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

Game 29 Thread / Cubs @ Cardinals (1 of 3)

Game Chat | Press Pass | BR Preview

SP *Rich Hill
SP
Adam Wainwright
  1-0, 3.79, 14 K, 14 BB
3-1, 2.79, 28 K, 9 BB
       
LF
Alfonso Soriano
LF
Brian Barton
SS
Ryan Theriot CF
*Rick Ankiel
1B
Derrek Lee 1B
Albert Pujols
3B
Aramis Ramirez 3B
Trou Glaus
RF
*Kosuke Fukudome RF
Ryan Ludwick
2B
Mark DeRosa C
Yadier Molina
C Geovany Soto
SS
#Cesar Izturis
CF
*Felix Pie
C
Adam Wainwright
P *Rich Hill 2B Brendan Ryan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First place is on the line this weekend in St. Louis, as the rivals battle each other for the first time this year. The Cards expected to struggle, particularly early on in the season while their pitching staff got healthy, are on top of the division. Mostly thanks to a patient offense (lead the NL in walks) and a surprising pitching staff, particularly from Todd Wellemeyer and Kyle Lohse.

The Cardinals patience might be the worst thing going for tonight's Cubs starter Rich Hill, who hasn't seen the mound for over a week and has been struggling with his control since spring training. We'll soon learn how much the layoff affected him.

For the Cards, it's their new ace Adam Wainwright, whom the Cubs have battered for a 7.50 career ERA against. Theriot, Soriano and Ramirez all have at least 10 PA's against him and an OPS over 1000.

Comments

Dear Rich Hill, Please don't pitch to Pujols. Thank you, Ryan Long the laughing stock of the AL East, Tampa Bay is showing signs it won't be the doormat this year. Dear Yahoo! Sports, Yes they will. Thank you, Ryan

[ ]

In reply to by 10man

He needed a rehab start. That much is obvious. This was a terrible game. And now he is grimacing again after landing awkwardly with the error.

sad part is that it wouldn't surprise me if Soriano refused a stint in Iowa which is where any rational thinking GM would've sent his sorry ass coming off a 2 week DL stint.

Are there any rich cub fans that can buy Kenny Lofton and deliver him to Wrigley? Guys, I know its one game and its early, but these player personnel decisions are killing this team from becoming really really really good. Soriano is a typical latin lolly gagger that thinks hitting HRs when it doesnt matter mean more than doing the little things to win games. He doesnt even sprint for flyballs in the gap. Hendry and the scouts should have known, instead of just looking at his stats for a last place team (Nats)

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

Of Soriano's 33 home runs in 2007, here is how they break down: 1. He hit 13 with the score tied, surely a function of his many leadoff homers. But on each of the 13, he gave the Cubs the lead. Do those "matter"? 2. He hit seven while the Cubs were behind. Of those, two tied the game and two put the Cubs ahead. Do those "matter"? 3. He hit 13 while the Cubs were ahead. Of those, five came with the Cubs up by one run and another five came with the Cubs ahead by two runs. Presumably, the extra runs provided by Soriano's homers were not needed and do not "matter"?

i think bringing fox up is grasping at straws they probally have a agreement that if he did not get a call up by a certain time the cubs would release him he probally has a couple more chances with cubs but my god he cant be a long term answer. neil cotts has been in minors for over a year we need to see if he can get outs him being in minors is useless at this point send hill down he has earned it even if he is untouchable in a trade bring cotts up. lieber has eaerned the chance to start next wednesday.

LouPa on Hill: ''Hill can't start like this in the big leagues, come on,'' Piniella said. ''Every time he pitches, it's an adventure. He's doing his best, but we have no bullpen. I mean, I don't know what the solution is, but I can't start him anymore until this thing gets taken care of.'' notes on Ramirez: Aramis Ramirez was hit on the wrist by a pitch in the sixth and left the game a half-inning later to have X-rays, which determined there was no break. Still, the wrist was swollen and sore enough that he's at least doubtful for today's afternoon game. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/929982,CST-SPT-cub03.stng

Soriano must have the goods on LouPa: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/929864,CST-SPT-csep03.arti… You don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't pull the mask off the Lone Ranger. And you don't take Alfonso Soriano out late in a game for defensive purposes. And you should know that. That's why Cubs manager Lou Piniella snapped Thursday when asked about whether he considered replacing Soriano with Reed Johnson, Piniella said Friday -- well, that and the fact the Cubs had just blown a two-run lead in the ninth and lost. ''The guy that asked it knew the answer before I had to answer,'' Piniella said, referring to WSCR-AM's Jesse Rogers. ''Why ask it? Why can't he just report the news instead of try to create news? That's why I told him, obviously I knew. I'm not going to take Soriano out for defense. [Rogers] knows it, you know it, and unless it's a double switch -- that's the only way he's going to come out of a ballgame. Everybody knows that. You don't take superstar players out of the lineup. You don't do it. ''It's a long, long season. I have confidence in Soriano, and yesterday when I was asked a question, I probably should have answered it a little different, but I was a little hot under the collar. And if you can't get hot under the collar as a major-league manager losing a two-run lead against a division rival that you're competing with for a championship, well, then you shouldn't be managing.''

Frustrating night, but here's an attempt to keep things in perspective: (1) Of the main concerns and question marks coming in to this season, many have turned out OK or better so far (Soto, Dempster, Theriot, Lee's power, Wood (mostly), even Marquis). (2) Of those that haven't worked well, most are addressable in some way through a Plan B that will mitigate the damage (Pie: share time w/ Johnson; Hill: replace w/ Lieber). (3) And, there are some outright positive surprises that make this team a little better than expected (Fukudome, Cedeno, Dempster, maybe Soto). (4) Even with the recent suckiness this team is on pace for 95 wins. Yet, the team and Lou are frustrated and hungry and fighting to turn it around. This is obviously an optimistic slant on things, but these are facts. The breaks have started to even out a bit, but although the Cubs have "regressed to the mean" in many ways they are on a 95 win pace.

[ ]

In reply to by 433

Of the main concerns and question marks coming in to this season, many have turned out OK or better so far ... Wood Wood has been ok/good? 3 blown saves already? And another blown game? If Dempster had done that everyone would be calling for his head. Hill: replace w/ Lieber Am I the only one who does not believe that Lieber will be any better than Hill as a starter? Don't get me wrong - I am finally admitting that there is something wrong with Hill, but that does not mean that I am confident in Lieber being able to be much better.

[ ]

In reply to by Chifan

Gallagher has been dominating the PCL A 2-2 record and 3.10 ERA is good, but it's not dominating. Take a look at Salt Lake's Nick Adenhart. He's 4-0 with an 0.87 ERA. That's dominating.

[ ]

In reply to by Timmer

Gallagher: 2-2, 3.10 ERA, 29 IP, 30 K, 9 BB, 2 HR

 9.31 K/9, 3.33 K:BB, .62 HR/9

Adenhart: 4-0, 0.87 ERA, 31 IP, 19 K, 15 BB, 0 HR

 5.52 K/9, 1.27K:BB, 0 HR/9

Gallagher looks a lot better to me.

Sure, it's another frustrating loss, but those reaching for the Ipiac should note the comparison with this year's start vs. 2007. Whether Fonzie needs some rehab starts or not, at least this year they have capable replacements in the wings, at least for the short - term. Still a good club that's done what they needed to do this year, due to the preponderance of home games in April and May.

Hill is not going to the pen. I assume he get send down to work things out. So if you move Leiber to the rotation, who do you move up to the bullpent? I think Lou and Jim are probably weighing that right now. Which would be better, Leiber starting and Gallagher or someone else in the bullpent, or Gallagher starting and Leiber remaining in the pen? Personally, I'd like to see Gallagher in the rotation as well. Rather than make him pitch in a position he is not used, let's see what he can do getting the ball every 5th day for a few turns.

Of the Cubs losses, there have only been a couple of games in which they didn't really give themselves a chance. Otherwise, they've been in most games, which can be frustrating when they lose, but in reality is a good sign. Sure, they've had their moments of pure Cubbery, whether it's misguided baserunning, defensive lapses or bullpen implosions, but for the most part they've kept those things (which happen to every team) to a minimum. And, although he drives me (and many others) nuts a lot of times, I think Soriano will end up doing more good than harm on balance this season. Will he ever "live up" to the fat paycheck? Of course not. Anyone who thought he was an elite, $136 million dollar man is off his nut to begin with. But hopefully we get some payoff (multiple post-season appearances) before the inevitable rapid decline/albatross period sets in. The bigger concern for me is the rotation. Hill is certainly not the only question mark. While Dempster's record and era are a pleasant surprise, they really mask some troubling peripherals. His walks are still an issue and he's been able to keep the ball in the park, but how long will that last as the warm weather (hopefully) arrives? I think BP also pointed out his BABIP is like a ridiculously (and unsustainably) low .187 or something. Once he regresses to the norm -- like Marquis last season -- then his era will be back in the 4.5 zone somewhere. With Lilly underperforming, Hill regressing to early '06 form, and Marquis being Marquis, the offense and bullpen may have to carry the load for awhile. While I'm encouraged by the good start, they have a lot of work to do.

Even with those strikeout and walk numbers, I'm not sure you can say Gallagher is "a lot better." Just "better," maybe. Gallagher also has a slightly better WHIP. So how do you explain the huge difference in ERA? It's not just average against, because those are resonably close: .170 for Adenhart and .196 for Gallagher. My guess, because I don't know anything about him, is that Adenhart is a ground ball pitcher and that's why the walks aren't hurting him. We know Gallagher gives up a lot of flyballs, and he's given up 2 HRs to 0 for Adenhart. Gallagher's Ks are nice, but games are decided by runs scored. Adenhart's ERA is just too good, and too much better than Gallagher's, not to give the former the nod.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • 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.