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

Bigger Than "The Thrilla In Manilla" or "The Rumble In The Jungle," It's "The Reunion At Wrigley!"

Do you remember that supercharged night back in 1999 when former Cub manager Jim Lefebvre, then manager of the Brewers, returned to Wrigley Field for the first time as skipper of another club, in a much anticipated showdown with Jim Riggleman?

I don't either.

But Johnnie B. Baker, Jr., is no Jim Lefebvre, and Lou Piniella is no Jim Riggleman. These guys are managerial heavyweights, and as much as Baker and Piniella claim there is nothing special about Baker's return to Wrigley beside the fact that both the Reds and Cubs will be trying to get a leg up on an NL Central rival, we all know much, much better.

Here, then, is a comparison to help you distinguish the combatants:

THE TALE OF THE TAPE
  Dusty Baker Lou Piniella
Age 58 64
Ht. 6-2 6-2
Wt. Way more than 187 lbs.
Way, WAY more than 198 lbs.
Playing Record
19 yrs., .278 BA, 242 HR
18 yrs., .291 BA, 101 HR
Managerial Record
15 yrs., 1168-1048 (.527)
3 times NL Mgr of the Year
3 division titles
1 NL Pennant
21 yrs., 1611-1502 (.518)
2 times AL Mgr of the Year
5 division titles
1 World Series
Record as Cubs Manager 4 yrs., 322-326, .492
2 yrs., 92-82, .529
High Point
Almost reaching '03 World Series
???
Low Point
Almost reaching '03 World Series ???
Endearing Quirk
Toothpick-chewing
Base-throwing
Commonly Used Noun
"Dude"
"Fellas"
In His Corner
Chris Speier
Dick Pole
Darren Baker
Matt Sinatro
When He's On The Defensive
Brings Darren into
post-game press conferences
Gets loud and sarcastic
Quote "My name is Dusty. It's not
Messiah."
"What the hell do you
think isn't working? You see
the damn game!
"

 

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Comments

I remember the Lou quote. What was it, his 10th or 11th game as manager and you already got the feeling the honeymoon was over between him and the local sports media. That was awesome to see after years of a manager who, if you didn't know any better, looked like he didn't care. - Great post, btw... very funny.

from ESPN After tossing six more scoreless innings in Class-A Monday, 19-year old Korean right-hander Dae-Eun Rhee is now 3-0 with a 0.56 ERA. Rhee has good stuff and is advanced for his age. He's establishing himself as one of the Cubs' top pitching prospects. A.Phil - this guy good then?

Somewhere there should be a mention about allowing your starters to throw until their arm sockets pop out, contrasted with Lou's ominous visit to the mound when Dempster was on the verge of blowing an early season game in the last innings last year.

[ ]

In reply to by Tito

hell, who doesn't spout it? it's his rep, deserved or not. public perception owns the statement, true or not. he's got a hell of a rep. for not playing kids that's pretty unfounded based on 1- what those "wasted kids" ended up doing 2- how other managers who don't have that tag do the same thing but get a pass (bobby cox, for instance...he's played a lot of kids, but look at what j.shur. had to take away from him for that to happen). and while people love to talk about dusty and kids...dusty and pitchers...no one wants to talk about how dusty has given a lot of young pitchers chances who HAVE gone on to have long careers.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

i wouldnt give you livan, ortiz, or schmidt, myself...wood, no. btw, having guys like livan and ortiz around isnt gonna help anyone's arguement about pitch counts seeing as they're guys who are built for that kinda work. also those guys pitched for years after leaving SF and hey, those new/bright/non-dusty managers sure used them as hard or harder...for years. no, i dont think kerry wood throwing an extra 5-10 pitches here and there did more damage to his arm that wasn't already inherently there.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

well maybe they'd get injured anyway, maybe they wouldn't of if someone showed some restraint early in their careers. Is it Dusty's fault? probably not...could be though.

Definitively claiming Dusty isn't at fault is as equally absurd as claiming that he is...

best to err on the side of caution though with young pitchers...no one can argue that Dusty did that.

 

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

thought he K'd more guys early in his career, but I was mistaken. Just a huge loss in velocity, but rather consistent career when you look at the numbers. 

I was just throwing a few names out there, I really don't think Dusty is any different than 90% of the managers out there.

 

 

Manny is technically correct. However, when your contract runs out and you're not asked back (and Dusty apparently asked for a one-year "final chance" deal), it's a matter of semantics at that point.

CUBNUT: Thanks for this. However, I really think you could have done a bit more with Dusty's - ahem - Bench Coach while here: : "Dick Pole" Who is the largest, Dick Pole, Matt Sinatro, or Antonio Alfonseco?

[ ]

In reply to by JohnT

It's a good question. If I'm paid a lot of money to do a high end job by a company and media comes sniffing around looking for dirt on a member of the management team no longer employed and if I want to make sure my value doesn't decrease significantly, I sure as hell don't talk smack. This is an era of huge contracts, agents, and corporatism in MLB. I think people forget that when they assume a manager is beloved because no one has anything bad to say about him on the record.

More Tale of the Tape: Pet Player: Dusty: Neifi! Lou: The Riot! Lineup strategy: Dusty: Speed and contact in the 2 spot; OBP need not apply Lou: Whoever the fuck is hitting, gets to play Thoughts on rookie position players: Dusty: Vermin Lou: If they can hit, they can play Thought on rookie pitchers: Dusty: Those arms have a lot mileage, let's use it all up Lou: Throw a fucking strike already! 162 game strategy Dusty: It's a long season, pace yourself Lou: A win today is one less win later on (except Game 1 of the NLCS)

high 40's for tonight, but 20 mph wind from the south-southwest...

I hope Dempster drills Dusty in the head with the first pitch. Screw Dusty. The best outcome for this series would be for the Cubs to sweep Cincy, and everytime we score a run we run over in front of the Reds dugout and moon Dusty's retarded ass.

Heads up to out of towners who aren't aware of the weather in Chicago. It's pretty windy today. Tom Skilling, WGN weatherman, this morning predicted sustained winds of 25-30mph tonight blowing out to dead center and 35-42mph tomorrow night. I don't think the wind is blowing that hard out where I live but I'm a long way from the park. We could see some high scoring games tonight and tomorrow.

Great post indeed, but I'm officially protesting the spelling of Manila. See my signature.

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.