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

Minor League System

I can't guarantee I'll be able to keep this up all season, but I went through all the box scores for the Cubs and all their minor-league affiliates and tallied who had started at what position, and how often. At the beginning of the season, before too many injuries, demotions, etc., this should give a good idea of who is considered the "starter" at each position and at each level. I will leave it to Arizona Phil to come along and add his interpretation and analysis; for now, here are the numbers: CHICAGO CUBS C: Barrett 8, Blanco 3 1B: Lee 11 2B: Walker 7, Hairston 3, Perez 1 3B: Ramirez 9, Perez 2 SS: Cedeno 11 LF: Murton 11 CF: Pierre 11 RF: Jones 6, Pagan 3, Bynum 1, Mabry 1 SP: Zambrano 3, Rusch 3, Maddux 2, Marshall 2, Williams 1 IOWA CUBS (AAA) C: Soto 8, Kopitzke 3 1B: Sing 9, Deardorff 2 2B: Fontenot 6, Theriot 4, Coats 1 3B: McGehee 9, Coats 1, Deardorff 1 SS: Ojeda 6, Theriot 5 LF: Restovich 4, Strong 4, Deardorff 3 CF: Pie 11 RF: Coats 5, Restovich 5, Theriot 1 SP: Ryu 3, Walrond 2, Valdes 2, Guzman 2, Hill 2 WEST TENN DIAMOND JAXX (AA) C: Richie 7, Reyes 2, Farina 1 1B: Hoffpauir 8, Dopirak 1, Lewis 1 2B: Patterson 10 3B: Moore 8, Lewis 2 SS: Rojas 7, Cates 3 LF: Montanez 7, Lewis 2, Hoffpauir 1 CF: Walker 9, Greenberg 1 RF: Greenberg 8, Montanez 2 DH: Lewis 3, Moore 1, Cates 1 SP: Mathes 2, Marmol 2, Wells 2, Mateo 2, Cash 1, Baez 1 DAYTONA CUBS (A+) C: Fox 8, Rick 2 1B: Craig 10 2B: Spears 8, Salas 2 3B: Spearman 10 SS: Simokaitis 10 LF: Jackson 5, Culpepper 4, Salas 1 CF: Fuld 10 RF: Harvey 6, Culpepper 4 DH: Jackson 5, Fox 1, Harvey 1, Rick 1, Wick 1 SP: Berg 2, Gallagher 2, Hagerty 2, Holliman 2, Johnson 2 PEORIA CHIEFS (A) C: Muyco 5, Reed 4, Morgan 1 1B: Norwood 9, Garcia 1 2B: Chirinos 9, Rivera 1 3B: Taylor 10 SS: Johnston 7, Rivera 3 LF: Valdez 6, Defendis 4 CF: Gregg 8, Ciaramella 2 RF: Ciaramella 6, Defendis 2, Valdez 2 DH: Garcia 8, Chirinos 1, Norwood 1 SP: Veal 2, Blackford 2, Billek 2, Yepez 2, Atkins 2

Comments

not to be picky, since you've clearly done way more work than i did, but did we not start a RF for 2 games? that only totals 9 games.

and i think rusch has started 3 games, now.

Hmm. Math is hard. I've fixed those two things that Matt mentioned. Chris, Nic Jackson is the Jackson who is playing at Daytona and has split his time between left field and DH.

Glad you like it. Hopefully I'll eventually be able to link the names to stats for the players...

Jackson had a major injury, that I forget what exactly now but he missed all of the 05 season. He seems to be starting back at square 1.

more likely Jackson is taking the spot of someone who may develop into something useful.

When I saw the Cubs Spring Training game against the Diamondbacks on March 20, I spoke to the father of a Cubs Minor League OF named Jesse Schmidt. Schmidt had been invited to the Big League game that day and got one AB, his only one of the spring. His dad said he was going to AA, but I haven't seen his name anywhere. Does anyone know where he was assigned (or whether he has a future with the Cubs)?

Jackson had rotator cuff surgery in July of 2004.

I wonder how long Hagerty will keep his rotation spot. It's about time to stick a fork in him.

What's the explanation for this: 2B: Fontenot 6, Theriot 4, Coats 1 Saw a lot of Theriot in ST, but no Fontenot. Is Theriot learning another position?

or hurt?

"more likely Jackson is taking the spot of someone who may develop into something useful." I might be mistaken, but wasn't Jackson projected ahead of KPat to make the majors? Very Kevin Orie like?

fontenot is in the doghouse it seems...unless he was injured this spring, i dont really see a reason for him not to be there (3rd/2nd). yeah, he's got low power and ordinary speed, but he's not immune to a walk or contact. theriot needs to learn all the possitions he can if he wasnt to be in the bigs. some people have very little power and some people have very very very little power...theriot fits the 2nd category. unfortunately he dont have pierre-like speed to make up for it. what he does have, though, is the ability to play middle IF. he reminds me of a slightly taller auggie ojeda who can take a walk.

jackson was a 2nd rounder compensation pick, from when the Drays signed steve trachsel. Patterson was a huge flop because he was the #3 overall pick in the 98 draft. Both were highly thought of prospects.

and mark prior was the yanks 1st choice in 98..suplimental 1st, they lost their 1st pick. kelton was the cubs 2nd pick in that draft.

cubs have missed on just about all of their position player picks for as long as I can remember.

Luis Montanez R/R 6-0 170 12/15/81 1 SS William Hill S/R 5-10 180 04/03/78 2 SS Aaron Krawiec L/L 6-6 215 03/17/79 3 LHP Nicolas Jackson R/R 6-4 205 09/25/79 3 CF Todd Wellemeyer R/R 6-3 195 08/30/78 4 RHP Gary Banks R/R 6-1 185 11/04/81 5 SS Jonathan Johnson R/R 6-2 192 11/03/81 6 SS

Shawon Dunston, Greg Maddux, Lee Smith, Mark Grace, Steve Trachsel, Joe Girardi, Wood ...

cruddy thing is this year's draft...where the cubs have a protected mid-level 1st round pick...is very college pitcher heavy. the bats on both the college and HS level are a lot of nothing worth mentioning. still, with the new scouting crew i'd expect some highschool middle infielder from god knows where to go to the cubs round 1.

Ruz -- nice work, that's an interesting set of data. Another suggestion: it would be interesting to see a similar breakout for the Cubs' batting order, i.e. which names have appeared in each slot and how many times. Even more interesting would be a breakdown of how each player has performed in each slot. So if you could have that on my desk by 9am, that would be greeeat.

(That's for the major league team only, of course. That level of breakdown for the minors would take more patience than I have.)

Thanks Christian -- I hadn't seen that page before. And I have to go on record (like many others) with my sadness, horror and disgust at the fact that Walker started only 3 of the 6 games last week.

does anyone know where Mark pawelek is? I thought he would be at Peoria.

Pawlek is in extended spring training. The thought is to have him work on mechanics with warm weather instead of pitching in the cold spring weather of Peoria. I'm sure he'll be up soon.

Have you seen the stats at West Tenn.? Wow! The pitching staff is unbelievable!

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.