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

Cubs Pitchers Stretch Out at Fitch Park

Randy Wells, Travis Wood, Andy Sonnanstine, Trey McNutt, Lendy Castillo, Marcos Mateo, Trever Miller, and Rodrigo Lopez threw "live" BP at cool & blustery Fitch Park today, before a sparse crowd under partly cloudy skies.

Wells, T. Wood, Sonnanstine, McNutt, and Lopez threw 45 pitches each, while L. Castillo, Mateo, and Miller threw 30 pitches a piece.

This is somewhat of a change from past years, as the pitchers who are prepping as starters are throwing more pitches per outing earlier than before. I can't remember the last time I saw any pitcher throw 45 pitches in a pre-Cactus League "live" BP session at Fitch.

Lopez has (apparently) been tabbed to start the Cactus League opener versus the Oakland A's at HoHoKam Park on Sunday, and it appears he has a reasonable shot to win the 12th man slot (long reliever/spot starter/garbage man) on the pitching staff. Lopez isn't Cy Young, but he does have the proverbial "rubber" arm and doesn't really need a lot of extra side-work to stay stretched out enough to be able to give his team four passably-decent innings (five tops) when needed.

Best performance at the plate today in "live" BP was by Junior Lake, who hit a couple of balls off the outfield fence, and Josh Vitters peppered Rule 5 draft pick Lendy Castillo's offerings with line-drives back through the box. Otherwise, there were no dingers, as the pitchers appeared to be mostly ahead of the hitters.

1B Anthony Rizzo (acquired from the Padres during the off-season) took some extra ground balls at 1st base after BP. He is a hard worker and the coaches really seem to like him a lot.

Steve Clevenger, battling Welington Castillo and Jason Jaramillo for the back-up catcher job, had an extensive work-out at 3B with the "B" team on Field #2 prior to the "live" BP session. Clevenger played SS in college and was moved to 2B after signing with the Cubs in 2006, before being converted to catcher at Instructs post-2006. Clevenger still has work to do to make himself a major league backstop, but he has the knowledge and aptitude to play anywhere in the infield in a pinch. He's gotten a bit bottom-heavy over the years and he has little range, but having a left-hand hitting back-up catcher who can play other positions in an emergency is a definite plus.

Clevenger has a short stroke that allows him to hit "cold" off the bench without needing a lot of regular playing time to stay ready, and he also is an excellent bunter. He might not have been an Academic All-American (he transferred to Chipola JC after being declared academically ineligible at the U. of Texas), but he has a high "Baseball IQ" and probably will be a manager someday. He understands the fundamentals of the game very well. (The Cubs minor league coaches LOVE Clevenger).

With Geovany Soto unable to do much while rehabbing a groin injury, the Cubs have brought 2010 3rd round draft pick Micah Gibbs (LSU) down to Fitch Park from Minor League Mini-Camp at HoHoKam as a 6th catcher. (See kids? It pays to report early!). Gibbs is probably the best receiver in the organization (albeit with just an average arm), but he has struggled offensively over his first two seasons in pro ball. However, the switch-hitting Gibbs showed tremendous improvement (and an outstanding eye) at the plate at Instructs post-2011, and should be the #1 catcher at Daytona in 2012.

The new regime has demonstrated little patience with mistakes and poor play so far at Fitch Park. Several coaches have stopped work-outs mid-stream to provide a "teaching moment" when a player's performance is not up to par. The players all seem to be enthusiastic and loose, but there is zero tolerance for f*ck ups. And that's kind of refreshing.

Comments

"Big Cubs press release. They signed Bryan Robinson as VP of Human Resources. " wow, they hired someone who didn't used to work for the RSox...wonder if he interned there =p

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

have more starters than relievers and Myers was open to it. Maybe Astros think he's more valuable as a upper end reliever than fringe starter in the trade market. http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120228&content_id=… "From my standpoint, we have some depth in the rotation between Duke, Livan, Happ, Sosa and Harrell and all the young guys," Luhnow said. "We feel like we're in pretty good shape there and have some choices. We felt like we were a little exposed in the bullpen, and having a guy who's been successful in that role and who's got the mentality and stuff to do well takes pressure off Brandon Lyon coming off an injury and doesn't put pressure on young kids like David Carpenter and Wilton Lopez." it certainly wasn't forced upon him....

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

i think he'll be a good closer...and hitting closer to 95 rather than 90mph should help things...but with his price tag (and 2013 option for 10m vs 3m buyout) i just think it's a bad allocation of their available resources.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Software is a fancy database but can quickly get to information and every pitch is linked to video of that pitch which is neat. Mostly demo'd on Garza, showing his pitch sequences and so forth... Shiraz talking now. (paraphrase)"how can we get all the information we use to make a decision in one place and get to it fairly quickly" "all scouts enter their analysis into the app"

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

old news, but Ipad "advance scouting" app they sell to players with video Garza can get all videos of him pitching to Brewers or just swing and misses and so on...

sadly I couldn't listen to all of it, the Q&A seemed the most interesting... Shiraz on free agents (paraphrase): "winner's curse, if you're system evaluates Pujols worth 8 years at a certain dollar amount, you have to pay 9-10 years to get him...then the question is how much are you willing to overpay?"

updates on mlb.tv and mlb at-bat apps...
Last year, MLB.tv Premium users were required to pay the $124.99/season fee, as well as buying separate iPhone and iPad apps for $14.99 each. This year, subscribers with iOS devices will save $30 by having the apps unlock automatically with a login. Additionally, MLB.tv Premium users will get access to out-of-market game broadcasts on the Apple TV. MLB tells MacRumors that the Apple TV is receiving an updated interface for 2012 as well. http://www.macrumors.com/2012/02/29/mlb-at-bat-goes-live-for-2012-with-…
New for this year is an additional MLB.tv Premium purchase option: a $24.99/month in-app subscription that gives all the same access as buying through the MLB website, but with the convenience of charging the service to an iTunes account. Across the whole length of the season, the $24.99/month charge will be more expensive than the full season charge of $124.99, but it is nice to have the option.
...and something new:
MLB told us about a new "At The Ballpark" app coming on Opening Day 2012. The app will expand on the features offered in the At Bat app last year and will offer maps to concession stands, emergency exits and more at ballparks, as well as a geolocated check-in service. Individual clubs can offer seat upgrades, special offers and food discounts to app users. Some clubs even offer mobile food ordering from the app, and can deliver food right to your seat.

for this year, says Rosenthal, official announcement tomorrow. MLB - 33% make playoffs NFL - 37.5% make playoffs NBA - 53.3% make playoffs NHL - 53.3% make playoffs let's hope it stops there...

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

The Orioles selected Flaherty, a first-round sandwich pick of the Chicago Cubs' in 2008, in December's annual Rule 5 draft, which allows teams to select certain players not protected on other teams' 40-man rosters. The club paid $50,000 for Flaherty's rights, but if the Orioles don't keep Flaherty on their 25-man roster for the entire season, the Cubs could buy him back for $25,000 — almost a certainty in Flaherty's case. ================================================================= Before any Rule 5 player can be offered back to his former team, he must first clear Outright Assignment Waivers, where any club can claim him (and assume the Rule 5 roster obligations) for $25,000. If he is not claimed, THEN his former club can buy him back for $25,000. This is the point when trades invloving Rule 5 players are sometimes made, with the player's former team receiving a different player and/or cash in return for allowing the drafting club to keep the player and send him to the minors, This will be true for RHP Lendy Castillo (selected by the Cubs from the Phillies AAA Lehigh Valley club in the Major League Phase of last December's Rule 5 Draft), too, if the Cubs choose not to keep him on their Opening Day MLB 25-man roster or DL.

and there were 24.... Coleman over Mateo, W. Castillo over B. Jackson, Clevenger over LaHair, Rusin over Rhee Sweet 16 so far (1) Beliveau vs. (12) McNutt (2) Coleman vs. (14) Rusin (4) Lalli vs. (9) Cardenas (3) W. Castillo vs. (10) Clevenger plus 8 more 2nd round matchups to go....

because i'm bored... we got 8.5 years of aram...1 season was a 1/2 season thanks to health...and 3 were semi-shortened seasons where he saw 500-550ish PAs (rather than 600+)...and 4.5 he pulled pretty much full-time work. all-in-all he averaged about 135 games a season (560 PA) and put up a .294/.356/.531/.887 line. neat.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I liked Aram, all n all. Although, I didn't mind him being shown the door. Sometimes, you really need to just vacuum up a team. Plus, he was getting a bit slow at third - but at the beginning it was a lot of fun to watch him change at 3rd. I remember when he first started with the Cubs and he had this weird foot shuffle to his left when a ball was hit at him. Somebody worked with him because it went away after a few months. And there was that double clutch when he threw, which never completely disappeared but also got better. For a few years he even seemed like a pretty decent fielder, although some stats head will probably punch up a few numbers saying I'm wrong. And his hitting, well, that's a good reminder up there. One of Hendry's good moves, for sure. I bet he's gonna kill us when we play them. His thing, like all seasons for him, is, did he have a good workout regimen during the offseason so he can avoid those pesky injuries.

Recent comments

  • 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...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.