Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, one player is on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-18-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Garrett Cooper
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL
* Justin Steele, P   

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, 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

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    That’s just kinda how it works though, for every team. No team plays their best guys all the time. No team is comprising of their best 26 even removing injuries.

    When baseball became a business, like REALLY a business, it became important to keep some of the vets happy, which in turn keeps agents happy and keeps the team with a good reputation among players and agents. No one wants to play for a team that has a bad reputation in the same way no one wants to work for a company that has a bad rep.

    Don’t get me wrong, I hate it too. But there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

    On that topic, I find it silly the Cubs brought up Canario to sit as much as he has. He’s going to get Velazquez’d, and it’s a shame.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Of course, McKinstry runs circles around $25 million man Javier Baez on that Tigers team. Guess who gets more playing time?

    But I digress…

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Seems like Jed was trying to corner the market on mediocre infielders with last names starting with "M" in acquiring Madrigal, Mastroboney and Zach McKinstry.  

     

    At least he hasn't given any of them a Bote-esque extension.  

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil:
    Rookie ball (ACL) starts on May 4th. Do yo think Ramon and Rosario (maybe Delgado) stay in Mesa for the month of May, then go to MB if all goes "solid"?
     

  • crunch (view)

    masterboney is a luxury on a team that has multiple, capable options for 2nd, SS, and 3rd without him around.  i don't hate the guy, but if madrigal is sticking around then masterboney is expendable.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I THINK I agree with that decision. They committed to Wicks as a starter and, while he hasn’t been stellar I don’t think he’s been bad enough to undo that commitment.

    That said, Wesneski’s performance last night dictates he be the next righty up.

    Quite the dilemma. They have many good options, particularly in relief, but not many great ones. And complicating the situation is that the pitchers being paid the most are by and large performing the worst - or in Taillon’s case, at least to this point, not at all.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Wesneski and Mastrobuoni to Iowa

    Taillon and Wisdom up

    Wesneski can't pitch for a couple of days after the 4 IP from last night. But Jed picked Wicks over Wesneski.

  • crunch (view)

    booooooooooo

    also, wisdom and taillon are both in chicago.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Tonight’s game postponed. Split games on Saturday.

  • crunch (view)

    cubs getting crazy good at not having player moves leak.

    taillon we 100% know is pitching tonight.  who he's replacing and any additional moves are unknown as far as i can tell.

    p.wisdom was not in today's lineup in iowa (rained out) and he was removed from the game last night mid-game, but not for injury.  good bet he's with the team in the bigs, too.