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 Lose Cactus League Tilt at Diablo

The Cubs traveled down the Red Mountain Freeway (AKA "Loop 202") to Tempe Diablo Stadium today, facing the Angels before a capacity crowd of 8,808 (probably more than half of them Cubs fans) under the bright, sunny Arizona skies. 

box score

Loop 202 was closed for most of the day yesterday due to a tractor-trailer fire that involved a HazMat response by the Tempe & Phoenix fire departments. Too bad it wasn't closed again today, because then the Cubs could have just stayed home in Mesa and saved themselves a trip.

As it was, the Cubs left most of their "everyday" players back in Mesa, and so the crowd got to whine (justifiably, IMO) about paying (relatively) big bucks to see a Cubs starting lineup that included the likes of Jake Fox, Micah Hoffpauir, Sam Fuld, and Alex Cintron, instead of Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, and Kosuke Fukudome.

Well, at least the Cubs brought along some of the "front-line" pitching (Jason Marquis, Kerry Wood, and Bob Howry). Except unfortunately for the Cubs fans in attendance, the "front-line" pitching had a bad day...

Said to be battling for the #5 spot in the rotation with Jon Lieber and Sean Marshall, Jason Marquis pitched the first two innings, and was not impressive. He got out of the 1st inning unscathed, although that was mainly because catcher Geovany Soto threw out Chone Figgins trying to steal after Figgins led off the frame with a single, and because Vlad Guerrero hit a monster high fly ball to the very deepest part of CF and into the waiting glove of Felix Pie.

Marquis was not as lucky in the 2nd inning, however. Garret Anderson led off with a walk, and Torii Hunter followed with an RBI double. Then Howie Kendrick drove Hunter in with a one-out single. Marquis left with a final line of 2.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs, 1 BB, and 0 K.

Kerry Wood worked the 3rd inning, and got tagged for a three-run dinger off the smokin' hot bat of Torii Hunter. Woody seemed to have some zip on his fastball, but it looked like he had trouble spotting it, and he also hung a couple of breaking balls. Certainly not a good performance for KW (1.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 HR), especially after he had looked so good in "live" BP sessions at Fitch Park last week. (And we still don't know if he can throw two or three days in row, either).

Bob Howry gave up the 6th and final run in the 5th, via a single, stolen base, ground out, and a ground single just out of range of second-baseman Mike Fontenot. Though he gave up a run, I thought Howry threw the ball OK. No hard-hit balls. Not a bad outing.

Carmen Pignatiello, Rule 5 pick Tim Lahey (three ground outs, including a spectacular diving stop & throw by third-baseman Bobby Scales), and Edward Campusano (three pop-ups) retired the final nine Angels hitters in order. If Campusano is 100% back from TJ surgery (and it looks like he is), he could help the Cubs in 2008. You may remember Campusano (a Rule 5 selection by the Tigers from the Cubs in December 2006) had made Detroit's 2007 Opening Day 25-man roster before going down with a torn elbow ligament at the very end of ST last year.

The only bright spots on offense for the Cubs today were Matt Murton and Jake Fox. Murt went three-for-three (three hard-hit singles), and Fox went 2-5 as the DH, including a two-run blast that went over the fence just inside the foul pole in the LF corner for the Cubs only two runs. Fox also got the "green light" from Manager Lou Piniella on a 3-0 count in the 8th with two men on base and two out, but got robbed on a great play by Angels third-baseman Matt Brown on a one-hop shot smoked down the 3rd base line.

Felix Pie hit lead-off and went 0-3 (one-hop tap back to the pitcher, a line out to CF, and a K), and Sam Fuld (playing RF and hitting 9th) also went 0-3, with a walk and two strikeouts (one swinging and one called).

Eric Patterson came into the game in the 6th, and played 2B for the first time this Spring. Since it's getting kind of obvious that he might not be able to play OF either, I guess maybe the Cubs are starting to think they might as well leave him at 2B and hope he can improve enough to become at least passably-mediocre there. He handled a couple of easy chances without incident today, which is a good start.

Geovany Soto was 2-4 in throwing out base-stealers, although one of the CS resulted from Chone Figgins going half-way to 2nd base before (intentionally?) getting himself into a rundown, perhaps in a misguided plan to try and score the runner (who was the freakin' CATCHER!) from 3rd base.

The Cubs return to HoHoKam Park tomorrow to face the Giants (again, for the third time already this Spring).

Comments

Thx for the report. I really can't stand those Marquis comments, but if it pushes him out of the rotation and some combination of Lieber, Dempster, Gallagher, etc. can fill in, I"m all for it. I think we got lucky with the mediocre year Marquis provided. OT - but when I saw the TCR junk drawer I was certain it was where anything written by Silent Towel or his various other personalities went to gather dust...

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

HAHA! I'm guessing Zito was not throwing the curve today.

From MLBTR: Angelos Gives MacPhail Permission To Move Roberts This morning it was reported that the Cubs had two scouts at the Orioles' spring game yesterday to watch Brian Roberts. Now, several people have written in to let us know that Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000 is reporting that Peter Angelos has given Andy MacPhail the green light to trade Roberts. It has long been rumored that Angelos might have been holding up the trade to the Cubs because of his personal affection for Roberts. With Angelos' blessing, this deal may finally happen in the next few days.

[ ]

In reply to by T-Dubs

T-DUBS: I agree with you. If there is any organization that might still believe Eric Patterson can be a second-baseman, or that would be willing to let him play 2B and live with his mistakes, it would probably be the Orioles.

Present Orioles Scouting Director John Stockstill was the Cubs Scouting Director when the Cubs drafted E-Pat out of Georgia Tech, and he might still envision Patterson as a second-baseman. Further, the Orioles will be needing a second-baseman/lead-off hitter if they trade Brian Roberts, and E-Pat definitely does qualify as a lead-off hitter, and he could possibly "pass" for a second-baseman if you are wearing rose-colored glasses. 

Cubs Minor League camp opened at Fitch Park yesterday, so the Orioles scout sent to Mesa to "bird-dog" the Cubs should get to see Donald Veal throw some "live" BP by this time this week. 

I'm loving Lou's response to the Marquis comments. It really sets a nice tone about no ones role being more important than the team. Over/Under on Marquis's exit?

I hate stories like these. This story is completely instigated by the press. Of course Marquis would want to be a starter, and might look to pitch elsewhere if he does not end up being one. Starters like to stay starters... Duh... This is a story that is being blown out of proportion because they pestered him enough so that he mentioned possibly pitching elsewhere. It does not mean he wants to go elsewhere. He says repeatedly that he loves the Cubs, Chicago and the fans... This is absolutely ridiculous, and I am not even a Marquis fan.

One observation about the new site ... not sure how much I like the branching comments format. The shortest distant between two points (a post and an arugment about OBP) is usually a straight line. It's too hard to find the "new" comments IMO.

Sorry for the OT question here, but I figured someone here may know the answer: What is the definition of "future considerations" as per MLB? I've been looking for the definition all morning, but haven't had any luck. Thanks in advance -- any help would be greatly appreciated.

"The Cubs would have completed the Brian Roberts trade some time ago, until owner Peter Angelos intervened to stop it." Gee, what a surprise! OMG!

"What is the definition of "future considerations" as per MLB? I've been looking for the definition all morning, but haven't had any luck." It's used commonly as a synonym for "cash considerations." However, GMs like this term because it gives them an open window of options to work with in the near future; a future consideration can also be a PTBNL or a future favor (so to speak.).

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...