Cubs MLB Roster

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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

Cubs Split EXST Games with Giants at Fitch Park

Ryan Keedy had three hits including two RBI doubles, but the Giants edged the Cubs 4-3 in an eight-inning Extended Spring Training game on Fitch Park Field #3 this morning. Meanwhile, another squad of Cubs blanked a second squad of Giants 11-0 in a seven-inning game on Field #2, as Larry Suarez and Carlos Rojas threw lights-out shutout ball over the seven innings. (The Giants brought their entire EXST squad to Mesa today--which is unusual--so there were enough players for two games).

I could have tried to watch & score both games simultaneously, but I opted to score only the game on Field #3, so here is the abridged box score (Cubs players only) from that game:

LINEUP:
1. Hak-Ju Lee, DH #1: 2-4 (6-3, 2B, 1B, K - 1 R, 1 CS)
2. George Matheus, 2B: 1-3 (2B, K, K, HBP - 1 R)
3. Ryan Keedy, 1B-DH #2: 3-4 (2B, 2B, 1B, GIDP - 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 CS)
4. Kevin Soto, CF: 0-2 (F-9, BB, K)
5. Sean Hoorelbeke, DH #2-1B: 1-3 (1B, P-4, GIDP - 1 RBI)
6. Kurt Calvert, RF: 0-3 (4-3, P-4, K)
7a. Juan Medina, C  1-1 (2B, BB)
7b. Alvaro Sosa, C: 1-1 (1B)
8. Robert Bautista, SS: 0-3 (1-3, 1-3, L-7)
9. Jose Made, 3B: 0-3 (P-5, 3-1, K)
10. Sean Williams, LF: 2-3 (6-3, 2B, 1B)

PITCHERS:
1. Tarlandus Mitchell - 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 2 K, 1/1 GO/FO
2. Yohan Gonzalez - 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 2/1 GO/FO
3. Eduardo Figueroa - 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 0 K, 6/0 GO/FO 
4. Dumas Garcia - 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 3/1 GO/FO

ERRORS (3):
RF Kurt Calvert misplayed a line single, allowing batter-runner to take an extra base, 1B Ryan Keedy bobbled a grounder allowing batter to reach 1st base, and SS Robert Bautista missed a grounder (went off his glove into short left-center) with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the 5th allowing two runs (including the tying run) to score.

CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Juan Medina - 1-3 CS

BASERUNNING
Sean Williams was thrown out 9-6-5 trying to stretch a double into a triple leading off the bottom of the 5th.

The EXST Cubs lineup for the other game went something like: Francisco Guzman CF, Matt Cerda DH #1, Chris Weimer 1B, Jake Opitz 3B, Logan Watkins SS, Jericho Jones DH #2, Jae-Hoon Ha RF, Jesus Morelli LF,John Contreras/Jose Guevara C, and Dwayne Kemp 2B, with Larry Suarez the SP.    

EXST NOTES: 23-year old utility INF Jose Made (selected by the Cubs in the 20th round of the 2007 Rule 4 draft out of Dominican College) is learning to switch-hit (he used to hit only right-handed).

24-year old RHP Josh Lansford (ex-3B drafted in 6th round out of Cal Poly in 2006 draft), 23-year old LHP Ryan Sontag (drafted as OF out of Arizona State in 23rd round of 2008 draft), and 19-year old Dominican RHP Gian Guzman (ex-SS) are being converted to pitcher. (Lansford's brother is a pitcher in the A's organization, and his father and uncles were MLB 3rd basemen).

2008 4th round pick 18-year old Matt Cerda was moved from catcher to 2B for a while recently when his defensive problems behind the plate were affecting his hitting, but he has apparently been moved back to catcher (at least for the time-being), although he was a DH today. Whether he will end up as a catcher or a second-baseman is still TBD.  

18-year old Korean bonus baby Hak-Ju Lee (2008 Tommy John surgery) is being eased back to SS, although he was a DH today. He has put on some weight since last year and looks a lot stronger, but he also may be outgrowing SS.

Fellow 18-year old Korean Jae-Hoon Ha has been the most-impressive position player so far at EXST, displaying plus-power while playing mostly RF. He is a converted catcher

Also, 20-year old speedy switch-hitting Dominican OF Jose Valdez is out of action with a leg injury, and RHP Cedric Redmond (signed as a Draft & Follow in May 2007 after being selected in the 27th round of the 2006 draft out of Oakton Community College) has a broken finger on his pitching hand.

Tags

Comments

Hey AZ Phil, Sounds like you're going to have a full day of baseball, assuming you've got tickets for tonight's game. Any idea why Hoorelbeke isn't in Peoria? Hope that Cerda can stick with catching and Lee can stay at short... When was the last time we had a really good shorstop, DeJesus?

Submitted by The Real Neal on Tue, 04/28/2009 - 3:26pm.
Hey AZ Phil,

Sounds like you're going to have a full day of baseball, assuming you've got tickets for tonight's game.

Any idea why Hoorelbeke isn't in Peoria?

Hope that Cerda can stick with catching and Lee can stay at short... When was the last time we had a really good shorstop, DeJesus?

=================================

REAL NEAL: I'm in heaven today, because I get baseball all day and all night long (we are going to the Cubs-D'backs game, too).

There was a five-way battle for the 1B job at Peoria in Spring Training, and Rebel Ridling won, Sean Hoorelbeke and Ryan Keedy were assigned to EXST, and Bryan Jost and Luis Bautista were released. Personally, I like Hoorelbeke better than Ridling or Keedy.

I also hope Lee can stay at SS. He was really scrawny looking last year and was an opposite field singles hitter, but he has apparently been spending a lot of time in the weight room (or at Muscle Beach) while rehabbing from the TJS. He still has plus-speed, but he is hitting the ball with a lot more authority this year. I can't say much about his arm strength (yet) at this point, although it should be OK eventually.

Submitted by Jace on Tue, 04/28/2009 - 3:27pm.
Wow, great. Thanks Phil! I've been wondering about a few of these guys. So, if Lee outgrows SS, where would he be moved? 2B? or 3b?

================================

JACE: I would think 2B, although with his speed, CF is another possibility.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Vasgersian is the "new bob costas"...for those that don't remember him 'back in the day' he was *the* hottest young talent in announcing. vag-bag is a guy every network wants a piece of, but yeah...his brand of humor sometimes goes so far beyond "miss" on hit/miss that you wonder where the hell a joke he's telling is coming from. he picks some weird "starting points" occasionally.

er, I mean Scott McClain sold to a team in Japan from the SF Giants...

sori, riot, fuky (cf), hoff, bradley (rf), font, hill, miles, z. Lee though still might play according to Wittenmyer.

Great update on EXST, Phil. Ques-T-O-nay. Do Sean Williams and Ja-Hoon Ha bat left or right-handed? It would be nice to have some right hand hitting power outfielders for a change. Follow-up q: Is Ha still also trying catching?

[ ]

In reply to by falcon

I'm not positive where you get your power ratings, nor do I know where Baseball Cube gets there's, but they have Nelson Perez with a 95 power rating. Obviously, Jones's 97 is higher, but how the heck do they get those anyway? Anyway, the Cubs clearly have a few guys in the system who can put on shows in batting practice. The Baseball Cube, however, gives Tony Thomas an 86 power rating, so I take all of these with a big grain of salt. I'm not saying Thomas doesn't have any power, but for a frame of reference--they give Milton Bradley a 78 and Geovany Soto an 81. How do you give a Tony Thomas a higher rating than either of those guys? Do they just make some kind of measurement on bat speed when hitting off of a tee, or do they actually look at in-game results? Do they figure in a guy's frame? That could make the difference between Perez and Jones--Jones is 2 inches taller.

Submitted by Hook on Tue, 04/28/2009 - 11:40pm.
Do Sean Williams and Ja-Hoon Ha bat left or right-handed?
It would be nice to have some right hand hitting power outfielders for a change. Follow-up q: Is Ha still also trying catching?

===============================================

HOOK: 18-year old Australian OF Sean Williams throws & bats left-handed and has a smooth line-drive stroke, and 18-year old Jae-Hoon Ha bats right-handed with much more of a power stroke. And Ha is being used exclusively in the outfield at this time. Cubs Player Development Director Oberi Fleita is something of an expert when it comes to spotting catchers (he was a catcher himself, playing for Jim Hendry at Creighton and then later in the Orioles organization), so if Oneri saw any potential for Ha to advance as a catcher, he would not have been moved to the outfield so quickly.

Submitted by Dusty Baylor on Wed, 04/29/2009 - 7:10am.
Great recap Az Phil. What's your take on Rebel Ridling? I know he's big..6'4", 230 or so. It's only 54 at bats, but he's off to a good start at Peoria: .315/.400/.556...7 doubles, 2 HR, 18 RBI.

==================================

DUSTY B: Of the five guys who batled for the 1B job at Peoria last month at Minor League Camp (Bautista, Hoorelbeke, Jost, Keedy, and Ridling), Ridling has the most pure power, and for a classic "Big Lug" first-baseman, hitting home runs is the #1 most-important thing he can do. That's why Ridling won the job, because otherwise Keedy and Hoorelbeke are better hitters, and Jost is (was) the best fielder.

Ridling reminds me a bit of Brian Dopirak, who had a great year the season he was at Peoria, but then could not duplicate it once he got to higher levels.

Recent comments

  • 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...

  • 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.