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

You Are Now Free to Vomit: Cubs End Homestand with Loss to (Gulp!) Astros

Submitted by Cubnut on

The Cubs squandered another superb start, this one by Ryan Dempster, and lost 3-2 to the Astros in 10 innings Sunday afternoon. To make matters worse, the bullpen culprits on this day were the Cubs' two relief studs so far this young season, Carlos Marmol, who surrendered the tying run in the 9th, and Sean Marshall, who took the loss after allowing a double by Jason Michaels and a sacrifice fly by Pedro Feliz in the 10th. To make matters worser, the the now 5-7 Cubs wound up dropping two of the three games to Houston, thus ending the season's first homestand at 3-3. To make matters even worser, the Astros really, truly suck.

In the aftermath of the loss, Lou Piniella announced that Marlon Byrd, who had three hits and both Cub RBI Sunday, would henceforth be leading off against lefthanders with Jeff Baker moving up to the second spot and Ryan Theriot sliding down to eighth. (Byrd has actually hit leadoff or sixth more often than in any other spot in the lineup throughout his career.)

Young lefty Jon Niese is supposed to start for the Mets when the Cubs begin a four-game visit to Citi Field on Monday night, so Lou's new lineup will get its first go right away. Randy Wells is scheduled to start for the Cubs.

Tags
Ryan Dempster
Sean Marshall
Carlos Marmol
Game Recap
Marlon Byrd
Jeff Baker

Comments

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Sun, 04/18/2010 - 04:08 pm

Harold Ramis was in the booth for the 7th with Len and Bob. He said something to the effect of "the Cubs have got this one." I laughed out loud at that. Has he never seen a Cubs game before? If I didn't think they were probably going to blow it anyway, I would say he jinxed it.

Submitted by Charlie on Sun, 04/18/2010 - 04:19 pm

Why did Hill take Soto's place late in the game? Soto was 2-3 and has been hitting well lately. Was Soto hurt? I see Hill came up with a runner in scoring position and two outs ninth. That just seems strange to me. Is Hill that much of a defensive game changer?

Submitted by Old and Blue on Sun, 04/18/2010 - 04:26 pm

The last I saw Castro was doing pretty well. I am pretty sure 95% of the intelligent viewing public will disagree with me but I say bring up the kid just to add some electricity to the lineup. Anyone who wears that much jewelry probably isn't gonna lose much in the way of confidence no matter what happens.

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Submitted by Charlie on Sun, 04/18/2010 - 04:08 pm

Castro is off to a good start: Average in the .350s, OPS over .900. I wouldn't mind seeing a Robinson Chirinos appearance at some point. He's off to a good start, and it looks like the HR power was not a complete fluke--he's got 3 in 29 ABs for AA, and he can play C as well as all over the infield. I don't know whose spot I'd give him--probably one of our reliever's. But neither guy is a middle of the lineup hitter (Chirinos is just a bench player, actually), the place where the Cubs are really struggling. Soriano and Ramirez are not producing the way the Cubs need them to, and the rest of the lineup really isn't playing over their heads enough (or at all *cough* Theriot) to make up for it. The Cubs need Ramirez and Soriano to produce near their career averages in order for this team to at least stay in the playoff picture. It's no secret that the Cubs can't skate by on pitching and defense.

Submitted by jacos on Mon, 04/19/2010 - 04:44 am

I was in the car yesterday for 9th inning, when Marmol blew the save. Santo kept muttering "Makes you wonder, makes you wonder." Please get him out of the booth. In fact if the Ricketts want this to be "year one" ban all 1969 Cub players from the park. They all combined do not have the playoff experience of Ryan Theriot but they reminisce like they were the 1927 Yankees. Here's your statue, go home.

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Submitted by Ryno on Mon, 04/19/2010 - 04:52 pm

Milton Bradley on the roster, that automatically precludes me from being a fan... but in all seriousness: Here's my formula. You start with a field of guys that play good defense. You don't need guys that hit 300, just players that will defend their position and do the fundamentals well: work counts, lay down bunts, make contact with the ball. Next, you get some starting pitchers that go out there and keep you in the game. They don't have to be flashy, just able to keep you in the game a large majority of their outings. Wells, Dempster, Lilly, all perfect. Then you find two guys that can mash. They hit 3 & 4. (This is the piece the M's do not have). It sounds reductionist, but the more I watch the game and the older I get, the more I think the formula is really this simple and that batting average is a bunch of bologna. It's worth noting that I've basically just described the St. Louis Cardinals. In fact, I believe one of the great fallacies in the baseball world is that without Pujols the Cardinals would be lost. It's not true at all. They actually have a good, somewhat non-flashy team.

Submitted by Mike Wellman on Mon, 04/19/2010 - 04:28 am

i am soooo w/ cubnut re: the stretch singers & the interviews that go w/ them...such things in combination w/ a poor team approach intolerability; we are already @ the point where much of my fan-ness is essentially addictive behavior being repeated out of unbreakable habit...suffer the worst damned winter on record & 2 weeks in you're sick of the commercials, the team, the tired 7th inning act, the pat & ron shtick, the insufferable dave otto fill-ins...better stop; beginning to read like a suicide note...

Submitted by GEOvITC on Mon, 04/19/2010 - 04:38 pm

I don't understand the need to carry so many pitchers when they cannot be used! Yesterday's use of Marmol is a perfect example of wasted space on the roster. Clear out the useless "junk" and add a bench player to pinch-hit and play the field. A third catcher would be great.

Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 04/19/2010 - 04:14 pm

Pagan cf, Castillo 2b, Wright 3b, Bay lf, Francoeur rf, #29 Ike Davis 1b, Barajas c, Cora 2b, Niese P vs. CF Byrd, 2B Baker, 1B Lee, RF Nady, 3B Ramirez, LF Soriano, C Soto, SS Theriot, P Wells

Submitted by crunch on Mon, 04/19/2010 - 04:26 pm

Count Cubs manager Lou Piniella among those delighted that Alfonso Soriano has promised to give up his patented "hop" while making catches in left field. In fact, Piniella and others in the dugout had been requesting it for some time. "All it can do is make your head bob and your eyes move and the ball flutter," Piniella, a former outfielder, said before Sunday's game. "It's like catching a knuckleball. So if you can keep stable and catch it conventionally, I think it will help him." ------------- Ummm...uh...hmmm. Okay. At least everyone got together and decided it's about time Soriano did something that would help him play the game better...when he felt like it. How many 3-4m dollar managers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

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Submitted by Charlie on Mon, 04/19/2010 - 04:00 pm

Ditto. Except that playing a starting pitcher in LF while you have position players pitching is just plain dumb. Also, RE: Posnaski: And even now, he HAS to use the most pinch-hitters, and he HAS to change around his lineup, and he HAS to use a lot of relievers, and he HAS to move runners, and he HAS to sacrifice. It's his nature. He has to attack the game before it attacks him. Why? I think it's because he knows the limitations of the job. And he can't help but rage against them. I think it's because he has a massive f***ing ego that he has to feed by pretending he has more of a say in the outcome of the game than he does. But then, I don't like him. It's sort of a half full half full of shit situation.

Recent comments

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Indeed they do TJW!

    For the record I’m not in favor of solely building a team through paying big to free agents. But I’m also of the mind that when you develop really good players, get them signed to extensions that buy out a couple years of free agency, including with team options. And supplement the home grown players with free agent splashes or using excess prospects to trade for stars under team control for a few years. Sort of what Atlanta does, basically. Everyone talks about the dodgers but I feel that Atlanta is the peak organization at the current moment.

    That said, the constant roster churn is very Rays- ish. What they do is incredible, but it’s extremely hard to do which is why they’re the only ones frequently successful that employ that strategy. I definitely do not want to see a large market team like ours follow that model closely. But I don’t think free agent frenzies is always the answer. It’s really only the Dodgers that play in that realm. I could see an argument for the Mets too. The Yankees don’t really operate like that anymore since the elder Steinbrenner passed. Though I would say the reigning champions built a good deal of that team through free agent spending.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    The issue is the Cubs are 11-7 and have been on the road for 12 of those 18.  We should be at least 13-5, maybe 14-4. Jed isn't feeling any pressure to play anyone he doesn't see fit.
    But Canario on the bench, Morel not at 3B for Madrigal and Wisdom in RF wasn't what I thought would happen in this series.
    I was hoping for Morel at 3B, Canario in RF, Wisdom at DH and Madrigal as a pinch hitter or late replacement.
    Maybe Madrigal starts 1 game against the three LHSP for Miami.
    I'm thinking Canario goes back to Iowa on Sunday night for Mastrobuoni after the Miami LHers are gone.
    Canario needs ABs in Iowa and not bench time in MLB.
    With Seiya out for a while Wisdom is safe unless his SOs are just overwhelmingly bad.

    My real issue with the lineup isn't Madrigal. I'm not a fan, but I've given up on that one.
    It's Tauchman getting a large number of ABs as the de factor DH and everyday player.
    I didn't realize that was going to be the case.
    We need a better LH DH. PCA or ONKC need to force the issue in about a month.
    But, even if they do so, Jed doesn't have to change anything if the Cubs stay a few over .500!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally depends on the team and the player involved. If your team’s philosophy is to pay huge dollars to bet on the future performance of past stars in order to win championships then, yes, all of the factors you mentioned are important.

    If on the other hand, if the team’s primary focus is to identify and develop future stars in an effort to win a championship, and you’re a young player looking to establish yourself as a star, that’s a fit too. Otherwise your buried within your own organization.

    Your comment about bringing up Canario for the purposes of sitting him illustrates perfectly the dangers of rewarding a non-performing, highly paid player over a hungry young prospect, like Canario, who is perpetually without a roster spot except as an insurance call up, but too good to trade. Totally disincentivizing the performance of the prospect and likely diminishing it.

    Sticking it to your prospects and providing lousy baseball to your fans, the consumers and source of revenue for your sport, solely so that the next free agent gamble finds your team to be a comfortable landing spot even if he sucks? I suppose  that makes sense to some teams but it’s definitely not the way I want to see my team run.

    Once again, DJL, our differences in philosophy emerge!

  • 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.

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