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

Cease Fires Cubs to Victory at Sloan Park

Chris Pieters drilled a two-run single and a double, Kevonte Mitchell ripped an RBI single, walked three times, and scored a run, Yeiler Peguero doubled twice and drew a walk, and Dylan Cease tossed three innings of one-hit ball with six strikeouts and combined with five relievers to fan 14, leading the Cubs to a 5-2 victory over the Athletics in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action Wednesday morning at Sloan Park in Mesa, AZ. 

The game was pre-planned as an eleven-inning affair so that all of the A's and Cubs pitchers scheduled to throw could get their work. 

John Arguello has some excellent game notes from the game at Cubs Den 

link

And here is the abridged box score from the game (Cubs players only): 

CUBS LINEUP:
1a. Shane Victorino, DH #1: 2-2 (1B, 1B) 
1b. Michael Foster, PH-DH: 1-3 (F-8, 1B, K, R, SB)
2. Robert Garcia, RF: 1-4 (5-3 SH, F-8, K, 4-3, 1B, R, RBI, SB)
3. Kevonte Mitchell, CF: 1-2 (K, BB, BB, 1B, BB, R, RBI, CS)
4. Wladimir Galindo, 3B: 0-3 (HBP, P-5, K, F-9, HBP, RBI) 
5. Chris Pieters, 1B: 2-5 (P-6, 2B, F-8, FC, 1B, 2 RBI)
6a. Jhonny Pereda, C-DH: 0-3 (K, F-7, K)
6b. Vimael Machin, PH-DH  0-1 (BB. K)
7. Yeiler Peguero, 2B-SS: 2-3 (2B, BB, 2B, 1-3, PO)
NOTE: SLOT WAS SKIPPED FIFTH TIME THRU BATTING ORDER
8a. Kevin Zamudio, DH-C: 0-3 (L-4, K, L-6)
8b. Eric Gonzalez, PH-C: 0-1 (HBP, L-8, R)
9a. Yonathan Perlaza, SS: 0-2 (4-3, K, BB)
9b. Edgar Rondon, 2B: 0-1 (BB, F-7)
10a. Luis Ayala, LF: 1-3 (6-3, 1B, K, CS)
10b. Jonathan Sierra, LF: 0-2 (6-4 FC, 4-3, R)

CUBS PITCHERS
1. Dylan Cease: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 6 K, 1/1 GO/AO, 51 pitches (31 strikes) 
2. Aaron Crow: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1/0 GO/AO, 18 pitches (9 strikes) 
3. Erling Moreno: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 2/1 GO/AO, 25 pitches (17 strikes) 
4. Mark Malave: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 1 K, 0/2 GO/AO, 20 pitches (15 strikes) 
5. Enrique de los Rios: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 1/2 GO/AO, 27 pitches (21 strikes) 
6. John Michael Knighton: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 GIDP, 1/3 GO/AO, 22 pitches (17 strikes) 

CUBS ERRORS: NONE 

CUBS CATCHERS DEFENSE
Jhonny Pereda: 2-2 CS, 1 PO 

ATTENDANCE: 15 

WEATHER: Partly cloudy and a bit breezy with temperatures in the 80's 


Comments

Thanks, Phil. Any word on how Moreno was throwing? Velocity? I'm assuming Cease was his normal 97-98. Did he have command of his curve? Having your ever vigilant eyes down in Mesa is a great resource. Thanks again!

K-DUB: Erling Moreno was at his usual 89-91 MPH for his fastball, featuring a plus-curve (definitely his best pitch), and a promising change-up. In fact, it was his  "secondary" stuff and advanced command (for a pitcher his age) that attracted the Cubs to him in the first place, and while his fastball velocity is OK, it hasn't increased in the three years since he signed (minus about a year lost to TJS). But at 6'7 and only 19 years old, he will carry the "projectability" tag for a while.  

Dylan Cease was throwing his "usual" 95-98 MPH  and he mostly overpowered the A's hitters with his plus-fastball. He had trouble throwing his curve, although he finally snapped off a couple of good ones in his third inning of work. The change-up is more of a work-in-progress but it's coming along. But he really needs to be more consistent with commanding his fastball. He was yesterday, but that has not always been the case.  

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Theo just said on the Kap show that they wanted Contreras to have more development time before coming up and that he might be a 2nd half call up. Madden said too that Contreras would be a call up if a catcher injury happens later in the season and he would only get called up now to cover a single game and not to fill a DL need.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

Tim Federowicz is out of minor league options, so Outright Assignment Waivers would be needed before he can be sent back to Iowa. He also has the right to elect free-agency if outrighted, but he probably wouldn't elect to be a FA if outrighted unless the Cubs shit on him somehow while he's up with the big club (not likely). 

But it is possible that another MLB club could claim Federowicz if the Cubs place him on waivers, which would leave Willson Contreras as pretty much the only other option if a catcher goes on the DL again later in the season. 

The Cubs view Federowicz the same way they did  Tayler Teragarden in 2015 and Eli Whiteside in 2014, which is to say as a veteran defensive-oriented catcher with MLB experience  who can handle a veteran MLB pitching staff. That's why Federowicz was kept with the big club throughout Spring Training up until Opening Day. so as to maximize his familiarity with the Cubs MLB pitchers.

Willson Contreras is still matriculating. He especially needs to learn to control his emotions on the field, and not give umpires a hard time. I can remember seeing him getting into pissing matches with home plate umpires in the AFL post-2015 and at Minor League Camp this season. For example, he was a DH in a Minor League Camp game the last week of Spring Training, and after being called out on strikes, he threw his helmet and his bat, and continued to yell at the umpire from the bench. CATCHERS CANNOT DO THAT, even when they are serving as a DH that day.  

Part of pitch-framing is mechanical, but it also involves schmoozing the umpire and not getting him on your bad side. Miguel Montero is one of the most popular players in baseball, and David Ross makes it a point to have a good rerlationship with the home plate umpire when he is working a game. That is actually part of the pitch-framing process. Contreras is a fiery, emotional player, but he has to remember that he's not a third-baseman anymore, and so he needs to bite his tongue and stuff his emotions in his back pocket. 

Phil, DJ Wilson seems to mostly have 0-for-X box-scores, from those I've seen and remember. 1. What do you have for his XST record thus far; 2. Is he hitting in bad luck? Or just not hitting the ball very hard very often? 3. Is he having trouble with everything, or does it seem mostly like breaking stuff is what's giving him trouble? He turns 20 in less than 6 months.

[ ]

In reply to by craig

CRAIG: D. J. Wilson is hitting 083/115/167 in six Cactus League EXST games (26 PA), but his K-rate is only 11.5% and he has somehow managed to drive-in five runs along the way (he's tied for second on the team in RBI), so it's not like he's swinging & missing a lot. He does seem to be feeling for the ball a bit, however, which has resulted in too much weak contact and not enough line drives.  

His outfield defense in CF continues to be A+ (he has the team's only two outfield assists and he gets to just about everything hit his way), and he is a good baserunner, too. I think once a few of his BABIP fall in for hits he will gain more confidence at the plate, and hopefully start to drive the ball more consistently. 

He is a dead-red fastball hitter, although he generally handles off-speed stuff OK (not great). He does have problems with harder breaking balls from left-handed pitchers (as most young LH hitters do), but it really doesn't translate into strikeouts because there aren't many LHPs who throw hard breaking stuff at EXST (except maybe the occasional rehab guy). Most of the quality breaking balls you see here are 80 MPH curve balls. 

"Some of the most racist things I've ever heard have come out of people that are on the air at ESPN," Schilling said Wednesday on "Breitbart News Patriot Forum." He was fired by ESPN last week. “In the end for me it felt like that rule applied to me and me alone because I was conservative … Bigots are calling me a bigot. A bigot is someone who refuses to accept a different opinion. I will accept anyone’s opinion.” --- it's amazing the bubble he lives in. he's a constant self-professed victim who not only does nothing wrong, but he's got a laundry list of ready-made conspiracy about why he's being oppressed...along with some interesting mental gymnastics leading him to believe he's the open minded one. it's probably lost on him that if he was working in a place with such horrible bigotry in the workplace that he's picking a hell of a time to out this great injustice. for some reason this wasn't a big deal while he was employed. *eye rolling out of my skull* we don't have enough wood to build enough crosses for people like this. also, im sure keith "suspended multiple times by ESPN" olbermann would be interested to learn that only conservatives with conservative views get suspended from ESPN.

Watching the NFL Draft on ESPN with the mute on is one of the greatest joys in my small life. Being able to not hear Roger Goodell, Chris Berman, Jon Gruden, and Mel Kiper in quick order is just somehow immensely satisfying. I hope by the time the Bears pick they have Steven AAAAAAAAAAAAA Smith and Skip Bayless on so I can not hear them too.

[ ]

In reply to by johann

Seems like a bizarre pick -- they moved up 2 spots to pick up a guy who was not dominant in college. According to the talking heads, supposedly a great athlete (but an unpolished football player). So was Alonzo Spellman. And the guy who could jump out of a pool. Bears have missed the playoffs 5 straight years and 8 of the last 9. And they made Marc Trestman an NFL head coach. Maybe they can hire Theo in his free time. Sheesh.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

So while I'm not happy about this pick and hes going to be a project the positive that can be said is we aren't expected to compete this year and we have a decent LB core so he doesn't have to just go in and dominate. He has some time to develop and he obviously has the athletic ability and speed to build on. It

[ ]

In reply to by johann

Ryan Pace has a reputation as a good judge of talent. Head coach is known for the D side of the ball. D coordinator Fangio known for fitting guys in to spots that best utilize their skills. I'm for seeing how it plays out. I assume their had to be some consensus among those 3 about who to take. Also I'm for letting the Cubs catch up to the Hawks in victory parades before Theo takes on outside projects.

dee gordon (MIA) suspended 80 days for PEDs. wow. "excessive testosterone and Clostebol" hell of a late-night news flash.

Recent comments

  • 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...

  • 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.