Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

42 players are at MLB Spring Training 

31 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE at MLB Spring Training, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 
11 players are MLB Spring Training NON-ROSTER INVITEES (NRI) 

Last updated 3-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 17
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

NRI PITCHERS: 5 
Colten Brewer 
Carl Edwards Jr 
* Edwin Escobar 
* Richard Lovelady 
* Thomas Pannone 

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

NRI CATCHERS: 2  
Jorge Alfaro 
Joe Hudson 

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

NRI INFIELDERS: 3 
David Bote 
Garrett Cooper
* Dominic Smith

OUTFIELDERS: 5
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

NRI OUTFIELDERS: 1 
* David Peralta

OPTIONED:
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, RHP 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, RHP 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

 



Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Zastryzny Sharp at Riverview

Rashad Crawford belted a lead-off triple into the rightfield corner, Andrew Daniel walked, and then Jeffrey Baez and Chesny Young drilled RBI singles to highlight a three-run 3rd and LHSP Rob Zastryzny tossed four innings of one-hit shutout ball for the Angels/Cubs co-op squad, and Samir Duenez doubled in the 7th and drilled an RBI single in the 9th for the Royals, as the two teams played to a 3-3 tie in AZ Advanced Instructional League game action this afternoon on Field #1 at the Riverview Baseball Complex in Mesa, AZ.

The game was called by mutual agreement after nine innings of play.

Three members of the Kansas City Royals MLB 40-man roster (3B Chestor Cuthbert, LHP Scott Alexander, and RHP Louis Coleman) who were left off the Royals ALDS roster played in the advanced instructs game today, staying sharp while waiting for a possible call-up for the ALCS


About a dozen scouts were on hand to watch Rob Zastryzny and his newly-minted curve ball that has coaches at instructs buzzing. The much-improved breaking ball could get Zastryzny on track to be the pitcher the Cubs hoped he would be when they drafted the 6'3 left-hander out of the University of Missouri in the 2nd round of the 2013 draft.       

2015 Carolina League batting champion Chesny Young extended his hitting streak to eight games with his third inning single, and is now hitting .364. 

Here is the box score from today's game (Cubs players highlighted in bold and underlined

ROYALS LINEUP:
1a. Raul Adalberto Mondesi, SS: 1-2 (F-9, 1B)
1b. Humberto Arteaga, PH-SS: 1-2 (F-8, 1B, R)
2. Orlando Calixte, CF: 0-2 (K, K, BB, BB, 2 R)
3. Chestor Cuthbert, 3B-DH: 0-3 (L-5, K, L-8, BB)
4a. Ryan O'Hearn, 1B: 0-2 (P-5, F-8)
4b. Samir Duenez, 1B: 2-2 (2B, 1B, RBI)
5a. Jorge Bonifacio, DH #1: 0-1 (L-8, BB)
5b. Wander Franco, PH-DH: 0-1 (BB, 3-U, RBI)
6. Hunter Dozier, DH-3B: 0-1 (BB, 5-4 FC, L-8 SF-DP, BB, RBI)
7a. Cam Gallagher, C: 0-2 (F-8, 5-4-3 DP)
7b. Chad Johnson, C: 0-2 (K, K)
8. Alfredo Escalera, LF: 0-3 (K, HBP, 5-3, K)
9a. Anderson Miller, RF: 0-1 (P-2) 
9b. Elier Hernandez, PH-RF: 1-2 (K, 1B)
10a. Austin Bailey, 2B: 0-1 (P-4)
10b. Carlos Garcia, 2B: 0-2 (K, 4-3)

ANGELS/CUBS LINEUP:
1. Jeffrey Baez, RF: 1-4 (P-3, 1B, F-8, L-7, R, RBI, SB)
2. Chesny Young, SS: 1-4 (F-9, 1B, K, F-9, RBI, SB)
3. Victor Caratini, C: 0-3 (K, K, BB, F-9)
4. Dan Vogelbach, 1B: 1-2 (1B, BB, 6-4-3 DP, BB, CS)
5. Zach Houchins, 3B: 1-4 (4-6-3 DP, 5-3, 1B, F-7)
6. Shawon Dunston Jr, DH-LF: 1-3 (K, 3-U, 1B, BB)
7. Charcer Burks, LF-DH: 0-4 (P-4, K, F-8, F-7)
8. Rashad Crawford, CF: 1-4 (3B, F-7, 5-3, 4-3, R)
9. Andrew Daniel, 2B: 0-2 (BB, L-8, 6-3, R, SB)
 
ROYALS PITCHERS
1. Brooks Pounders: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 0/2 GO/AO, 12 pitches (8 strikes)
2. Scott Alexander: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 GIDP, 1/0 GO/AO, 9 pitches (7 strikes)
3. Louis Coleman: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 1 K, 1 WP, 1/1 GO/AO, 35 pitches (21 strikes)
4. Eric Skoglund: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 GIDP, 4/5 GO/AO, 54 pitches (34 strikes) 
5. Matt Tenuta: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K, 1/4 GO/AO, 16 pitches (9 strikes) 

ANGELS/CUBS PITCHERS
1. Rob Zastryzny: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 1/8 GO/AO, 52 pitches (35 strikes) 
2. Tyler Skulina: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP, 1 GIDP, 2/3 GO/AO, 41 pitches (21 strikes)
3. David Garner: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 2/0 GO/AO, 14 pitches (9 strikes)
4. James Pugliese: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 0 K, 2 WP, 1/0 GO/AO, 29 pitches (14 strikes)
5. Steve Perakslis: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 9 pitches (6 strikes)

ROYALS ERRORS: 1 
C Cam Gallagher - E-2 (errant throw on stolen base attempt at 2nd base allowed runner to advance to 3rd)

ANGELS/CUBS ERRORS: 1 
P Tyler Skulina: E-1 (errant throw on pick-off attempt at 1st base allowed runner to advance to 2nd)

ROYALS CATCHERS DEFENSE
1. Cam Gallagher: 0-2 CS
2. Chad Johnson: 1-1 CS

ANGELS/CUBS OUTFIELD ASSISTS:
CF Rashad Crawford - runner (Samir Duenez) thrown out 8-2-5 trying to advance from 2nd to 3rd on F-8 SF

WEATHER: Sunny and a bit breezy with temperatures in the 90's 

ATTENDANCE: 16 (mostly scouts) 

  

Comments

it's day old news, and it's got nothing to do with the cubs, but ichiro signed a $2m deal with MIA (with a $2m option for 2017). neat. 41 years old and damn close to 3000 hits. also, rain delays suck.

"Per Jesse Sanchez at mlb.com, Cubs reportedly have signed 20-year old Cuban OF Eddy Julio Martinez for $3M bonus. Arizona Phil 7 hours 23 min ago" Wow. Nice turn of events. MLB is higher on him than BA, but I trust the Cubs FO and Jason McLeod. Now I just hope the Cubs get another couple Cubans before it's over. RHP Vladimir Gutierrez tops my wish list, but there's a whole host more. Ruiz, Diaz, Ona, Arozarena, Machado, Estevez, Armeteros, the list goes on. A lot of those guys are still teenagers. The way the Cubs have been able to teach and develop young talent, getting a chance to sign potential impact talent teenagers and teach them the "Cubs Way" would create an exciting super wave, tsunami if you will, of talent scheduled to arrive 4-5 years from now. With the youth already on the major league roster, the timing couldn't be better. Come on, PTR, don't get cheap on us now. This is an historic influx of talent and the Cubs timed this (or lucked into this) perfectly. Pony up.

[ ]

In reply to by K Dub

This from a Kiley McDaniel chat a couple weeks ago... "Comment From Wrenzie Who has more ceiling between Yusniel Diaz or Eddy Julio Martinez? Kiley McDaniel: Martinez. I have Eddy (20 years old) as a 65 runner with a 55 arm and 50 raw power that profiles as an everyday CF that could be above average depending on if the bat is a 45 or a 55. I have Yusniel (19) as a 60 runner with a 55 arm and 40 raw power that can be an everyday guy if he hits enough (50 or 55)."

From Keith Law: "His swing is very fluid and simple with excellent hip rotation, and despite a minimal stride, the right-handed hitter makes loud contact to all fields, with easy power from left field over to right-center. I did not get to see him play in a game, so what I know of the rest of his abilities -- such as his potential to play above-average center field -- comes from scouts who have seen him. Based on that, the BP I saw and his very live body, I think he's worth well more than the $3 million the Cubs reportedly will pay him. In fact, I think he's much closer to the $10 million or so that pre-July 2 reports had him getting from the Dodgers. If he were in the Rule 4 draft class for next year, we'd be talking about him as the potential No. 1 overall pick, so the Cubs getting him for $3 million is a relative steal."

how did ej martinez go from asking for $10m, to supposedly mulling over $7m offers, to eventually signing for $3m? ...and what happened with him and the giants a few days ago?

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Apparently it was greedy agents who kept pushing the envelope and teams backed away. He then fired his agents and by that time the landscape had changed. The July push had passed and teams were willing to be patient. As far as what happened to the Giants' deal, I don't know. But perhaps he looked at the two rosters and realized the Cubs had the better chance of winning going forward. Maybe the Cubs swooped in and gave him $500,000 more and he bit. I don't know. What I do know is he signed the day after the Cubs won the wildcard game rather impressively...

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    SF snags b.snell...2/62m

  • Cubster (view)

    AZ Phil: THAT is an awesome report worth multiple thanks. I’m sure it will be worth reposting in an “I told you so” in about 2-3 years.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The actual deadline to select a post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agent signed to 2024 minor league contract (Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta) to the MLB 40-man roster is not MLB Opening Day, it is 12 PM (Eastern) this coming Sunday (3/24). 

    However, the Cubs could notify the player prior to the deadline that the player is not going to get added to the 40 on Sunday, which would allow the player to opt out early. Otherwise the player can opt out anytime after the Sunday deadline (if he was not added to the 40 by that time). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024: 

    * bats or throws left 

    Angel Cepeda, INF 
    * Miguel Cruz, P
    Yidel Diaz, C 
    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
    Fraiman Marte, P  
    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

    And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.

    Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect. 

    F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season. 

    The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically. 

    Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).

    Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day. 

    Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.

    The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required. 

    They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).

    If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.

    If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil, 
    Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
    If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!  

    And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).