Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

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




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Bard Totally Wild at Talking Stick

Submitted by Arizona Phil on

Jenner Emeterio singled, doubled, and tripled, scored two runs, and drove-in another, Varonex Cuevas singled and scored in the 3rd and belted a two-run home run in the 6th, and Carlos Jimenez singled, doubled, reached base on an HBP, and scored a run. as the Cubs edged the Diamondbacks 6-5 on Whirlwind Field, and Raymel Flores drilled a two-run single with two outs and the bases loaded to key a four-run 3rd, as the D'backs shutout the Cubs 6-0 on Jackrabbit Field, in a Cactus League Extended Spring Training split squad doubleheader played this morning at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Resort east of Scottsdale, AZ.

Both games were called after 7-1/2 innings of play. 

Veteran MLB RHRP Daniel Bard had a very odd/unusual day. Working one inning in the game on Whirlwind Field, Bard issued three walks, struck out two (both swinging), and uncorked six wild pitches. That's six wild pitches In one inning!

In EXST Cubs roster news, catcher Eric Gonzalez has been assigned to the DSL Cubs, and catcher Tyler Pearson has been moved-up to AA Tennessee.  

The 18-year old Gonzalez got into eight Cactus League EXST games (14 PA), going 0-13 with one walk and five strikeouts. He threw out one of three baserunners attempting to steal against him (33% CS). Gonzalez was signed by the Cubs last June, and he hit 254/297/322 in 19 DSL games last season.

The DSL Cubs begin play a week from tomorrow (Saturday May 30th), and it's possible that additional players who are presently at Extended Spring Training will get assigned to the DSL Cubs prior to DSL Opening Day.

The 23-year old Pearson was the Cubs 25th round pick in the 2014 MLB Fiirst-Year Player Draft out of Texas State (by way of Rice). He hit 235/322/431 in 21 games with AZL Cubs last season, and 250/333/458 in 14 Cactus League EXST games (30 PA) this season (with three doubles and a triple, three walks and an HBP, eight strikeouts, a SH, a SF, and two GIDP). He had a 14% CS, with one passed ball in Cactus League EXST games.

While he was assigned to Tennessee and will physically report to the Smokies, he will not be activated until he is needed. The Cubs have been doing that quite a bit this season, which is to say a a player will be placed on a minor league affiliate's 7-day DL or assigned to Eugene or AZL Cubs (but only on paper), without the player actually leaving the club or reporting to Extended Spring Teaining. Then other times, the player does report to EXST.

One player on a Cubs minor league affiliate's 7-day DL who is definitely at Extended Spring Training is OF Shawon Dunston Jr, who is rehabbing a right arm injury (I believe it's the right shoulder) sustained about a month go at Hi-A Myrtle Beach. Dunston is just now beginning a throwing program and to take BP at EXST, so he probably won't be ready to return to the Pelicans for a while.

Here are the abridged box scores from today's games (Cubs players only):

JACKRABBIT FIELD 

CUBS SQUAD "A" LINEUP: 
1. Kevonte Mitchell, CF: 0-2 (BB, K, K)
2. Frandy de la Rosa, 2B: 0-3 (4-6 FC, F-7, K, CS)
3. Eloy Jimenez, RF-DH: 0-1 (BB, BB, K)
4. Tyler Alamo, C-DH: 1-3 (F-8, 4-6-3 DP, 1B)
5. Ricardo Marcano, LF: 0-3 (F-7, 3-U, 6-4 FC) 
6. Kevin Encarnacion, DH #1: 0-3 (L-7, L-8, 4-6 FC) 
7. Adonis Paula, 3B: 0-2 (K, BB, K) 
8. Ho-Young Son, SS: 0-2 (K, 5-4 FC) 
9. Yohan Matos, DH-C: 0-1 (BB, K)
10. Roney Alcala, 1B: 0-2 (K, F-8)
11. Danny Gutierrez, DH-RF: 1-2 (1B, P-3, SB)

CUBS SQUAD "A" PITCHERS: 
1. Justin Steele: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 6 R (4 ER), 3 BB, 3 K, 4/0 GO/FO, 65 pitches (37 strikes) 
2. Dillon Maples: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 WP, 3/2 GO/FO, 39 pitches (22 strikes) 
3. John Michael Knighton: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 0/4 GO/FO, 14 pitches (12 strikes) 

CUBS SQUAD "A" ERRORS: 1 
LF Ricardo Marcano: E-7 (dropped fly ball allowing batter to reach base safely)

CUBS SQUAD "A" OUTFIELD ASSISTS: 
LF Ricardo Marcano - threw out batter 7-4 trying to stretch single into double

WHIRLWIND FIELD

CUBS SQUAD "B" LINEUP: 
1a. Roberto Caro, RF: 1-3 (BB, K, 1B, 3-U, R, RBI, SB, CS)
1b. Andruw Monasterio, PH-SS: 0-1 (L-7)
2. Robert Garcia, CF:1-4 (6-3, 2B, K, 4-3, RBI) 
3. Carlos Sepulveda, 2B: 0-1 (BB, BB, F-7 SF, K, RBI, CS)
4. Alberto Mineo, 1B: 0-3 (F-9, K, K, BB)
5. Jose Paniagua, LF: 2-4 (1B, P-3, F-8, 2B)
6a. Erick Castillo, C: 1-2 (5-4-3 DP, 2B)
6b. Jhonny Pereda, C: 0-2 (P-4, F-9)
7. Carlos Jimenez, SS-DH: 2-3 (P-3, 1B, 2B, HBP, R, CS)
8. Varonex Cuevas, 3B: 2-4 (1B, F-8, HR, K, 2 R, 2 RBI)
9. Jenner Emeterio, DH-RF: 3-4 (3B, 1B+E5, 2B, K, 2 R, RBI)

CUBS SQUAD "B" PITCHERS:
1. Oscar de la Cruz: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 5 K, 3/2 GO/FO, 65 pitches (45 strikes) 
2. Enrique de los Rios: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 1 WP, 2/1 GO/FO, 27 pitches (16 strikes) 
3. Daniel Bard: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 2 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 2 K, 6 WP, 30 pitches (13 strikes) 
4. Jae-Hoon Ha: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 0/2 GO/FO, 15 pitches (7 strikes) 

CUBS SQUAD "B" ERRORS: NONE 

CUBS SQUAD "B" CATCHERS DEFENSE: 
Jhonny Pereda: 1-1 CS, 1 PO

WEATHER: Mostly sunny & VERY breezy with temperatures in the 80's

ATTENDANCE: 28 

Tags
Cubs Extended Spring Training
Daniel Bard
Jenner Emeterio
Carlos Jimenez
Varonex Cuevas
Tyler Pearson
Eric Gonzalez

Comments

Submitted by crunch on Fri, 05/22/2015 - 05:47 pm

30 pitches...6 wild...that's impressive for all the wrong reasons. maybe someone will give him a coaching/instructor job if he's looking...dunno how much longer he can play "comeback." hate it for him...

Submitted by Cubster on Fri, 05/22/2015 - 05:49 pm

Here is the details of the I-Cubs 7 spot in the 2nd tonight:
Iowa Bottom of the 2nd Christian Villanueva singles on a line drive to right fielder James Jones. Taylor Davis singles on a line drive to center fielder Austin Jackson. Christian Villanueva to 2nd. Rafael Lopez doubles (5) on a fly ball to right fielder James Jones. Christian Villanueva scores. Taylor Davis to 3rd. Taylor Teagarden singles on a ground ball to left fielder Leon Landry. Taylor Davis scores. Rafael Lopez to 3rd. John Andreoli singles on a bunt ground ball to first baseman Stefen Romero. Rafael Lopez scores. Taylor Teagarden to 2nd. Rubi Silva doubles (6) on a fly ball to left fielder Leon Landry. Taylor Teagarden scores. John Andreoli scores. Arismendy Alcantara flies out to center fielder Austin Jackson. Rubi Silva to 3rd. Matt Szczur grounds out, shortstop Ketel Marte to first baseman Stefen Romero. Rubi Silva scores. Javier Baez doubles (4) on a line drive to left fielder Leon Landry. Pitching Change: Andrew Kittredge replaces Stephen Landazuri. Christian Villanueva singles on a ground ball to center fielder Austin Jackson. Javier Baez scores. Taylor Davis singles on a line drive to center fielder Austin Jackson. Christian Villanueva to 3rd.

Submitted by billybucks on Fri, 05/22/2015 - 05:55 pm

Wow...what a terrible AB by Ross. First and third, no outs, DBacks conceding a run, and he can't make contact against a guy throwing 84 mph. Just awful.

Submitted by billybucks on Fri, 05/22/2015 - 05:22 pm

Very frustrating game -- Lester gets taken deep by a guy who cannot hit (.194 w/0 HR before tonight), and the Cubs offense has been shut down by 2 bums (both w/ERAs 5+)so far. Bleh.

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 05/23/2015 - 05:10 am

dat pen, though. ARZ wins 4-5 in 13. DFA everyone. "this one stings." - len ← truth

Submitted by Old and Blue on Sat, 05/23/2015 - 05:09 am

This isn't my mother's Junior Lake. He keeps working that count, and working it pretty nicely. Occasionally you'll see him slip into that chase mode but it is sure a lot rarer than it used to be. This is a guy I thought had no chance of being that kind of hitter when he first came up. Throw a few sliders at the ankles and you could pretty much ring him up every time.

Submitted by billybucks on Sat, 05/23/2015 - 05:18 am

Really glad I didn't stay up to watch that. Rondon had 2 strikes on the last 2 hitters, but couldn't put them away. I realize Goldschmidt is a really good hitter, but, damn, that one hurts.

[ ]

Submitted by Jackstraw on Sat, 05/23/2015 - 05:29 am

Thought it was in the bag with a 2-run lead and Rondon coming in, so I went to bed. My mistake. Earlier in the evening I did a little statistics search on the Cubs website. Cubs current cleanup hitter ranks #8 among starters in slugging percentage. Also ranks #8 among starters in OPS. Might be time for a lineup shuffle.

[ ]

Submitted by Old and Blue on Sat, 05/23/2015 - 05:50 am

Last night was a good display of what makes this team a .500 team, maybe a tad better. Castro isn't a clean up hitter, but I think Maddon likes that he often gets wood on the ball. Last night he really had a beautiful hit late in the game where he really squared up on - if I remember right, an inside slider and roped it to left field. But he's still not a clean up hitter, and never really will be. I'm not one of the many Castro haters, in fact I'm one of his few defenders, but he's just not a cleanup hitter. I don't know who on this team is right now. Maybe Bryant is ready. I was really hoping Soler could do that, but he's not there yet. Next year, maybe. Another weakness is their strength, rookies. Addison Russell striking out in extra innings with the bases loaded. Who in their right mind would want him out of the lineup, but there you go. He's gonna do that this year. He'll start doing it less as time goes on. The other obvious weakness right now is their bullpen. You really just don't know what you're getting - although Maddon's fascination with Rosscup makes me think he read too many of Crunch's comments from a year or two ago. Yeah, he's got good stuff, but he doesn't know how to pitch yet. More growing pains for a young team. Now, Rondon is sucking, too. Mostly because he, too, doesn't seem to know *how* to pitch. Great stuff, just doesn't seem to know when to throw what pitch. I would expect Montero to take more control there like he did that one game a few weeks back where he practically yelled at the pitcher to do things his way. Maybe he did last night. I wasn't watching those two at bats but I read they were a disaster pitching location-wise. My hope overall is that they can just hang in there until 3/4 of the season is over and Soler starts to come around, and they can drop Castro down a bit in the order, and Russell keeps getting more experience. He's going to be awesome but he's still a bit raw. No matter how you slice it, if you don't have Castro batting cleanup, then it's a rookie, Soler or Bryant, most likely. That's the strength and weakness of this team. Next year, these guys will pretty much be the strength of the team. And I don't think it's a wait till next year team. They're so talented that they could make things interesting, and maybe even sneak into the playoffs and do some damage. It's exciting, but frustrating.

[ ]

Submitted by billybucks on Sat, 05/23/2015 - 05:36 pm

Rondon: 13 Hits and 4 BB in his last 10 innings. Definitely doesn't look confident. Very different coming into the year as closer for a team expected to challenge for a playoff spot versus being handed the job during the season for a team not trying to win. The pressure seems to have gotten to him a bit. If he continues to be inconsistent, it will be interesting to see how Maddon handles it. Right now, Grimm seems to be the only reliable guy in the pen, and that's a very small sample size.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 05/23/2015 - 05:48 pm

as long as the cubs keep advanced hitters in the 2/3 slots the 4 slot is gonna suffer compared to other's traditional lineups until soler/montero/?? step up to be a legit option there. many teams still treat that 2 slot as contact-heavy or "2nd speed guy" slot. i think this whole pitcher 8th thing is eye rolling, but if it mentally "allows" maddon to use the 2/3 roster spot like he's doing now, that tradeoff seems nice.

[ ]

Submitted by Jackstraw on Sat, 05/23/2015 - 05:43 pm

as long as the cubs keep advanced hitters in the 2/3 slots the 4 slot is gonna suffer compared to other's traditional lineups until soler/montero/?? step up to be a legit option there. many teams still treat that 2 slot as contact-heavy or "2nd speed guy" slot. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm not tracking here....unless you're saying less RBIs to be had since Bryant and Rizzo already got them. Castro is 2nd on the team in RBIs, so if that's the main job of the cleanup hitter then he's in the right spot. My thinking is since he's 8th on the team in SLG and OPS somebody else (and if you just go by the numbers anybody else) should be there.

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 05/23/2015 - 05:54 pm

close-to-trade-season news blurb...(i can't believe i'm about to type a close-to-trade-season blurb about who the cubs might pick up rather than who's going to scalp the club dry)... j.cueto (CIN) is going to miss his next start due to "elbow tightness" who's ready to get ninja from the whitesox for vogelbomb? :D <--- baseless humor(less) speculation

Recent comments

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa? 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Pro teams have to play their "big money" guys if they are healthy and not "locker room" issues.
    The Cubs wanted to deal JHey off well before they bought him out. They just didn't want to pay him to play for someone else for that long. Jed did give him 20+mil to play for LAD last yr.
    Jed might also let Kyle walk at some point this year. Similar scenario to JHey, except Jed thought Kyle was going to be good/solid in '24!!
    You'd think Smyly is in the same book as well. Same with Neris (he's a 1yr vet RP, so he's not really in this convo too much).
    That's ~35mil between those three and those three are going to get opportunities until at least late June) over younger guys even if their performance is "iffy".
    But, Jed is going to play Taillon a lot. They have to try and justify that contract and hope a veteran works out.
    So, Taillon, Imanaga, and Hendricks are locks for the rest of April and probably May.
    Assad, Brown and Wicks handle the last spots until Steele is ready.
    Now, you're question has real merit when Steele comes back. That will interesting if Brown is still good and Hendricks is still bad. But Taillon is entirely safe as long as he's healthy.

    And the bullpen moves were "money" based as well. Smyly has actually been okay. But he hasn't been clearly better than Little. Little had one bad outing. But Smyly makes 9mil. If they needed another RHRP and one of Little and Smyly had to go, it was going to Little. But that doesn't mean Smyly is one of the best 13 arms for the team. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: I think there was an issue with Luke Little coming into a game with men on base. He seems to need a "clean" inning to be dominant. So he is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AAA. Same goes for Michael Arias. He needs to come into a "clean" inning, and is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AA. Porter Hodge is a more versatile pitcher, a better version of Keegan Thompson (multi-inning RP). But Little, Arias, and Hodge (probably in that order) are the Cubs top three RP prospects (all three are Cubs Top 15 prospects).

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    So, let’s do a little war gaming. Taillon is back for tonight’s game. He pitched two rehab games, just a few innings each, and not especially sharp. Let’s face it, he hasn’t been lights out since the Cubs gave him the big contract. In other words, as flat out bad as Hendricks has been, the chances of Taillon being the savior don’t look exactly promising.

    If Taillon is equally ineffective or perhaps even worse, what’s the next move? Winning teams can often find a way to work around a dud fifth starter - kinda. Two dud starters make things much more difficult.

    I believe the biggest reason for the recent bullpen moves was dissatisfaction with the recent blowing of big leads and the recognition that the bullpen wasn’t all it was thought to be. In other words, they are exploring alternate options and configurations. If similar juggling becomes necessary (even more so than it already is), what kind of reasonable maneuvering do we think could be explored?

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Cubdom needs to prepare themselves for Wicks to be sent to Iowa for Taillon to come up.
    Ben Brown has 4 appearances. Wicks has 4 appearances.
    Ben has 16.1 IP.  Wicks has 17 IP
    Ben was a 1.1 WHIP.  Wicks has a 1.7 WHIP. Wicks does have significantly more SOs. 
    Ben has been better, though.
    I love Wicks. I think he's a fighter and his stuff has improved.
    But, Jed isn't ditching Hendricks just yet. He should. But he won't.
    Hendricks should go to the IL and Taillon-Imanaga-Assad-Wicks-Brown should be the rotation.
    Wont' happen though.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil,
    Did you agree with the demotion of Luke Little? He'd been pretty good up until the AZ/wild pitch appearance. I know that can't jettison Smyly (just yet) so they didn't need another LHRP. Especially with Leiter effectively being a LHRP. I still thought he deserved to stay. It's not permanent. He'll be back. Lots of moves to come with Taillon, Steele and other guys coming and going.

    Also, do you see Hodge being able to "control/command" his stuff to get a chance this year?
    Is Arias better than Hodge?   Thanks

  • crunch (view)

    just waiting to hear patrick wisdom and masterboney are spotted at the airport going in opposite directions...

    aj puk going for the marlins (lefty)...gotta imagine we'll see wisdom in the lineup.

    someone has to make room for taillon, too.

  • crunch (view)

    he's a low-level cubs star in the modern history of the cubs (c.zambrano, k.wood, r.dempster, etc), but that star has dimmed...and has been dimming since 2021.

    2024 has been ugly the whole way and we're only in mid-april.  homers aside (even though there's been 7 in 17ip) he gave up 29 hits in 20 spring innings and 31 in 17 regular season innings.

    he's pretty much only got 2 pitches at this point in his career and the mix isn't fooling anyone.  he threw a noticable amount more curves in his last start to add to the mix and it didn't help his issues.  he don't have many moves left to break out.

  • Eric S (view)

    Definitely needs a 10 day stint for the hangnail - have to nip those things in the bud or suffer the consequences (ie, more opponent home run derby, etc)

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