Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

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

Last updated 10-2-2023
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 22
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Brad Boxberger
Ben Brown
Jose Cuas
Tyler Duffey 
Jeremiah Estrada
Shane Greene
Kyle Hendricks
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Daniel Palencia
Michael Rucker
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Marcus Stroman
Jameson Taillon
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 8
# Jeimer Candelario
Nico Hoerner
* Miles Mastrobuoni
* Matt Mervis
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom
* Jared Young

OUTFIELDERS: 8
Kevin Alcantara
* Cody Bellinger
Alexander Canario
* Pete Crow-Armstrong
Brennen Davis
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman

60-DAY IL: 6
Nick Burdi, P
Michael Fulmer, P 
Codi Heuer, P
* Brandon Hughes, P
Nick Madrigal, INF
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)

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

  • Childersb3 10/03/2023 - 10:46 pm (view)

    I understand this is a cost saving and control idea. But I wouldn't be happy giving up ONKC or Alcantara for Hayes and/or Bednar.

    I'm not saying they aren't good players. They are. They've never been "tested" with playing for a good team, but that isn't their fault. They produce good results. But not Jaguar and Big Red.

    Canario won't get to play for the Cubs, just like Velazquez, so he should probably go. Same for Mervis and Vazquez. Wesneski can get better but Bednar would certainly help us.

    But not to big power hitting OFs that are 21 yrs old and younger at AA already. I'm still holding out hope for the ONKC-PCA-Jag left to right OF. I'm just not giving up on that.

    Hayes for Morel kind of stings. I'd love for Morel to get a full year at 3B. Even if he failed there miserably, I'd like to give him a shot.

    Phil always comes up with common sense angles. This trade idea fills needs for sure and fills them with cost saving effective players.

    I'm thinking Morel goes to NYM for Alonso.

    We'll see what Jed cooks up.

  • Arizona Phil 10/03/2023 - 10:18 pm (view)

    It used to be that teams did not want to trade within their own division for PR reasons, but I don't see that with Ben Cherington in Pittsburgh or with Hoyer / Hawkins in Chicago, so the Cubs might target Pirates 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes and closer David Bednar.

    Hayes is a Gold Glove defender, a decent enough hitter (105 OPS+ in 2023), and he's under control at a VERY reasonable price ($8.75M AAV) through 2029 (with a club option for 2030). 

    Bednar is first-time salary arbitration-eligible post-2023 and under control through 2026. 

    One thing about the Cubs is that they can afford to overpay (which is what they would have to do to get both Hayes and Bednar) with a package consisting of a decent young MLB position player to replace Hayes in the lineup (like Christopher Morel, who could play LF in Pittsburgh) and prospects like outfielders Alexander Canario, Owen Caissie, or Kevin Alcantara (Pirates pick one, leaving the other two for the Cubs), a power-hitting 1B-DH like Matt Mervis or Haydn McGeary (Pirates pick one, leaving the other one for the Cubs), SS Luis Vazquez (who is MLB-ready but will never play SS in Chicago), 3B B. J. Murray (who could replace Hayes at the hot corner in Pittsburgh by 2025 if not sometime in 2024, and he obviously would be blocked in Chicago if the Cubs get Hayes), and an MLB-ready SP like Hayden Wesneski. 

  • crunch 10/03/2023 - 10:02 pm (view)

    boog and glanville calling the PHI@MIL game on ESPN2.

  • crunch 10/03/2023 - 10:59 pm (view)

    bellinger is my #1 want, but i fear he's the #1 want of many teams and will get crazy money + years, with the years being the big sting.  they need to replace bellinger's production if they don't get him no matter what position(s) played.

  • George Altman 10/03/2023 - 10:40 pm (view)

    I hope their top priorities are Bellinger, 2 RPs better than Fulmer/Boxberger (ideally 1 LH), and a 3B (Chapman my 1st Choice). That will put them right up to $237-257M AAV limit, but I don't see a playoff berth doing anything less.

    If they really want Alonso, Morel would be a good opening piece of that offer. 

    Unfortunately, Stroman will opt in ($23.7M) and Smyly ($11.5M) will be back. Steele, Taillon, Assad, Wicks will be rotation pieces. Would love a SP2 FA but don't see how they keep an effective offense and improve their bullpen while adding that.

  • crunch 10/03/2023 - 10:03 pm (view)

    i cannot imagine getting a legit 3rd, whether signing or via trade, isn't the highest priority for the team.  it's almost obvious they don't see morel there.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester 10/03/2023 - 10:19 pm (view)

    I’m just hoping they have an actual 3B next year so we don’t need to worry about the M boys, Bote, and P Whiffy eating all the 3B at bats next year.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester 10/03/2023 - 10:13 pm (view)

    Willson was a OF/3B when we signed him too.

    On a less successful but still got to the show note, PJ Higgins was another college IF converted to C

  • crunch 10/03/2023 - 10:03 pm (view)

    truth...and personally, i'd give him ABs (especially at 3rd) over the 2 singles-hitting-ceiling guys that got the shot.  i'm sure he can cover the ob% and defense while surpassing the power of anything masterboney and madrigal brought to the team.

    i don't view bote as a solution at 3rd, but i find it hard to believe he couldn't outperform either of the main options they had there for a huge chunk of this season.

  • KingKongvsGodzilla 10/03/2023 - 10:47 pm (view)

    Color me impressed by this assignment for Trice right out of the draft as a convert. Seems worth following after the success of Caratini