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 

 



 

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Cardinals @ Cubs: Garcia vs Lackey (Game 68)

Welcome to the big leagues, Willson Contreras.

After being left on deck on Friday, Contreras knocked the first pitch he saw last night into the bleachers, for a 2-run homerun. Now he makes his first start behind the plate.

STL (35-33): LHP Jaime Garcia (4-6, 3.93)
CHC (47-20): RHP John Lackey (7-2, 2.66)
First pitch: 7:08pmCST

Lackey had a no-decision in DC on Tuesday (6 IP, 2 ER, 7 K, 2 BB) in a game the Cubs went on to win 4-3. He’s 1-0 with a 1.93 in his two starts against the Cards this year. They are 30-122 (.246) against him. Peralta is 11-31.

Garcia was beat by the Astros his last time out (6.1 IP, 3 ER, 2 K, 0 BB). He lost to the Cubs in St. Louis in April, giving up 2 ER in 5 innings. The Cubs are 8-46 (.174) against him. Montero, who will be watching from the bench, is 3-4 with a HR.

The Cubs are 12.5 games ahead of the second-place Cardinals in the NL Central. They are 16-5 in games started by lefties this year.

Wainwright (5-4, 4.78) versus Hammel (7-2, 2.26) tomorrow night at 7:05pmCST.

Go Cubs!

Comments

Rosenthal quote: On Javy - "...he made a breathtaking swim move to steal second after the Pirates tried to pick him off on Saturday, contorting his body like a Cirque de Soleil performer."

zo leads off (fowler still out) and contreras hitting 5th...almora CF, baez 3rd, bryant LF.

So did anyone else get a ridiculous grin on their face when Contreras hit that HR out combined with those standing Os? This team is so darn fun and it's great to be able to root for these likable, young guys coming up who can actually play (see Corey Patterson, Junior Lake for the opposite).

Probably because Patton has been worse than Richard in the MLB. 9.00 ERA. 24 R in 24 IP last season with the Rangers. For Edwards, nearly every at bat is a K or BB.

lackey throws 57 pitches in the first 2 innings and manages to make it through 6ip (109 pitches). not bad...except for the 3 runs given up thing.

Richard struggles again, luckily defense backed him up. Pls DFA him. Unfortunately there is no LHRP depth.

....annnnd the billybucks season record falls to 0-2. For a team that wins 70% of its games. Crap. Fun 9th inning, though -- both the top and the bottom. Hopefully Joe will talk to Almora about understanding the situation -- Rosenthal is a mess, tying run at 2nd, top of the order up with one out -- not the time to take chances with Molina behind the plate. Richard should not throw another pitch for this team. He's made his millions, he should be financially set for life -- time for him to find a new hobby. Please.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

Not smart on Almora but I understand rookies will be rookies. However, why didn't Coglan follow and end up on 2nd. He then scores on the following hit and the game goes to extras. I am more dismayed by Coglan's inaction than Almora's aggresive mistake.

[ ]

In reply to by Sonicwind75

Almora said he took off the second he saw it get past the ump, he looked a bit shocked when he was thrown out, I don't think that he saw it hit the ump until the replay later. Coghlan might have had a better angle or was just being more cautious. The thing is if Coghlan doesn't go as soon as Almora goes (or a split second right after), he'd could be thrown out if Molina decided just to throw to 2b if he hesitates at all.  Just an unfortunate series of unlucky breaks for Cubs. I usually hate baserunning outs, but getting to third with less than 2 outs is statistically smart and if you're being aggressive, you expect a 100mph Rosenthal pitch to bounce farther away if it gets past Molina...just pure dumb luck.

A little overenthuisasm by the rookies last night. The DP Contreras hit into in a big at bat - he really reached trying to hit something out of the zone from what I could see but I didn't see the replay. And the Almora running gaffe. Contreras, wow, when they say he is a fired up kid the aren't kidding. He's gonna be a lot of fun. And Almora's gonna make a lot more good plays than bad overall. The only real bad thing is that it hurts the Cubs record in one run games - which was about even I believe.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

OF course you say nothing of your prediction of Contreras going 0-4 "because baseball". I liked what I saw sitting behind home plate (not to mention his arm, speed, bat) last night - and once he figures handling the staff out at some point - they can sit Miggy for the rest of his contract as far as I'm concerned. But with an 11.5 game lead, its nice to get him some real-world experience. Mike Olt Lives!

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

There are a few times he popped up from his crouch after receiving the ball on borderline pitches where if he held the ball for a few more seconds he might have gotten the call. Hopefully that's something Lackey neighed at him to do better on. He's definitely seems like a guy who gets the bit between his teeth and goes.

Always interesting to go to a game at Wrigley -- and seeing the difference between the casual fans ("Clayton Richard? Now, who is this left-handed fellow?)" and those who follow the team closely ("Noooooo!!!"). I must say though -- very well behaved crowd. Cards fans cheered for their team but weren't overly obnoxious. Monday night may have something to do with that.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • 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...