why He's Here: .333/.429/1.000 (8-for-24), 6 R, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 4 BB, 7 SO The Scoop: Scouts said Vogelbach's bat would have to carry him, and so far it has—and in a big way. The ultra-stout Vogelbach went deep in four straight games, including a pair of solo blasts last night against Everett to run his yearly total to 13 in just 39 games. (Note that he spent his first 24 games in the Rookie-level Arizona League.) He also has 32 extra-base hits in 161 at-bats this year, good for a rate of one every five at-bats. Possessing plus-plus raw power to all fields, Vogelbach has shred 30 pounds since high school and has proven he's ready to handle full-season ball next year. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-hot-sheet/2012/…

And from the Hot Sheet chat: Will Don Vogelbach be a BA top 100 player at the end of the year? J.J. Cooper: Probably not. He's a power-hitting first baseman who has yet to play full-season ball. The margin for error on those kind of guys is pretty small because of the lack of position versatility. I like Vogelbach as a prospect, but he's likely to have to do it at higher levels to crack the Top 100. It was a pleasent surprise to see Starling Peralta put together a nice game, especially with the cubs lack of pitching depth, I know he doesn't have Ace stuff, but could he be a mid rotation type guy? and how does he rank compared to other Cubs pitching prospects? J.J. Cooper: He still has a long ways to go with consistency, but the stuff is there that when he has his slider, he can be a solid prospect. I think he's more of a 20-30 guy in the system right now, but he's taken some nice strides. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-hot-sheet/2012/…

Can anyone run down the 5 error circumstances? Rizzo with 2?! And, "Sure-Hands-Vitters"? Jackson? Castro's I would expect.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

i can't, but i can tell you the wind was really crazy today...dunno what that has to do with the IF errors, though. i was only partially "checked in"...messy game all around. errors aside, chapman's velocity made rizzo's hitting setup look extremely foolish. he couldn't get through his long-setup/timing mechanism quick enough to swing with enough time to do anything with the ball being pitched.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Rizzo caught a tough hop on a sharp low-sinking liner that bounced six inches in front of him. I thought it was a tough error. Ditto Vitters,except he should have made the play. Castro was just a mental gaffe, good timing on a grounder but just raised his glove a moment too soon, too worried about getting the runner. Didn't catch the last two.

Jorge Soler hit a two out Grand Slam HR in the 3rd. Chiefs ahead of Beloit 4-3 in the 6th. http://peoria.chiefs.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t443&t=g_box&gid… --- Peoria Top of the 3rd Bijan Rademacher reaches E6. Zeke DeVoss grounds out. Pin-Chieh Chen reaches on a fielder's choice out. Bijan Rademacher out at 3rd. Dustin Geiger reaches on a fielding error by third baseman Miguel Sano. Pin-Chieh Chen to 2nd. With Paul Hoilman batting, wild pitch by Taylor Rogers, Pin-Chieh Chen to 3rd. Dustin Geiger to 2nd. Paul Hoilman walks. Jorge Soler hits a grand slam (1) to center field. Pin-Chieh Chen scores. Dustin Geiger scores. Paul Hoilman scores. Wes Darvill doubles (14) Sergio Burruel grounds out. 3-1.

Looking at the Iowa Cubs game in Las Vegas... Casey Coleman was removed in the bottom of the 2nd with 2 outs. Gameday says injury delay but not sure what happened. Smiley Caridad relieved. The game was suspended in the 5th because of rain (in Vegas). Greg Rohan played 3B. Anyone have an opinion about his abilities at third? Certainly he can hit. ...also, Almora had 3 hits in the AZ Cubs game. Hopefully, we'll get an AZ Phil recap.

from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Bob O'Brien:
Maholm’s night: Just a couple of notes to follow up on Maholm’s three-hit shutout, which included five strikeouts and no walks. He did it in 95 pitches (64 strikes), the fewest by a Braves pitcher in a shutout since future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux threw back-to-back four-hitters in September 2000, in 90 pitches against Arizona and 89 pitches against Florida.
...and some crowing about how cheaply Wren has fixed the Braves rotation (getting Sheets and Maholm for $4M) plus moving Medlin from the pen and having 6 starters once Hanson comes of the DL. Apparently the cubs threw in come cash in the Maholm/Johnson deal. This offseason they are more likely to do a Maholm II deal for July flipping into more pitching prospects. I guess Thedstein eventually can do this (Braves) kind of deal if the club were in contention. All you need is waves of prospects. http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2012/08/11/braves-gm-wren-did-…

Coleman was taken out from his last Iowa start after 1.2 IP...
The Cubs will likely use their roster exemption to add a reliever. That additional bullpen piece isn’t expected to be Casey Coleman, though, after the right-hander left Saturday’s start at Iowa early because of discomfort in the back of his right shoulder.
Apparently there is a new MLB rule where the roster can go to 26 for makeup DH's. --- @ESPNChiCubs: Cubs blog: Cubs' to put new MLB rule to the test http://t.co/zSMNFFgI

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • 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).