Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

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


28 players are on the MLB ACTIVE LIST, plus seven are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two are on the 10-DAY IL, and three are on the 15-DAY IL


Last updated 9-22-20239
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 14
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Marcus Stroman
Jameson Taillon
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 6
Nico Hoerner
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom
* Jared Young

OUTFIELDERS: 6
* Cody Bellinger
Alexander Canario
* Pete Crow-Armstrong
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman

OPTIONED: 7
Keven Alcantara, OF 
Ben Brown, P  
Brennen Davis, OF 
Jeremiah Estrada, P
Caleb Kilian, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Michael Rucker, P

10-DAY IL: 2
Jeimer Candelario, 1B
Nick Madrigal, INF

15-DAY IL: 3
Adbert Alzolay, P
Brad Boxberger, P 
Michael Fulmer, P 

60-DAY IL: 4
Nick Burdi, P
Codi Heuer, P
* Brandon Hughes, P
Ethan Roberts, P
 


Minor League Rosters

Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Alfonso Soriano for DH! (Vote Early & Often)

Alfonso Soriano homered twice and Brett Jackson whacked a three-run home run, leading the Cubs to an 11-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies in Cactus League action at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in warm, sunny, and windy (sometimes VERY windy) Mesa, AZ, this afternoon.

Matt Garza was the Cubs starting pitcher, and he worked two innings (31 pitches – 22 strikes), allowing two runs on three hits and an HBP, no walks, and one strrikeout (Ramon Hernandez - looking). Garza threw a scoreless 1st inning, and then the Rockies plated both of their runs off Garza in the top of the 2nd.

Casey Blake was hit by a pitch leading-off the inning, and then Brandon Wood doubled off the CF batter’s eye, sending Blake to 3rd. Ex-Cub Tyler Colvin picked up an RBI with a 4-3 GO that scored Blake and moved Wood up to 3rd, and then after Garza got Chris Nelson on a pop up and looked like he might get out of the inning with only one run scoring, Wilkin Castillo roped an RBI single to left to score Wood.

After going down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 1st against Rockies RH starter Guillermo Moscoso, the Cubs put up a four-spot in the bottom of the 2nd.

DH and clean-up hitter Alfonso Soriano smacked a solo HR off the Wells Fargo sign at the top of the scoreboard beyond the LF fence to get things started, and then with two outs, Anthony Rizzo ripped a rocket line-drive single to right center and Welington Castillo doubled down the LF line, putting runners at 2nd & 3rd. Brett Jackson then blasted a moon-shot three-run HR over the RF fence and into the Rockies bullpen, giving the Cubs a 4-2 lead.

The Cubs scored another run in the bottom of the 3rd, as Alfonso Soriano smoked a lead-off double off the CF batter’s eye, and then with two outs, scored from 3rd on an Anthony Rizzo two-out RBI infield single. (Rizzo showed good speed going down the line).

RHP Casey Coleman worked the 3rd & 4th innings for the Cubs and had a decent two-inning stint, throwing shutout ball, while allowing consecutive two-out singles in the 4th.

LHP James Russell pitched the 6th, and allowed a lead-off HR to Dexter Fowler that hit the scoreboard in almost the exact same spot Soriano's 1st inning HR did earlier. Russell then gave-up two more hits (both singles), before inducing Ramon Hernandez to ground into a much-needed 6-4-3 DP and getting Casey Blake on a fly out to end the inning. Russell is expected to be the Cubs #1 lefty specialist this season, but he faced only RH hitters today (Fowler-Pacheco-Cuddyer-Hernandez-Blake).

Up 5-3 through 4-1/2 innings, the Cubs scored four runs in the bottom of the 5th against Rockies RHRP Zach Putnam.

Blake DeWitt continued his hot hitting, lining a lead-off single to center. Alfonso Soriano then hit his second HR of the day, a line-drive two-run shot just inside the LF foul pole. Ian Stewart walked, and Junior Lake ripped a double down the LF line, sending Stewart to 3rd. Anthony Rizzo grounded out 4-3 to score Stewart and move Lake up to 3rd, and then Welington Castillo grounded a sharply-hit single between 2nd & 3rd to knock-in Lake with the inning’s final run.

NRI LHP Chris Rusin threw the 6th & 7th innings for the Cubs, allowing one hit and one run (a Tyler Colvin triple followed by an RBI gound out in the 6th), and two walks and no runs in the 7th. Rusin works slow and really likes to nibble, and went 3-2 on several of the Colorado hitters.

The Cubs finished their scoring in the 7th, tallying twice. Jonathon Mota led-off the inning with a bloop single, and scored on a Joe Mather triple. Then after Michael Brenly grounded out (with the runner holding at 3rd), Mather scored on Jae-Hoon Ha grounder, beating the throw home by Rockies 3B (and ex-Cub) Brendan Harris. (Mather has good speed for a big guy)

The Cub Defensive Play of the Day was a spectacular catch by CF Jim Adduci, who made a long run and then caught a fly in deep right-center, crashing into the fence in the process. Adduci also showed-off his plus arm, making an outstanding throw to 2nd from the base of the CF batter’s eye after fielding a double the previous inning.

The 26-year old Adduci was acquired by the Cubs from the Marlins a few years ago in the Todd Wellemeyer deal, and has spent five seasons in the Cub organization. Like several other Cub minor leaguers presently in big league camp, Adduci was a Rule 55 Minor League Free-Agent (6YFA) after last season, but opted to re-sign with the Cubs, getting an NRI as part of the deal.

Adduci is an outstanding defensive outfielder with a plus-arm, and he can play all three OF spots. He also has above-average speed for a big guy, and is both a good base-runner and a good base-stealer. And he has a good eye at the plate, too. He will likely be the "4th OF" at Iowa in 2012.

What has held him back over the years is that while he is built like the Incredible Hulk, he has Tony Campana power (.356 career SLG %). He is essentially a “singles hitter,” and even at that, his hit tool is just so-so (career .279 hitter in the minors, but only .248 at AAA).

That said, I could see Adduci maybe making it as an MLB “5th OF” someday (late-inning defensive replacement & PR). One thing for sure, he certainly won’t hurt a team with his defense or his base-running.

The Cubs play their first Cactus League road game tomorrow, facing the Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium. With the Rockies and the Diamondbacks having moved up to the Valley of the Sun from Tucson last year, the Mesa-Surprise bus trip is now the longest one in the Cactus League… it takes about an hour).

Comments

AZ Phil - thanks for the great recaps...have you been over to Fitch, wondering if there were any missing faces as the minor league guys start showing up (since BA has had a limited number of signs/releases this winter)

[ ]

In reply to by BoiseHawks

Tue, 03/06/2012 - 10:03pm — BoiseHawks AZ Phil - thanks for the great recaps...have you been over to Fitch, wondering if there were any missing faces as the minor league guys start showing up (since BA has had a limited number of signs/releases this winter) ==================================== B-HAWKS: Not really any missing faces from the 2011 Boise Hawks. I presume you already knew that Jon Nagel retired (he suffered a torn labrum at Extended Spring Training last year while rehabbing post-2010 elbow surgery). Blair Springfield (who suffered a season-ending torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder last August) is 100% healthy and is assigned to the Daytona squad. Wilson Contreras has been moved back to catcher (he was a catcher when the Cubs signed him in 2009, but he was moved to 3B at the Dominican Academy). Anthony Giansanti is also learning the catching arts, but in his case it's probably more to make him more valuable as a utility player as he moves up through the system (as was the case with David Macias and Jonathon Mota in previous Minor League Camps). Giansanti has one of the best OF arms in organization. Some of the young Latin players who were at Instructs post-2011 (Carlos Penalver, Jeffrey Baez, Luis Acosta, and Mark Malave) did not return for Minor League Camp 2012. Hot-shot 3B prospect Jeimer Candelario is here, though, and is competing for the starting 3B job at Peoria. The others still could get here later, maybe for Extended Spring Training next month. Instead, 1B-OF Xavier Batista (who spent 2011 in the DSL after playing for the AZL Cubs in 2010), OF Delbis Arcila (who attended Instructs post-2010 but then spent the entire 2011 season in the DSL), and catchers Wilfredo Petit and Antonio Valerio are in camp (they always need a couple of extra catchers at Fitch Park this time of year). Also, several recently-signed Cuban defectors are at Fitch Park, including 27-year old RHP Ricardo Estevez (who will have to serve a 50-game PED suspension before he can see game action, but in the meantime he is participating in camp drills), 26-year old SS Leugim Barroso (who is presently assigned to the Iowa squad), 25-year old OF Eliecer Bonne (assigned to the Tennessee squad), 24-year old OF Mayke Reyes (assigned to the Daytona squad), and 19-year old OF Yasiel Balaguert (assigned to the Peoria squad). Both Bonne and Reyes played in the DSL last season, and Bonne attended Instructs at Fitch Park post-2011. Balaguert played with highly-regarded OF prospect Jorge Soler on the Cuban Junior National Team a couple of years ago.

If anyone is in Phoenix for Spring Training and chooses to drive over to Surprise for Royals or Brewers games, one piece of advice: plan WAY ahead with regards to traffic. It's a flipping nightmare over there, we tried to hit a Royals/Cubs game last year and it was such a mess at 12:30 before game time, we gave up and went golfing instead. It is SO much easier to get in and out at HoHoKam, Mesa rocks in that regard.

http://deadspin.com/5891292/ "[Reyes] said 'I really want to play in Miami as long as you pay me $1 more than anyone else… I really want to make the most money I can.'" If the Marlins were to move to Las Vegas, Mr. Samson said, he suggested the casinos there buy out game tickets in advance so nobody would be drawn away from the casinos. "We don't care if nobody comes," Mr. Samson recalled with a smile. "We'll play in front of nobody, and we'll have all the money."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thehotstoneleague/2017687525_top_… Well, the draft world received quite a jolt this week with news out of Southern California that RHP Lucas Giolito, the consensus top high school pitching prospect in the draft, sprained the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow on Tuesday. He'll be sidelined for six to 10 weeks, and his coach at Harvard-Westlake HS in Studio City, Calif., told the Los Angeles Times, "He's probably done for the season." Giolito is 6-foot-6, 230 pounds and has signed with UCLA, but he stood to be a very high draft pick. In fact, Baseball America and ESPN's Keith Law both ranked him as the No. 2 prospect in the draft (behind Stanford right-hander Mark Appel, in Baseball America's case). There has even been some talk that he is a special enough talent to go No. 1 overall. Giolito had caused a great deal of excitement last week, in his season debut, by hitting 100 mph on the radar gun, which prep pitchers almost never do this early in the season*. (Harvard-Westlake had quite a staff -- senior left-hander Max Fried is a top 15 prospect himself). maybe next time try not breaking the radar gun and you won't get injured?

Sappelt 8, Johnson 7, Castro 6, LaHair 3, Ha 0, Barney 4, Tolbert 5, Clevenger 2, Mather 9 3 Royal errors in first lead to 4 runs Johnson, LaHair (RBI), Ha with singles, Barney with an RBI double Samardzija starting for Cubs.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

3 IP, 3 K, 1 H, 0 ER he's got the tools for a top of the rotation starter or at least a mid-rotation starter, but can he really put together the command? be a neat trick

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

J. Jackson 2 IP, 1 unearned run (Castro with the error) Campana scores Tolbert on a sac fly (impressed he hit it far enough). 5-1 through 5 1/2 innings. 4 SB's so far (Castro, Tolbert, Mather, LaHair) Campana with an OF assist at 1B (probably a hit and run I presume) Clevenger threw out 1 runner with Ninja pitching, allowed a SB to Hosmer with Jackson pitching

subbed in at 1b today, BB'd and then gets picked off 2b to end inning. Whoops. Dolis with a scoreless 6th, staying in for the 7th.

concerning/good news...well, good for cubs fans. shelby miller (STL future pimp) made his 1st spring start and could barely hit 90mph...lot of high 80s. it's early and etc etc etc...but that's not his style.

Peter Gammons ‏ @pgammo Soler has 8 HR in last 10 games against Dominican acadamy teams. Cespedes had 1st live game pitching against minor leaguers:2 HR, 4H Peter Gammons ‏ @pgammo one international scouting director sees Cuban power bat Jorge Soler getting $27M from the Cubs. --- pgammo sounds like some urologic affliction http://twitter.com/pgammo

Did I miss something, is Soler in play? I thought he has not yet been cleared. If he hasn't been cleared and all these Cub rumors are out there, I fear a tampering issue. I really want the Cubs to sign him because whether he is a hit or a miss (and I think he will be a hit) , he is the last one that money can be thrown at before July 1, if I am correct. Please someone with better knowledge let me know if that is the case.,

punching his ticket to the minors 6-2 bottom of 9th gives up 1b to Kouzmanofff, single to M. Maier, WP advances them to 2nd/3rd, 1B to M. Ramirez scores both, gets a line out, then a bunt single by I. Falu, Flyout by W. Myers Betancourt up as the tying run

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In reply to by John Beasley

It seems to me there are only three options: (1) Leave things just the way they are, (2) get rid of the DH in the AL, or (3) add the DH to the NL. As we saw this past off season, AL teams have a distinct advantage when it comes to signing free agents to long term contracts. Most NL teams were afraid to give either Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder more than 5-6 years because of the fear that their bodies will break down during the final years of a long term contract. In the AL, players like Pujols and Fielder can transition from playing in the field to DHing. So keeping the DH in the AL, but not in the NL, probably isn't sustainable. I'd personally love to see the AL get rid of the DH, but that's never going to happen. The players union would never agree to getting rid of 14 (soon to be 15) highly paid positions. That leaves adding the DH to the NL as the only remaining option. I don't like it because I like the way baseball is currently played in the NL, but it appears that is the only realistic way to have a level playing field between the two leagues.

[ ]

In reply to by Sweet Lou

The problem is the NL doesn't know what to do with the DH. All of its minor leagues and spring games have it and yet there is no marketing of this as a distinct, traditional thinking-man's game. Like pocket billiards the players and coaches MUST have 3-4 (or more) moves ahead in mind in the NL. Add another major offensive position and it dumbz the game down to the Texas Rangers beating the ball to death. "Well, if it sells tickets..." No. When push comes to shove the Rangers were the most disadvantaged team at Busch in a 2 game series end. If I were a fan of AL baseball I would probably be a fan of soccer also because it ties your hands behind your back. Want to see Albert and Prince walk a LOT, as DH's? No, not really. Both of them exposed a major weakness in Cubs' head coaching last year, and sprang a leak bigger than Niagra. Ends up changing the whole Cubs system, hopefully for the better, and without the stupid DH...

Big Z started for the Marlins vs the Mets today: first inning: K(3 pitches), K(3 pitches), BB(4 pitches), BB (4 pitches), 2B (1 pitch), 1B(1 pitch), K(3 pitches)...( 19 pitches, 3 runs) second inning: BB(4 pitches), 1B(1 pitch), K(3 pitches)...(8 pitches); pitching change to Chad Gaudin same ol' Z (except for no 3-2 counts).

(2) Coleman over (1) Beliveau (3) Maholm over (12) Wells (3) W. Castillo over (9) A. Cardenas (2) DeJesus vs. (5) Castro Final Four (2) Coleman vs. (3) Maholm (3) W. Castillo vs. TBD

DeJesus 9, Byrd 8, Castro 6, Stewart 5, Soriano 7, Rizzo 3, Baker 4, Johnson DH, Castillo 2. Volstad pitching Volstad, T. Wood, R. Lopez, Samardzija and Wells battling for 2 rotation spots allegedly.

what's up with jason jaramillo? he hasn't played a game yet as far as i can tell. "Non-roster C Jason Jaramillo has been held out of games with leg problems." thank u internets. also, w.castillio...DAT ARM. SEA scrub caught stealing without a slide even attempted on a hit/run gone wrong.

Soriano DH, Barney 4, Baker 9, LaHair 3, Byrd 8, Mather 7, Clevenger 2, Lake 6, Gonzalez 5

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil 09/24/2023 - 09:09 pm (view)

    With two more HR on Sunday versus Houston, Nelson Velazquez now has 17 HR in 49 MLB games this season (pro-rates out to 56 HR in 162 games). 

  • crunch 09/24/2023 - 09:52 pm (view)

    cubs win...so do MIA and CIN,.  ARZ is close to winning (up by 6 in the 8th).  total wash of a day.

    off day tomorrow then it's the last week of baseball...not an easy one vs MIL and ATL.  last-week drama...

  • crunch 09/24/2023 - 09:47 pm (view)

    merryweather puts the first couple guys on with 0 outs...and smyly is up in the pen.  back end of the pen situation is a mess.

  • crunch 09/24/2023 - 09:31 pm (view)

    "Coming into the game, they were 0-819 when trailing by nine runs or more."  damn.

  • Charlie 09/24/2023 - 09:48 am (view)

    I wonder how many pitchers have missed this much time in a relatively short span with recurring forearm issues and not had it lead to surgery.

  • Cubster 09/24/2023 - 09:34 am (view)

    Historic win for Pirates...

    https://www.mlb.com/news/pirates-mount-historic-rally-to-beat-reds?part…

  • Arizona Phil 09/23/2023 - 09:02 pm (view)

    The deadline for trading players on an MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) and players who were outrighted to the minors after signing a 2023 MLB contract was August 1st, but trades involving players on a minor league reserve list are prohibited beginning at 12 PM (Eastern) on the 7th day prior to the originally-scheduled conclusion of the 2023 MLB regular season (Sunday 9/24) through the last day of the MLB regular season (including a day on which a regular season game is played after the originally-scheduled conclusion of the MLB regular season).   
     

  • Arizona Phil 09/24/2023 - 09:41 am (view)

    jdrnym: 

    As you know, the abbreviation "DFA" stands for "Designated for Assignment." 

    There are three types of assignments: 

    1. Trade Assignment (when a player is traded from one MLB club to another)
    2. Outright Assignment (when a player is sent to the club's minor league Domestic Reserve List after Outright Assignment Waivers have been secured).
    3. Optional Assignment (when a player is optioned to the minors, subject to being recalled at a later time). 

    So when a player is Designated for Assignment, the player can either be traded, outrighted to the minors, or optioned to the minors. 

    Normally a player is not Designated for Assignment and then optioned to the minors, because the club could just option the player to the minors immediately without a DFA.

    Back in the day It was not that unusual for a player to be Designated for Assignment so that Optional Assignment Waivers could be secured (Optional Assignment Waivers were required before certain players could be optioned to the minors, and just like the old Trade Assignment Waivers, Optional Assignment Waivers were revocable if a player was claimed).

    https://www.thecubreporter.com/why-player-designated-assignment-and-the…

    Optional Assignment Waivers were eliminated in 2016 and Trade Assignment Waivers were eliminated in 2021, so all revocable waivers have been eliminated. What's left are Outright Assignment Waivers and Outright Release Waivers, and both are irrevocable (cannot be withdrawn) once requested.  

    With the new five option limit whereby a player can be optioned to the minors no more than five times in a given season before Outright Assignment Waivers must be secured (and it - IS - Outright Assignment Waivers that must be secured, even though it is for the purpose of an Optional Assignment), it now might be necessary for a club to DFA a player to clear a spot on the MLB 26-man roster (MLB 28-man roster in September) for another player and to allow for the two days (actually 47 hours) required to run a player through waivers. After the two day "Waiver Claiming Period" concludes (and presuming the player isn't claimed), the player can be returned to the MLB 40-man roster and optioned to the minors (even after being Designated for Assignment). But for that to happen, the player can - NOT - be replaced on the MLB 40-man roster by another player after being Designated for Assignment.  

    However, in the case of Jordan Luplow, he had - NOT - been optioned to the minors five times in the 2023 season prior to be optioned to AAA St. Paul on 9/18, so the Twins did not need to DFA Luplow in order to secure Outright Assignment Waivers so that he could be optioned to the minors a sixth time. But because he was Designated for Assignment and not replaced on the 40 by another player after the DFA, the Twins could return him to the 40 and option him to the minors even after he was Designated for Assignment, because an Optional Assignment is one of the three types of assignments.

    So Luplow was Designated for Assignment even though he didn't need to be, and then the Twins returned him to their MLB 40-man roster and optioned him to the minors a couple of days later (which they can do, since Luplow wasn't replaced on the 40 by another player after he was Designated for Assignment). What the Twins did (DFA Luplow and then return him to the 40 and option him to the minors a couple of days later) was within the rules. It's just very odd and doesn't make a lot of sense. 

    So I will offer what I believe is the most logical reason the Twins did this:  

    The Twins DFA'd Luplow because they intended to reinstate Chris Paddack from the 60-day IL, but then Carlos Correa suddenly needed to go on the 10-day IL and they recalled Trevor Larnach to replace Correa, but then they probably decided they should keep Luplow on the 40-man roster, too (and on Optional Assignment to AAA), and didn't want to risk losing him off waivers or by him electing free-agency after being outrighted. Luplow has Article XX-D rights (he has been outrighted to the minors previously in his career, so he would had the right to elect free-agency after he was outrighted). Clearly the Twins felt they might need Luplow's RH bat after losing Correa and with Royce Lewis having left a game with a hamstring injury that led to an IL assignment. And that meant that Paddack would remain on his minor league rehab assignment a few extra days, but the Twins will need him in the post-season, not now. 

    Also, if Luplow was outrighted instead of being optioned, he would no longer be automatically eligible to play in the post-season (except as a possible injury replacement).

    Not only did Carlos Correa go on the IL, Royce Lewis went on the IL, too, two days after Correa went on the IL and two days after Luplow was optioned to AAA, so the Twins did in fact end up needing Luplow after all, and recalled him just a couple of days after he was optioned to replace Lewis on the MLB 28-man roster. (So both Larnach and Luplow were recalled within a couple of days of each other, replacing Correa and Lewis on the Twins MLB 28-man roster).  

    So that's all I've got. That is the only thing that makes sense. The Twins DFA'd Luplow because they had intended to replace him on the 40 with another player (probably Paddack) and hoped that they would be able to run him through waivers and that he wouldn't get claimed and that he would accept an Outright Assignment, but then they suddenly changed their minds because of the injury to Correa and the possibility that Lewis might also have to go on the IL (which did, in fact, happen the next day). Also, with the injuries to Correa and Lewis, the Twins wanted Luplow to remain automatically post-season eligible, which would not be the case if he was outrighted.  

    Again, the Twins were able to return Luplow to the 40 and option him to AAA because he hadn't been replaced on the 40 by another player after he was Designated for Assignment. 

  • crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:00 pm (view)

    CIN out here blowing a 9-0 lead they built through 3 innings.  9-9 tie in the 7th.

  • crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:05 pm (view)

    boxburger 10d IL, k.thompson back up.  it's his right forearm (again).