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

Neifi Needs You.

MLB gave their first update on the state of NL All-Star Balloting yesterday. For everyone that had any reservations about the Neifi Write-in campaign, I have a bit of information that should remove any lingering moral scruples... Nomar Garciaparra is the top NL vote-getter at SS. The totals: 1. Garciaparra, N. Cubs 235,899 2. Eckstein, D. Cardinals 212,209 3. Furcal, R. Braves 212,160 4. Reyes, J. Mets 189,929 5. Barmes, C. Rockies 183,338 The three best SS in the NL this year, arguably, have been Barmes, Izturis, and Neifi. Neifi needs you. (So does Derrek Lee, who has less than half the votes of Pujols.)

Comments

Five bucks says Lee is a starter in the All Star game, but Pujols still ends up with more votes.

Are we sure that write-in votes have been counted in the totals?

Blue- Some people on chat last night were saying that Lee maybe wasn't even going to make the team.... Have you heard anything crazier than that?? Maybe not making it??? He is a lock.

He should be a lock, but the All-Star balloting is at times a baffling system. I don't think Lee's going to get voted in, but I think he'll either be the DH, or play 1b in place of Pujols if he's named the DH.

Maybe Neifi can get his name legally changed to Garciaparra. Hmmm...

Good question. I have no idea if write-ins have been tabulated or not. Still, Neifi and Derrek need you. And it's official, I just threw in my 25 votes, finally.

Blue- They were not talking about Lee getting voted in, but talking about making the team at all, coaches picks included. It was very amusing to say the least...

A quick googling of All-Star Snubs provides this: 2004, Lyle Overbay, .343 average, 35 doubls, 61 RBI. Lost out to Pujols, Casey, Helton and Thome. Adrian Beltre, .327 21 HR and 55 RBI Bobby Abreu .304, 17 HR, 56 RBI and 66 runs (eventually made team as injury replacement) Adam Dunn 24HR and .414 OBP Or in 2000, Frank Thomas had .340 ave, 25 HR and 71 RBI Going further back, The Baseball Page has the five biggest all-star snubs of all time, which include: (http://www.thebaseballpage.com/allstar/slights.htm) Hank Greenberg, 1935 - he had 101 RBI at the all star break, but lost out to Gehrig and Foxx. wound up with 36 HR and 170 RBI. Robin Yount, 1989 (no stats given on this one) Dave Parker, 1978 .316, 13 HR, 47 RBI and 12 steals, was defending batting champ, went on to win it again, "remains the last player to win the batting crown and fail to make the All-Star team the year he did so." Kirk Gibson, 1988. never played in an All-Star game. Don Newcombe, 1956 already a double 20-game winner, Dodgers fresh off their first world series victory, so their Manager gets to make the pitching selections. No data on his stats at break, but finished with 27 wins. EVERY ONE of those five went on to win the MVP that year. Are any of these players,their stats at the break and their historical context comparable to Derrek Lee's position? Probably not. Point is, the All-Star game is a very, very imperfect measure of first-half success, and even less perfect at second-half success.

Another 25 votes for Supar-Neifi and D-Lee from me. I think the leaving D-Lee off of the team this year would be the ultimate ASG snub if he keeps up his performance and is still leading or close to leading the Triple Crown

Another 25 votes for Supar-Neifi and D-Lee from me. I think the leaving D-Lee off of the team this year would be the ultimate ASG snub if he keeps up his performance and is still leading or close to leading the Triple Crown

I think the ASG voting would be more accurate if people ballots were restricted to a single league. It's the AL fans who are voting Nomar Garciaparra in as NL SS because they know his name. If we could only vote one league per ballot, it would clean things up quite a bit.

Neifi Haiku Nutty for Neifi! Keep doing the little things He is an All Star

Looking at Win Shares, Pujols and Lee both had 14 as of May 30th. Of course, looking at VORP - Lee is crushing him. Believe it or not, David Eckstein is leading shortstops in the NL in Win Shares, and is 4th in VORP. He wouldn't be a horrible choice to start (even though I doubt the ballots finish that way.)

DLee will make the ASG, don't worry. Looks like our reps could be limited to Lee, Zambrano and "Nomar", in a freaky way. Personally, I have not liked the aspect of the ASG that rewards "the best half season". I want to see the best players, not the guys who had the best May or June. So while I voted for Lee over Pujols, I did hesitate and think about it -- who would you rather have as a first baseman long-term?

My Neifi Haiku Neifi you are good Surprising hits galore yay I think I love you

Sadly, I wouldn't be shocked if Lee was snubbed, but I think winning a Gold Glove in 2003 probably gives him enough star power to get in. Just looking at last year's all star team, take a look at the people who transmission mentioned, and remember both Sosa and Alou were named to the All Star team in place of those guys. Its not just hitters either, eventual Cy Young Winner Johan Santana didn't make the team, despite leading the AL in strikeouts at the break, and Estaban Loiza (sp?) represented the White Sox while Mark Burhle stayed home.

my neifi haiku: you went from "who dat" to "what team wouldn't want that." neifi, our neifi.

Lo, Neifi Perez Taller, if you would have been Z, a no-no have

Neifi! You Badass! Where was that sweet swing during all your previous years?

There's no way Derrek Lee doesn't make the All-Star team.

The initial vote tally doesn't really mean anything unless it is mentioned which votes were counted. For all we know, those totals are from Busch Stadium ballots or wherever...

I was going to head over and mention something when I voted this morning and saw Pujols' massive lead. Count 25 more votes for DLee and Neifi!

Let me be clear: I think that Lee will make the all-star team, but whatever the betting odds may be on him NOT making the team, (10 to 1? 5 to 1? 3 to 1?) I'd probably take those odds. I think Lee will make it, but it's not unprecedent, or really even unusual, for snubs of that magnitude. Our collective faith and use of exclamation points not withstanding. And thanks for mentioning Johan got snubbed last year, I'd completely forgotten that.

If Lee is still leading all three triple crown categories when the manager selections are made and he's snubbed (due to manager preference, the one-player-per-team rule, bad karma, whatever), then the rules need to be rewritten. Period. I personally think that if he hits .250 the rest of the month, he'll still make the squad. Neifi is the one on the bubble. All the write-in ballots in the world won't get him in, so he's going to need to be otherworldly and rate a manager's pick. Which means as good as he's been, he's going to have to be even better if he hopes to get an invite.

this is what happens when fans vote. It really is laughable. While I think it is fun for the fan to be able to do so, it ends up with ridiculous results. Nomar really shouldn't even be on the ballot. Nor do I think voting should start as early as it does. Shouldn't we wait a little longer that a month into the season to start thinking all-star? And then the Pujols-Lee situation. At least Pujols arguably deserves to be on the team. Anyway, the Cubs have to have at least one representitive...who will it automatically be? Lee or Zambrano

Trans- "And thanks for mentioning Johan got snubbed last year, I'd completely forgotten that." Johan did not really get snubbed. Looking at it from what he did the rest of the year, it seems like it, but at the All-star break last year he was: 7-6 with a 3.78 ERA Those are not exactly stats that make you think he is a lock for the all-star game, let alone snubbed if he didn't get in. "but whatever the betting odds may be on him NOT making the team, (10 to 1? 5 to 1? 3 to 1?) I'd probably take those odds." You can have 20-1 and I would book any bet.

Thanks Manny, that's very fair. Johan wasn't a snub based on the numbers. I'm not a betting man, just because I don't have a dollar to spare. But if you want to use Imaginary Cub Bucks, put me down for twenty dollars on Lee not getting in, with those 20 to 1 odds.

neifi for gold glove very best at stopping short reflex of a cat

Anyone else see the Muskat article saying it's time to start the "Write-In Neifi!" Campaign? WELCOME TO LAST MONTH CARRIE!

I You ain't seen nothin' You think he's on fire now? Wait til it warms up... II Neifi: a line drive Chicago is a flutter by all his base hits III Thirty two today Happy birthday to you, man many, many more

Let's face it folks, the All-Star voting is a sham. The whole stupid thing is a sham, considering the fact that an exhibition game determines home field advantage for the WORLD SERIES. Why is something so important decided by the fans, when unfortunately 90% of the voting public doesn't have a clue who should be in each position. That is why I have taken it upon myself to cheat handily at voting in the online system, and here's how you can too. 1. Vote normally, up to 25 times with your regular email address. It's easy, since each time you vote it remembers who you voted for. 2. Clear your temporary internet files/cookies. 3. Use another email address (most people have 4 or 5, if not, go make a few on hotmail!) 4. Vote 25 times again with new email 5. Lather, rinse, repeat, until you get tired. Normally I would never condone cheating, but when you figure the voting public has Nomar as the leading SS, something is horribly and embarrasingly wrong with the system and the people voting within said system. Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy, but heck even when he was playing he was only batting about .140 or something to that effect. If 100 people voted 25 times per 4 email addresses each, that comes out to 10,000. Now... imagine if you did that a couple times a week. Allright that's all I got... VOTE NE!F!

beg, borrow, or steal cubs faithful will see neifi in the all star game.

superb in infield chicken legs steal second base bunts, fundamentals

who's this nomar guy? last time i checked our lineup neifi plays shortstop!

Daniel wins.

Dave, please restate your last post in the form of an haiku.

sweet victory! so anybody wanna pony up some cubs tickets to honor my achievement?

Lee Elia Haiku The Daniel wins huh? not to this country coc#suc#er my #uck-iiiii-ng a$$

We've loved you, Neifi Since your '98 walk-off Though you've sucked for years.

Maybe a quick fix to this Nomar problem would be to only allow All Stars that meet the batting title at-bat requirement.

Haiku This! Lee will make the all-star team without any momentary hesitation. Unless he has anything less than a mediocre June, there will be a 100% chance Lee will make the all-star team. Pujols will win the fan vote no matter whaat, But Lee will be in the top two on the players vote without a doubt. We also don't have a slew of other candidates, so it's not like they'll have to drop Lee because they already have too many Cubs.

Responding to Adam's challenge in Post #43: Lee, All Star you are. Oh-for-June no matter, save Hits for Cardinal games! Pujols, may your start In Mo-Town cause flare up of Plantar fascitis

yoda says that hate leads to the darkside, smitty. so bear this in mind. don't hate the player, it's not his fault his poems are so friggin' sweet. so long story short, cubs haiku academy, thanks for this honor.

Maybe with the DH, Pujols starts at DH, and Lee starts at 1B, technically as the "DH."

And we've come full circle.... Merigold's idea is what I said back up on posts 1 and 4.

many people complain that the All-Star game determines who gets home field advantage in teh WS. But why?? Was teh old way better?? It was just switched every other year to NL/AL...predetermined. There is no question the AllStar game thing is better than that. Of Course the better record would make most sense, but due to time constraints that is not feasible. I think it makes tons of sense for the All Star game to determine the WS. Kudos to Selig for taking a good step toward fixing the problem.

Manny, I strongly disagree as I feel switching it every year is far less arbitrary than having it decided by players, most of whom have no vested interest in home field advantage in the WS, who were elected by fans who vote for injured players who have played 5 games and some fill ins to ensure the Devil Rays have a player so Tampa's 3 fans have something to root for. "but due to time constraints that is not feasible." Huh, that argument doesn't make sense to me at all?

The team with the best record should have the home field advantage in the World Series. Period. It's that way in every other pro team sport except the NFL, but that makes sense because it is only one game, therefore it's in a neutral area. As much as I hate (hate hate hate) the Cardinals, you can't help but think they had a disadvatage last season in the World Series going against the Red Sox. Did they deserve that disadvantage when they won 105 games on the season compared to Boston's 98? (Again, most of us Cubs fans would argue the Cardinals should never under any circumstances have an advantage) Even though I believe Boston would have won that series regardless, just because of the emotional high they were on after forcing the Worst Collapse Ever on the Yankees, you can't help but wonder what woulda happened if those first two games woulda been played in St. Louis. Long story short, this All Star format is garbage, and a lame excuse to draw ratings for the game.

The team with the best record should have the home field advantage in the World Series. Period. It's that way in every other pro team sport except the NFL, but that makes sense because it is only one game, therefore it's in a neutral area. As much as I hate (hate hate hate) the Cardinals, you can't help but think they had a disadvatage last season in the World Series going against the Red Sox. Did they deserve that disadvantage when they won 105 games on the season compared to Boston's 98? (Again, most of us Cubs fans would argue the Cardinals should never under any circumstances have an advantage) Even though I believe Boston would have won that series regardless, just because of the emotional high they were on after forcing the Worst Collapse Ever on the Yankees, you can't help but wonder what woulda happened if those first two games woulda been played in St. Louis. Long story short, this All Star format is garbage, and a lame excuse to draw ratings for the game.

ADam- I said... "but due to time constraints that is not feasible." What is meant by this is MLB wants to be able to let the media, fans, etc. know what games will be home games and road games for their individual teams. It helps for travel and stuff like that. Possibly not knowing 1-2 days before the WS actually starts would put a serious hamper on travel for teams, etc. Sorry, I might not of worded that to make much sense before. And as for the reasoning that the players mostly "have no vested interest in home field advantage in the WS". As of the All-Star break like 75% of the teams are still in it because of the WC. And since the better teams tend to have more of the players, a vast majority of the players could have some interest in the WS.

Aaron- The Cards got swept. They could of played ALL the games in STL and they would of still lost the series. You are giving a bad example.

Manny, your time constraint argument is still weak, because the league still doesn't know who will be playing at home, and who will be traveling until the League Championship series are complete. The argument you are making just doesn't hold water when you realize previous rounds are determined by record..and you won't know who gets to have home field advantage until the LCS is over either way. There is probably a reasonable explanation..."time constraints" is not it.

Adam- It might be weak and there might be more reasons, but as a season ticket holder, it is nice to know exactly what days your team would be playing home/road games in the WS. That goes for media too. I just tired to google some quotes from Selig as to why he did not like the best record idea, but couldn't find anything.

Yeah, it was a bad example but the best I could come up with on a slightly inebriated short notice. Cardinals are crap anyways. EAMUS CATULI! 7 IN A ROW!

One more haiku Neifi the movement show your devotion to him see neifi dot com

One more haiku Neifi the movement show your devotion to him see neifi dot com

here's a Neifi Haiku for all the speech challenged: nay fee not neffee most say it improperly get it right, will you?

a haiku for the speech impaired: nay fee, not neffee most say it improperly get it right, will you?

I am so glad to have found a group of fans wanting to see Neifi get the respect he deserves. I have been voting under a differnt tactic that I belive may work most effectivly for our # 13. Many of you have probbably thought of this but if you havent here goes. Since Nomar is leading NL SS votes we should make sure he wins. If he is unable to play (which will be the case) he could have Neifi go for him. So therefore we should vote Nomar and leave the second base position open for a write in entry and write in Neifi to play at second base. I apoligize to Todd Walker but the fact is that he is to far behind in the voting. If we stop voting for Nomar then Ekstein may pass him. Another thing that I have been doing is handing out ballots at Wrigley that I have written Neifi's name into. That way I am telling people to write in Neifi and then doing all the work for them. Its a little much but GO NEIFI!!! Sorry about the long post, I will keep them shorter.

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.