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

Cubs @ Brewers: Hendricks vs. Garza (Game 103 Thread)

CHC (55-47): RHP Kyle Hendricks (4-5, 3.81)

MIL (44-60): RHP Matt Garza (5-11, 5.20)

First pitch: 6:10pmCT

Fowler# cf

Schwarber* c

Coghlan* lf

Rizzo* 1b

Bryant 3b

Soler rf

Castro ss

Hendricks p

Russell 2b

 

Gennett* 2b

Peterson* cf

Braun rf

Lind* 1b

Davis lf

Segura ss

Perez 3b

Maldonado c

Garza p

 

Henricks didn’t have his best stuff on Monday against the Rockies (5 IP, 4 ER) but left with a lead. The Cubs went on to win 9-8. That makes six times this season he has left with a lead but received a no-decision. Hendricks pitched in Milwaukee on May 10, keeping them off the board for 5.1 in a game the Cubs would lose 3-2. He’s 3-3 with a 4.31 on the road this year. In 3 career starts against the Brewers, he’s 2-0 with a 0.98. The Brewers are 12-48 (.250) against him. Khris Davis is 3-7.

Garza has had a dreadful season. He lost in AZ (5.2 IP, 3 ER) his last time out. July (1-1, 3.57) has been his best month so far. He’s pitched better at home (2-6 with a 4.14). Garza is 1-2 with a 4.50 against the Cubs. The Cubs are 25-81 (.309) against him. Coghlan is 5-12.

Richard goes tomorrow vs. Lohse. Looking ahead to the big series with the Pirates, we’ll likely see Lester vs. Liriano, Arrieta vs. Happ (who was just acquired to fill in for the DL'd Burnett), and probably Haren vs. Locke. Missing Cole: sweet. And unless something changes, we’re not going to see Bumgarner, who’s on track to pitch in Atlanta the day before the Giants hit Wrigley. 

Go Cubs!

Comments

funky cold optioned to iowa...haren to start on wednesday. montero joining AA to start rehab tomorrow.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

RHRP Yoervis Medina was Designated for Assignment to make room on the Cubs 25-man roster for Tommy Hunter. (Hunter takes Junior Lake's slot on the 40-man roster).

Optional Assignment Waivers must be secured before Medina can be optioned to the minors, and although Optional Assignment Waivers had been secured in the previous waiver period (and once secured, the waivers were good for the entire waiver period), that waiver period ended yesterday at 4 PM (Eastern), and therefore the waivers have expired. So now the Cubs will need to run Medina through Optional Assignment Waivers in the new waiver period (and that takes two days) before he can be optioned to the minors.

The key to making this procedural move is that because the Cubs MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) was full when Medina was Designated for Assignment, another player cannot replace Medina on the 40-man roster while he is Designated for Assignment (or else he cannot be returned to the 40-man roster and be optioned to the minors). So expect the Cubs to go with a 39-man Reserve List until Optional Assignment Waivers are secured, and then Medina will be returned to the Cubs MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) and can be optioned to Iowa (probably on Monday or Tuesday).

BTW, that is NOT the case with RHRP Ben Rowen, who was Designated for Asignment to make room on the Cubs MLB 40-man roster for Dan Haren. So because Rowen was replaced on the 40-man roster by another player after he was Designated for Assignment, he cannot be optioned to the minors. He must be either sent outright to the minors, traded, or released.

per Sun-Times GordWittenmeyer: LaStella's rehab assignment slowed by "soreness" in the same oblique area of original injury. Club doesn't believe it's serious. Muskat's tweet says same info and he will play sunday. Easter bunny is real serious too.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Motte:-( But yeah it's nice to see the Cubs with the stellar, knife in the heart defense. And for anyone that didn't see it, Soler jumped up and robbed the Brewers of a 2 run HR in the 9th inning with the Cubs up 4 to 1 and Motte on the mound looking bad again.

Another good "taking care of business" win. Schwarber is very exciting -- it's also very nice to be left-handed. But, Motte's time seems to be about up -- his velocity seems to be down a few mph -- more 94-95mph than the 96-97 I remember earlier in the year, and he throws nothing but fastballs -- not a good combination.

I like the way Maddon handled the 9th -- gave Motte a chance, but got him out of there before another 4-run meltdown. And Soler!! Thank god he didn't break his leg on the way down....

Wada got knocked around at Iowa tonight -- 6IP, 9 hits, 5 ER.... Javy 2-5 with a 2B and 3 RBI so far.

Tsuyoshi Wada's Article XIX-C Minor League Rehab Assignment expires on Thursday, so the Cubs will need to decide within the next two or three days whether to activate him from the DL and return him to the 25-man roster, trade him, release him, or try and convince him to accept an optional or outright assignment to the minors. 

Just as a point of information, Wada accepted optional assignments to the minors in 2013 (with Baltimore) and again last year (with the Cubs), so it's not for sure that he won't consent to getting sent to the minors. (As a vested NPB player, Wada has Article XX-B rights, just like an MLB player with six-plus years of MLB Service Time, so he canjnot be sent to the minors without his consent). 

The sticking point this time around might be Wada's $2M in potential performance bonuses, which he can't reach if he's pitching at AAA. So the Cubs might have to guarantee some or all of the $2M to get him to agree to a minor league assignment this time. 

The further question is what the Cubs plan is for Wada now that Dan Haren has been acquired. Obviously it would be nice to have Wada as a fall-back option at AAA in August and September (and in the post-season, if the Cubs get there) in case a starter goes down with an injury, but his $4M salary (plus the additional $2M in performance bonuses) is a lot pay a guy to be an emergency Plan "B" (or even Plan "C") at AAA (it would appear that Clayton Richard is presently the Plan "B"). 

I would think if nothing else Wada would get some interest from the also-rans who traded away starting pitchers at the dealine, so if the Cubs can't convince him to accept a minor league assignment, they might be able to trade him. 

Will somebody please explain to me why Theo keeps DFA/Outrighting all of these younger players (Donn Roach, Gonzalez Germen, etc) and then lose them, yet they still have Schlitter on their 40-man sitting at Iowa. If they lose Medina then the Wellington Castillo trade was a waste.

[ ]

In reply to by cubbies.4ever

Ok I will try to explain it to you: Donn Roach is bad. Germen is 27 years old now and not much of a prospect - 1st as a starter, now a reliever, He had a WHIP of over 2 in a short stint with the Cubs big club, and is over 1.5 in Colo. Just not worth a roster spot with better options coming. Medina I suspect the Cubs will try to pass through waivers. Theo took a flier on him as we needed bullpen help, had a surplus of catchers, and Welly - well, his offense wasn't great, and defense wasn't great either. We have upgraded our catchers with experience, framing, and more offense. After a mediocre year last year, and early with the Cubs 2015, he also stunk in Seattle. Happy to see he's doing better with the D-Backs. Plus, the circumstances gave Schwaber a chance to get his feet wet. They are soaked. Schlitter is a head scratcher...but he has been rebooted in Iowa. I never want to see him again, frankly. Or Medina for that matter.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Yoervis Medina just needs to be run through Optional Assignmernt Waivers before he can be optioned to the minors. Optional Assignment Waivers (like Trade Assignment Waivers) are revocable, so it's basically a procedural move, because in practice clubs almost never claim players off Optional Assignment Waivers (although it is possible). So I don't think the Cubs will lose Medina off waivers, although there are no guarantees.

The Cubs will need to make another roster move tomorrow (Sunday), when Clayton Richard will be recalled from Iowa and get the start versus the Brewers. Richard is already on the Cubs MLB 40-man roster (he was Designated for Assignment last week but was returned to the 40-man roster after Optional Assignment Waivers were secured and he gave his consent to be sent to the minors), but somebody will have to be moved off the 25-man roster.

If there are no obvious candidates for the 15-day DL, then I would guess it will probably be Taylor Teagarden, and the Cubs will go with 14 pitchers and two catchers until Miguel Montero completes his minor league Rehab Assignment.

If it is Teagarden, he is out of minor league options, and so he would have to go through Outright Assignment Waivers (which are irrevocable) if the Cubs want to send him back to Iowa. And he could get claimed by a team in need of a veteran back-up catcher, which would leave Luke Carlin as the only catcher at Iowa with MLB experience.

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

AZ Phil: I was expecting Teagarden to go to Iowa once Montero rehabs as the most obvious roster swap. The use of Richard strikes me as a bit of a shorter term dilemma as to who moves off the roster. Can you conjure up a prediction to bridge the gap between Richard today and Montero's call up? As I see it, options include using the DL for some minor issue but it looks like they don't have anyone with options that could be manipulated for the "one start" call up. Are Soriano or Motte at risk of going away? James Russell? Madden loves Herrera (and he's actually been useful). The roster is as near to fully functional as I have seen in quite a while. Adding a bat in August (see the Chase Utley twitter box article)? Making room for Javy Baez? Javy went 3-6 with 3 rbi's last night including a double. The roster is very interesting outside of Teagarden and they already have gotten their game winning hit out of him.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

CUBSTER: Because Clayton Richard (presumably) won't be needed to start again anytime soon after today, and since he won't be able to work out of the bullpen until mid-week, and because even Joe Maddon probably won't want to go with 14 pitchers for more than a day or two, I think it's most-probable that OF Matt Szczur or 1B-3B Mike Olt will be recalled tomorrow and be the 25-man roster "bridge" between Clayton Richard and Miguel Montero, although Javy Baez and Arismendy Alcantara are possibilities, too.  

So it's likely that Richard will make his start today (Sunday) and then be Designated for Assignment tomorrow (again, only because Optional Assignment Waivers must be secured all over again in the new waiver period) and then be optioned back to Iowa once Optional Assignment Waivers have been secured (probably by Wednesday, presuming Richard is still OK with being sent to the minors, since he has five-plus years of MLB Service Time and must give his consent before he can be sent to the minors). 

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

Contrary to what it being reported at mlb trade rumors, Taylor Teagarden was not Designated for Assignment to make room for Dan Haren. Rather, Teagarden was Designated for Assignment to make room on the 25-man roster for Clayton Richard. (Since Richard was already on the 40-man roster, the Teagrden DFA only applies to making room for Richard on the 25-man roster).

Ben Rowen was Designated for Asignmebnt on Friday to make room for Dan Haren on both the 40-man roster AND the 25-man roster.

Tommy Hunter took Junior Lakes's slot on the 40-man roster on Friday and Yoervis Medina's slot on the 25-man roster when he reported to the Cubs on Saturday. (The Cubs played with a 24-man active roster Friday night).

Yoervis Medina was Designated for Assignment so that he can be run through Optional Assignment Waivers, then he will be returned to the 40-man roster and be optioned to Iowa (probably on Monday)

Clayton Richard will likely be Designated for Assignment on Monday so that he can be run through Optional Assignment Waivers, and then he will be optioned back to Iowa (presuming he gives his consent) probably on Wednesday.

So once the DFA smoke clears (probably by Wednesday), the Cubs will end up with 39 players on their MLB Reserve List (one slot will be open).

As I've mentioned previously, the Cubs must decide by Thursday what to do with LHSP Tsuyoshi Wada. His 30-day Article XIX-C Minor League Rehab Assignment will expire on Thursday, at which point the Cubs will need to either reinstate him to their MLB 25-man roster, or DFA him and then have up to ten days either trade, release, or send Wada to the minors (after Optional Assignment Waivers have been secured Aand then only if he gives his consent to be sent to the minors).

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

Matt Szczur is not in the starting lineup for Iowa tonight (but Olt, Baez, and Alcantara are), so it looks like Szczur will probably get recalled tomorrow and replace Clayton Richard on the Cubs MLB 25-man roster (at least until Miguel Montero is ready to be reinstated from the DL). 

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • 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...