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

Carpenter Gets Rehab Start at Extended Spring Training

The Cubs managed only six hits while committing six errors in the field, as the EXST Angels defeated the EXST Cubs 4-1 in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action at Fitch Park Field #3 in Mesa this morning.

Considered by most observers to be the Cubs #3 best pitching prospect coming into the season, RHP Chris Carpenter made his first appearance of the year after nursing a sore shoulder throughout Minor League Camp and after starting the 2010 regular season on the AA Tennessee Smokies 7-day DL. Carpenter was the Cubs 3rd round pick in 2008 out of Kent State, and went a combined 6-7 with a 2.82 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP and 52/118 BB/K in 130.2 IP at Peoria/Daytona/Tennessee in 2009.

Carpenter got through the top of the 1st inning, stranding a runner at 3rd by getting a strikeout (swinging) and a 5-3 ground out to end the inning. But the Angels scored in the top of the 2nd, thanks to a lead-off triple and a one-out RBI single. Carpenter was pulled after getting a strikeout for the 2nd out of the inning. For the day, Carpenter threw 36 pitches (23 strikes) in 1.2 IP, allowing just the one run (and it was earned) on three hits (two singles and a triple), with three strikeouts (one swinging and two looking) and no walks. Carpenter did throw a Wild Pitch, and he also committed a throwing error while trying to pick a runner of 1st base.

AA Tennessee 1B-OF Matt Spencer (at Extended Spring Training while rehabbing from a broken toe suffered in Minor League Camp last month) got nine ABs in today’s game, leading off each inning. He reached base twice, once on a double leading off the bottom of the 2nd inning (and he eventually scored what would be the Cubs only run of the day), and on a walk leading off the bottom of the 8th. When a player gets this many plate appearances in one game, it usually means he is nearing the end of his rehab assignment, so expect to see Spencer back in the Tennessee Smokies lineup very soon.

In addition to Carpenter getting into his first game of the season, 20-year old 6’4 260+ Venezuelan RHP Larry Suarez saw his first Extended Spring Training game action today, as did 19-year old 6’6 Taiwanese RHP Tzu-An Wang. Suarez relieved Carpenter and allowed one hit but no runs, and after retiring the side 1-2-3 on just 10 pitches in his first inning of work, Wang allowed two unearned runs on two hits and a walk in his second inning. (NOTE: There is another pitcher from Taiwan named Yao-Lin Wang at Cubs Extended Spring Training, but it’s easy to tell the difference between the two Wangs because while Tzu-An is a lanky 6’6, Yao-Lin is a stocky 6’0).

It had to be discouraging for the Cubs coaches to watch the players get only six hits (including just one XBH) while committing six errors one day after “Camp Day,” when hitting and fielding are practiced and drilled for several hours.

In EXST Cubs roster news, RHP David Patton completed his rehab assignment and was assigned to Daytona (and in fact he got into last night’s D-Cubs game), and RHP Chris Huseby (the Cubs 2006 10th round pick who got “1st round money” to give up his scholarship at Auburn) has arrived at Extended Spring Training from Daytona after struggling with his control. He had a similar problem in 2008 (17 walks in just 15 IP at Mesa), but it appeared that he had overcome it after allowing only 10 walks in 54 IP (while striking out 73 and saving 18 games) at Peoria last season.

Here is today’s abridged box score (EXST Cubs players only):

NOTE: DH #1 Matt Spencer led-off all nine innings, getting nine plate appearances total in the game.

LINEUP:
X. Matt Spencer, DH #1: 1-8 (F-9, 2B, 1-6-3, K, F-7, 4-3, 4-3, BB, F-8, R)
1. Francisco Guzman, CF: 1-3 (4-3, 1B, K, CS)
2. Arismendy Alcantara, SS: 0-3 (F-9, F-7, P-6)
3. D. J. Fitzgerald, RF: 0-3 (K, K, K)
4. Bobby Wagner, 1B: 2-3 (1B, P-5, 1B)
5. Brandon May, 3B: 1-3 (1B, F-8, K, RBI)
6a. Jonathan Mota, C: 0-2 (L-5, 5-3)
6b. Carlos Romero, C: 0-1 (6-3)
7. Jae-Hoon Ha, DH #2: 0-2 (L-6, F-8)
8. Cody Shields, LF: 1-2 (P-4, 1B, SB)
9. Wes Darvill, 2B: 0-1 (6-3, BB)

PITCHERS:
1. Chris Carpenter – 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 2/0 GO/FO, 36 pitches (23 strikes)
2. Larry Suarez – 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1/1 GO/FO, 10 pitches (8 strikes)
3. Carlos Rojas – 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 1/1 GO/FO, 22 pitches (12 strikes)
4. Tzu-An Wang – 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 2/3 GO/FO, 27 pitches (16 strikes)
5. Rogelio Carmona – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1/0 GO/FO, 17 pitches (12 strikes)
6. Danny Keefe – 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R 0 BB, 3 K, 3/0 GO/FO, 31 pitches (21 strikes)

ERRORS (6):
P Chris Carpenter E-1 (errant throw attempting to pick runner off 1st base with one out in the top of the 1st inning allowed runner to advance to 2nd base – did not score)
2B Wes Darvill E-4 (throwing error with no outs in the top of the 3rd inning allowed batter to reach 1st base – did not score)
CF Francisco Guzman E-8 (fielding error on line single to CF with runner on 1st base and no outs in the top of the 4th allowed batter to advance to 2nd base and runner on 1st base to score an unearned run)
2B Wes Darvill E-4 (fielding error allowed batter to reach base with one in the 6th - eventually scored unearned run)
C Carlos Romero E-2 (Catcher’s Interference allowed batter to reach base with two outs in the top of the 7th – did not score)
P Danny Keefe E-1 (fielding error allowed batter to reach base with two outs in the top of the 8th – did not score)

CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Carlos Romero: 1 E (see above)

OUTFIELD ASSIST:
RF D. J. Fitzgerald threw out runner 9-5 trying to advance from 1st to 3rd on ground single to RF with two outs in the top of the 3rd

ATTENDANCE: 5

WEATHER: Overcast with temperatures in the 70’s

Comments

I read this morning that the Angels Mike Napoli is unhappy with his playing time and the Angels may be interested in moving him. I can't claim to know much about Napoli other than that he appears to be a hit first/defense second kind of catcher. But it got me thinking about Geovany Soto and his future with the Cubs. As I recall, Soto had a less than stellar minor league career, but it was good enough to get him some ABs in the big leagues. He impressed and got the starting job in 2008. A very good 2008 then lead to a crappy 2009, leading some people to question who the real Soto is. So far in 2010, it's looking like the 2009 version of Geo is the real Soto (although it is still very early). So my question is, what is Soto's future with the Cubs? Should they be looking for an alternative? How long do the Cubs string him along until they finally cut bait?

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Soto's actually hitting the ball very well and taking a ton of walks. His line drive % is 35.7 right now, but his BABIP is .231. That's bad luck in a small sample size. Is he going to continue to hit line drives 35% of the time? No. But he's not going to continue to hit the ball right at people for his whole career either. You can attribute most of Soto's 2009 to a couple of things: 1. A dropoff in power (perhaps due to the hand injury and the extra weight?), which is illustrated by his lower HR/Fly Ball rate, down from 14.7 to to 10.3%. 2. And bad luck. His line drive rate dropped only from 21.0% to 18.1%, so, yeah, you'd expect a slightly lower BABIP, but his BABIP actually dropped from .332 to .243. That's a .089 difference. His K% actually went down in 2009 and his BB% went up slightly. We haven't really established a career average BABIP for Soto because his 2007 was clearly very high and only 60 plate appearances and he 2009 was clearly very low. At .332 it seems fair to say that his 2008 was somewhat lucky, but not off the charts lucky. Soto is not likely to hit for high batting averages based on his current numbers--his 2008 average of .285 will likely be near the best of his career--but his plate discipline and power might improve a bit with experience. A catcher who is likely to put up a .270/.370/.470 line is hardly expendable, even if he's a below average throw 'em out guy (also, people raved about his receiving skills in 2008, as I recall).

same lineup as yesterday, took Lou two weeks to break the Colvin will get 2 starts rule.

against Brewers if he comes out of Monday's start healthy...

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...