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

Baseball America Top 10 Cubs Prospects and Mark Prior News

The BA Top 10 came out yesterday...and surprise! Josh Vitters is #1.

  1. Josh Vitters
  2. Jeff Samardzija
  3. Andrew Cashner
  4. Dae-Eun Rhee
  5. Welington Castillo
  6. Kevin Hart
  7. Starlin Castro
  8. Ryan Flaherty
  9. Jay Jackson
  10. Hak-Ju Lee 
You can view every BA Top 10 list since 1992 (sans 1997 and 1998) at this incredible new site started by some really smart people.


Comments

BA shouldn't allow those old Top 10 lists to be published -- it kills any credibility they might have as a knowledgeable baseball source. Seriously. It's like all the stock market analysts who are never right but continue to give forecasts. What's the point? Or every pregame NFL show (my pesonal pet peeve), where every analyst gives the great, in-depth analysis that running the football and limiting turnovers will be key to the upcoming game, while his fellow analyts nod as if he has discovered the secret of the universe.

[ ]

In reply to by Chifan

from scout.com on Jackson, they don't have Castro in their top 20 though

 

5. Jay Jackson, RHP
Acquired: Selected by Cubs in ninth round of 2007 draft from Furman
2008 stats: 4-2, 2.88 ERA, 50 IP, 13 BB, 72 K, 1.06 WHIP

Jackson had arguably the most eye-popping year for any 2008 Cubs draft pick, racking up strikeouts as often as John McCain racks up ‘Joe the Plumber’ references. Part of that, most scouts agree, is due to the development of his two-seam fastball, his best pitch at present time. He’s one of the most athletic pitchers in the Cubs’ system, and his velocity is anywhere from 90 to 95 mph with good movement. Like Cashner, scouts described him as overpowering in the Florida State League playoffs. He features what David Rosario and other Cubs pitching instructors hail as a plus slider and a changeup that is in the develop

Submitted by billybucks on Tue, 01/13/2009 - 9:42pm.

Suprised to see the Shark on the list, as he seems past the "prospect" phase.

Is there a prospect cutoff, like the rookie definition?

========================

BILLY B: Baseball America uses the same position player & pitcher limits as the BBWAA uses for Rookie of the Year (maximum 130 career MLB AB for position players and maximum 50 career MLB IP for pitchers), but does not care about MLB service time. I agree with this approach and I do my list the same way.

Jim Bouton related that one guy on his team (in his book "Ball Four") always said the same thing about every batter during pre - game strategy; "smoke 'em inside." Which means you only have to locate a 95 mph heater on the inside corner of the strike zone, every time. Hilarious.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

I'm all for "Three-Finger" Hill at this point...walks on water....bionic hand.....can make pitchers throw 5 mph harder

what's not to like?

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Maybe it was the limited number of fingers, but for some reason in '07 Dempster thought Hill was signaling for him to throw fastballs.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I thought Hill was a big defensive upgrade over Barrett. His wins and losses were evidence of that, but of course it was under a month's-worth of games. It's irrelevant now. It makes no difference to me whether Hill is on the team, although I certainly prefer him to Bako. Dempster threw a healthy percentage of fastballs as a starter, because any starter must do that in order to survive five innings. A short reliever can get away with very few fastballs. See Marmol, Carlos. But it's a bad idea to get away from your fastball, and someone--Rothschild, maybe?--should tell Marmol that, and Wuertz, too, while he's at it.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

His wins and losses were evidence of that Seriously? I think that you are smarter than that. But it's a bad idea to get away from your fastball, and someone--Rothschild, maybe?--should tell Marmol that Yea... I heard that Marmol struggled a lot last year. If only he would have thrown more fastballs.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

Wuertz' out pitch is the slider. A lot like Borowski, if he can paint a corner with that slider and get a little movement on it, he gets lots of guys out. Hang it just a tad and it's trouble. Marmol's pitches move a lot and last year they started moving out of the strike zone and he started trying to place the ball, and got in all kinds of trouble. When he started winging it again after his All Star appearance, he was fine.

I'd like to know when Rhee had his TJ surgery - haven't been able to find an estimate on the web as to when he's expected back. Usually young players who have a TJ have a dead arm period the year following the surgery; they have velocity but things don't mesh. Didn't see any mention of Chris Huseby, the high schooler that had a TJ and was given big money for a #10 pick. Wonder where he's at as well... Insofar as Mark Prior, to hell with him! Good riddance to bad rubbish, hopefully he's done.

Submitted by carmenfanzone on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 4:54pm.

As far as backup catchers go, how about Jake Fox? Is his defense that bad? I know he's righthanded but his bat would be nice off the bench. Perhaps Az Phil could shed some light on his D.

===============================

CARMEN F: I responded to your question about Jake Fox here at TCR last week, so here it is again...

 

Submitted by carmenfanzone on Mon, 01/05/2009 - 6:58pm. I know we're supposed to sign Bako but I wonder aloud if Jake Fox will be given every opp to make the team as the backup catcher? Please chime in Az Phil...

==========================

CARMEN F: Jake Fox has apparently settled in at 1B, and that's probably where he will play from now on. He also could be a DH if he were to be traded to an A. L. team.

While he played some LF-RF at AA Tennessee and AAA Iowa in 2008, he was mainly used at 1B, and he was not used as a catcher at all in 2008 at Tennessee or Iowa, although he did catch two games in the DWL about a month ago when his team ran out of healthy catchers. But otherwise he played 1B-DH (no OF) in the DWL, and he had a really fine season at bat down there, too,

BTW. Fox has more pure power than any player in the Cubs minor league system, but he is also a dead "first-ball/fastball" hitter who strikes out too much and doesn't walk a lot.

Not only did Fox fail to master the art of catching, he also has been unable to master the finer points of playing corner OF, too. Fox has one minor league option left, and if he doesn't get traded sometime before the end of Spring Training, he will probably play 1B at Iowa in 2009 (unless Micah Hoffpauir gets sent out again). But Fox has no future with the Cubs, mainly because he projects as a platoon 1B-DH-RHPH, and the Cubs just don't have a roster slot that fits that profile. He also doesn't fit with Piniella's desire to get more "athletic."

That doesn't mean Jake Fox wont play in the big leagues, though, because I think he will. It just won't be with the Cubs.

Submitted by Romero on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 8:50pm.

Chirinos started catching last year. Of course, AZ PHIL would know more about this, but seems like Chirinos is handling it well.

=======================================

ROMERO: Robinson Chirinos was signed as a 16-year old hot-shot 2B prospect out of Venezuela in 2001 (he's still only 24), but he had just a 1/2 season of AA ball experience when he completed his 7th season in the Cubs system and became a Rule 55 minor league FA post-2007. The Cubs did re-sign Chirinos during the off-season a year ago, however, and he was the utility infielder (2B-SS-3B) at AA Tennessse at the start of last season.

Cubs Player Personnel Director Oneri Fleita was Jim Hendry's catcher at Creighton, and he has an eye for converting players to new positions when it appears they have no future. The Cubs have converted a number of position players to pitcher over the past few years (Carlos Marmol, Randy Wells, Adalberto Mendez, Blake Parker, Jake Muyco, Junniol Lami, Andres Quezada, Leon Johnson, Josh Lansford, et al), but Oneri also can sometimes spot a catcher in an infielder (Casey McGehee, Matt Cerda, and Chirinos).

The Cubs saw a bit of Henry Blanco in Chironos (Blanco was signed as a 3B by the Dodgers and was converted to catcher during his 6th year in the Dodgers system), and so last May Chirinos agreed to go to Fitch Park and learn the art of catching. Danny Fatheree (Kerry Wood's catcher in HS) was signed to a minor league player contract for 2008 (and he has been re-signed for 2009, BTW), but he actually spent last season as a coach at Fitch Park, mentoring Chirinos and 2008 4th round pick Matt Cerda as they were developed as catchers. Chirinos spent May-June at Fitch with Fatheree, and then was assigned to Daytona in July where he had the opportunity to catch and play some infield. While he struggled a bit behind the plate (the Rich Hill-Robinson Chirinos battery at Daytona was brutal), the Cubs liked what they saw of Chirinos as a catcher and felt he had a future as a "super-sub" utility player.

Chirinos became a Rule 55 minor league FA again post-2008, and (as usual) played winter ball in Venezuela. The Cubs re-signed Chirinos after Christmas, and he now projects as a utility C-2B-SS-3B-1B-LF-RF at either AA Tennessee or AAA Iowa, where the 24-man roster (and four-man bench) in AA and AAA puts a premium on multi-positional utility players.

As a further enticement to get Chirinos to re-up for 2009, it's possible the Cubs promised him an NRI to ST, where he would be one of the extra catchers at big league camp next month (clubs like to have six catchers in camp the first couple of weeks).

Submitted by Seamhead on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 10:50am.

AZ Phil: Have the Cubs tried to have Fox help "fix" Rich Hill, since they were batterymates at Michigan and presumably Fox would have a good perspective on how to get him back on track?

==============================

SEAMHEAD: Despite the fact that Jake Fox was Rich Hill's catcher in college, I don't think Hill and Fox have any significant relationship that would help Hill get back into his "comfort zone." And the Cubs have zero faih in Fox as a catcher. He is now a 1B-DH. I do think Michael Barrett (who signed a minor league deal with Toronto) or Alan Dunn (the Orioles bullpen & assistant pitching coach) might help Hill, though.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if both Felix Pie and Rich Hill get traded to Baltimore, possibly for LHP Garrett Olson and a PTBNL (somebody who can be sent to the minors without having to clear waivers). Then if a deal for Jake Peavy can be worked out later this season, Olson is already in the Cubs organization, and if the Cubs can't get Peavy, they still have a good left-handed pitching prospect at Iowa they can either keep for themselves, or use in another deal sometime in 2009 or 2010.

Recent comments

  • 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).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.