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 50 Thread / Cubs @ Pirates (3 of 3)

Game Chat | Press Pass | BR Preview

SP *Ted Lilly
SP
*Paul Maholm
  5-4, 5.14, 56 K, 19 BB, 56 IP
2-5, 5.03, 38 K, 20 BB, 53.2 IP
       
LF
Alfonso Soriano 2B
Freddy Sanchez
SS
Ryan Theriot
SS
Luis Rivas
1B
Derrek Lee CF
*Nate McLouth
3B
Aramis Ramirez LF
Jason Bay
CF
Reed Johnson
RF
Xavier Nady
RF
*Kosuke Fukudome 1B
*Adam LaRoche
2B
Mark DeRosa
3B
Jose Bautista
C
Henry Blanco C
Ronny Paulino
P
*Ted Lilly
P
*Paul Maholm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The residue from last night's 14-inning loss:

  • The Cubs need to win today to take the series and finish with a .500 road trip

  • After pitching 8 innings last night, the bullpen is all beat to hell, with a Memorial Day home game on tap tomorrow
  • The Wood-to-setup-man and Marmol-to-closer discussion can begin anew
  • Alfonso Soriano got to play a 4-hour and 21-minute game on that calf muscle which isn't "injured" but sure looks like it when Soriano runs
  • Any Cub fan who stayed up until the bitter end will be haunted the sight of Henry Blanco playing first base
Regarding today's lineup, Soto, who caught all 14 innings Saturday night, gets the day off, with Johnson moving all the way up to fifth in the order and Henry Blanco filling the 8th spot.

 

Rich Hill appeared on WSCR Radio Sunday morning after throwing a simulated game in Iowa. He attributed his recent back troubles to "an overdeveloped muscle," the result of years and years of pitching, and he said the back pain which caused him to leave his last start for the I-Cubs had been troubling him, to a lesser degree, going back to Spring Training.

Comments

Reed Johnson in the 5 hole...label me confused although it could be worse if he put Blanco there. Sure seemed like it would have made more sense to put Sori in the 5 hole with Johnson leadoff but hey, Sori's leg isn't hurt and he's comfy leading off with a limp.

Here are the Top 10 best offensive numbers for Cubs minor league position players over their last ten games played:

1. Josh Lansford, 3B (Daytona) - 412/444/529
2. Darwin Barney, SS (Daytona) - 361/410/527
3. Eric Patterson, 2B (Iowa) - 390/432/488
4. Dylan Johnston, RF (Peoria) - 297/350/541
5. Jovan Rosa, 3B (Peoria) - 361/439/444
6. Matt Murton, LF (Iowa) - 333/378/500
7. Luis Bautista, 1B (Peoria) - 324/362/471
8. Marquez Smith, 2B (Peoria) - 281/413/406
9. Matt Craig, 1B (Tennessee) - 323/488/323
10. Nate Spears, 2B (Tennessee) - 273/333/424

IOWA: With Matt Murton and Eric Patterson on fire at Iowa, the Cubs finally might be able to get a deal done for Murton (who is finally starting to generate XBHs), and they might take the opportunity to trade E-Patt, too.

TENNESSEE: After not doing much over the two years since he was acquired from the Orioles in the Corey Patterson deal, Nate Spears is finally starting to develop into a decent (albeit not exceptional) 2B prospect at AA.   

DAYTONA: With 3B Kyle Reynolds and SS Joe Simokaitis mired in season-long slumps at AA Tennessee, Josh Lansford and Darwin Barney could get promoted from Daytona to Tennessee sooner rather than later.

PEORIA: Dylan Johnston is finally starting to realize his offensive potential after moving from SS to LF at Minor League Camp (and to RF after Kyler Burke got demoted to EXST), and Jovan Rosa has been hitting all year (he's tied for the MWL lead in doubles) and now it looks like he's starting to play a lot more 3B (his best position), Look for either Rosa or Marquez Smith (who's best position is also 3B) to get promoted to Daytona if Lansford moves up to Tennessee.

Rob - In Internet Explorer lately the blog entries are not staying inside the borders. Like the "Soriano gets a leg up" entry it just keeps going off to the right side. The entries are fine if you press comment and it looks fine in FireFox, so I don't know. Something to look into.

After 3 horrific starts, Samardzija started the 8th inning in relief last night, got one fly-out and pulled after allowing 2 hits (no HR's or walks) ... was bailed out by other relievers. With the 3-2 win over Mississippi, Tenn on a rare 2 game win streak. Colvin 0-4, now hitting .232 on the season

ERIC S: Jeff Samardzija has yet to develop any effective secondary pitches to complement his power sinker. If he threw only the two-seamer, he'd get better results in AA, but he'd also never learn the additional pitches he will need to have if he is to be an MLB rotation starter.

He'd be turning his back on some big bucks if he did it, but he really might want to start thinking about a career pro football.

Part of me says that might foster bad blood. Somebody like Bay might get some chin music the next time they play. The other part of me says if you don't want to see them celebrating an everyday win like the Mickey Mouse organization that they are, finish the fucking deal. Don't lose to a bunch of scrubs.

Man, kicked two games away that were pretty much in the "W" column. Should be an interesting plane ride back to town - wonder what Lou said in the clubhouse after the game.

I'm not usually a huge Soriano critic, as I am aware that when he is hot he can carry an offense and when he is cold he can be a non-factor, but he really hurt the Cubs in those two losses. Going 0 for his first 6 ABs last night was terrible, and then when he finally got on base in extra innings he got picked off of second. Today he fails to catch that "homerun" that I think Matt Murton and certainly Reed Johnson or Jim Edmonds would have caught, then he drops the ball to give up the tie that I'm sure Matt Murton would've caught, and probably Cliff Floyd. Maybe even Daryle Ward, since he likely could've gotten to it in time. I realize that he is going to be hot and cold at the plate, but he needs to be consistent on the bases and in the field, places where one is expected to be disciplined and consistent, not hit-or-miss streaky. The homerun today was nice, but he more than made up for it with his terrible defense. He was better than this last year, and I honestly thought he was getting better. Apparently I was mistaken.

Also, just to finish of the cranky-jerkness that is me today, having two chances in one inning to throw LaRoche out and failing to do so is poor. Theriot should have had him at second but received the throw on the wrong side of the bag. The play at home is more excusable and not really caused by any mistake, but that run should also have been erased. The Cubs should've won this one 5-2 by my count.

...going to the 18th. on EI if you have it.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

and its over in the 18th...3 run homer bottom 18th, 9-12 final.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

You forgot to mention who hit it. Adrian Friggin' Gonzalez, MEXICAN POWER!

Orioles RHP Steve Trachsel, who allowed nine runs over 1 2/3 innings in Saturday night's loss to the Rays, thought he might have been tipping off his pitches. Trembley doesn't think that was the case. "it was a bad case of being fucking useless," Trembley said. * Wow, ol' Steve might be nearing the end of his career. * I edited the quote for added drama.

Was at I-Cubs 9-2 win this afternoon against Oklahoma Redhawks (Rangers). Felix Pie looked totally lost at the plate. His AAA batting average going into the game was .086 and he went 0/5 with a K. Only once did he put the ball into play with any authority. Two ABs in a row he flied out and Eric Patterson was doubled off first. Murton had two groundouts and two walks. Koyie Hill was the star with a no doubt HR and 4 RBIs.

[ ]

In reply to by Sonicwind75

Thanks for the report. If we didn't know that Jim Edmonds was about to catch fire, the Pie update would be quite discouraging.

Shaq at the foul line in the final seconds of a close game vs. Soriano trying to catch a fly ball in the 9th inning with the Cubs leading. Discuss. I'm a big Lou fan, but leaving a gimpy-legged, lethally-bad outfielder in the game with a one-run lead in the 9th is simply ridiculous. If you can double-switch Blanco in for Lee (or take Shaq out of a close game...), you can pull Soriano for defense. Other than Soriano (who has missed several catches), I don't remember anyone else whiffing on fly balls. Enough with the kid gloves for him -- sit him in the 9th with a lead until he proves he can catch the damn thing. Rough couple of days for Lou -- the Blanco switch backfired (although Theriot's throw was inexcusably bad) and leaving Soriano in cost them another game. Also -- what is the record for HBP by a releiver? Kerry is on track for 15 HBP. Remarkable.

That is one lousy was for Marmol to get a blown save. The Pirates gave us a couple of games early in the year -- after the last 2 games, I would say we are even. What CF can we get at the deadline?

Soriano should never be out there in a save sitution in the 9th. Johnson, Edmonds, and Fukudome are 10x the OF he is. Also he needs to stop mangaging his bench like Dusty using his bench guys like their tap water and will never run out. Honestly if wants to manage the Muts I would let him go.

1. soriano now leads the majors in blown saves by left fielders. will be interesting to see what sort of reception he gets today from the bleacher crowd: adoration for the screaming hot soriano who left town last sunday, or derision for the return of the cooled-down version. 2. some how these last 2 days appear to me to be the baseball gods getting even with the cubs (and the pirates) for the extra inning games from the cubs earlier trip to pittsburgh. with out dredging up old box scores, i have the general impression that the cubs escaped with a sweep thanks to some very good extra inning fortune in april. i could easily be wrong. 3. ryan dempster's mandate will surely be to pitch 7 or 8 innings today. here's hoping ! and that ascanio gets a chance in the near future to recapture the win that got messed up on sunday. 4. have the overlords of t/c/r generated a pool on how soon jim "warning track power" edmonds is sent packing? my virtual five bucks says saturday june 14.

I wonder if they consider playing Hoffpauir in LF and DH Soriano with the upcoming interleague road games in Toronto and Tampa mid June...I doubt it but it would be interesting.

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.