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 43 Recap: Cubs 1, Padres 5

I stayed up for this?

Game Center, Play by Play, Box Score, Photos, Game Chart

W - Peavy (6-1) L - Hill (4-4) S - Hoffman (12) Things to take from this game 1. Lee returns to the Lineup With Lee hitting third, we also get Soriano hitting first, and Theriot dropped to second. He looked better than his 0 for 5. Maybe that's not saying much. 2. Flattened Hill Rich Hill looked shaky from the very start. The curve wasn't breaking and the contol wasn't there, and as a result he gave up four HR, two to Cameron. That said, he still struck out 8. In any case, we got in a quick hole against Peavy, which is never a good thing. 3. Missed opportunities Cubs had several modest two out rallies ended without any results. Most of which I missed, due to a bad mlb.tv connection 4. No Payoff Overall, a very disappointing game to watch. Got to see Hill give up lots of home runs, the offense sputter, and not even a late-inning rally to keep things interesting as it approaches midnight.
  • Floyd with the 1st and 3rd, two out single back up the middle against Peavy, 1-0 Cubs, with Peavy having to throw thirty pitches in the first!
  • Hill with 8 straight balls to start the game. Doesn't look like he has it, at all, early on. Escapes the first with only one run scored on an Adrian Gonzalez single.
  • Kouzmanoff with an opposite-field HR, 2-1 Padres, in the second.
  • Hill hung a curve to Cameron, a real roller, and he hit it a mile into what I think is the upper deck (mezzanine?) in left. 3-1 in the third.
  • and Adrian Gonzalez makes it back to back, on another high, flat curve ball.
  • Khalil Greene with a pretty fantastic play to end the top of the fifth. Theriot grounds one up the middle, which Greene picks, does a jumping 360 spin and fires to first. The announcers then made it sound as if he had defied the laws of physics, claiming the best baseball fiction writers couldn't have dreamed up such a play. Meh. It was a great play.
  • And Cameron with another HR.
  • Hill actually has 8 Ks through 6. It's the HR on mistakes that are killing him.
  • Peavy out after 6. Had an easy time of it, after the first inning
  • Cubs get a 2 out rally going on Heath Bell in the sixth, but ends on a Theriot ground out.
  • and again, we rally against Meredith in the 8th. Again, nothing comes of it. Jones grounds out
  • I haven't seen most of it, due to mlb's horrible mlb.tv service outages, but Guzman seems to be pitching very well out of relief
Parachat Recap Inning 1: Getting settled, appreciation for the Padres' broadcasters, and the camera angle on Floyd. Parachat sounds. Gay child-rearing Flamingo couples. The Giles brothers. (what a nice juxtaposition of topics....) India Pale Ales. Hill's lack of control. Staying up late. Inning 2 Debating the artistic merit of Cypress Hill. California real-estate market. Winter. Zambrano. Socially acceptable fonts. Fantasy trades. Inning 3 Vista. Thinking out loud. Unsanitary acts. Puritan sex. Checking people out. The NBA Draft Lottery results. Inning 4 Search querries leading to TCR. Cubs trivia. Ignoring people. Inning 5 Why we come to TCR. (The explicit pictures, evidently.) Politics. Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos. Inning 6 More politics. Scuffing baseballs. Mitch Hedberg. More TCR search querries. The Nasty Boys. Inning 7 At what point do we do something else with our evenings?  Chatting with Angel Guzman. Drinking with Oscar Robles. Inning 8 What happened to Cla Meredith's "Y"? Countries visiting TCR. Garden Claws. Reading TCR from your mother's basement. Who is loaded, and why? Inning 9 Moaning that we stayed awake for this.

Comments

One of the few Cub games I've missed this year. Watched the Cubs score in the first inning and promptly fell asleep happy. I do believe this is the best way to enjoy Cub baseball. Go Cubs.

The Jacque Jones apologetics usually go something like this: "Is a 20-25 HR guy worth $4 million/year? You bet he is." Okay, let me know as soon as he starts getting clutch hits and home runs when it actually matters. He looked absolutely lost at the plate last night.

Tonight on WGN: "The Rich HIll Era: Fun while It lasted!" Those fly balls go a lot farther when the wind isn't blowing in 20mph. Another mirage vanishes.

In spring training, for fun, I speculated that Hoffpauir, Pie and Coats would hit more home runs Floyd, Jones and Ward. It's been a disappointing power year for Pie (3 HR) and Coats (2) and I expected more bang from Hoffpauir (8), who may be due to go on a tear. But I'm still ahead 13-3.

To expand on #4 a little bit, it's obvious that what's wrong with the Cubs offense is lack of lefthanded power, which could possibly help against a guy like Peavy. Add in Fontenot and Patterson with their 6 HRs each, plus Koyie Hill with his ten doubles, and you see why Iowa is winning high-scoring games and Chicago is not.

I hate these West Coast trips. The Cubs might as well be playing in Japan for all it matters to me - they start after I go beddy-bye. Is there something wrong with me that I miss Parachat more than the game itself, especially with this result?

Anyone who stayed up --- why did Lou bring in Dempster to replace Guzman with 2 outs in the 8th? It looks like Guzman retired all 5 hitters he faced, and the Cubs were losing 5-1. Looks like a very odd move, unless he just wanted Dempster to get into a game, and not have another 5-6 day layoff(?).

Hill struggled with his control last night, and when the big curve isn't breaking, he'll have games like this. He'll be ok...let's give him some time before the gnashing of teeth begins. Of course, the offense looked like utter shit last night, but Jake Peavy can do that to teams.

*To expand on #4 a little bit, it’s obvious that what’s wrong with the Cubs offense is lack of lefthanded power, which could possibly help against a guy like Peavy. Add in Fontenot and Patterson with their 6 HRs each, plus Koyie Hill with his ten doubles, and you see why Iowa is winning high-scoring games and Chicago is not. * Can all the guys you listed hit MLB pitching just as well as Felix Pee-yay? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Hill looked like he was showing his stubborn streak again last night - he seemed to be shaking off Barrett frequently. In fact, I think he shook him on the pitch that Cameron jacked for his second home run. On the offense, Peavy is tough, although I grew tired of Brenly and Kasper gushing over him all game. If they showed Maddux one more time in the dugout when comparing Peavy to him I was going to scream. Jones often gets a raw deal with criticism, but he looks awful right now. When he's not hitting, his open stance and swinging off of his front foot look fundamentally flawed.

Some will say that "it is early" but the writing is on the wall. This team, for whatever reason, just does not have what it takes to be a winner. The bright spots are Theriot, Ramirez, Lee, Marquis and Lilly. Barrett also is doing a decent job. Hill's luster is fading. Beyond that, the word that comes to mind is "blah." Some folks here are saying that Soriano really has not been doing that badly and point to 15 or so doubles and say that it is not his fault that no one is on base when he hits those doubles. But to my eye, when runners ARE on base, he does not hit. That is why I have said he is not a clutch hitter for us. He has had many chances to hit with runners on base and usually does not come through. The last ten days or so he was not hitting leadoff and his batting average was a paltry .220 or so. He seems like a good guy, a nice guy, and he seems likeable. But he has been a huge disappointment so far, at least to me.

Well, a lot of the Maddux thing is he's been crediting for working with Peavy. In terms of the game, to me what it showed is how little patience we have at the plate and how a good pitcher can always take advantage of that.

Agreed on the patience, although they have more patience than in past years. Of course, all that shows is just how little patience Dusty's Cubs had. It will be interesting to see how they do against Wells tonight. He's a guy that requires discipline to hit him - take pitches and go the other way with all the junk he serves up.

Well, it's a good thing that Maddux has been working with Peavy. Peavy has sucked so far in his career without him!! Lol....

He hasn't sucked, but he had a bad year last year and gave credit to Maddux for helping him bounce back and be as good as he's been this year.

"no" asked: Can all the guys you listed hit MLB pitching just as well as Felix Pee-yay? All the other guys I mentioned are better hitters right now than Felix Pie. The practical question is, can Fontenot/Patterson hit better than DeRosa, and can Hill hit better than Blanco. We could definitely use a lefty-hitting infielder. And the reason Blanco never plays is that Lou doesn't want to trade Barrett's stick for Blanco's. If Hill was the backup, Barrett could get some time off, which would help him. DeRosa's a pretty good guy for the bench but he gets starter money, so he starts. In 563 games, his minor-league numbers were 274/346/374, with 24 home runs. That's a half-dozen or so home runs a season. Patterson and Fontenot have that many on May 23rd. DeRosa's major-league numbers are very similar to his earlier ones. I guess that means he's proven, an experienced mediocrity. I think Soriano will bounce back and show us his power stroke. I'm not so sure about Floyd and Jones. My questions are not really practical, though, because when Hendry signs a contract, he doesn't consider whether it makes a guy untradeable. Jones is signed through '08, Blanco and DeRosa through '09. Neifi was signed through '07. By the grace of God, Detroit took him off our hands.

An earlier thread asked 'What about Eyre to the DL'. Steve Stone on Monday's WSCR shoe said they 'tried to get Eyre to sit in the Mike Remlinger Laz-Boy chair' but he wouldn't do it. Hence, Cotts was optioned to AAA. That Eyre must be some team player.

Looks like the only reason Cedeno is starting at SS is the I-Cubs have been ordered to do it. Last night these defensive moves were made in the ninth after Iowa took a one run lead: Walker replaced Patterson in Left. Patterson replaced Fontenot at 2B. FONTENOT REPLACED RON CEDENO AT SS!!!

iowa cubs were ordered to play cedeno at SS by who? he's probably there cuz he's a better SS. you dont field with your bat (though ratings would better if you did). all 3 of the "main" middle infielders should get their time. fontenot might even get some OF time if they're brave. about hill...he was throwing 65-70mph curves last night at times. now, he's not a guy who's gonna bring a 80mph curve or anything, but he was throwing it mid-low 70s regularly in the past. i saw a lotta 60s last night.

George Altman — May 23, 2007 @ 11:52 am An earlier thread asked ‘What about Eyre to the DL’. Steve Stone on Monday’s WSCR shoe said they ‘tried to get Eyre to sit in the Mike Remlinger Laz-Boy chair’ but he wouldn’t do it. Hence, Cotts was optioned to AAA. That Eyre must be some team player. ========================== GEORGE: FWIW, if Neal Cotts spends at least 28 days on optional assignment to the minors, he can't be a FA until after 2010. (At present he's on target to be a FA after the 2009 season). Not that this was an over-riding factor, but it could be at least one of the reasons the Cubs made this particular move when they did.

More FWIW: For those of you who might have missed my EXST report over at Road to Wrigley, Kerry Wood threw a 15-20 pitch bullpen session at Fitch Park yesterday morning prior to the EXST Cubs intrasquad game. He looked OK and seemed to be throwing with decent velocity, but he was bouncing his breaking ball. And it was just a bullpen session.

Okay, to generate discussion again, here is my predicted lineup for tonight. I am not going to be hurt if some of you disagree. This is just where I think Lou is gonna go: Soriano Theriot Lee Ramirez Barrett Murton DeRosa Pagan Marshall

with a lefty on the mound it seems to be the best lineup...putting aside the whole soriano/theriot who should bat 1st/2nd.

iowa cubs were ordered to play cedeno at SS by who? he’s probably there cuz he’s a better SS. you dont field with your bat (though ratings would better if you did). all 3 of the “main” middle infielders should get their time. fontenot might even get some OF time if they’re brave Oh I see, Cedeno is playing because he's better than Fontenot.. That explains why Fontenot played the whole game and replaced Cedeno at SS in the ninth to protect a 1 run lead.... Page 223 of BASEBALL FOR DUMMIES: Who would order the I-Cubs to start Cedeno at SS even though he sucks? Answer: the same people who ordered them to give Wade Miller a start on May 21.

"Oh I see, Cedeno is playing because he’s better than Fontenot." at SS...yes. wont find many that think otherwise. your view of fontenot is guided by his bat. for some reason you're not happy fontenot played the whole game...if you think fontenot at SS is the better glove you're missing out. just because you 1- assume something 2- want it to be true...well, that dont make it true. you cant just pick a conspiracy and make it fact cuz it makes sense to you.

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.