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

Wow, Just Wow!!!

If you missed that game, you'll be regretting it. Rich Hill spots the Brewers five runs in the first and then him and the bullpen combine to shut the Brewers the rest of the way as the offense chips away slowly at the lead. All to set up a 3-run ninth inning rally with a walk-off homer by Aramis Ramiez. 7 straight wins, six and a half games back and back to .500. Baseball is fun again.

Comments

Holy shit! I was in the lab at work, and reloaded the game info on my phone and it was over, but then realized the score had drastically changed since the top of the ninth. GO CUBS!

DAMN!

How 'bout that Fontenot? Another day of .400 baseball and was the tying run. Who knew we were the comeback kids?

a 9th inning miracle for the Cubs...they win 6-5... a walk off HR for Ramirez in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs....what a clutch hitter - this dude really hits for power and average when the game's on the line.

Fontenot is a stud. He won't hit .400 all year but the guy seems like he perhaps can hit at least .300. He is going to be a key to this team's success. He was on no one's radar at the start of the year and, wow, he has become a real spark-plug. And best of all, he acts as though none of this really comes as a surprise to him. When was the last time that the Cubs had a position player emerge from nowhere?

Marmol seems like the best Closer the cubs have - he sorta reminds me of K-Rod and he throws some nasty stuff...I wonder if Uncle Lou will move Dempster into a set-up role when he returns from the DL.

damn i wish i did not work in such a quiet office - i wanted to scream and yell, but all i could do was stand up and smile really wide!

Awesome! MANNY! You gotta mve back, man! On the realistic side: Pie is starting to turn into an automatic out at the plate, unfortunately. He may have gotten too close to Ronny Cedeno in AAA. My guess - JJ will get a start tomorrow in CF.

E-Man: Pie really got screwed by Froemming twice today, on called strikeouts.

JJ MUST stay on the bench until we lose a game. I will hate it if Pinella gives me the option to blame our first loss of this winning streak on that loser. Pagan starts. Barrett kinda has to feel dumb right now, regardless of the reasons for this win streak, he still has to feel dumb. I strained my back celebrating by myself.

You can tune into WGN online. Right now they are doing an extended post-game talking about today's game.

Great game..........Lost in all the excitement is another terrible umpiring job done by Bruce Froemming. I can't think of anyone in any job, who has been so incompetent for so many years and kept his job. Thank God, he is gone next year. GO CUBS GO

agree...lost in the glorious win was a pathetic umpire who hasn't lost his ability to ump, he never had any ability. Froemming, PLEASE quickly fade into the sunset. ...and Coco Cordero, YOU DA MAN!!! (at least today)

alot of cub fans just developed patellar tendonitis jumping up and down after ARam's blast...and I'm not giving any anatomic references on how to deal with it. Not today anyway.

I just want to point out that I was confident of a comeback in the first inning, after the five runs score. :) Even though the cubs were not trying.

Don't mess with streaks -- Pie plays till we lose --- i don't shower till we lose -- and i go through 12 buds a day till we lose........LUCKY ME. Nice work cubbies, ---- Great gutty comeback.

Ramirez watched Lee take that first-pitch hanging-slider strike, and thought to himself, I want one of those!

Just goes to show you, even after giving up 5 runs in the first inning... just buckle down and scrap and claw Ty Cobbs would be proud.

They just played the radio call of the winning home run twice in a row on WGN radio. They are positively giddy on the radio right now . . .

Ugh... listening to Mack, Jurko, and Harry... One of them just said, "Maybe if Barrett was there, the bullpen wouldn't have had 6 shutout innings." How do people like that get paid to talk about sports?

dave: One of them just said, “Maybe if Barrett was there, the bullpen wouldn’t have had 6 shutout innings.” Boooooooooo!

I ran up and down my aisle at work looking for someone to hug but then I realize it is friday and I need to go home.

God, they just played the radio call again two minutes later. How are people gonna act if the Cubs win a world series one day??

lol ARM... Yea - as exciting as this game was, it may be important to remember that the Cubs needed to win this game to reach .500, and that they are still 6.5 games out. But still... it was a helluva' game.

They just played the radio call of the winning home run twice in a row on WGN radio. I'd love to hear that. I don't suppose anyone knows of a stockpile of radio calls online somewhere? How did poor old Ronnie handle it?

How did poor old Ronnie handle it? Something like this... OH YEA!!! OH YEA!!! I TOLD YOU!!! OH YEAH!!! That is based off of memory, but it was something like that. :)

ARM: after a WS win, dead bodies of Cub fans will litter the ground, dead from shock. they will be aligned and oriented away from the direction of the game, like the Siberian forests after the 1900 meteorite explosion.

Whenever the Cubs are losing, I think to myself "I don't deserve this." I was at the Rockies game Monday: unreal. Today: unreal. This team is so much fun right now. And now I'm thinking, "I don't deserve this."

Long time reader, infrequent poster here. Made my annual trek to Chicago this weekend and I was there! Talk about pandemonium in the stands when Aramis made contact! (I am wearing my Aramis jersey, btw). Can't wait to go back tomorrow. Baseball is indeed fun again!

OK, I was so disgusted after the whole Soriano AB (That strike 2 call was terrible) when we were down 5 - 3 that I had meeting with my boss and went to lunch. My padrefan employee called me while I was away, he had been watching on MLB.tv. I regret losing faith. Can you all forgive me. Next, I love Aramis Ramirez and I am glad he's a cub for the next few years. There is no guy I want up in that situation more than him. I believe in a thing called clutch and he is clutch. next, is this kid Fontenot for real? I mean he is a little hitting machine. I don't care if he does turn into a pumpkin, that kid needs to play everyday until he does! Lastly, lets give a hand to our bullpen. FANTASTIC job shutting the door on the Brewers. It would have been so disheartening to get back a couple of runs to make it a game at 5 - 2 only to give up 5 more. 6 innings 3 hits 7ks 2 bb ZERO RUNS.

looks like Dusty Baker was at the game if you look at the photo at the top of the post, the blurry guy below Aramis' left arm. and yes I'm kidding...

I was expect the play-by-play at espn to be something like this. Chicago - Bottom of 9th Francisco Cordero pitching for Milwaukee F Cordero relieved D Turnbow. R Theriot hit for B Howry. R Theriot fouled out to second. A Soriano singled to center. M Fontenot singled to right, A Soriano to third. D Lee hit sacrifice fly to right, A Soriano scored. A-Ram belts that baby hard, go go go get out of here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A Ramirez homered to left, M Fontenot scored.

I'm pretty sure WGN streams online...just promised to play it "over and over and over again".

I regret losing faith. Can you all forgive me. No. You will have to ask Godenot for forgiveness.

I had to leave work early because my AC at home died, so here I am in my 150 degree house, smiling. What a great win! If the other night's 9th inning heroics weren't a turning point for the season, I would say today could qualify, too!

OK somebody dig through comments in the last week or two: someone said something outrageous (at the time) like, lets go 12-2 in the run up to the ASG, or something like that.

God, they just played the radio call again two minutes later. How are people gonna act if the Cubs win a world series one day?? We will all zip down to the helium bar in our hoverbikes, meet up with our clones, and quaff a cool pangalactic gargleblaster.

"We will all zip down to the helium bar in our hoverbikes, meet up with our clones, and quaff a cool pangalactic gargleblaster." Save your gargleblaster, I will prefer Slurm!

Posted in other thread, but this was my post (#9) after the top of the first: Q: Will history note that the great 6 game win streak and the rising hopes of Cub fans everywhere were dashed in one half of an inning or will this be the sequel to the Monday Night Miracle? A: This is the Cubs, what do you think?

Quick! Somebody check Ron's blood pressure! If Santo keels over making that call in the bottom of the ninth do you think its covered as a work related incident?

OK somebody dig through comments in the last week or two: someone said something outrageous (at the time) like, lets go 12-2 in the run up to the ASG, or something like that. --------------------- Ya Dave, I was thinking about that today too. Somebody laid out how we'd have to go 14-5 or something silly to get to .500 by the ASG and make a run in the second half. Then the Cubs lost a few stinkers (including the two to Texas) and it was 12-2 or whatever. Hell if I thought they had a shot at it, but here we are... Tomorrow's game is on Fox, so I can watch it here in ATL! I'm scared poopless of Ben Sheets, but the Cubbies sure are hot right now...

Silent Towel says "yeah, they've won 5 straight World Series" but they still need to improve their pitching staff"

Bruce Froemming is, and always has been, completely biased against the Cubs. Completely. He squeezed Rich Hill from the get-go, and it shook up Hill, you could tell. Granted, he needs to make the adjustment to Froemming's biased, pencil thin strike zone, but Fat Brucey did all he could to help out the Brew Crew today. If you watched the game, you'd have noticed that Gallardo got all the borderline calls that Hill did not. Froemming==cocksucker. I'm just shocked Milt Pappas hasn't hunted down the fat SOB at some point during the last 35 years and put a hatchet to his big old dome. Go Cubs!!

I watched it all but the ninth. Wow indeed. Thanks for those calls. Those are the best.

Ok, so today and the last game with 9th inning heroics, I turned off the TV after the bottom of the ninth. I guess I am going to have to keep doing that everytime we are down now. But it is getting old missing all the heroics

Finally something I can use from BCB: "Saturday's game available in all TV markets If your Fox station is showing another game tommorow you can tune in to Fox Sports en Español (FSE), if available in your cable or satellite lineup. They will show the Cubs-Brewers game nationwide. Audio is in Spanish. The video feed is the same for both the Fox Network and FSE."

Muskat wrapup includes the answer to my earlier question It's the Cubs' first walkoff homer in more than two years; Lee had the last one on May 12, 2005, against the New York Mets.

I think Len Kasper is still in the Wrigley Field press box at this hour trying to find where exactly his testicles are.

bob was probably really embarrassed but understanding when he had to hold len's purse while he was making that call. bob's a team player.

schilling hacked len's laptop...len can only go to rsox and ALS charity sites.

I don't know what exactly happened at Wrigley Field today, but I find it hard to believe that it could have been any more exciting than the AZL Cubs - AZL Royals game at Fitch Park Field #3 this morning. Not only was it the professional debut of 18th round draft pick Jeffrey Rea (Mississippi State), but the Cubs won it on a walk-off triple by Luke Sommer in the bottom of the 9th, as Leon Johnson came galloping all the way around from 1st to score the game-winner!!!

Un-freaking-believeable!!!!!! Aaron B falls asleep in the 8th during a 5-3 game. I just caught the score on ESPN news. No way Aramis Ramirez comes through if Michael Barrett is still on this team. In the words of the immortal Butch Coolidge. "Thats how your gonna beat em Butch. They keep underestimating you."

Wow -- a couple of walkoff hits -- down-to-your-last-out walkoffs, to boot -- in a few days time. We suffer when they lose --- enjoy the hell out of this.

AZ Phil, So far in your estimation. Who are the best looking prospects in Arizona? How would you rank them?

"Yes, he was kidding, but if Fontenot keeps up the great work he's doing now, maybe he WILL get his own bobblehead day. The only question is, who'll be taller: Fontenot or his bobblehead? And yes, I'm kidding too." -- Al Yellon

Oh come on, Carlos. That's horribly unfair. I actually had one of those. Came awfully early in my failed broadcasting career. Screaming like a school girl... etc. Come to find out it's actually on YouTube. Now everyone all over the world can point and laugh as I do my best 12 year old impression. I feel like I'm some kind of expert on these sorts of things.

wow phil...the standing room only croud must have been going wild. i can hear the sounds of clipboards being folded under arms in order to muster a few claps as we speak. i lamed out tonite...neiman pitching in durham, went to the game...sat through an hour of rain...got waterlogged...drove home to watch it on TV. wee.

"Come to find out it’s actually on YouTube. Now everyone all over the world can point and laugh as I do my best 12 year old impression." Link? :)

That was awesome, Wes. Boom Goes The Dynamite actually went on to have a broadcasting career? Color me impressed.

I'm not certain that Froemming is biased against the Cubs. He is completely incompetent wherever he umpires. Stupidity know no favorites.

LOL till I wet my pants, thanks Wes, staggeringly and awesomely wonderful.

Wes, I"m a bit confused. Were you the announcer there? And which guy in the 'upper left corner'?

aaronb — June 29, 2007 @ 7:26 pm AZ Phil, So far in your estimation. Who are the best looking prospects in Arizona? How would you rank them? ========================= AARON B: Speaking just about Cubs prospects, the three best pitchers I saw at EXST in April-May were Robert Hernandez, Jake Renshaw, and Alberto Cabrera, but they have all moved on to higher levels. The best pitching prospect at AZL Mesa right now is 17-year old Venezuelan Larry Suarez, but he has struggled a lot with his command. He looks like Carlos Zambrano. He has a large build (almost heavy-set) and I have never seen him smile. He throws a 93-94 MPH two-seamer with movement and a hard slider with a big break, neither pitch of which he can control. As far as the position players are concerned, 10th round pick Leon Johnson (BYU) is a VERY good player. He's the guy who had his college and baseball career interrupted for a couple of years while he served an LDS mission in Siberia. He is long and lean, and hits left-handed. He is a protypical lead-off hitter, with plus-speed, a good bsase-stealer and baserunner. He's a good hitter with occasional HR power, good bunter, works the count, and is a very good defender in CF. High baseball IQ. All four of his brothers are ball players, too. 2B Elliot is on the TB 40-man roster, and OF Cedric just got drafted by PHI. Another older one (I can't remember his name) got drafted by SEA a couple or three years ago, and the 5th one is still in HS. 19-year old Dominican RF Nelson Perez had four OF assists in his first four AZL games. The Cubs signed him as a RHP last October (he's making his pro debut this year), but once they saw him take BP at minor league camp, they immediately moved him to the OF. But his OF arm is just outrageous. It's better than Ryan Harvey's, and Harvey has (had) the best OF arm in the organization. Perez is a left-handed hitter, and has as much power as Harvey. (He also strikes out like Harvey). He is VERY raw. Physically, Perez looks almost exactly like a left-handed version of Sammy Sosa circa 1998, right down to the sweat-bands, the twirling of the bat, and the slammin' hard power swing. A VERY cocky player, N. Perez had some discipline issues in ST. He looks like he spends a lot of time in the weight room. OF Cliff Andersen is at AZL Mesa instead of Boise only because he missed a month of EXST with a lower back strain, but he is a four-tool player, where the only tool deficient is hitting for average. He strikes out too much, but that's mainly because he's very choosy with his pitch selection and goes deep into the count. For a young player (he's 19), he gets called out on strikes a lot. But he has plus-power (he hit a 450-ft HR over the CF green hitting background in an EXST game at Fitch before he got hurt), he is an outstanding defender at all three OF positions (he played safety in HS and his dad played in the NFL, and he plays defense like a defensive back), and he's fast with a strong arm. He reminds me of Jim Edmonds. Catcher Roberto Sabates is a Cuban who defected through Mexico and somehow ended up in Miami where he established a residence. So the Cubs selected him the 2007 Rule 4 Draft (39th round). Sabates played for Industriales (one of the top quasi-professional teams in Cuba) before he defected. He is a very polished player and probably will advance to Peoria or Daytona pretty soon. Physically, he resembles Jorge Posada, ikind of long and lean. He apparently learned somewhere that a walk is as good as a hit, because he takes a lot of pitches and consistently goes deep into the count. He has good receiving skills and has a strong arm. Considered by some the "Poor Man's" Matt Wieters, Auburn catcher Josh Donaldson (Cubs Supplemental 1st round compensation pick for losing FA OF Juan Pierre to LAD) just arrived at Fitch this week, and he has played in three games so far. (he should be headed to Boise soon). Contrary to pre-draft reports, he is a good defensive catcher with a plus-arm. He defintely has a power stroke, but I suspect that while he will hit HRs, he will also strike out a LOT. From what I've seen of him so far, I would be more worried about his hitting than his defense.

Why am I a Cub fan? Why do I keep coming back? Why is a virtually limitless store of heartbreak and disappointment powerless to keep me away? Oh yes. I remember.

I was there, scalped, one inning later said to my visiting mother and wife, biggest waste of a day and $240 ever. I should of remembered the IL vs. AZ game I was at and kept my mouth shut. Tonight, ARAM, I will dine on my words. Indeed, BASEBALL IS FUN AGAIN.

I just watched some replays of todays game. Aram "Sammy hopped" the whole way. Where's the outrage?

Yes Chad, that's correct. In the white shirt behind the railing. Right up against the edge of the camera's shot. After my playing days were done, I decided to try to be a broadcaster. Had that job there for three years. Football, basketball, and baseball (occasionally field hockey, softball, and soccer. You haven't listened to less entertaining radio until you've listened to soccer.) Spent two years in minor league ball as a radio guy as well. One in the midwest league and then last season in indy ball in Chicago. Now I work in TV in Indy.

Bigz, if you were at both the IL v. AZ game and today's Cubs game, we need to take up a collection to get you out to more games!

And, again, since you want to bring this up again, there's a difference between a walk off HR and a solo HR that puts your team up by 3 runs. Since there is a difference, one would assume that a player would react differently.

Aubrey Huff hit for the cycle for the O’s this evening. ---------------------------------------- Remember back when some speculating fans were dreamy about Huff in a Cubs uni? Ah, memories. He's not even matching DeRosa's offensive output this year.

Best Cubs game since Monday. BTW Grace will be doing the color commentary. This team just has the feel of a special team.

You haven’t listened to less entertaining radio until you’ve listened to soccer.) You think soccer is bad? I once did play by play for women's college volleyball!

I've never seen a bigger group of front runners in my life. Hate the Cubs most of the time..love them when they win? Ah well we are a .500 team (woo hoo)....lets make it a 4.5 game lead by Sunday.

april...no fun may...no fun june...no fun til the last week of it july...august...sept...*shrug* oct? hey, quit laughing. seriously. okay, seriously, no...hey...quit laughing. dudes, c'mon. whatever...

"Since there is a difference, one would assume that a player would react differently." So it's not the admiration of the homer, its the timing that players object to? To me this just exposes the hypocracy of this all. There is no difference either you admired your homer or you did not. Back in the day, Aram would still get a ball in the back.

...and whoever wrote that dribble makes it sound like Sosa only hit his HR's with a 3 run lead. Give me a break....tons of Sammy's HR's either tied the game or put the Cubs in the lead while he played for us. Some people just have selective memorey i guess.

Unfortunately I don't have the ability to post a video, but if you have a chance to watch Comcast's highlights of Aramis's homer, during the dugout celebration, just after DeRosa man-hugs ARam from behind and seconds before Aramis heads to the clubhouse, keep an eye on Izturis. He either gives ARam a thorough dingleberry check or an awfully awkward hernia test. The team that fondles together stays together.

Sammy wasn't my point. Not sure if that was lost in interpretation somewhere. Was referring to the Soriano HR last week that started this crap. And, Chad, for somebody who has these great theories about all these non-tangible things about this game that you can't measure (momentum, clutch, etc), I can't understand why you don't see that the game's situation affects the way a pitcher interprets it. All that crap about Soriano was because he's probably hit 50 home runs to make a game a 3-run game. Ramirez has done what he did today exactly twice now. I don't expect him to throw his bat aside and jog the bases like nothing happened. But I do expect Soriano to do that in the situation that he hit that specific home run. Those two situations are entirely different. Not even remotely similar.

baseball has lots of stupid oldschool meets newschool culture changes going on. we got big ones like the roid era...this is fun, go check out the 1992 92-win miluakee brewers team...80-something homers for the TEAM (pitching and defense blah blah blah). we got more subtuble crap like the "discipline czar" era where umps and the commish can punish players for stuff... the days when doc ellis can mow down reds players to "fire up his team" by HBP them in a row and not getting removed til he tries to hit 4 in the 1st inning are over (he was removed by his manager, not the ump, fwiw). i dont like the highly policed fine-suspend game...not a fan of umps having this much power, either.

fwiw...doc ellis also hit reggie jackson in the face for admiring a homer off him in an all-star game. this stuff's been around a while...everyone "has to learn a lesson" these days, though...well, more than they used to get anyway. not like it was the wild-west out there until the discipline czar came around.

madtown i saw that to did not recognize that it was izturis though i was like what the hell was that a nice rub between the thighs. if that is what it takes to keep the cubs winning i am all for keeping izturis.

Wes, I get it. I understand. But I am more into clarity than agreement. So once again, the problem is not action but timing. I'm saying that 'back in the day' if you stopped to admire your game winning walk off grand slam after trailing 4 - 1, they would have pegged you your very next ab.

I don't think the Brewers will have mutch problems with Ramirez's home run trot. He didn't Sammy hop the whole way, you can see him running normally as he rounds first. Stupid thing followed up by a shocking thing: Phil Rodgers on Soriano: "Alfonso Soriano is jockeying with Bonds for one of the other starting spots, and he also doesn't belong. " Bonds .500 OBP blah blah blah, but what about defense? Well Soriano has a ridiculous 9 to 0 assist to error ration in the outfield this year. Bonds has no assists. I went over to BP to see how they value the two players, expecting Bonds to be an easy favorite due to his high OBP fueled OPS (not to mention 5-0 in stolen bases), and compared their WARP. Soriano: 4.6 Bonds: 4.5 A 12 run difference in their fielding score means Soriano's been a little more valuable than Bonds by their measure, and that's even with his hamstring injury. If you take away Bonds's IBB's he's only tied for leading the league in walks - and maybe not OBP.

Hmmm ... the last two times Cub players got clearly and intentionally drilled, one went 0 for a week (nearly), the other ended up with a five-game suspension. Think the Brewers may have noticed this? Just askin'.

I've only posted here about 3 times, but could somebody with the technology post the game winner from yesterday on You Tube? That was one of the best in a long, long time!

Vincent - Someone posted this on BCB yesterday underneath the radio calls. This address gets a full-screen version: http://www.youtube.com/v/bSncmGwQnKk If that doesn't work for some reason, head to the radio call page (listed above) and scroll down till you see the video. It seems to be someone pointing a video camera at the TV - hopefully a better one will pop up eventually.

(Looking at it again, no, I guess it doesn't look like a camera pointed at a tV - don't know why I thought that at first!)

Do you ("you" being anybody who happens to read this) really think Ramirez was showboating? It looked to me like he was just incredibly excited, just like everyone else in the park. Maybe i'm naive, but when I think "showing up the pitcher" I think of the old stand-and-admire bit, or maybe some kind of smirk-and-point at the pitcher. Ramirez's reaction looked pretty genuine to me.

I don't think he was showboating, either, Brick. That was a sponaneous reaction and not planned. Teams have celebrated walk off homers for years and years. Ramirez didn't take a slow trot around the bases or do some planned hop and point routine. He was excited when he hit it and got around the bases to his teammates. Arguing about whether he was showboating or whatever is just silly.

i'm with you, brick. no showboating. i got the impression aram was doing his version of "the little engine that could" = "i think it's gone" hop "i think it's gone" skip "i know it's gone" hop "i know it's gone" skip fist pump jog question now becomes, how do the cubs top this on saturday and sunday?

No comparison between Aramis's HR and Soriano's because here the game was over. The dugout doesn't empty, either, on an 8th inning dinger. Different set of rules.

If you take away Bonds’s IBB’s he’s only tied for leading the league in walks - and maybe not OBP. Ha... and if you take away all of his unintentional walks, he doesn't have any, right? What's your point? You do know there is a pretty big reason why he gets intentionally walked, right?

question now becomes, how do the cubs top this on saturday and sunday? By winning both games. A sweep of the Brewers would easily top a very nice come from behind win.

baseball hasn't been fun for me since about the middle of September of 2004. I am finally enjoying it again. It has been nice being a cub fan and all, i am dreading that inevitable 4-20 run they are due for

I love how the tone of everyone's posts gradually takes on more and more pessimism as the hours go by since the last game... We really are a tormented group, aren't we? Anyway, here's to some more great moments! (Is it beer-thirty yet?)

You know, I don't like to get too low during the low times or too high during the high times, but I still stand by my original claim that 86 or 87 wins is well within reason for this group. Didn't think the season was over at 9 under or whatever it was, and I don't think it's suddenly fixed now that the ship is floating again. 4 or 5 over .500 for the last 85 games or so still seems quite plausible. I still don't think many more wins than that is very likely unless Slick Jimmy fixes some of our problems with some very good solutions. The problem is that the Brewers are playing like a 94 win group. I'm still patiently waiting for Chad's prediction to come true, though. I do agree in that I think they'll come back out of the ionosphere before it's all over. Either that, or they'll end the year with 5 guys having a career year at the same time.

"It’s better than Ryan Harvey’s, and Harvey has (had) the best OF arm in the organization." AZ Phil - is there any credence to the rumours that the Cubs are considering converting Harvey to a pitcher, in case his bat doesn't come around? ..well Froemming gave at least one back on that strikeout of Ryan Braun in the 9th." Bruce Froemming is to the Cubs what Hue Hollins was to the Bulls - incompetent and biased at the same time.

Dmac — June 30, 2007 @ 9:59 am AZ Phil - is there any credence to the rumours that the Cubs are considering converting Harvey to a pitcher, in case his bat doesn’t come around? ============================ DMAC: I think that's always been considered an option, although the Cubs are not ready to do that just yet. I suspect they will give Harvey a make-or-break chance at AA in 2008, and if he doesn't master AA by the end of next season, they will try him as a pitcher in 2009. If he is not added to the 40-man roster sometime in the next couple of years, he will be a six-year minor league FA after the 2009 season.

i thought the cubs schedule looked good next week (nats and bucos ) but then i looked at brewers and they play the bucs and the nats so much for having the upper hand there hopefully we send the brewers into a nosedive

Rocky Cherry up; Ryan Theriot down. This was an easy one to call, though like most, I'd have preferred if Jock was DFA'd at this point. Bye Riot.

Yesterday the Dodgers got rid of Marlon Anderson so they could get to 12 pitchers-----The Riot will be back when Jones goes, but this move had to be made

I better preface my upcoming statement by insisting that I am a Cub fan and not a Brewer fan. "This Brewer team is really a nice young interesting team. It is going to be difficult for the Cubs, as they are presently constructed, to finish first ahead of them." There, I said it!!! Go ahead take my head off.

Not sure where Theriot will play. Moore, Cedeno and Patterson are all hitting. Speaking of sophomore jinxes (Theriot, Murton), Ryan Zimmerman is hitting .241.

Cedeno has played very well at Iowa, this year. He really deserves to be the next infield call-up.

JustanoldCubfan- Not sure you'll find the argument you're expecting here. I'd wager that's the opinion held by the most optimistic of us.

Cherry up, Petrick down according to Levine. Another solid move by Jimbo lets replace a guy who has gotten out MLB hitters for a guy who cant get out AAA hitters. Almost as smart as turning down Thome because we had Hee No Good Choi.

Cherry up, Petrick down according to Levine. hmm... above it says Theriot down, which would make more sense. Another solid move by Jimbo lets replace a guy who has gotten out MLB hitters for a guy who cant get out AAA hitters. hmmm... Petrick has had two outings. One quite good, one decent. Rocky Cherry pitched at least decent when he was up. Not really sure I sure the difference there. With that said, I like, a lot, what I have seen from Petrick. I would not be a big fan of him going down, and I don't really understand sending a pitcher down when Lou has said over and over that he wants 12 pitchers.

sending Theriot down leaves the team without infield backups. If you insist on bringing a pitcher up. Felix Pie probably needs to be that guy. He has gotten a taste of the Bigs. Now he knows what he needs to work on to return.

Petrick was down today after throwing two innings yesterday, anyway. If it is Petrick being sent down, this move doesn't mean much more than taking an arm away that you couldn't use today and replacing it with one that you can use. Almost definitely no Petrick today and probably no Wuertz. That leaves you with Marmol, Howry, Eyre, and Ohman down there. Really want to go to battle with that today? If it is Theriot down, then I suppose that's ok, too. He had really been struggling. Lou can still double-switch in CF, RF, and at C if he wants 2 innings out of somebody. That's enough to work with, I think.

Dave, The differnce is that Cherry is getting rocked at AAA right now. I doubt he can be all that effective out of the pen right now Vs. MLB hitters.

Wes, They might as well have Jones down there right now, the way Cherry is pitching.

The differnce is that Cherry is getting rocked at AAA right now. I doubt he can be all that effective out of the pen right now Vs. MLB hitters. So was Guzman before he got called up. And then he was quite good in the bigs. I take AAA performance with a grain of salt. Cherry has shown that he can get hitters out at the major league level, which is more important than showing you can get batters out at the AAA level.

chifan, Better than getting Petrick hurt by throwing him today after he threw nearly 30 pitches yesterday. I'd love to hear your idea for who we should have called up. Sadly, Cherry would have probably been my choice. Seems to me we've got a whole lot of not very good relievers up and down the system at the moment. Lot of guys are struggling.

Petrick is missing from the cubs.com depth chart, by the way. But he is shown on the 40-man roster as active. They probably never updated the depth chart. It wouldn't be the first time. And Cherry has pitched better his last 4 outings in AAA.

And yea Chifan... if it is true that Petrick is down, it is more likely because they need a fresh arm than that they are unhappy with Petrick.

You need an inning. You've got Eyre down there and Rocky Cherry. Ask yourself who you're going to have get up and get ready. Really want a situation (against the division leader) where the game belongs to Scott Eyre from the 8th inning on if it's close? That's not too far fetched if the Marshall Plan goes awry.

Its kind of nice to see the top five slots in our batting order all hitting above .300. Soriano, Fontenot, Lee, ARam, and Floyd, all hitting .304 or better. Makes up for the offensive sucking chest wound that is our catcher position.

Makes up for the offensive sucking chest wound that is our catcher position. And SS. And CF.

Ok here is what I would do: Put Blanco on the 60-day DL, send down Theriot, and call-up Cory Bailey or Jim Henderson. I know the rationle behind the move, there just brining up the wrong pitcher.

Here's a question: WIll Sammy Sosa be the Ranger's representative to the All Star Game? Teixeira is hurt. And one ranger has to go. He is leading the team in homers and RBIs. Michael Young had a slow start so his not at "Michael Young" numbers right now. I guess it could be Gagne, but there is a strong case to be made for Sammy. I would say it comes down to how much Leyland likes or dislikes Sammy.

One backup infielder is a bad idea. Especially when that one is particularly inept with that large wooden thing that you swing. What if DeRosa went down for a week? You'd then have 3 choices. You would (1) have to DL him for two weeks and have him sit on the bench while he's healthy for a week so you could recall Theriot, OR (2) you could play Izturis everyday, OR (3) you would have to make ANOTHER roster move to get Cedeno/Patterson up here. Petrick isn't going away forever. And he's not the next coming of Dennis Eckersley quite yet, either. Two appearances a career does not make. Even though I think he's got dynamite stuff.

From mlb.com Soriano, LF Fontenot, SS Lee, 1B Ramirez, 3B Floyd, RF DeRosa, 2B Pagan, CF Hill, K, C Marshall, P Hart, RF Hardy, SS Braun, 3B Fielder, 1B Hall, CF Estrada, C Mench, LF Weeks, 2B Sheets, P

Wes, They could easily send Pie down then, who by the way looks to be our back up CF now anyways, with Pagan playing the majority of the games in CF this week. BTW if there stuck with Jacquestrap they might as well give him some starts. Hell he migh actually improve his trade value or get hurt.

WIll Sammy Sosa be the Ranger’s representative to the All Star Game? Basically it's Sosa, Gagne or Kinsler. Too many good 2b to pick Kinsler (Polanco and Roberts have to go I would think). I would think Gagne gets it as closers are usually the default All-Star on bad teams. His ERA is great but only 9 saves and missed a month+ of the year. That should be interesting.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).