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

Jesus and DeJesus Are Just Alright

Jesus Morelli lined an RBI single to left to knock-in the tying run and Johan DeJesus roped a two-run double off the LF fence to plate the go-ahead runs, as a split squad of EXST Cubs rallied with five runs in the bottom of the 8th to defeat the EXST Angels 6-3 in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action at Fitch Park Field #3 in Mesa this morning.

Recently signed 27-year old Cuban defector INF Rafael Valdes made his U. S. debut at Fitch Park today, playing shortstop and hitting 4th. Valdes made one error, booting a hard hit grounder in the 4th, but he also handled several other chances smoothly, including a couple of nifty turns on two key DP grounders. The lanky 6’2 165 right-handed hitting Valdes went 1-5 at the plate, reaching base on an infield hit in his first AB, then flying out to CF (once to the warning track) in his next three PA, before popping out weakly to the 1st baseman in his final AB. Given his age and experience (he played in international tournaments with Team Cuba and several seasons for Pinar Del Rio in the Cuban National Series, hitting 310/386/543 in his final season before defecting in 2009), I would think Valdes will likely be moved up to a full-season team once Extended Spring Training has concluded.

Also making his 2011 debut in today’s game was 3B Brandon May, who spent the first 2-1/2 months of the season on the DL while recovering from Valley Fever. May played 3B for five innings and got two at-bats, striking out (swinging) both times. May looked very rusty, and could not catch-up to any of the fastballs he saw today.

Peoria RHP Manolin DeLeon continued his EXST rehab assignment, throwing 2.1 IP of shutout ball. He has been throwing the ball very well since returning to game action, and based on that I would think DeLeon will be moved up to Peoria (if not to Daytona) sooner rather than later.

Reggie Golden broke an 0-23 slump (including ten strikeouts) today with a single in the Cubs five-run 8th. Golden had gone hitless since smashing a home run in a game at Salt River Fields last Tuesday.

And in addition to driving-in what proved to be the winning run with his 8th inning double, catcher Johan DeJesus threw-out another base-runner trying to steal. DeJesus has now thrown out 54% of the opposition runners trying to steal against him (13-24 CS) in Extended Spring Training games (after 46% CS for DSL Cubs #2 in 2010), and looks like he will probably be the #1 catcher for the AZL Cubs this summer. (Of the three DSL catchers brought up to Fitch Park for Minor League Camp this past March, DeJesus remained with the Peoria squad the longest before being moved-down to the Boise/Mesa group).

In EXST Cubs roster news, 1B Ryan Cuneo has (finally) actually reported to Peoria, and C Chad Noble and INF Dustin Harrington have been moved up to Daytona from Extended Spring Training. And LHP Jeffry Antigua has arrived at Fitch Park from Peoria.

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

LINEUP:
1. Pin-Chieh Chen, CF: 0-5 (2-3, F-9, 4-6 FC, K, 6-4 FC, RBI, SB)
2. Gregori Gonzalez, 2B: 2-5 (6-3, 6-3, 1B, 1B, 6-3, R)
3. Wilson Contreras, 1B-3B: 3-5 (1B, 1B, K, 1B, P-3, R)
4. Rafael Valdes, SS: 1-5 (1B, F-8, F-8, F-8, P-3)
5. Jesus Morelli, DH: 1-4 (K, BB, 6-3, 1B, 5-3, R, RBI)
6. Reggie Golden, RF: 1-4 (K, K, 5-3, 1B, R)
7. Johan DeJesus, C: 1-4 (L-4, 1-3, F-7, 2B, R, 2 RBI)
8a. Brandon May, 3B: 0-2 (K, K)
8b. Max Kwan, 1B: 1-1 (3B, HBP, R)
9. Blair Springfield, LF: 0-2 (F-9, BB, 6-3, BB, 2 RBI)

PITCHERS:
1. Hunter Ackerman: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HBP, 60 pitches (39 strikes), 4/1 GO/FO
2. Jose Rosario: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 GIDP, 46 pitches (25 strikes), 3/0 GO/FO
3. Manolin DeLeon: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 32 pitches (19 strikes), 4/1 GO/FO
4. Colin Richardson, 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 2 K, 1 GIDP, 25 pitches (15 strikes), 2/1 GO/FO

ERRORS: 3:
1. P Hunter Ackerman - E1 (errant throw on pick-off attempt at 1st base allowed runner to advance to 2nd base)
2. SS Rafael Valdes - E6 (fielding error allowed batter to reach base safely)
3. 3B Wilson Contreras - E5 (throwing error on attempted force play at 2nd base allowed runner to reach 2nd base safely & advance to 3rd)

CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Johan DeJesus: 1-1 CS

ATTENDANCE: 14

WEATHER: Partly cloudy and breezy with temperatures in the 80’s 

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

so if I think I saw what I saw there... walk Hernandez IBB to get to Volquez who inside outs a ball towards Pena. A bit of a weird spin and Pena muffs a backhanded play that goes about 10 ft into the outfield in right. Barney gets to it and tries to throw it home. Garza went to cover first and cut off the throw thinking it was going to him for a belated play at first. Garza turns and fires and it didn't bounce or anything, but I guess it was wide and Welington missed it completely. Looks like it would have been a bang-bang play at home if the Welington caught it. Ball goes into a camera well or something and the third run scores.

I've reached the point that if you detach yourself from being a Cubs fan, watching them self destruct every day is better than most comedies. They're also very consistent, and getting more so. How many screw ups tonight? 3, at least. This is below Little League level defense.

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I bet Sandberg would still take the job.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Fire: 1. Quade 2. All coaches 3. The infield 4. The outfield 5. The bench 6. The starters 7. The bullpen 8. The bat boy 9. Dusty Baker (just because) 10. Hendry 11. Kenney 12. Ricketts 13. Rain 14. Baseball

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

It would be neat if Ricketts got Sandberg on the phone, apologized and told him to pack his bags for Cincy, then walked in to Hendry's donut making department, told him to pack up his sprinkles and powdered suger and squeeze himself out of the door. He won't because he probably doesn't want to look like Stienbrenner or Snyder, but I bet he's sorely tempted.

3.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

AzPhil, First off, I forgot to say thanks for answering my questions last time. Any information on how Richardson has looked? Velo? Stuff? Changeup was supposedly pretty solid, I think. IIRC, the kid was starting to touch the low 90's at the end of his HS days, and the Cubs thought he would get a bit stronger. Relatively athletic kid, if i remember correctly. Besides Golden, who would be the top power guys in XST right now?

[ ]

In reply to by toonsterwu

Submitted by toonsterwu on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 10:40pm. AzPhil, First off, I forgot to say thanks for answering my questions last time. Any information on how Richardson has looked? Velo? Stuff? Changeup was supposedly pretty solid, I think. IIRC, the kid was starting to touch the low 90's at the end of his HS days, and the Cubs thought he would get a bit stronger. Relatively athletic kid, if i remember correctly. Besides Golden, who would be the top power guys in XST right now? =================================== TOONSTER: Colin Richardson has not been particularly impressive so far. He didn't start pitching in EXST games until a couple of weeks ago, though, so he may still be rounding into shape. As for his stuff, he throws in the upper 80's with an advanced change-up, but his breaking ball needs work. He usually throws a high percentage of strikes and avoids pitching from behind in the count, but when he doesn't have good control (like yesterday) he gets hit fairly hard. He's defintely more athletic than Ben "Big Daddy" Wells and Dustin Fitzgerald (for example), but I guess that's really not saying much. Reggie Golden's power is in a class by itself, but as for other guys with HR power, Dong-Yub Kim has plus bat speed but needs to elevate the ball more. When he does (and he does do it occasionally) he has definite HR power. He just needs to find a position (he's Alfonso Soriano in LF, and appears lost at 1B). Wilson Contreras, Xavier Batista, Dustin Geiger, and Jesus Morelli (who put on 15 pounds of muscle last off-season) have HR power they will show-off in BP, but they rarely show it in games. Marco Hernandez has HR power and plus bat speed when he hits LH, but he's more of a slap hitter when he bats RH. BTW, although he has no HR power, the most improved player at EXST is (was) Kyung-Min Na. He was recently moved-up to Peoria (he was the last position player cut from Peoria at the end of Minor League Camp), and is already a Gold Glove caliber defender in CF with a plus arm, and of course he has blazing speed. One thing he had lacked was a plan at the plate, but he finally figured out that an F-8 wasn't going to get him anywhere, so he worked on perfecting more of a spray line-drive stroke (sort of like Hak-Ju Lee), and sometimes he will bunt or intentionally chop the ball to get more infield hits. He also has improved his base stealing technique a lot. The problem (of course) is that he is blocked in the pipeline by Szczur-Silva-Ha-B. Jackson.

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

The problem (of course) is that he is blocked in the pipeline by Szczur-Silva-Ha-B. Jackson. Phil Who of this group do you think will eventually move off of CF? Does Ha have the arm for RF? I think I remember hearing that Jackson would move to LF when Szczur/TBD are ready for CF. Considering that they don't draft many power corner bats I'm just wondering what you'd think of an outfield made of all CF's.

[ ]

In reply to by Jumbo

Submitted by Jumbo on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 10:25am. The problem (of course) is that he is blocked in the pipeline by Szczur-Silva-Ha-B. Jackson. Phil Who of this group do you think will eventually move off of CF? Does Ha have the arm for RF? I think I remember hearing that Jackson would move to LF when Szczur/TBD are ready for CF. Considering that they don't draft many power corner bats I'm just wondering what you'd think of an outfield made of all CF's. ======================================== JUMBO: While all three can play CF, if Jae-Hoon Ha, Brett Jackson, and Matt Szczur were on the same team, it would probably be B. Jackson-Szczur-Ha LF-CF-RF. Jae-Hoon Ha has a plus-arm. He was moved from RF to CF at Instructs last Fall, proving to everybody that he could indeed handle CF.

Phil, in looking at the 40 man on the site, I find myself wondering are you keeping track of the players' service time, or is there a website for it? Just curious! Thanks!

[ ]

In reply to by Koyies Bansaw

Submitted by Koyies Bansaw on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 11:03pm. Phil, in looking at the 40 man on the site, I find myself wondering are you keeping track of the players' service time, or is there a website for it? Just curious! Thanks! ================================================ K BANSAW: I have MLB Service Time for players on the Cubs 40-man roster updated only through the 2010 season, and I will update service time for Cubs players through the 2011 season immediately after the end of the MLB regular season. If you have a question about a particular player or players, let me know.

Phil - couple things...wondered what Mark Johnson's demeanor is as a skipper - after us here in Boise have seen Casey Kopitzke and Jody Davis, both former catchers, the last two seasons. Also - wondered if you knew the status of pitchers Hector Mayora, Tarlandas Mitchell, and Tzu-An Wang (haven't seen them in your reports), with the same going for catcher Carlos Romero and infielder Gioskar Amaya. Good to see Chen continuing to hit well after such a rough start to Extended - I liked him the final two weeks last season.

[ ]

In reply to by BoiseHawks

Submitted by BoiseHawks on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 11:41pm. Phil - couple things...wondered what Mark Johnson's demeanor is as a skipper - after us here in Boise have seen Casey Kopitzke and Jody Davis, both former catchers, the last two seasons. Also - wondered if you knew the status of pitchers Hector Mayora, Tarlandas Mitchell, and Tzu-An Wang (haven't seen them in your reports), with the same going for catcher Carlos Romero and infielder Gioskar Amaya. Good to see Chen continuing to hit well after such a rough start to Extended - I liked him the final two weeks last season ==================================================== HAWK: Mark Johnson's personality and managerial style is a lot like Casey Kopitzke's, although I think Johnson is still feeling his way as a manager. Tarlandus Mitchell has an ankle injury, but I don't know what ails Tzu-An Wang and Hector Mayora. Gioskar Amaya disappeared at the end of Minor League Camp, although I don't know why. He could be injured, or he may have been sent home for some reason. Same goes for Hector Suarez. Carlos Romero has been working exclusively as a bullpen catcher and occasional 1st base coach in EXST games, but I don't know if it's because he can catch and throw but is unable to hit, or if it's because the Cubs are developing him a coach-mentor. (The Cubs are definitely developing Gian Guzman as a coach, as Guzman is a regular 1st base coach in EXST games, and he's even gone out to change pitchers a couple of times). With Max Kwan no longer being used as a catcher (he has Mike Ivie-itis, meaning he has a mental block about throwing the ball, even back to the pitcher) and with Chad Noble having been moved up to Daytona, the EXST Cubs are down to only three active catchers (Cabezas, DeJesus, and Inoa), and that could be a problem when they play split squad doubleheaders at different sites (as they did yesterday, and will tomorrow). So if he can hit, it's possible that Carlos Romero could be active as a back-up catcher on days the Cubs are playing a split squad DH.

Brennaman: "...put the ball in play, on the ground... somewhere, and then let's see if the Cubs can make the play." The laughing stock of baseball defensively-speaking.

Help is just a call away: Iowa Cubs Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Jackson, J (L, 1-3) 3.0 8 7 7 3 1 2 7.94 Caridad 3.0 4 3 3 4 1 0 8.64 Diamond, T 2.0 1 1 1 2 3 0 9.37

Gordon Wittenmeyer on WSCR this morning said we need to take it easy on Soriano's fielding. According to Wittenmeyer "Soriano was not asked to take extra practice in outfield until early last year", stating "Hendry and Cubs felt his hitting would cover up his fielding".

I guess nobody else will say this, because of how it might affect a certain unpopular backup catcher, but Wellington Castillo does not look very comfortable behind the plate. He might have a strong right arm--although he bounced the only throw to second I saw yesterday--but his left hand is suspect. His passed ball in the fourth was a fairly routine high breaking ball. It was an odd-looking miss for a catcher who is considered a major-league prospect. The dropped-third strike in the sixth where he trapped the ball and started walking off the field--the replay from the side showed that the ball was catchable in the air. In any case, the catcher should know when a ball is trapped and what to do on strike three with two outs. There's a catcher who just moved up to Tennessee, Luis Flores, who may be the real deal, defensively. I hope he hits enough to get a couple more promotions.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

"why you're not nit-picking . . . Koyie Hill" Hill is hanging on to his job by his fingernails, while Castillo is supposed to be our best catching prospect. Anyway, Hill has enough detractors around here, don't you think? I used to make a point of defending Hill, but that was when Rothschild was around and I thought the pitchers could use a second opinion about what to throw and when to throw it. When Rothschild left, I said immediately that Hill had lost some of his usefulness. Now, with the team entering a transition period, they should be auditioning a few of their young catchers for the backup role. Watching Castillo last night, I thought I could see why they haven't been rushing him to the majors.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

Castillo does need to improve defensively, which AZ Phil has said before. That dropped third strike and no tag is inexcusable. However, not making excuses for Castillo, the entire team's play recently is inexcusable. Even late in the game Fukudome, supposedly among our best fielders, overthrew both cutoff men. Once again we're left with a Cubs team that somehow can't even do the fundamentals. It's different if you get out hit or out pitched, etc., but if you can't field a ball, or hit the cutoff man, or tag out a batter on a dropped third strike, changes need to be made, whether personnel/management or simply preparation. When the manager chews out the team for poor play and they come out the next day and play worse, something has to give.

if quade were not so new to the post the scenario around the team would perfectly fit the one that usually culminates w/ a manager's firing...even by our historically low standards, cub fortunes seem @ a low ebb right now...who is dumpable @ deadline?

by dumpable i mean who will other teams have interest in...and @ woods' salary i think the sentimemtality of keeping him is affordable...pena starting to project to do what he was signed to do now, unlike the rest of the cast of double digit per year millionaires

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Odd that you associate Dubois with me. I have only ever used his name as an example of the type of player the Cubs used to draft, but don't under Wilken. Walks are fine, I have no problem with them. But there is a such a thing as a hitter's count. Bradley and Fukudome think that 2-0 and 3-1 are a good opportunity to take a fastball down the middle. Maybe the next one will be a ball! Who would even want to watch a game where the hitters are straining to draw walks? Fukudome has a nice OBP and his walks can be very useful, but his approach is an embarrassment. Like they say in the little leagues, come on, be a hitter!

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Taking a pitch would cure what ails Colvin and Vitters (although there is nothing wrong with Vitters this past week). Taking a pitch is not the issue. The question is, why do you take a pitch? If the answer is, to get into a hitter's count where you can expect a fastball in a hittable spot, then you're a smart hitter like Geo Soto. I assume you're talking about the 2003 Cubs. Nothing special, a lot of .350-ish OBPs: .366, .358, .357, .352, .340, .324, .295 for Sosa, Alou, Lofton, Karros, ARam, Gonzalez. Today it's .438, .373, .359, .357, .348, .345, .339, .322 for Fukudome, Pena, Baker, Castro, Barney, ARam, Byrd, Soto. Soto's OBP is bound to go up. Not sure what these numbers tell you about the 2003 team's success in the playoffs, which had mostly to do with Wood's and Prior's numbers, especially in the NLDS.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

You're defeating your own argument. Now you're saying that these guys don't hit for power, so they should swing at 2-0 pitches to increase the liklihood they make outs? The point of swinging at those fat 85 MPH fastballs that are right down the heart of the plate (which isn't really happening by the way, you can check the F/X data or continue to live in your paranoid fantasy), is to hit home runs, not lace opposite field singles.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I usually edit my replies to you, and try to take out the sarcasm and the mini-tantrums, not to be polite but just to sound like I believe what I'm writing. For example, is it really a paranoid fantasy to believe that Fukudome sees hittable fastballs on 2-0? By the way, I've been seeing Fukudome swing in hitter's counts lately. If he continues to hit up in the .300s, I will declare him cured and stop bad-mouthing him.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

I don't think that swinging at fastballs in hitters' counts is going to hurt his OBP, even if he passes up a few walks. It's just chickenshit for a hitter to take a walk-first approach, unless he intends to steal second and he's just a singles hitter anyway. But Fukudome is a right fielder, not a shortstop. I will say that Fukudome is a master at getting the ump's cooperation on borderline pitches. Bradley could have learned a lot from him.

I was at the "game" last night and I agree with the observations about Wellington Castillo. I don't think Garza is all that difficult to catch. It's pretty obvious they haven't worked much together. I would have had more respect for Quade if he had benched Soriano for the game (or season). If they have Castro sit and watch, Soriano (ideally) should have to do it too. I know, not gonna happen. Aramis Ramirez is sleepwalking through this season. He does not care and wants out. HE really needs to be confronted by someone a'la Hawk and Tony Perez to Hanley Ramirez. This Cubs Organization is piss poor from the foundation up.Shame on me for being a fan that expects better.

Robert Whitenack did it again last night 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 3 H combined 7-0 with a 1.87 ERA (2.40 in AA), 42 K, 9 BB, 0 HR between Hi-A and AA. 22 years old...

Jae-Hoon Ha has blended in quite well with the Smokies, with 5 hits in 14 at-bats including a double and a triple. This afternoon he had the game-winning hit in the ninth. The Smokies now have Ha, Nelson Perez and Spencer to play the outfield, with Jackson and Adduci due off the DL in the next couple of days. It's not clear that Perez and/or Ha will be sent back down, since they are both hitting. Based on their ages they are better long-term prospects than, say, Adduci or Spencer. In any case, there's no longer room in the outfield for Flaherty, so he has to play second or third and take starts away from Vitters or LeMahieu. Today it was LeMahieu, with his .351/.383/.493/.876 hitting line, who sat. This is a long way of saying of that either Flaherty or LeMahieu is due for a promotion to Iowa, probably to play second base (and possibly to free Bobby Scales). Flaherty is two years older and should go first, but on the other hand LeMahieu seems to handle promotions better.

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/5704 Will Tom Ricketts be forced to give GM Jim Hendry the dreaded vote of confidence on the next homestand? Truth be told, I’m sure Ricketts will keep his feet moving quickly when and if he sees the beat writers, whose questions he never likes to answer. Ricketts’ initial and most fundamental problem was not hiring a baseball man as president the minute he bought the team. A Pat Gillick would have looked mighty good at the top of the baseball org chart, and he would have been a good counterbalance to Hendry’s more impulsive nature. ~snip~ Ricketts has shown no sign of wanting to let Hendry go. The owner seems to be putting his faith in Tim Wilken’s drafts and Oneri Fleita’s player development and counting the days until the likes of Brett Jackson, Trey McNutt, Jae-Hoon Ha, Rob Whitenack, Matt Szczur, Ryan Flaherty and others are ready to move up.

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...