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

Up-Hill Battle

GAME TWENTY-SEVEN IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (14-12, 5th, 4 GB) AT ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS (15-13, 2nd, 1 GB) Chase Field, 8:40 PM CDT Weather: Still Hot!!! TV: WCIU Radio: WGN, XM 188
Juan Cruz, RHP 0-0, 2.65 ERA, 17 IP 17 K, 10 BB, 2 HRRich Hill, LHP (2006 AAA) 1-0. 1.44 ERA, 25 IP 33 K, 7 BB, 1 HR
*Juan Pierre, CF Ronny Cedeno, SS Aramis Ramirez, 3B *Todd Walker, 1B Matt Murton, LF *Jacque Jones, RF *Freddie Bynum, 2B Henry Blanco, C *Rich Hill, PEric Byrnes, CF #Orlando Hudson, 2B *Chad Tracy, 3B Conor Jackson, 1B *Shawn Green, RF Damion Easley, SS #Johnny Estrada, C Andy Green, LF Juan Cruz, P

It'll be a battle for Hill to win over some fans after his disappointing debut last season. "One-pitch" Hill did little to impress as he relied almost exclusively on that 12-6 curveball and straight as can be fastball. He's always had a changeup and cutter, but aparently didn't feel confident enough in them to use them against major league hitters. Things have supposedly changed and he's got a slider in the repertoire as well now and hopefully remains his focused self as he did at the end of spring training and his first month in AAA ball. Personally, I hope Hill has found the way cause the potential of two dominating lefties in our rotation is quite tasty, plus I feel he's gotten a bit of a bum wrap around here as if it's impossible for him to adjust or improve upon his game from his less than stellar debut last year. Hell look at John Koronka, the guy finds a slider to go with his fastball/changeup and he's suddenly mowing down major league batters. On the mound for the D-Backs is ex-Cub Juan Cruz who gets his second start of the season. I'm guessing he's going to be pretty amped up to face his old team and it would be wise for the Cubs to take a few and let the guy get himself into some trouble. Of course that doesn't jive with our offensive game plan of swing early, swing often. The Cubs need to find some offense and find it quick. When things go wrong on the northside, there seems to be an automatic reflex of blame Dusty, but not a manager in baseball is going get runs out of a team who has 3 positions unable to top the new Mendoza line of a 300 OBP and their cleanup hitter not even slugging 400. Dusty can juggle it all you want, these guys just aren't producing right now and it's up to this offense to start hitting. I do like the small switch of Walker behind Ramirez as hopefully Ramirez will actually see some pitches near the strike zone. Of course, that small change is probably negated by having Blanco and Bynum in the lineup. Speaking of lineups, that's an interesting one that Bob Melvin is putting out there today. Andy Green? Is Davanon hurt or something? And Hudson batting second? The guy is hitting 220/277/336 from the right side for his career. I was always curious as to why a hitter who is just horrible from one side of the plate, just doesn't scrap switch-hitting. Of course Hudson does have a 281/343/438 line as a righty this year (in 32 Ab's) versus a 194/280/239 line as a lefty(67 AB's) but I'll guess that those numbers trend towards his career line by the time the year is up. Let's get a win Cubbies and GO HILL!!!

Comments

hahaha

whoops

Bynum gets the start because he's the only one that has played with Cruz, per Dusty. Except for Aramis, when they both played on the same team under YOU Dusty. Geez.

Good to see Aramis batting 3rd. That's a good idea, at least until he breaks out.

From the obvious, yet announced department... Standings for the last ten games for teams in the NL Central (going into today): Cinci 8-2 HOU/StL/MIL 6-4 CUBS 5-5 Certainly there are a lot of negatives, but right now we aren't losing too much ground thanks to the 4 others beating the snot out of each other. From a pessimistic stand...well I think everyone's covered that. From an optimistic standpoint things could be much, much worse.

My pick to click tonight would be Aramis Ramirez. Great idea moving him to 3rd. If Pierre is on base, he'll be taking a pitch or two to let him run. I predict that the running game will rattle Cruz-o and Rami will make him pay. As for Hill, he needs to trust his defense and not try to strike everyone out. He's got Woo Woo Bynum playing second, so he just let them hit it. Seriously, I'm expecting a better effort from Hill this time around. I think he suffered from major league awe. In another case of major league awe, I think Angel Guzman will benefit greatly from these major league starts. When Wood comes back, he'll go down to AAA and MATURE. When he comes back-look out. I must have taken a "positive" pill today, cause I'm feelin nothing but Cub Love right now.

picked off at second...did he think he'd struggle scoring from second on a single? My Cubbie love is fading...

Juan Pierre should NOT have been caught in the 1st inning -- not when you have the cleanup hitter up to bat. The good thing is that Rich Hill is off to a good start tonight...Lets hope the Cubs offense can give Rich Hill a little cushion..;-)

And here we go... COnner Jackson on Second. Byum? Blanco? Just what we need more guys who can't hit their weight. Anyone want Hector Villaneuva? CHrist...it is only gets worse.

Rich Hill HAS to learn another pitch, at least, if he is ever going to stick in the majors. Tonight he's not throwing the curveball much, and his fastball isn't good enough to throw it 95% of the time. It's straight, with no movement, and tops out around 91. Most of the time at 88. He's going to get shelled tonight.

Cubs have scored 3+ runs alot lately, right?

walking the pitcher isn't going to help him either...

The Cubs have put MAXIMUM pressure on our pitchers (on the veterans like Maddux and the young ones like Hill)...Dusty said in the pre-game show that close to 70% of the time the team that gets out ahead first will end up winning the game...On the road you have the advantage but the Cubs have not been able to connect...The offense needs to wake up or it won't matter who we have pitching.

anyone know what the cubs are hitting with RISP ?

Thanks for playing Mr. Hill. Here is your bus ticket back to Iowa. And this was teh guy that was most talked about at teh Winter Meetings? UGH...

Why can't we find a player like Chad Tracy...? He has 9 RBIs in 3 games...The Cubs need someone to generate RBIs or we'll be well below .500 after this trip...Here are Tracy's ESPN numbers so far this year: AVG .309 | HR 5 | RBI 21 | OBP .355 | SLG .536

holy crap, damion easley is still in the league? this is one guy who i suspect roided up for a huge contract, and then kept taking. either that or he had a 3 year run of pretty damn good, and the rest of a career of 'barely adaquete."

The Arizona offense is RED HOT right now...I would bet if we had Zambrano or Guzman out there tonight they would give up several runs...Yet, can our offense score...? Last night they let Maddux down big time.

this team is mind numbing to watch the last week swing at the first pitch and pop up, run into a double play, get picked off at second with ramirez up (and you're the fastest man in the game), hit into a double play, don't hit for power. great combo. hendry best move this offseason in my opinion? NOT signing pierre to a long term deal. i'll say it again, i'd rather have lofton for this year, even if you assume he'll miss 40 games to injury. If Pie keeps tearing up AAA he's your man next year, if not we'll figure it out. pierre's "don't get on base, don't hit for power" combo is quite deadly, when you consider he'll get almost 700 PAs this year. ouch.

not to mention the depressing fact that the pitching is maddux, and then marshall is your second safest bet. and even maddux looked like 05 maddux again last night. and hill just gave up a 600 footer. i'm not sure who was more depressing to watch this week, the bulls or the cubs...

452 foot BOMB to Easley?? OMG... In fact Mr. Hill you don't even deserve a bus ticket, take the train.... I hope Hendry can still trade this guy and fool other GM's.

Hill is not pitching well BUT the way Zambrano pitched last time (and the time before) he would have given up several runs to this Arizona offense...In the last 6 games the Cubs have been out-scored 44-5...that says that the offense is not even really in the games...It doesn't even matter if we have a healthy Kerry Wood on the mound...When will the offense WAKE UP and start to score runs...?

I heard that Dusty has Glendon Rusch in the bullpen...If he goes out there tonight Arizona may have the chance to really blow away the Cubs...what a game.

Hill is Hill. He has a curveball that minor leaguers can't hit. End of story. A nothing fast ball, poor control and that Frank Castillo look in his eyes.

Pierre only has 2 RBIs in a Cub uniform for the entire season...and he just had a strike out at a crucial time when the Cubs need some traction.

With Rusch in there you can write off the game...He is a hitters dream come true...And of course with our offense not much is possible...The Marlins are getting a MUCH more productive offense right now with less than 25% of the Cubs' payroll.

Scott: In Pierre's defense, that pitch was high. It was close, but it was a ball.

I'm not watching the game as I can't, but is there any fire in this team? Doesn't seem to be. If Pierre is getting bad calls consistently (he got a few bad calls last night), I'd love to see some argument, some heat. Who cares if he gets tossed? I hope it doesn't always take our 1B man breaking his wrist to fire this team up. For that, I blame the manager.

In Pierre's defense, Pierre sucks. So you really can't expect him to lay off the tough ones.

Andrew: The called 3rd strike on Pierre tonite was a close pitch, not worth arguing over. He probably should have swung to protect the plate. Was not as bad as the calls he got last night, but it was a ball nonetheless. Dusty when out to argue some calls on Ramirez earlier in the game tonite.

i doubt a buncha professionals would be impressed at their manager out there trying to pick a fight for the hell of it with an ump who wont give him his way. argueing balls/strikes = automatic toss...that's not even good managing unless its a high-pressure late situation where you're gonna go home if you dont cash in there, then, or very shortly afterward.

Good, Joe C. I'm glad to hear it. Nothing worse than homer umps though.

If this were any other organization the manager would be fired.

i doubt a buncha professionals would be impressed at their manager out there trying to pick a fight for the hell of it with an ump who wont give him his way. I'm not so sure, but you're welcome to your opinion. The manager however can fire up his team in other ways than arguing balls and strikes. I'm not so much advocating that as arguing something, doing anything that will give the team some pep.

I have 4 years left with these losers!! It's a good thing I got a ring in '03!

I'm just amazed at how this organization is so hell bent on misusing Rich Hill. He's (still) just got one pitch, and you can't be a major league starter with one pitch. You can be sucessful in a bullpen with one pitch, where you only have to see a few hitters at a time. Major League hitters, unlike AAA hitters, can adjust after seeing one good pitch. If you keep expecting Hill to march out there as a starter and go inning after inning, he's going to get shelled time and time again.

SM: "If this were any other organization the manager would be fired." Any other organization the GM would NEVER of been reupped.

he would NEVER of!!!

"anyone know what the Cubs are hitting with RISP?" Are you sure we've had any? "If Pie keeps tearing it up at AAA... Excuse me, but he's hitting .260 now. In order for him to drop that low what is he hitting the last two or three weeks?

this team has had 3 extra base hits the past 3 games...and only 1 since the 4th inning in pitt vs. duke. aram...show up sometime, how about it. how long has it been since he hit a homer...seems like weeks.

"anyone know what the Cubs are hitting with RISP?" 2 for 21 in the last 2 games

okay its only been a week since aram's last homer...feels like forever =p

I would highly recommend that the Cubs hire a leading peak performance coach to work with their players and with the team...The Cubs have a lot of talent BUT it seems like most of the players are having real trouble "getting into the zone"...many top athletes (and sports teams) have used coaches to enhance their mental game and dramatically improve their performance... I think Jim Fannin's Zone Coach organization is based in Chicago...he's worked with famous Chicago athletes such as Jim Thome and Luke Donald...Here's his list of baseball clients... http://www.zonecoach.com/ClientList.asp?CategoryID=2 The Zone Coach Are you the best prepared athlete in the arena? Are you armed with solutions for every performance problem? Do you evaluate in such a way that you insure the next performance will be better? Use the S.C.O.R.E. Performance System and the answer to these three questions will be a resounding YES! The S.C.O.R.E. System will help you attract the ultimate mindset called the Zone. This proven success formula has worked in 9 professional sports in the toughest arenas and conditions in the world. From Wimbledon and the Masters to the World Series, the S.C.O.R.E. Performance System has been used to produce positive results for over 30 years. Beat your competition to the punch. Use the S.C.O.R.E. System to get you in the Zone. http://www.zonecoach.com/sports/ here's a website for an organization that has a good track record... http://www.peaksports.com/membership/index.php?option=content&task=view… Here's another organization based in AZ... http://www.inthezonecoach.com/baseball.html Need to quickly bust a slump? In The Zone Coach offers the Slump Busting Program designed to rapidly get professional players out of slumps. In just a few powerful sessions, proven "slump busting" techniques resolve sudden drops in performance caused by events such as being struck by the ball, errors, a bad outing, or injuries. Overcome obstacles, get back your confidence and enthusiasm, and boost your big game play!

...and when DLee comes back it will be just like trading for an All-Star and when KWood comes back it will be just like trading for an All-Star and when MPrior comes back it will be just like trading for an All-Star If you're watching this game vs the Dbacks... You've all been hypnotized. now everyone cluck like a chicken...

I've sided with the keep Baker club but I'm tired of seeing bad baserunning and pitchers who have the game of their year against us. At this point Pie needs to be with the big club.

cubs, I wish I could quit you. We need to fire all the non-athletes in this organization. This is simply a motivation and strategy problem. Everyone thinks this slump has something to do with DLee, well I disagree. It is hitting and pitching and my theory is simple....TAPE. Cubs start hot, other teams watch tape, adjust, beat cubs. Cubs do not adjust, they do not watch tape. Ever notice girardi or LaRussa during a game? Their noses are buried in binders of situationals and other tendecies. I just see Dusty sit there like a fan with a toothpick. What does he get paid for?

Why wouldn't Baker pinch hit Barrett in the later part of this game?

Dusty managing is like quicksand: every time he makes a move we sink deeper.

Why wouldn't Baker pinch hit Barrett in the later part of this game? You mean when he pinchhit hairston instead? who knows... I mean, Hairston did not start today in favor of Bynum, so he must be a good pinch hitter or something...

until barrett can hit 6 run homers does it matter at the top of the inning with none on?

until barrett can hit 6 run homers does it matter at the top of the inning with none on? No...but if you are going to pinch hit for your catcher, you might as well pinch your backup catcher (especially when he is the best hitter on the bench). You need baserunners, and Barrett is more likely to reach base ahead of the top of the lineup.

It's really painful to be sitting at a baseball game where you don't give a crap who wins and have to watch the out of town scoreboard and see nothing but 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0. And even though you know it's still going to be zero the next time you look...you look again, and again, and again. Cubs kinda suck in all facets of the game right now. Our offense is totally inept, but we are also giving up a lot of early inning runs recently which inevitably leads to the offense trying to push too hard. It's amazing to think we have been outscored 45-5 in 6 games, yet are still above .500. Cubs gave themselves a margin of error...and promptly used it right up.

I hope Rusch and Hill are actually just auditioning for the Lefty BP pitcher job. I think Prince Fielder killed a catcher today. Could Felix Pie acutally do worse than .239/.288/.463? Plus he could probably throw the ball further than 5 feet. Seriously, how many times is Jocko going to throw the ball straight into the ground, 15 hops to the cutoff man? K Patt ran back and forth between 1st and 2nd base for 19 seconds while he figured out if Wilkerson caught a ball at the fence. He caught it, and they caught Corey mulling around looking like a kid lost in a crowded mall, just short of second base. You can take the Corey out of Dusty, but you can't take the Dusty out of Corey.

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.