Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

42 players are at MLB Spring Training 

31 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE at MLB Spring Training, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 
11 players are MLB Spring Training NON-ROSTER INVITEES (NRI) 

Last updated 3-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 17
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

NRI PITCHERS: 5 
Colten Brewer 
Carl Edwards Jr 
* Edwin Escobar 
* Richard Lovelady 
* Thomas Pannone 

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

NRI CATCHERS: 2  
Jorge Alfaro 
Joe Hudson 

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

NRI INFIELDERS: 3 
David Bote 
Garrett Cooper
* Dominic Smith

OUTFIELDERS: 5
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

NRI OUTFIELDERS: 1 
* David Peralta

OPTIONED:
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, RHP 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, RHP 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

 



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

  • crunch (view)

    SF snags b.snell...2/62m

  • Cubster (view)

    AZ Phil: THAT is an awesome report worth multiple thanks. I’m sure it will be worth reposting in an “I told you so” in about 2-3 years.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The actual deadline to select a post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agent signed to 2024 minor league contract (Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta) to the MLB 40-man roster is not MLB Opening Day, it is 12 PM (Eastern) this coming Sunday (3/24). 

    However, the Cubs could notify the player prior to the deadline that the player is not going to get added to the 40 on Sunday, which would allow the player to opt out early. Otherwise the player can opt out anytime after the Sunday deadline (if he was not added to the 40 by that time). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024: 

    * bats or throws left 

    Angel Cepeda, INF 
    * Miguel Cruz, P
    Yidel Diaz, C 
    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
    Fraiman Marte, P  
    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

    And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.

    Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect. 

    F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season. 

    The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically. 

    Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).

    Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day. 

    Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.

    The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required. 

    They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).

    If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.

    If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil, 
    Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
    If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!  

    And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).