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

Cub Rally Falls Short at HoHoKam

Doug Mientkiewicz homered, drove in two runs, and made a spectacular sliding catch, and a 9th inning Cubs rally fell one run short for the second day in a row, as the Dodgers edged the Cubs 5-4 in Cactus League action at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, Arizona, in a game played before a capacity crowd under partly cloudy skies and in mid-60’s temperatures

box score

Ryan Dempster got the start for the Cubs and had a long and eventful 1st inning (22 pitches). Matt Kemp led off with an infield single, and stole second easily (off-line one-hop throw by catcher Koyie Hill). Kemp advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by pitcher Randy Wolf (the first time I can ever remember seeing a pitcher hit in the second slot in the original lineup of a Spring Training game), and then James Loney hit a one-bounce chopper to 1st baseman Derrek Lee, who threw home hoping to nail Kemp coming in from third. But Kemp immediately reversed direction and headed back to third base, while Koyie Hill hesitated and double-clutched the throw, allowing Kemp to make it back safely and Loney to reach base on a FC, and leaving runners at 1st & 3rd with one out. Blake DeWitt walked to load the bases, and then Kemp scored on a Brad Ausmus infield hit, and Loney scored on a Mientkiewicz FC ground out to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Both runs were (technically) earned, but probably neither runner would have scored if Hill had immediately thrown the ball to third. He who hesitates is lunch (or gets placed on waivers)  

Dempster had far more efficient 2nd & 3rd innings, getting through both on just 20 pitches (combined), leaving him with a final line of 3.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 2 K, 42 pitches (23 strikes), 4/2 GO/FO. I would say that despite the two runs allowed, Dempster looked pretty good today.

Luis Vizcaino, Justin Berg, and Esmailin Caridad worked one scoreless inning each in innings 4-5-6, with Vizcaino's outing the most impressive of the three, with a "rocking chair" easy 1-2-3 inning (12 pitches – 2/1 GO/FO). Vizcaino looked good in his last outing, too. .

The hard-throwing Berg (12 pitches – seven strikes) got into a jam when a Chin-lung Hu one-out line-drive hit to right got under the glove of RF Brad Snyder and rolled to the fence for a single + two base error, allowing Hu to reach third. But then with the infield pulled in for a play at the plate and Hu on third (not first), Ryan Theriot made a nice play on a hard-hit ground ball, and threw out the runner Hu was trying to score from third. Kemp was then thrown out trying to steal (the second of two CS by K. Hill today).

Caridad got through his inning with no damage, although he did allow a walk and was behind just about every hitter he faced (16 pitches – only eight strikes).

The Cubs got on the board in the bottom of the 6th, on a one-out triple into the RF corner by Snyder (for a big guy, Snyder can really motor around the bases), followed by a towering Micah Hoffpauir F-8 SF RBI to the warning track in right-center. Mientkiewicz got the final putout of the inning, with a death-defying sliding catch in front of the Cubs dugout on a foul pop-up, the type of “maximum effort” play rarely attempted in a Spring Training game. I applaud Mientiewicz for the fine effort.

With the Cubs trailing 2-1, Mitch Atkins took the mound in the top of the 7th, and was immediately greeted by That Man Mientkiewicz again, who drilled a lead off home run into the Cubs bullpen beyond the RF fence. Atkins labored through his one inning of work (18 pitches – 11 strikes), working very slowly and deliberately and making a number of “keep ‘em close” throws to 1st base after Xavier Paul reached on a single. (Paul swiped second anyway). It looked like Atkins was afraid to throw the ball to the plate. Atkins has looked uncomfortable all Spring Training, like he doesn’t believe he belongs in big league camp (and he probably won't have to worry about that much longer).

Down 3-1, the Cubs narrowed the gap again to one run in the bottom of the 7th. Joey Gathright reached on an E-4, as second-baseman Juan Castro appeared to juggle the ball in fear he might not get Gathright if he didn’t hurry his throw. (Gathright does that to infielders). Gathright then stole second (although a good throw probably would have nailed him), and advanced to 3rd on the overthrow by Dodger catcher Danny Ardoin. (Gathright is VERY fast, but he doesn’t appear to get good jumps on stolen base attempts). Gathright then scored on a GO RBI by Aaron Miles.

Rookie RHP Jeff Stevens (one of the pitchers acquired from the Indians for Mark DeRosa) took the mound to start the 8th, and he was just plain terrible. He couldn’t find the strike zone (27 pitches – only nine strikes), and when he did throw the ball over the plate, he gave up a couple of laser-beam doubles, one of which was a two-run two-bagger roped into the RF corner by ace PH Delwyn Young. Stevens was yanked by Manager Lou Piniella with two runs in and the bases loaded, and Randy Wells immediately got out of the jam on just four pitches. I doubt that Uncle Lou has been much impressed by Stevens so far this Spring.

NRI RHRP Brian Schlitter (acquired from the Phillies last August for Scott Eyre) worked an uneventful the 9th (11 pitches), allowing a walk. Schlitter (pronounced "Sklitter" not "Shitter") will likely compete with Marcos Mateo for the closer job at AA Tennessee.

Down 5-2, the Cubs tried to rally the forces in the bottom of the 9th against ex-Cub RHP Tanyon Sturtze. Gathright walked, and advanced to second on a ground out. Miles drove in Gathright with an RBI single, and then with two outs, PH Doug Deeds laced an RBI double into left-center, splitting the gap and driving home Miles.

With two outs and the tying run on second base, southpaw Brian Mazone was summoned to face the dangerous (but strikeout-prone) Brad Snyder, and the lefty-swinging Snyder did indeed strike out (swinging – swish!) to end the game.

The Cubs travel to Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix (51st Avenue & Indian School Road) tomorrow to face the Milwaukee Brewers in a game that will be televised for all to see on WGN-TV.

Comments

Zambrano pitches today. The Bruce Levine Talking Baseball show has been expanded to 3 hours (9am-noon, saturdays). DLee was interviewed today. He said he told Milton Bradley not to fight the media or the fans in Chicago because it's a losing battle. if you're listening live (aren't we all hoping for that?) here's the link: http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/espnradio1000/story?id=listenlive Will Carroll's notes on Cubs and former Cubs: Rich Harden is making progress, and while I'm still not expecting 200 innings from him, I think that expecting something similar to last season's performance is very reasonable. ... Adam Miller has been shut down for ten days while his finger heals. Ever wonder if he and Kerry Wood just look at each other and don't even have to say a word? ... An MRI already on Rich Hill? Bad sign, especially that it's his elbow now. ... http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8591 Remember tonight is the former of "spring forward, fall back"

Randy Wells had four appearances with the Cubs last season in which he didn't yield a hit. Now it's status quo during spring training. Lou must be beginning to like this guy. Thanks for the pronunciation help on "Sklitter." That sounds much better. I always thought that if Felix had rhymed his last name with "sky" he would have done better. You're not in Haiti any more.

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...