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

The Brave New World of the 10-Day DL

Back when I first became a baseball fan in 1960, a player placed on the MLB Disabled List was required to remain on the DL for a minimum of 30 days, there was no "backdating" of a DL assignment, no more than two players could be on the 30-day DL at any one time (any additional players would have to be placed on the 60-day "emergency" DL or transferred from the 30-day DL to the 60-day DL), and there was no such thing as a minor league rehabilitation assignment for players on the DL (position players on the DL would get back into playing shape by taking BP and fielding practice and pitchers got back into shape by throwing bullpen side-sessions and "live" BP, and after being reinstated from the DL, starting pitchers would temporarily work out of the bullpen while building-up endurance and arm strength).

The 30-day DL limit was reduced to 21 days in the mid-1960's, a 15-day "supplemental" DL (one position player permitted to be on the 15-day DL at any one time) was introduced and the maximum number of players permitted to be on the 21-day DL was increased from two to three in the early 1970's, and the "emergency" DL limit was temporarily reduced from 60 days to 45 days for a time in the 1970's.

A 30-day "overflow" DL (maximum of one player, could be used only when the 15-day and 21-day Disabled Lists were full) was added in the early 1980's, and the 15-day supplemental DL limit was expanded (maximum of two players could now be on the 15-day supplemental DL at any one time, of which only one could be a pitcher) and Minor League rehab assignments were introduced in 1985.

The 21-day DL and the restriction on the number of players who could be on the 15-day DL at any one time were eliminated in 1991, and the 7-day "concussion" DL was added in 2011.

As part of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that was ratified this past December, MLB will be going to a 10-day minimum Disabled List from the old 15-day DL beginning with the 2017 season. As a result, the starting rotation at a club's AAA affiliate becomes more important than was previously the case. It now becomes important to have at least five MLB-ready starters at AAA who can be recalled from (and then optioned back to) the AAA affiliate at the drop of a hat.

For the Cubs, that probably means a starting rotation at AAA Iowa of some combination of Rob Zastryzny, Eddie Butler, Jake Buchanan, Aaron Brooks, Casey Kelly, and/or Williams Perez. That is, five (or even six) MLB-ready starting pitchers who are already on the MLB 40-man roster (Zastryzny, Butler, Buchanan, and Brooks) or who can be added to the 40 but who have minor league options left if they are added (Kelly and Perez).

For example, let's say John Lackey tweaks something in his start on Sunday, but it's just a minor "day-to-day" thing (finger blister, back twinge, quad tweak, et al), not something that would warrant an immediate trip to the DL. The Cubs play Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and have a day off on Thursday, and so Lackey's next scheduled start is the following Saturday. He skips his bullpen side-session on Tuesday, and remains questionable for his next start. 

In past seasons the Cubs would either keep Lackey on the Active List and just skip his rotation slot if he is unable to make his next scheduled start -- going with a "bullpen day" on Saturday instead -- or else place him on the 15-day DL and cause him to miss two starts instead of just one. And if he is kept on the Active List while missing a start, that would put a strain on the bullpen for the entire weekend series and force the manager to go at least a week with essentially a 24-man roster .

But with the new 10-day DL, Lackey could miss just one start, and the Cubs would not have go with a "bullpen day" to cover Lackey's one missed start.

Here's how it would work in practice:

Lackey is questionable for his next start, so he remains on the Active List going into the weekend series. But on Friday (the day before Lackey's next scheduled start), the Cubs call-up whichever Iowa starting pitcher is scheduled to pitch on Saturday (let's say it's Eddie Butler), and place that pitcher on the Taxi Squad. NOTE: A club can recall a player from a minor league Optional Assignment and place the player on its "Taxi Squad" for one day. If the player is not added to his club's MLB Active List by 3 PM (Eastern) the next day or at least three hours prior to the scheduled start of the next day's game (whichever is later), the player must be removed from the Taxi Squad and returned to his minor league assignment. A player on the Taxi Squad does not count against his club's MLB Active List, and the player does not accrue MLB Service Time while on the Taxi Squad. The most common reason to recall a player and place him on the Taxi Squad is when a club is considering whether to place a player on the Disabled List but has not yet decided.

Then on Saturday (before the game) the Cubs determine that Lackey will not be able to start that day, and Butler (the pitcher who was called-up and placed on the Taxi Squad on Friday) is officially recalled from his optional assignment and inserted into Saturday's starting lineup as the starting pitcher, and Lackey is placed on the 10-day DL retroactive to the previous Monday (he last pitched on Sunday), making him eligible to be reinstated from the DL the next Thursday, just in time for his next scheduled start. In fact, after Butler (the "6th starter") makes his start on Saturday, he could be immediately optioned back to Iowa on Sunday and replaced by an Iowa relief pitcher for a few days (if it's for sure that Lackey won't miss any more starts), until Lackey is eligible to be reinstated from the DL on Thursday.

So the new MLB 10-day DL will allow clubs to be cautious with a starting pitcher who incurs a minor injury in a start, without having the pitcher miss more than one start. With the 15-day DL, a starting pitcher who was placed on the DL with a minor injury would miss at least two starts, or else the club would have to keep the pitcher on the Active List (25-man roster) through the pitcher's one missed start and go with a "bullpen day," effectively leaving the manager with a 24-man roster for ten days.

While the new MLB 10-day DL will mostly impact a club's decision to place starting pitchers on the DL, it will have an effect on a club deciding to place a relief pitcher or a position player with a minor injury on the DL as well. That's why it will be even more important than was the case previously to have players on the MLB 40-man roster who can actually help at the big league level and then can be optioned back to AAA when the injured player is reinstated. That makes "support players" who are out of minor league options (like Matt Szczur, for example) less-valuable than they previously were. A club will need to use the 40-man roster as a constant feeder for the 25-man roster throughout the season as players are placed on the 10-day DL, and that requires having players on the 40-man roster who can easily be sent back & forth to AAA (riding the "Des Moises - Chicago shuttle").

So while the MLB/MLBPA did not agree to go with a 26-man roster in 2017, the 10-day DL should result in a de facto 26-man roster because of the expected increase in short-term DL assignments. It's just that the "26th man" will change from week to week. (The "26th man" might be a starting pitcher one week, then maybe a catcher the next week, then a relief pitcher the week after that, etc).

Comments

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In reply to by Ryno

RYNO: I was going to try and fix your comment because it was painting the text green, but now I'm not sure if you wanted the entire text linked (in green), or do you want a separate link for the youtube video with the text separated from it? I'll just leave it as it was posted, unless you want to change it.

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.