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

Picking Up Distress Signals From Milwaukee

In light of the grotesquely ugly 8-3 loss that dropped their heroes behind the Cubs, Milwaukee fans are trying on second place...and the folks don't seem to like the way it looks on them. Fan comments from tonight's Milwaukee Journal Brewers Blog... “Something needs to change.” “…the manger has lost this team, they have no energy…Yost needs to be gone, the sooner the better!!” “(Yost) doesn’t know how to keep a team fresh.” “Other teams seem to have a book on the Brewers and know how to play them every day.” “The team seems to lack a leader.” “…this is quickly turning into a ‘typical Brewers season.’ Is .500 even a reality at this point?”

Comments

Man, they gave a stat on Baseball Tonight that was hard to believe. They said the last Brewers Gold Glover was Robin Yount! I mean, the guy is already past the 5 year period to wait for HOF induction!

the brewers are a good YOUNG team will be there in coming years,but the cubs need to show them what haveing vets who have been there before does for a team. go cubs go whata ya say the cubs are in first place today!!

Nothing in those comments that we wouldn't be seeing on this board if the Cubs had lost yesterday and today. Internet fans are good at one thing...saying the sky is falling, no win is good enough and every loss is a horrible miscarriage of justice, where if only the manager had done what they would have done the team would never lose.

"When is the Packers first game???" "Where is my cheese?!?!" On serious note, I'm raising money to get Jim Hendry a decent haircut.

i was busting balls at http://www.brewcrewball.com/ and i came up with this little nugget of Chad genius: "And the best part is, come Sunday October 7th, you'll get the indignity of watching both the Cubs playing in the playoffs and the Bears raping the Packers yet again."

Watching that game last night I couldn't help but shake my head. They're pressing. They can't deal with the pressure of a pennant race. Point the finger at the manager if you choose, but it's awfully tough to make guys less nervous. Their rookie 3B is throwing it into RF. Their RFer is throwing it into LF. They've been a team that's lived and died by the homer all year and now they're not hitting them nearly as frequently. They aren't hitting at all. Half of their regulars are hitting under .240 in the last week. Since the start of their roadie on 8/6 they're putting up right at about 3.5 runs/game, which just isn't good enough. I doubt this is the beginning of an absolute catostrophic meltdown. I do think they'll play better again. But I sure do hope they wait a while before they start.

That's the problem with a team chock full of young guys. The fan comments are kind of amusing. Sounds like us Cub fans last year or even earlier this year.

Two successive comments from brewcrewball on last nite's game thread: I've never been to prison.. but I bet that doing time is only slightly more painful than watching the post all star break Brewers. by molitorfan on Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 08:52:48 PM EDT actually it's a toss up. don't ask I have seen the coming of the Lord. Savior, thy name is Gallardo. by ESK on Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 09:34:29 PM EDT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Hee Hee Hee

Indiana JJ: Savior, thy name is Gallardo. Riiiiiight... Or is it Braun? Rookies/young guys in general are very inconsistent.

Or is it Braun? Rookies/young guys in general are very inconsistent. Braun has had an OPS over 1.000 in each of June, July, and August. I wouldn't call that "very inconsistent." And his defense? Was bad before he came up - I am pretty sure no one expected it to get magically better.

Braun made 20th error last night? Beat them now he might be the Mike Schmidt of this division until he's a FA. And then run away from Milwaukee faster than Slim Fast salesman.

here's Will Carroll's take on Ben Sheets status, from his UTK column in Baseball Prospectus: Can one man give this team a boost? If it's possible, Ben Sheets is that man. He's not only coming back, he's coming back more quickly than expected. After a solid side session on Thursday, Sheets is scheduled to throw a sim game on Monday. Depending on the results there, he could go right back into the rotation rather than heading out for a rehab assignment. Doug Melvin and Ned Yost know that getting more Sheets—assuming he's the healthy and effective Sheets—could be the difference between winning and losing this season. The move sounds like panic, but the team understands the value of one game, there's no question that Sheets can be a difference-maker, and this move could get him two more starts during the regular season.

also note from that column that Pedro Martinez will get a rehab start against the Iowa Cubs next week at New Orleans

"assuming he’s the healthy and effective" I have heard those words before....somewhere....for someone. ~scratches noggin~

IF you plug in "Cubs" for "Brewers", it was many of our statements from April/May, early June. All I can say is there is still six weeks of regular season baseball left. I have learned a lesson this year by fully realizing that it is a marathon. I just never had experienced my team coming from being so far buried to take first place at this time in the season. When we were 9 back I "knew" we were finished. Oy! Wrong! So - right now - I'm gonna keep the faith, but not count on anything. It could STILL very well end in a three-way tie, for all we know. What I AM glowing about, is the huge shocker that I did not think was happening: Z's signing! So - yes the Brewers going forward will have talent for the next several years - but the Cubs are positioned to be VERY competitive in our own division as well with a nice mix of vets, youth, and now at least the top two or three starting staffs in the Central for several years to come. Now THAT is cool.

I was not surprised at the Zambrano signing, primarily because the recent debt/credit problems have made the Zell bid quite precarious at this point. So they have to keep working towards their future, because the Trib may still be the owner of the Cubs when all is said and done.

The Brewers have been playing the uglyist ball in this race so far, I mean when we were sucking it was because our pen couldnt hold a lead. Since August 7th there losses have been 11-4,

Acidentldly hit submit, but the rest are 19-4, 12-4, 8-3, 8-0, and 8-3. I dont remember a stretch this year were we got that pounded during a 10 day stretch. Also we had about 100 or so games left when we went on their stretch, they have 40 and have in the back of their minds that they lost a 8.5 game lead in about 2 months.

You know if Cuban wants to the Cubs, he should just step in and buy the trib now. Zell is probably going to back out soon. The indidval pieces of that company are more valuable than the whole. BTW regardless of Zell the trib will sell the Cubs unless someone else buys the trib before the end of the season and wants them.

Soriano update in the Tribune: Alfonso Soriano took batting practice Friday and said he believes he's progressing much faster than expected from his quad injury. "I'm very surprised," he said. "We'll see where I am next week. But I feel great." Soriano is expected to begin running next week, and the Cubs are still projecting him to return around the first week of September. Soriano sounds as if he'd like to speed up the timetable, but the Cubs are going to be conservative with their $136 million man so he doesn't aggravate the injury.

Rich Hill leads the team in ERA amongst starters. Soriano took batting practice yesterday, starts running next week.

Pitching VORP leaders Lilly 34.3 Z 33.4 Hill 30.9 Marmol 21.2 Marquis 15.5 Marshall 13.0 Howry 12.3 Dempster 11.2 Wuertz 10.6

The Brewers were really never the team to worry about. It's always been the Cardinals. We need to take 3 from them. Soriano- Lou had said that the guy is overly optimistic about when he would be ready. If we get through this series in good shape I think that the next west coast road trip will make or break us for the playoffs. We didn't do that well aginst most of those clubs the last time.

I disagree. The Brewers are the team most likely to be there with us at the end of the year. The Cardinals don't have the pitching to keep it up. ...unless both the Brewers and Cubs collapse, that is. /no jinxes allowed

"what do you think I’ll get in Los Angeles on Fox? Cubs vs Cards or Tigers vs Yanks?" It HAS to be Red Sox-Yankees, right?

The blackout rules suck. That's why I dropped MLB Extra Innings this year. Feh.

FYI: Rob Neyer just called into my local ESPN radio station, commenting on his favorites to win this year. He didn't miss a beat announcing the Cubs as his favorite in the NL Central, citing run differential as a main factor. In his opinion, it shouldn't even be close at the end of the year. Hope he's right. :P

4 monthly payments of $40 and I still wouldn't get to see the Cubs game today. I have MLB.tv since I'm at work during most of the games (which still won't let me see the game). I might go Extra Innings and Slingbox for next year though.

I've had half a mind to buy a slingbox for my family in Chicagoland so that they can send me all the games. :-) I've also considered having my DirecTV billed through them, in hopes of getting their local channels instead of mine. That might be problematic, though...

well I think if you get the access card from your parents order and put it in your box, you'll get the Chicago channels. Hmm, I wonder if that would bypass the blackout rules as well? Although I'm sure DirecTV would eventually pick up on it.

Im in Seattle and I think Fox just gave up and decided to run a Yankees-RedSox game from last year instead. Just because, you know, everyone loves them some good Yankees-RedSox.

Here are the markets that will have the Cubs/Cards game today:
Alexandria LA, Atlanta GA, Baton Rouge LA, Biloxi MS, Bowling Green KY, Cedar Rapids IA, Champaign IL, Chicago IL, Cincinnati OH, Colorado Springs CO, Columbia MO, Columbus MS, Davenport IA, Dayton OH, Denver CO, Des Moines IA, Evansville IN, Fort Smith AR, Fort Wayne IN, Grand Junction CO, Green Bay WI, Greenwood MS, Indianapolis IN, Jackson TN, Joplin MO, Kansas City MO, La Crosse WI, Lafayette LA, Lake Charles LA, Lexington KY, Lincoln NE, Little Rock AR, Louisville KY, Madison WI, Memphis TN, Meridian MS, Milwaukee WI, Mobile AL, Monroe LA, Nashville TN, New Orleans LA, Omaha NE, Ottumwa IA, Paducah KY, Peoria IL, Phoenix AZ, Quincy IL, Rockford IL, Shreveport LA, Sioux City IA, South Bend IN, Springfield MO, Springfield IL, St. Louis MO, Terre Haute IN, Topeka KS, Tucson AZ, Tulsa OK, Wausau WI, Wichita KS

The Cubs game today is only being shown in a quarter of the country today. The following states where in the majority of markets the game will be shown today are: AR,AZ(except Yuma market), IA,IL, IN, KY, LA, TN(except Knoxville market), MO, MS, NE and WI. Here is FOX's market by market game listing: http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/5619630

Thanks Fox. Asses. http://vconvert.net/ plenty of those out there but that seemed pretty damn easy to use, converts youtube or most any other web video and you can download it. Next time there's an MLB video on youtube you want, save it real quick before they delete it.

MLB Audio (14.95/yr) lets me watch all the games as soon as they're archived. Best baseball junkie deal ..ever!

Jermaine Dye signs 2 yr extension with WSux (per Bruce Levine on ESPN 1000)

Dye reups with the Sox for 22/2: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7133450 So much for KW making changes. Also McCarthy was put on the DL with a stress fracture in his shoulder blade of his pitching arm. Since its an injury that occurs over time it looks like KW traded another lemon pitcher.

from the I-Cubs website: Henry Blanco began a rehab assignment by going two for four with two runs scored and one RBI. Manager Bailey said Blanco looked good, "He did a good job...he didn't have any restrictions throwing, he set up like he always has and received the ball well." also in that game, Rocky Cherry (good 1.1 IP no hits, 2K's), Oh-man (bad, 0.2 IP, 2H, 1R, 1BB)

Since its an injury that occurs over time What's special about the shoulder that this stress fracture couldn't have been due to a single and recent incident?

Cubster, did you notice that with Blanco catching the I-Cubs pitching suffered a meltdown?

I think I could just tell DirecTV that I'm moving, and change my billing address to my parents' house. They'd switch my local channels to Chicagoland, so I'd get the game on Fox. Two possible issues with this: 1. I've heard that the satellites are somehow restricting the broadcast of local channels so that they can only be received within some number of miles of the city in question. 2. I wonder if they do caller-ID on the phone line connected to my unit? If so, they could tell I was not in the location I say I'm in. I could unplug it from the phone, I suppose -- I know a number of other people who do that with their DirecTivo units. I might have to have it call from my parents' number once, though, which would require transporting my unit (or just the card and borrowing a unit for the exercise). Anyway, I doubt I'll make the effort to do this, but I do think about it. Stupid MLB blackout rules, anyway. Pat and Ron, here I come...

Also McCarthy was put on the DL with a stress fracture in his shoulder blade of his pitching arm. ======== What’s special about the shoulder that this stress fracture couldn’t have been due to a single and recent incident? ======== Stress fractures occur from repetitive low level trauma that overwhelms the normal bone reparative processes of bone remodeling leaving initially a microscopic break in the trabecular structure of bone. If it happens slowly enough the body can heal it but when the small crack propagates it becomes a source of pain and needs much more time to heal. I use the analogy to a small crack in a car winshield. It it propagates into a longer crack line it's harder to rectify. Stress fractures are more common in weight bearing bones (ie. Metatarsals, Tibia/Fibula, Femur, Pelvis and Spinal Vertebrae) but if there is enough repetitive stress to any bone, the micro-trauma can add up and lead to a stress fx. In older people there is often some component of osteoporosis (or some medications that affect bone metabolism, like Prednisone) that affects the structure of bone and makes stress fxs easier to happen. A stress fracture in the scapula (shoulder blade) is a fairly uncommon problem, in fact it seems as if that injury (but probably not BMcCarthy) warranted a case report recently in the Am Journal of Sports Medicine. There is a recent published article on this but I'll have to look it up in the library when I have a chance since it includes a review of the historic literature. Paul K. Herickhoff, Ekavit Keyurapan, Laura M. Fayad, Charles E. Silberstein, and Edward G. McFarland Scapular Stress Fracture in a Professional Baseball Player: A Case Report and Review of the Literature Am. J. Sports Med., Jul 2007; 35: 1193 - 1196.

So a single, recent incident could have lead to the onset of significant symptoms but because of the nature of a stress fracture it was just "the straw that breaks the camel's back" and occurs because of the repetitive preceding trauma that is cumulative leading to a failure of the trabecular bone at the injury site (in biomechanical terms, stressing the bone beyond it's yield curve failure point).

cubster — August 18, 2007 @ 12:13 pm Also McCarthy was put on the DL with a stress fracture in his shoulder blade of his pitching arm. ======== What’s special about the shoulder that this stress fracture couldn’t have been due to a single and recent incident? ======== Stress fractures occur from repetitive low level trauma that overwhelms the normal bone reparative processes of bone remodeling leaving initially a microscopic break in the trabecular structure of bone. If it happens slowly enough the body can heal it but when the small crack propagates it becomes a source of pain and needs much more time to heal. I use the analogy to a small crack in a car winshield. It it propagates into a longer crack line it’s harder to rectify. ============================== CUBSTER: The big difference being that (hopefully) the doctor isn't at the local gas station trying to talk you into letting him repair your stress fracture.

Whats the odds on them getting this game in today? Going to be rained out?

Thanks for the reply cubster, but I'm having a hard time understanding how the White Sox could have known about this. Wouldn't you agree that stress fractures only take 8-10 weeks to heal? The off-season is twice that long.

Wouldn’t you agree that stress fractures only take 8-10 weeks to heal? ====== The time to heal has a lot of factors that affect this (ie. specific to the bone and location on the bone as well as other factors like other medical problems that affect bone healing), so the range can be 6 weeks to 6 months. I remember Todd Hollandsworth had a stress fx in his leg after a foul ball so that is an example of an acute event injury but he had a history of a previous stress fracture in the same area. In fact that previous injury happened to TH when he was with another team and clearly was playing well with the Cubs up until that injury (against the WSox). Too bad he was awful from then on though. It's possible McCarthy had some shoulder symptoms last year that never were diagnosed but I agree it should have healed during the offseason, so I think it's not realistic to think the WSox had knowledge that he was damaged goods at least not with this diagnosis.

why is there a cardinal flag sitting just under the Wrigley Field Clark & Addison marquee? can one of the grounds crew please move this (preferrably to over one of the porta-potties)

speaking of DirecTV, if you get FoxSports en Espanol you can get the game anywhere. Of course I don't get that either even though I pay for their full package. Rupert Murdoch wins again.... someone put a webcam on their roof so we can all watch the game.

one of the roof's across from Wrigley of course, randomly putting a webcam on your roof shooting your neighbor doing his/her gardening isn't all that helpful...unless your neighbor is hot or something.

Rob: "I might go Extra Innings and Slingbox for next year though." "nohit — August 18, 2007 @ 11:07 am I’ve had half a mind to buy a slingbox for my family in Chicagoland so that they can send me all the games. :-) I’ve also considered having my DirecTV billed through them, in hopes of getting their local channels instead of mine. That might be problematic, though…" "Rob G. — August 18, 2007 @ 11:11 am well I think if you get the access card from your parents order and put it in your box, you’ll get the Chicago channels." 1: Rob and Nohit, I don't know if you guys are interested, but I would gladly split the costs with you guys to get that done in a multiway partnership. 2. I'm calling my brother right now to get an extra access card.

Raleigh/Durham, NC also has the tigers/yanks game (as par). damn i hate fox saturdays. also hate that my blackout area covers 2 teams, 1 of which i get no regular tv outlet for even with my full digital cable package...the other i get 1/4th or their games.

"2. I wonder if they do caller-ID on the phone line connected to my unit? If so, they could tell I was not in the location I say I’m in." I think with Vonage you can get a local number from anywhere. So you wouldn't have to be in Chicago to get a "312" number. I know you can get a Skype number like that too but not sure if you can connect it to your DirecTV - Tivo.

you can hook up DirecTV to make it's calls through Vonage although it's got some bugs I hear.

*Man, they gave a stat on Baseball Tonight that was hard to believe. They said the last Brewers Gold Glover was Robin Yount! I mean, the guy is already past the 5 year period to wait for HOF induction!* Erm, actually, Yount is in the HOF already.

*You know if Cuban wants to the Cubs, he should just step in and buy the trib now.* Does Cuban make a habit of buying businesses that may not even be around in 10 years? Old media is doomed.

*Erm, actually, Yount is in the HOF already.* Yes, I know that. Just wasn't sure how many others did.

*# Rich says: August 18th, 2007 at 5:22 pm *Erm, actually, Yount is in the HOF already.* Yes, I know that. Just wasn’t sure how many others did.* Uh-huh. Sure. If this is the case then why didn't you simply say dude was already in? Anyone with a passing interest in the game would surely be able to do the math and figure it has been at least five years in any case. Anyone else with more than a passing interest could then infer that it surely must be many more years than that since they don't hand out many Gold Gloves to obscenely old geezers who are on the verge of retiring.

lol....so I guess I don't have a passing interest in the game. Sure. What do you want to know about him?

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.