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 

 



 

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The Battle of the Bulge

GAME SIXTEEN IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (9-6, 4th, -1.5) AT ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (10-6, 3rd, -1.0) Busch Stadium, 1:15 PM CDT Weather: 77 degrees, Cloudy, Wind 7 mph left to right TV: WGN, DirecTV 735 Radio: WGN, XM 187
Sydney Ponson, RHP 1-0, 3.97 ERA, 11.1 IP 5 K, 1 BB, 2 HRGlendon Rusch, LHP 1-2. 6.60 ERA, 15 IP 11 K, 4 BB, 7 HR
*Juan Pierre, CF Ronny Cedeno, SS *Todd Walker, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B *John Mabry, 1B *Jacque Jones, RF Matt Murton, LF Henry Blanco, C *Glendon Rusch, PDavid Eckstein, SS Hector Luna, 2B Albert Pujols, 1B Scott Rolen, 3B *Jim Edmonds, CF Juan Encarnacion, RF Yadier Molina, C So Taguchi, LF Sidney Ponson, P

Cubs vs. Ponson Jacque Jones: 5-26, 192/267/308, 3 BB, 5 K Todd Walker: 6-18, 333/368/389, 1 BB, 1 KCardinals vs. Rusch Albert Pujols: 13-38, 342/419/737, 3 HR, 6 2B Jim Edmonds: 13-49 265/308/327, 3 BB, 12 K Scott Rolen: 8-26, 308/455/577, 2 HR, 6 BB, 7 K Juan Encarnacion: 5-14, 357/438/429, 2 BB, 2 K So Taguchi: 4-18 222/263/222, 1BB, 1 K

Let's just forget about last night's game, all I have to say is that Jacque Jones should probably not be in there versus lefty pitchers, especially those of the quality of Mark Mulder. Granted, options are limited, but Restovich can play right field and wastiing 3-4 at-bats a game doesn't seem like the best use of your talent. Today it's Butterball Rusch versus another out of shape pitcher, Sydney Ponson. If the game gets out of hand, I say they settle the score in a sumo match. Rusch should make all efforts to avoid pitching to Pujols and Rolen today as he has a lot better luck versus Edmonds. GO CUBS!!!

Comments

Cedeno #2? OK with me. Please Rusch, don't suck today. Please.

well it's certainly better than Henry Blanco in the #2 spot...

Cedeno at #2 is better than Neifi batting anywhere

I know it's only two games into the post-Lee lineups, but whatever happened to all those predictions that Dusty was itching for an excuse to get Neifi 500 ABs? And one of the young players that "Dusty doesn't play" batting in the two hole....

Damn Walker...

re: neifi and use of bench injuries matter. proper injury replacements matter. everyone will play on the 25-man under dusty, but if you dont give a manager something worthy of a replacement you have the option of crap vs. slightly less crappy depending on where you lay your importance of what makes a player...which is a whole lot of nothing to bitch about when it comes down to it.

Crunch, don't know if you were responding to my post about Neifi, but unlike a lot of people on TCR I don't mind Neifi getting a start or two a week off the bench. I just find it amusing that so many folks automatically assumed that it was a given that Dusty would jump at the first opportunity to have Neifi in the lineup every day.

yeah i was... all im saying about neifi is, unfortunately, a lot of his use last year was due to injury, not cuz he has some hardon for the guy. we've seen a lot of injury/rest replacements in 04/05 because when the regulars they back up are injured (or the injury replacement is injured) you got the option of crap vs. crap or total radical realignment of roles on the club. a lotta bitching has taken place about why crap player 1 isnt playing over crap player 2...all that aside when push comes to shove and you look at the difference of what each player can do...its just a bunch nothing.

I'm sure it's been said here before, but it's getting tiresome to hear Joe Buck's call of the southsiders' WS victory every slapping time I log into mlbtv.com.

Someone please explain that double switch to me...why neuter an already-hurting lineup by bringing Neifi in for Walker? Williamson pitched ~18 hours ago...he's not going to give more than one good inning anyway...

Steve...there is no explanation other Dusty making a TERRIBLE decision.

williamson pretty much would pitch today anyway after getting such a light touch of work yesterday. the warming up williamson did was bigger than the workload he got.

Crunch: I have much less of a problem with Williamson pitching than I do with Walker being pulled for Neifi, especially since we're now down 3-1. At least move Walker to first and pull Mabry, or bring in Hairston if you're dying to get Walker out of the game...I just don't get it.

Neifi in for Walker now batting 3rd. Does anyone want to retract their post?

Actually I believe Neifi is batting in the 9-hole and the pitcher's spot is third, due to the double switch. Not really much better though.

crunch...i don't think anyone really has an issue with williamson coming in. The issue is with the double switch.

a double switch for walker when you're only picking up 3 spots in the batting order....and now you're gonna have crappy hitters right in the middle of the lineup the rest of the day...all that to get neifi into the lineup. that's inexcusable. no reason to double switch for the 3 hitter. dusty just doesn't understand why they're useful. atrocious.

At least bring Hairston in - at least the guy can get on base.

Does anyone else think that part of the reason the cubs offense has so much trouble scoring runs is because of Dusty's penchant for playing musical chairs with the lineup in the middle of games every other day? Somebody needs to explain to him (preferably slowly, in speech peppered with "dude") that this is not little league and he doesn't need to make sure that everyone has had a chance to play...

since inning 4.2 the problem with the club hasnt been neifi or walker or etc...its been rusch, williamson, and hopefully not whoever's next.

And now Bynum in for Murton!?!?! Stop the freakin' insanity... Someone shoot this man.

Bynum for Murton... Why don't we just skip the preamble and bring Restovich in for Ramirez. I bet it would be fun to have Hairston come in to play CF too. I will now drink whisky.

You know it's bad when Brenly comments about Walker and Murton being gone. Dusty, for God's sake put your Dugout Dice away. LaRussa must be laughing his ass off...

Uh oh, Brenly is getting into Steve Stone territory with that kind of injurious rhetoric.

Crunch: I agree that the pitching has just fallen apart, and I am making no excuses for Rusch or Williamson. Unfortunately that doesn't change the fact that the Cubs are now losing 4-1 -- it's ridiculous to pull some of our most effective offensive players just to gain a couple of lineup spots in the next inning when we need runs to even have a chance at winning this game. I try not to be a mindless Dusty-basher, but days like today just leave me scratching my head.

let's double switch in the two worst hitters on the team! for two of the best hitters left! on a day when we're already losing! and lee is hurt! YAY!!! f u dusty. defend this, manny. we need offense. dustbag is taking it out.

If double switches were runs the Cubs might have a chance. Otherwise, wtf.

sorry crunch, Dusty's lineup insanity is a problem. Like I said the other day, my biggest fear about D-Lee being out of the lineup is how confused Dusty would be.

Are the Cubs the first team in recent memory to do a double switch with their #3 hole hitter?

big john...uh what? i dunno what game you're watching...but given neither guy everyone is bitching about hasnt even come up to the plate...the problem so far has been 2 other guys since inning 4.2...rusch/williamson. that's all i said.

Crunch: Neifi grounded out lamely to third...more proof that he is the king of useless groundouts.

Steve, C'mon, that's ridiculous. Neifi's groundouts are extremely useful if you're the opposing pitcher with a runner on 1st and less than 2 outs.

hehe...thanks, I needed some humor. In all seriousness, it's pretty sad when the manager reduces the fans of his club to snark-filled sarcasm on a near-daily basis...but then again, what else are we left with?

steve, why tell me that? look people... if someone makes a "who cares" or "pro dusty" or whatever you wanna call it statement. you gotta at least stay on topic to the statement if you wanna take digs at someone. this is not politics...this isnt some team 1 vs. team 2 thing...you just cant make it black/white and try to categorize people on "sides"

Crunch: I brought up Neifi's groundout to combat your statement that the rest of us were jumping the gun in criticizing the double-switches because neither Neifi nor Bynum had appeared at the plate. I don't understand the rationale that says it's silly to criticize the double-switches because the pitching has been bad. In my view, that's exactly the reason to criticize them -- with pitching this bad, why put the game completely out of reach by double-switching away two of your most effective bats?

well, that wasnt my criticism.

...and Bynum strikes out swinging on a high, outside fastball. Can we now say that the double-switches were a bad idea?

I think I figured out a little trick with the mlb.tv. I too was a little annoyed by listening to the St. Louis call. If you get to the game by going to the Cubs official website, then clicking on the MLB.TV link under the pictures of the starting pitchers, you will got the Len & Bob feed. Not that it's a whole lot better, but....

i have no "hidden agenda" behind that. its what i mean. the pitching really let this crap get out of hand. i dont agree to the bynum move and i have no idea what made the walker switch happen...my only guess that makes sense is rest. i haven't even offered an opinion til now, but since its a topic i might as well share it at this point. if you wanna argue with me, argue about whether you think its rest or not...i dont need to be treated like i made the move or i'm all about it, though.

crunch, Not to continue the debate, but my problem with the double switches is that the game wasn't out of hand. A 4-1 game with 4 innings to play against a weak bullpen is winnable, even without your best hitter. However, its much less winnnable when you also lose your hottest hitter and one of your best on base talents to seemingly pointless double switches. Dusty's moves certainly didn't cost us the game today, but i'd argue they hindered our chances at making a comeback. Now, there may be a reason he did it such as fatigue... but without getting one i'm left to conclude he's just overmanaging today.

It's not my intention to start a flame-war. I agree that you did not explicitly state that the double-switches were OK, but the tone of your writing strongly implied that the rest of us were wrong and/or premature in our criticism of the double-switches, which is what started to pull the thread off-topic in the first place. Moving on -- I don't believe the double-switches were for rest, as the Cubs just had an off-day. I believe Dusty places too much importance on who is coming up immediately in the next inning and doesn't stop to think about how a double-switch will affect his lineup for the rest of the game, especially in a game where the Cubs are trailing and need offense.

crunch, Never mind my last comment... i think i see what the problem in this non-debate debate is. And, yes i agree with you - our starting pitching has been awful in this series.

Wholeheartedly agreed with Crunch & Shawn...the pitching has been postively awful.

yeah, a lotta people had problem with the double switch, i dont doubt it. i also didnt say anything about it...sometimes stuff gets ignored on the way to exploding about other things. also, there's a lot of jumping on people about things they didnt even say, cover, or mention if there's a scent of pro-dusty or who-cares about a dusty move. about the rest thing...the only reason the walker/rest move makes sense is cuz he took his glove out 2 innings early. that pretty much equals a "rest move"... now, just cuz i say i think its a rest move, that doesnt mean OMG DUSTY RULES HE IS SO SMART HE IS RESTING WALKER CUZ THERE'S 1 DAY OFF THE NEXT 25 GAMES OMG HE IS THE BESTEST EVER, HURRAH, ALL YOU HATERS NEED TO DIE BLAH BLAH BLAH

The pitching wasn't that terrible. Rush pitched great through 4+, and made a few mistakes. Williamson came in and did what he needed to do - he got a ground ball that was just hit in the place to get through the infield. Don't get me wrong - Rusch and Williamson were not great. But they were not terrible either. You have to blame the offense for this one - one run against a crappy pitcher who gave the Cubs sevearal opportunities to score. They just couldn't capitalize.

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.