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

Hendry Cleansing Continues

The folks in the fine city of Park Ridge (Maine East, represent!) have found their window to try and remove the "Jim Hendry Way" signs that Cub fan and all-around criminal Rod Blagojevich put up on Northwest Highway. 

Schmidt said the request is nothing personal against Hendry, a Park Ridge resident, but the city never wanted the signs mounted in the first place.

Schmidt later added that he can't believe Hendry signed Milton Bradley while putting on his White Sox hat.

Speaking of Park Ridge, back around 2005, Jim Hendry walked into my Dad's bicycle shop in Park Ridge on Devon Avenue. My Dad, never a shy fella, immediately let it be known that his son writes for some website on the Internet about the Cubs. For whatever reason, Hendry didn't immediately bolt out of the place, but made some joke about how he hopes I write nothing but nice things. I can't be sure if my Dad would have even known the name of the website. As anyone who has met my father over the years would expect, he sold two kids bikes to Hendry (no, Hendry did not overpay) and scored Hendry's cell phone number out of it with the promise that if I ever wanted tickets, just ring him up. I think I went to the well about two times over the years, a game in San Francisco in late 2005 that I wrote about here and another in L.A. in 2006, which I believe was the infamous Derrek Lee wrist break game, although I went to two games that series and can't recall which one I paid for and which I didn't.

There's not much I can relate about my two brief phone calls with Hendry, the first was more enjoyable than the second as the meeting with my Dad was fresher in Hendry's mind. I just recall both times the cell reception being poor on his end and the sense of a man that had more important things to do. By the second call, the rules changed where you were taxed on giving away free tickets and he made it clear to me that was a bit of an issue if I wanted more than one game. Being a man that just prefers to pay his own way, I decided it best not to trouble him anymore after that point. There were many times that I considered how I'd approach him about doing an interview for TCR, but for various reasons that never happened and as time passed, I just presumed he wouldn't know who I am, nor can I be sure where the phone number is in my house.

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Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

He's riding that .775 fielding percentage, through the 2nd and 15% of his runs allowed this year are unearned. He's like the anti Jay Jackson - great pitcher, can't hit or field his position for shit... It may be time to convert Jackson back to the outfield, .253 .270 .425 batting line, without trying is pretty good. For comparison Zambrano hit .186 .205 .326 and Ankiel .240 .269 .400 (during his time in AA, much better in the rookie league playing DH the year before). D Willis: 250 .286 .350 C Sabathia: Not listed at BR.

Colvin hit a ball into the rf corner, Braves' RF looked like he figured it was a routine double and didn't appear to hustle after it. Colvin did hustle and got himself a triple. Len and Bob didn't say anything about the Braves OF not hustling though. Just looked like he thought it was routine and went to get it at a somewhat leisurely pace.

ye gods, what is the record for errors in a season by a pitcher & can garza get there? this 'hendry cleansing' is reminiscent of the toppling of the saddam statue in baghdad...

[ ]

In reply to by Mike Wellman

ESPN goes back to 2002... R. Wells and 4 others had 5 in 2010 Lilly, De La Rosa, D. Davis had 5 in 2009 Burnett had 7 in Toronto in 2008 Contreras 6 in 2007 Willis, Gold Glove Rogers and Byrd with 5 in 2006 Ramon Ortiz had 7 in 2005 N. Robertson, B. Webb with 5 in 2004 A. Petitte with 6 in 2003 Joe Kennedy with 10 in 2002 for Rays

@CarrieMuskat: RT @injuryexpert: "Cubs Could Target Theo Epstein". In other news, I could target Heidi Klum. --- Muskat, Seal & Heidi, ménage a troix? (brain explodes)

Len: What again is your standard gift to your wife after a road trip? Bob: Wrapped soap, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, and sometimes even the ever-popular shower cap. Len: What about the garment bag, you know, the laundry bag? Bob: Sure, that's what you carry it all home in. That's the wrapping paper.

on prospects with 2nd half surges http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=14866 Jackson, like Choice, is one of the better outfield prospects in the game, but the amount of swing-and-miss in his game has always kept him from elite status. After hitting just .256 at Double-A, a mid-July move to Triple-A has ignited a fire; he’s hitting .315/.391/.577 in 38 games for Iowa and is lining himself up for a September callup and a long look this spring. While 55 strikeouts in 149 at-bats leave the high average unsustainable, Jackson projects as a 20/20 center fielder with plus defense and one of the Cubs’ few upper-level prospects who projects as an important part of the team's future.

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

he won't in the majors his K rate has essentially gone up each level (he did knock it to a respectable 20.2% in Daytona last year for a half a season), while his BA goes down with each promotion (Taking out the 175 PA's with Iowa right now, where he's managing an Adam Dunn K rate and .444 BABIP). Adam Dunn had a BA over .300 in the minors, except he had 40-50 HR potential. Jackson is maybe a 25-HR guy at best. Just hope no one is expecting Granderson, Beltran or pre-injury Sizemore here. An .800 OPS is probably the best he'll get to, maybe .850 if everything breaks wonderfully and a few career seasons. If his defense is truly CF worthy, then that should be fine, but elite player he will never be. 250/340/450 lines is what I'm expecting, maybe in his prime he can get that to mid to upper .800 OPS, but he got work to do to get there.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Agreed, that the K rate needs to be better if Jackson is going be more than a decent CF. He is not a finished prospect. I guess, since it's the Cubs...if he puts up .250/.340/.450...and plays a good CF...we'd probably build a statue of him. I'm going to hope for something like....270/.360/.450...15 HR...25 steals.. Note that I said hope. I'd be ecstatic with that. Again, we'll see...

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

"his K rate has essentially gone up each level . . . while his BA goes down" His K rate has gone up while his home runs have gone up. 18 HRs this year, 50% more than last year, and many more at Iowa (per game) than at Tennessee. I've heard you say that Ks are OK if you hit home runs. (In fact you imply it in #51 above.) Jackson is not a giant like Dunn but, despite what Mike W. says, he's bigger than Sizemore and much bigger than Granderson, and runs as fast as they do. I don't think you realize what you have here. I expect 25/25 at least, maybe not the first year but soon after. I like the Dunn comparison because his approach is like Dunn's, but Dunn is of course bigger while Jackson is a three-way player who will do a better job of cashing those walks in at the plate.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

I've heard you say that Ks are OK if you hit home runs. (In fact you imply it in #51 above.) they certainly can be, depends how many on each end though. I don't think you realize what you have here. an okay prospect that will hopefully put in a few slightly above average years in his prime...possibly a complete bust though too. I expect 25/25 at least, maybe not the first year but soon after. that would certainly be awesome, I expect a World Series win for the Cubs in 2012. Both of us are probably gonna be disappointed.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

There will be a lot of hats eaten around the prospect evaluation world if Jackson hits 25 HR's by 2013. It wouldn't shock me, but he would have to change his swing plane, and then he's not going to get those high BABIP's. It's still a lot better than what I thought when we drafted him, which was a guy who would never get it done past A+. So a tip of the hat to the Cubs development team on that one.

It's probably a good thing Hendry didn't know which blog you wrote for. You would've been "Dodger'd" in the parking lot after the game. "Hi Jim, my name is Al, and ..."

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...