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

Cubs, Prior Avoid Arbitration

Mark Prior and the Cubs have agreed on a one year deal, terms have yet to be disclosed. I imagine they'll just agree in the middle and Prior will get the same that he did last year which was $3.65 million. The Cubs should demand from Prior a public apology for even thinking he deserved a raise, but the MLBPA would probably shoot it down. Hendry will have to close a substantial gap between Zambrano and the Cubs numbers($15.5m to $11.025m) to keep the Cubs streak of avoiding arbitration alive (14 years running since Grace in 1993). UPDATE: The Cubs played hard-ass and got Prior to agree to $3.575 million, but he can earn an additional $150,000 if he makes 27 starts and another $150,000 if he makes it up to 30 starts, which if I add it up correctly means he could make $3.875 million next year which is exactly what he asked for when the two sides exchanged arbitration numbers. Isn't that cute?

Comments

They should have shown him shooting steroids into his calves while simultaneously applying Vagisil and hanging up on a reporter.

I figured the shock of actually seeing him pitch would have been too much for most people to handle....

Great. Prior is set to steal EVEN MORE money from the Cubs. Hope his agent was intelligent enough to include a clause that makes the Cubs pay for all gynecologist vists.

In spite of all pessimistic outlooks, i'm still convinced that Prior will actually be underpaid by the time this year ends.

"Interesting choice for a picture… " You'd think Prior would have a towel handy to wipe his brow.

if prior puts in 100 innings of 4.00-4.50 era ball he'll earn his pay by this year's standards.

"The award will be presented on the final weekend of April in Salisbury, N.C." uh...okay. that's one i'd like explained. illinois sportscaster of the year awarded in a small NC town who's claim to fame is a train museum.

If Mark Prior logs even 40 big league innings in 2007, I'll be shocked. It is February 1st tomorrow and nobody (to include the Cub organization) knows for sure the health status of Prior. Indications are that he has yet to throw the baseball legitimately this offseason. And people honestly see him as 5th starter?!?! Please. Wade Miller is first in line to round out the rotation. If not Miller, then Neal Cotts. Prior is destined to go on one of his patented Arizona rehabilitation stints to start the season.

everyone knows you'll be shocked silent...but you're yet to say why. if its the health status thing, well, you're choosing to ignore that he's currently healthy and assuming he'll be injured. interestingly, you're also holding a candle for wade miller who has as much injury concern as prior, a lower upside, and last we saw a lot of progress to make with his "stuff" cuz he's not gonna be effective with a 87-89mph fastball and his lack of control.

crunch- I saw that too, but in the article Hughes won it for Wisconsin back in the 90's too. So I guess each state gets one and they all go to NC and work those velvet pipes.

From MLB.com today on Prior- "He started playing catch the first week in November, threw on flat ground after Christmas, and was throwing off a mound in early January." The first I heard of him throwing, but I kinda remember hearing the same thing last year and then the Cubs got all "secret squirel" about him until he said his shoulder was bothering him later in ST.

Silent Towel: "Indications are that he has yet to throw the baseball legitimately this offseason." http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070130&content_id=17… Well, in this article on Cubs.com it says Prior has been throwing for awhile now with no pain. We can all take that for what it is worth as the Cubs haven't exactly been very good with knowing injuries, but it is what it is. "This offseason, Prior spent six days a week rehabbing his right shoulder. He started playing catch the first week in November, threw on flat ground after Christmas and was throwing off a mound in early January. "So far, everything's been great," Prior said. "I haven't had any complaints. It's been nice to just go out and throw and not worry about things."

crunch: "you’re choosing to ignore that he’s currently healthy and assuming he’ll be injured." Is he healthy? I am sure you are just assuming that as you really have no clue. To me and most fans, he is injured till he pitches in a game again. Remember the Cubs kept saying last offseason that Prior was healthy too. It is not crazy or anything to think Prior will be hurt this year and/or missing Opening Day again. To say he is going to pitch less than 40 IP might be a bit of a long shot, but he has as good of a shot of pitching only 40 IP next year than he does over 150 IP, IMO.

Like I said, I'll be shocked if Prior logs 40 innings at the big league level in 2007. I'm certain Jim Hendry, Sweet Lou, Larry Rothschild and the Cub medical staff will be too.

"To me and most fans, he is injured till he pitches in a game again" And throws over 88 mph

Over/under line for Prior's MLB IP this year: 100. Who wants the over, and who wants the under? I'm taking Over. 160 IP. Will Prior's ERA+ be Above or below 100 (better or worse than league average?) I'll go with just barely above 100, or just barely better than league average.

"Is he healthy? I am sure you are just assuming that as you really have no clue." actually, yeah...numerous media outlets and people i know IRL have seen him throw (not pitch, mind you). "It is not crazy or anything to think Prior will be hurt this year and/or missing Opening Day again." never said anyone thinking that was crazy, but i am saying they're assuming injury for no reason based in his present reality. do i know a time of arrival? no. is the assumption of injury worth more than an assumption of non-injury? i'll let people decide that for themselves. all i asked was some reasoning from someone ive asked numerous times and yet to get an answer.

If any of us would have predicted in 2003 that Mark Prior would be paid about $3.5 million for the 2007 season and that Ted Lilly would be a Cub and would be paid about three times what Prior is going to be paid, the laughing would have been relentless.

I am little concerned about Prior's shoulder. For awhile they were saying in most of their sentences, "as a last resort he will require surgery" after discussing his rest period. He could throw fine all the way up to Spring training until he has to get into the groove of pitching regularly and then it could flare up again. The key thing is he is doing his normal off-season stuff and no one is in, as one poster exclaimed, "secret squirrel" mode.

prior's "worth" about as much as wade miller right now til he gets on a mound, someone points a radar gun at the plate, returns a good report, and the secondary stuff shows up. that said...if you're purchasing upside, you're making a healthy purchase there. not much to complain about with 2 mlb-ready backups (miller/cotts) and a slew of mlb-experienced youth (guzman/marshall/etc) backing it all up. now watch Z go out, run into DLee, and have both end up missing 3/4 of the season along with Aram going down for the season running over to check out the situation blowing out his groin. wee.

Even a team having a high school baseball coach masquerading as a big league GM (i.e., Hendry) doesn't go out and sign Jason Friggin Marquis to a three year deal unless there are big doubts over Mark Prior. I maintain that both Prior's arm and head are massively screwed up.

And the Bonds contract has been rejected by the commissioners office. After the commissioner's office rejected Bonds' $15.8 million, one-year deal because it contained a personal-appearance provision, the team sent revised documents to his agent, Jeff Borris. Baseball's Uniform Player Contract states a player "agrees to cooperate with the club in any and all reasonable promotional activities." Bonds' contract had additional language that the commissioner's office rejected. I am glad Bonds hasn't been humbled by his legal troubles. He still seems like the same prick that he ever was, hell even more so.

is he healthy? is he throwing towels or baseballs? when they say "mound" do they mean his mons veneris? he should get a sponsorship from vagisil or masengil! he's robbing us for 3.5M more! waaah! blah-blah-blah! can everybody do ME a huge favor and just friggin write his ass off already? call him a thief the likes of wood, put absolutely zero expectations on him and just write him the hell off, please! for pete's sake its time for a global campaign of dis-respect for Dr. Calvetacular. nothing but dis-respect, doubt, and nay-saying. get him a body bag, he's through i tell you! finished!!

like prior or not, people generally dont get contracts for 3.5m if the people looking at him dont think he'll be around at some point. i know prior is 38 years old and is on his 3rd surgery and all, but maybe he's got a little left in the tank.

what is with all these people predicting dlee to play 1/2 to 3/4 of a season, btw? i mean, at what point do you look past your spreadsheet and look at a scene objectively with the tools and knowlege you have now instead of what someone's done in the past?

dammit crunch, even while dripping with sarcasm your comment still smacks of things like faith and hope, which is just what we must avoid! disrespect, doubt, and nay-saying!! he's THROUGH i tell you!!! modify his jersey to accomodate the big FORK IN HIS BACK!!!

Prior is the DH for my slow-pitch softball team on Monday nights. Every pitcher is an exact number of pitches away from his final one, and Mark said he's just delaying that number until when he gets a big bucks contract from a playoff team. Can't we talk about Dusty? I'm sort of beside myself right now.

http://sports.excite.com/news/01312007/v1184.html John Kerry's going after the MLB/Extra Innings deal. Jan 31, 8:18 PM (ET) WASHINGTON (AP) -A proposal to make Major League Baseball's "Extra Innings" exclusive to DirecTV has drawn the ire of Sen. John Kerry. The Massachusetts Democrat said he plans to raise the matter with the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission at a hearing Thursday. "I am opposed to anything that deprives people of reasonable choices," Kerry said in a statement. "In this day and age, consumers should have more choices - not fewer. I'd like to know how this serves the public - a deal that will force fans to subscribe to DirecTV in order to tune in to their favorite players. A Red Sox fan ought to be able to watch their team without having to switch to DirecTV." "Extra Innings" is a service that allows viewers to watch games involving teams not in their local markets. In past years, the service has been available through a range of providers, but a pending deal would make the service only available to DirecTV subscribers. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is a scheduled witness at Thursday's hearing of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

Isn't it amazing how Red Sox fans feel they are the center of the baseball universe?

I can't believe no one raised their voice when the MLB/NFL video game exclusive rights were bought out by Take2 and EA and now everybody's up in arms about the Extra Innings package. I can safely assume that there are more sports video games per fan sold than EI/Sunday Ticket packages.

Go John Kerry!!!! I wouldn't vote for him if he was up against Jim Hendry for President, but I got his back for this one. Go to see a politician actually do something for the good of the people.

I wonder if someone told the Sentor about the Sunday Ticket package or the fact that the govt has no regulatory powers over sattlelight technoolgy? Seems to be me he doesnt want want to his his monthly allowence from his ketchup momma to pay for direct tv. Carlos, about the videogame thing Madden had about 85% market share when it got exclusive rights and the MLB videogame market is scarce anyway so nobody cared about it.

chifan: "I wonder if someone told the Sentor about the Sunday Ticket package" Was there a package available to every fan for all the NFL games before DirecTv's Sunday Ticket? Was it offered on all the cable stations as a package? If not, then comparing the NFL package and MLB packages are apples to oranges. NFL was not taking away something from its fans, it was actually giving something. MLB is taking something away. It is funny though that MLB is doing this all for $100 million a year. That is like $3 million a year per team and I am sure they have to split that with the players some.

If you think John Kerry gives a shit about any of us think again. Hell he doesn't even know what he stands for. I guess he needs some good publicity after his fiasco visit to Davo and this is what his PR team came up with. He won't really do anything, because well that is what Kerry does best, nothing. I guess calling America a "Pariah" and being factually wrong is just the same old same old from him... Kerry said the Bush administration has failed to adequately address a number of foreign policy issues. “When we walk away from global warming, Kyoto, when we are irresponsibly slow in moving toward AIDS in Africa, when we don’t advance and live up to our own rhetoric and standards, we set a terrible message of duplicity and hypocrisy,” Kerry said. I am sorry Mr. Kerry are you talking about the same Kyoto agreement you voted against in 1997 and in which Congress said they would never ratify because India, China and whoever else would not be held to the same standards? All of which was done during the Clinton Administration and the same policy Bush has continued to this day. And is Mr. Kerry talking about how Bush has nearly tripled aid to Africa from Clinton's 1.8 Billion a year to over $4 billion and by 2010 Bush wants to more than double that to $9 Billion a year? And yet he talks about hypocrisy. I can't tell you how many times I hear stupid Liberals bash Bush for Kyoto. Yet a friggin Senator of the United States WHO VOTED ON THE ISSUE, is pimping the Liberal lie to what the voters want to hear. To hell with the facts, the lie is so much better because it slams Bush. Maybe he can find another place to sit next to state sponsors of terrorism and tell us how evil our nation is.

Manny: NFL was not taking away something from its fans, it was actually giving something. MLB is taking something away. Or they were just ahead of the curve.

there's only 1 reason for ***MOST*** politicians to take the stances they do. go follow their money and who pays for their multi-million dollar campaigns. forget all this bullcrap about liberals and conservatives...forget it...its just crap to distract people from the few elites who make the policy and what price they are bought and sold for. forget about abortions and jesus and other crap. i dont care if you want to slash your wrists for your God, it shouldnt influence how your vote goes to a body of people responsible for the spending of trillions of dollars (or even thousands/millions on the local level since its your literal own back yard.) here's why kerry's "mad"...the cable industy has been one of his biggest backers through his career. guess what...george bush and his crew keep a pro-oil, pro-energy company stance...wonder why...

btw...bush also gets a nice bankroll from the cable industy...kerry had them as a major backer, though. and as far as comparing kerry vs. bush... they both are ineffective tools of industry who do not have US citizens in their best interest...there's little point to argueing which is less of a puss head since they'd both end up screwing people in favor of business...just like bush sr. and just like clinton. speaking of clinton...what kind of "liberal" votes for the telecomunication act and NAFTA? turn off the talk radio, america...

Thanks for that link Rob G. I actually found the trends of comparisons of PECOTA, CHONE and Marcel more interesting than the individual player projections.

MLB should have the right to have anyone they chose carry their EI package. Where was Sen. Kerry when the NFL put their Sunday Package exclusively on DirecTV? And it doesn't matter if the NFL started on DirecTV or not. If the issue is choice, Kerry should have been banging the drum then like he is now. MLB may be making a stupid decision by putting their EI package exclusively on DirecTV, but they should be allowed to be as stupid as they want without interference from Congress. This isn't an issue that Congress should be concerning itself with. By the way, one of the reasons that MLB went with DirecTV is because DirecTV agreed to carry the new MLB network as part of their basic package. The Cable operators would only carry it on their upgraded package.

"Thanks for that link Rob G. I actually found the trends of comparisons of PECOTA, CHONE and Marcel more interesting than the individual player projections." me2...ive never seen Marcel, either.

Are we playing five degrees of separation between MLB and the Kyoto agreement?

Yeah, I typed "five degrees" because "six degrees" is out of fashion. Friggin alcohol on weekdays!

Wow, Silent Towel again ripping Mark Prior and Jim Hendry..........are there any other tunes on your IPOD we can all hear or is that about it? Anyone can rip Hendry for what he's done this off-season.........I for one prefer to wait until the end of the season, or at least August.........but you can't rip that at least he DID something. I've been a Cubs fan since a couple years after my namesake made the All-Star team, and I don't ever remember any GM making the moves Hendry made this winter and spending the money he did. We'll have all off-season to second guess what he's done. All anyone is doing at this point is speculating on what these players may or may not do, who is or isn't healthy,etc. But riddle me this, Batman? Who else in the NL Central improved themselves as much as the Cubs have? Which powerhouse lineup and/or pitching rotation keeps you awake at night? Boy, I can't think of one. Lou gets to pick 5 starters from Z, Lilly, Marquis, Hill, Prior, Miller, Marshall, and Guzman. His most likely lineup is Soriano, DeRosa, Lee, Ramirez, Jones, Murton/Floyd, Barrett, and Izturis. He's got Howry, Eyre, Cotts, Ohman, Wuertz, Dempster, and Wood in the pen; and Ward, Theriot, Blanco on the bench. Seriously, from top to bottom...........who in the NL Central is keeping the hair up on the back of your neck? I am really not sipping the Cubby Kool-Aid, and I believe this is a team that will compete and either have the Division lead or be within 4-5 games of it by the beginning of July........then, there's still money and time to make a trade, recall Pie, or whatever for the rest of the season. Look around at the other 15 teams and they all have flaws, and for the most part the NL is a collective pile of horse crap compared to the AL (Yankees, Tigers, Boston, Cleveland, et al). I really don't see a reason to call 911 at this point.

Since MLB is a monopoly anyway, it's not like it's playing by the rules of capitalism, so why should we get up in arms when the government steps in to regulate its decisions?

Was there a package available to every fan for all the NFL games before DirecTv’s Sunday Ticket? Was it offered on all the cable stations as a package? If not, then comparing the NFL package and MLB packages are apples to oranges. So if an apple orchard who has sold its apples to a variety of different grocery stores, but then reaches a deal to sell its apples exclusively to Wal-Mart, does it the orchard suddenly become an orange grove?

Is that apple orchard the only place we can get apples in the US? Nope, so it is an orange grove...:)

George Altman: You make some nice points. You're right. Jim Hendry should enjoy a stay of execution...for now. But riddle me this. What marvelous talent does it take to simply open up the checkbook like Jim Hendry has done?!? His minor league system remains in shambles and he has made precisely ONE inspired trade (the Nomar deal) -- where economic advantage wasn't involved -- during his rein as GM. And if memory serves, Hendry followed the same-old, same-old failed strategy this offseason of showering handsome dough on suspects and second and third class talent (e.g., Lilly, Marquis, DeRosa). So EXCUSE MEEEEEE if I have a tad bit of a problem with Jim Hendry. I shudder to think what kind of ballclub the high school baseball coach masquerading as a big league GM would construct if he operated with economic limits like they do in Oakland, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Cincinnati, etc.

S-T: Hendry also showered $$ on the two most sought-after position players in Ramirez and Soriano and got them. Probably overpaid, but what free-agent isn't?

ST, Billy Bucks essentially answers your question. You're way to hung up (my opinion, and I'm guessing many other TCR readers) on Hendry's prowess in developing a farm system and making trades. Jimbo is never going to be in the team photo of the top 10 GM's in baseball. Check Baseball America for how they rated the farm systems in 2006 and 2007 and the Cubs are like 15-18th -- in other words average. But again, that's not really the point. Chicago is a major market franchise city owned by a very rich corporation. If Jimmy can write checks for what he needs instead of having to trade (and he has very little to trade), then so much the better for him and all Cubs fans. No one is dong hand stands over Marquis, Lilly, DeRosa, and Floyd........but they are still the upper level of what was out there. Schmidt, Zito, Drew were the upper crust of FA's this year. Thank God, he was able to spend $300 million.....those guys would have pushed spending to $450-500 million. Again, he got the best position player on the FA market, resigned the guy most teams had as #2 best position player, got 2 innings eater SPs who will be a heckuva lot better than Marshall/Guzman, improved the bench immensely, and hasn't had to trade his 2 best near-major league ready position prospects (Patterson and Pie). It's a competitive team for the Division and League the Cubs play in, and that's more than this team has done in any off season over almost every year since 1975.

*“I am opposed to anything that deprives people of reasonable choices,” Kerry said in a statement. “In this day and age, consumers should have more choices - not fewer. I’d like to know how this serves the public - a deal that will force fans to subscribe to DirecTV in order to tune in to their favorite players. A Red Sox fan ought to be able to watch their team without having to switch to DirecTV.” * John Kerry is just concerned that the Chowds won't be able to see "Manny Ortez" on a regular basis. Why doesn't he just ramp up the socialism and demand that Sawx fans receive free broadcasts of the games--home and away? That said, if Kerry can do something about this, that would make it, um, one substantial thing he has done in his decades of Senatorial work. And Mike C., you sound like might just be a lizard. :)

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.