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 69 Thread/Cubs @ Rangers (#1 of 3)

(Sorry--this was to have gone up 90 minutes ago. Pretend it's then.) Game chat Sean Marshall (3-2, 2.12) v. Robinson Tejeda (5-7, 6.49) Lou’s Fight Club resumes interleague play Tuesday night with the first of three games at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, formerly known as Ameriquest Field, formerly formerly known as the Ballpark At Arlington. A couple things about the place haven’t changed over the years. It’s hot. And lots of runs are scored there. Rightfield and the right-centerfield alley are especially home run-friendly territory. Marshall, who beat the Mariners for his third straight win last Wednesday and has held opposing hitters to a .216 AVG this season, has never pitched against the Rangers. Tejeda, meanwhile, has one career start against the Cubs, back in ’05 when he was a Phillie (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, no decision). Other notes: Rangers SS Michael Young has the highest batting average in the history of interleague play, .348 (min. 300 PA). Also, DH/RF Sammy Sosa has mashed lefties this year--.347 AVG with 17 RBI in just 49 AB, 1.092 OPS. Sosa, you may recall, used to play for the White Sox.

Comments

Lou's Fight Club... nice. Sosa for the White Sox? I remember him. He's put on a bit of weight since then.

Texas Rangers play-by-play announcer in the 6th inning: "and Fontenot, THE HIT MACHINE, gets aboard"

Interesting, the new regime at Baltimore has Korey Patterson .204 .258 .285 starting and batting SECOND tonight instead of the usual #8. No doubt the hope is he will see more fastballs and start making contact. But, He didn't see very well his first AB. and struck out swinging on an 0-2 count.

Dempster is horrible. We should bring in Gagne or we'll never win games. Go Cubs!

marmolaaaaaaade lady marmolaaaaaaade rangers announcers said he's "the cubs answer to K-Rod". he certainly looked it tonight. i'll settle for above average reliever. go cubs! let's get em all against a bad and wounded rangers squad.

Dempster has looked good but for three bigtime blowups this year. If the Cubs pack it in later this summer, I think he could bring some genuine value in trade. How about Bobby Howry, too? He looks like last year again, throwing strikes and some real heat, I like it. Man, did we need that back in April and May :-( We'd be at .500 minimum right now.

Almost forget to mention, your 2007 Texas Rangers feature: 1. Sammy Sosa 2. Kenny Lofton 3. Ron Mahay 4. Adam Melhuse 5. Jerry Hairston the Lesser Woof!!

Cubs bullpen tonight: 5IP 0H 9K 0BB 1 Win (Marmol) 1 Hold (Howry) 1 Save (Dempster) Time to get Arizona Phil's pic of the Nasty Boys out of the TCR closet, er archives, again ...

Suprised Sosa didn't get in on the Marshall clobbering party. One for Horatio from MLB.com: "But Sheets grimaced when asked about his matchups with Bonds, who went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout after being watched by commissioner Bud Selig in a low-key appearance at Miller Park the night before. "From where I was standing it would be tough to not think I threw more strikes than got called, but I'm not going to whine about it," said Sheets, who credited plate umpire Dana DeMuth with a consistent strike zone."

that was a good way for the bullpen to pickup marshall and to get him out of there early marmol was lites out . for some reason i think we need to score about 8 runs wednesday to win. interleague play is a good way to showcase j. jones foer trades but maybe we should dh him so those 4 hop throws to second base dont show up.

Carlos Marmol has quietly thrown almost 18 innings this season and has allowed two (2) runs. Dos. Deux. That's all. A 1.02 ERA if you're scoring at home. WHIP at 0.930.

if tampa bay wins tonite they will have the same record as cubs that is depressing think how the yankees feel tampa is only 3 games behind them

woohoo. i got to see the cubs win in person. I understand the complaints about interleague, but i just got to watch the cubs in person. Got ok seats in the upper home run deck tomorrow. Thursdays day game tho i just bought me a behind home plate seat. Thought it would be worth splurging :) Go CUBS! Oh, on a funny note, the loudness of the cubs fans after the game was freaking hilarious. (i'm pretty sure beer was involved) I've been to a few rangers games, and while their fans ain't no cubs fans, they aren't all that bad. So to hear during the game the amount of cheers when the cubs did good was pretty damn cool. Usually you hear the few and proud opposing team fans, but tonight the cubs fans cheers easily drowned the boos. Cheers

josh, during the 7th inning stretch did the 'root root root for the CUBIES' drown out the rest of the crowd?

The Cubbies bullpen: Sometimes it's good, sometimes not. Just like life, it seems.

Levine has learned that Barrett was just dealt to the SD Fathers...hasn't gotten wind of who is coming back yet though.

Buster Olnet, ESPN, now reporting Barrett traded to Padres. No word yet on who comes to Chicago.

I don't know what shocks me more ... Hendry making this move today or Silent Towel calling it about 3-4 days ago.

Well that makes for an awkward June 26th home game. Michael Barrett Home Jersey. Who is the catcher!?!?!?!?

Silent Towel calling it about 3-4 days ago. Didn't ST say something to the effect of "San Diego wouldn't do this - they have two "young" catchers?"

And damn... I know that I am going to miss Barrett's bat in the lineup... And odd timing, being that A-Ram is out and Lee will be out soon. The Cubs can't really afford to lose another good bat, and Barrett has been hitting the ball quite well of late.

They've been trying to trade Linebrink forever, but is Barrett enough in return for them? Also, what do they need Barrett for anyhow?

"with Barrett gone, who will we blame for everything?" Fontenot is so good that he'll take both the blame and our praises.

well SD's C depth chart is currently Bard Bowen Pete LaForest not real exciting prospects if we're getting a C back.

Dave: From now on, I'm going to email all of my comments to you for copy-editing before I post them. =)

Barrett is the most likeable Cub I've ever been glad to see traded. We'll miss you, Slider Mike! Wow, the Cubs are not shy about making a move once Hendry and Piniella get into alignment. Too bad JJ is the immoveable object.

Sorry to see Barrett go, actually I am more sad that his defense never got better. Lets hope they get something good in return and this is not just another dump.

The only Barrett news in my aggregate is about him catching Z on Friday. After saying that, they only had one choice - send him to the edge of Mexico to get them away from each other. Breathlessly waiting to see who we got back (probably Bard + prospect I would guess), who is catching now (Bard and Hill?), etc.

I don't know how another reliever helps, when you know have Soto and Hill as your everyday catchers. I too will miss Barrett but he obivously wore out his welcome.

Wow... Bowen is has put up a .371 OBP this year. Of course... that is a huge exception from his normal major league numbers (.230/.327/.376) and minor league numbers (.238/.324/.391). Not sure the point of getting a catcher back who isn't any better than the catchers currently on the roster (Hill and Soto).

26-y-o switch-hitting catcher whose stick has gotten better each of four years in the majors ... maybe some potential here.

Wait a sec...who's going to start if we get Bowen back? That's 4 backup catchers between Blanco, Bowen, Hill and Geovany Soto (who's tearing the cover off the ball at a .325/.400/.556 clip at Iowa).

And this one is fun - he has only caught one of nine possible base stealers. And we didn't like Barrett's ability to keep runners from stealing?

And three passed balls for Bowen in 202 innings, compared to 8 passed balls for Barrett in 466 innings. Not much of a difference there either.

Sheffield... Blanco is probably out for a while, if not for good, with his back injury.

In 30 games, Bowen's stats: .268/.371/.439 2 HR, 11 RBIs in 80+ AB's He's a 26 yr old switch-hitter. Does anyone have a report on his defensive skills? Not that they'd have to be much to be better than Barrett.

ZHL said: "26-y-o switch-hitting catcher etc." Switch-hitting--you made my day.

My guess is Hendry didn't care as much about the backstop defense so much as the adverse behavior toward the pitchers. That being said, why not try to upgrade the defense behind the plate if you're going to trade away a bad defensive catcher?

Scouting report is above-average defensive catcher (good plate blocking, good arm), hits better from the lest side, poor plate discipline.

Levine also saying that Hendry is still working on the prospect end and supposedly the Cubs are looking to send $ along with Barrett for a high level prospect....ordinarily that would sound good except that SD has among the worst, if not the worst farm system in baseball. Unless the prospect is Cesar Carillo nothing is really too enticing to me.

Levine: Hendry and Towers have been working on the deal for over a week now....a larger deal was being discussed with Barrett, Jacque and Izturis for K.Greene and Bowen...apparently Towers backed out and now we get the now completed yawner. Levine thinks Soto will be brought up in place of K.Hill as well.

Vorare ... numbers back up almost none of that scouting report. He's been terrible at throwing out baserunners, his average is way higher as a RH hitter than a LH hitter and his OBP for his career has been considerably higher than one would expect based on his batting average.

Another horrible trade if the prospect doesn't turn out to be at least top 20. Bowen has a career minor league BAVG of .238; his only tools are his receiving skills -- think a young Blanco. Why the fuck didn't Hendry try to get Linebrink? Last I heard he had a "Trade Me Please" tag on his locker.

Bogey .... dayum, that would've been like Christmas and Opening Day rolled into one here at TCR.

I guess the big question will be if the prima donna pitchers will get along with Bowen. Did Hendry take them all out for ice cream last week end to see how they got along? Will Bowen accept responsiblity for hanging curves?

Also positive is that Barrett is gone with Zambrano still here. Zambrano got what he wanted. Now maybe we'll get what we want: Big Z in his prime years.

His MLB numbers? The guy has 200 at bats and around 500 innings behin the plate at the MLB level spread over four seasons. I'll trust the scouting report over those numbers, thanks.

if I have this correct, Bowen's career caught stealing line is 3 out of 31.....gehhhhhhhhh.

With the way everyone around here shits all over Barrett, I don't see how there's room to complain about the trade. If Barrett is truly such a cancer we should be glad to get anything, right?

Does Bowen throw behind runners in the late innings of close games? Does he yell at opposing pitchers and fire up the other team? Does he sucker-punch other players and get suspended for 10 games? Does he get picked off 2nd base by the catcher? Thrown out trynig to steal 3rd? The purging has begun. Forget the stats -- I don't think Lou can stand guys who make stupid mistakes on a consistent basis. One problem -- who's gonna punch AJ this weekend?

not counting the Padres 2007 draft picks, SD's otherwise thin P prospect depth would include Jared Wells RHP Cesar Ramos LHP

Does anyone know if maybe the Pads' pitchers just have long strides and the baserunners were stealing off the pitchers (like R. Hill before he started using the slide-step)?

It actually is amazing we can get a fringe MLB guy for him. * Makes a lot for his position * Only 3 months of club control left * Poor pitch-calling * Poor arm * Poor ball-blocking * Known for bat but generally struggled at plate this year, although hitting better last 30-40 ABs * Recently fought with one SP and had heated discussion with another For all his faults, Barrett's probably going to the playoffs this year. We'll see if Cubs can bother to do the same.

Bowen is a very sound receiver. Blanco is obviously the best we have, but Bowen is very good. For those who thought that Barrett's bat didn't make up for his defense, you've got exactly the opposite. Pretty good defensively and so-so offensively. Not to either extreme of Henry, but somewhere in the middle. You' would also only throw out one base-stealer if David Wells, Greg Maddux, and Jake Peavy were on your pitching staff. We already know about Wells and Maddux's inability to hold guys on. Peavy is very long to home plate for a power pitcher. Probably running up over a second and a half.

Meh, I was banking on the first round draft pick we'd get for Barrett signing elsewhere next offseason.

With the way everyone around here shits all over Barrett, I don’t see how there’s room to complain about the trade. Not everyone "shits all over Barrett." I sure haven't. And getting a mediocre (at best) catcher and a minor league prospect is pretty poor value for a Silver Slugger catcher. As for Bowen's defense? The scouting report may be impressive, but his actual performance has been pretty poor up to this point. His basic defensive stats (pb, cs, etc) have been at best the same as Barrett's, if not worse.

yeah Wes, except Bowen was 1/14 during his stints with the Twins as well. I don't remember any slow to the plate old/fat guys with the Twins 2003-04.

Barrett’s probably going to the playoffs this year. That is not possible... Barrett could not possibly be on a winning team. Right?

"Does anyone know if maybe the Pads’ pitchers just have long strides and the baserunners were stealing off the pitchers (like R. Hill before he started using the slide-step)?" Runners stealing off the pitcher? Well, Bowen has caught Maddux only five times, and has allowed eight stolen bases and hasn't caught a runner stealing yet in his starts.

If Rosenthal is correct I'm not sure Kyler Burke qualifies as "a top tier prospect" as to where the Cubs would have to include additional $. Olney and Levine say it's supposed to be a P prospect though so I guess we'll see.

bogey - thanks for all the updates, great stuff! I would have liked more in return for Michael but it's probably for the best that Barrett gets a new start. The Padres do not seem too hung up with catching futility considering their Piazza signing last season.

It's kind of sad because even though his skills are real shaky, Barrett is a gamer.

For what it's worth, in 163 ABs in the Arizona Instructional League in 2006, Burke, a RF, hit .209/.313/.294 with 56 Ks and 26 BBs. That was his age 18 season.

Marmol looked like KRod last night --- wow! Where in the hell did this come from? 7th - Marmol 8th - Howry 9th - Dempster Our pen finally looks solid.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • 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.