Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

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

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, one player is on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-18-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Garrett Cooper
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 
* Justin Steele, P   

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Game 26 Thread - Maholm vs. Billingsley

Submitted by Rob G. on

Right now, the Cubs have 14 Home Runs on the year, Matt Kemp 12...the race is on. If you're in the area, apparently there are some $4 tickets available thanks to the wonders of dynamic pricing. I'd certainly pay that to see Kemp and Castro play.

Dodgers Cubs
Gordon, SS *DeJesus, RF
M. Ellis, 2B
 *Campana, CF
Kemp, CF
 Castro, SS
*Ethier, RF
 *LaHair, 1B
Rivera, LF
 Soriano, LF
*Loney, 1B
 *Stewart, 3B
Hairston, 3B
 Barney, 2B
A.J. Ellis, C
 Soto, C
Billingsley, P
 *Maholm, P

The big news I suppose is that Carlos Marmol is out as closer for the time being, with Rafael Dolis and James Russell set to share duties depending on matchups. Kerry Wood could be a possibility down the road. This drastic move should easily put about 10-15 extra wins in the Cubs column the rest of the way as they'll undoubtedly never blow a game. Fun fact, Rafael Dolis walk rate is 4.7 BB/9 and he gives up a lot of groundballs for Ian Stewart to butcher, much like he did yesterday to cost Marmol his job. Between Soriano and Marmol, the Ricketts are going to have to hire Kobayashi to eat all that contract money.

The Dodgers, for what little it's worth, have signed Bobby Abreu and optioned a former Cub in Justin Sellers to make room for him.

May the fourth be with you.

Tags
Carlos Marmol
Cubs game thread

Comments

[ ]

Submitted by Charlie on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 05:15 pm

I guess I could just care less who is closing for the Cubs right now or next year. More important to find 2-3 decent relievers than one dominant closer. It's also more important for the Cubs to figure out where they are going to get a couple of top of the rotation pitchers and legitimate major league position players at 2B, LF, and potentially 3B and C. There really isn't all that much reason to worry about who is pitching in the 9th until you know who your 1 and 2 pitchers are, who is actually going to drive in runs, and who are going to be the 2-3 reliable pitchers to bridge the gap between rotation and pen. People worry too much about saves.

[ ]

Submitted by Old and Blue on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 05:09 pm

You don't think Dolis can improve those numbers? That's a question, not a challenge to the assumption. The way he throws seems okay, he doesn't have the scary arm motion Marmol had when he was good, and his slider, although not as wicked as Marmol's, can be effective. If he improves his ratio just a bit, he could close. There are very few great closers, like it was mentioned. And, as you say, most of the time they have some killer pitch (which I think Dolis may lack from my limited views of him - but I've heard Brenley say that he has great stuff and I like his opinions). At the same time, playoff advancing teams always find a closer for at least that one season. For us, you would think it doesn't matter, but it kind of does because it is tough on young players to see leads vanish quickly. That takes a toll. I asked my friend Frank the Baseball psychologist and he tells me that is so.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 05:11 pm

if you can go 2-3 days in a row, your arm rebounds well, and you have an out pitch vs lefties and righties you're good to go. there's a lot (well, not a ton) of guys who get passed over on closing roles even though they got the stuff because they can't work the load without endangering their arms (SF believes this about s.romo). a guy like s.marshall makes for a rare-ish non-power-pitching lefty closer, but he's got pitches for both lefties and righties that's effective. after the marmol thing ends i hope the cubs never look further than 4-7m for paying for a closer. i know marmol technically fits that bill, but i'd also rather not see them trying to save such a small amount of potential millions on his kind of risk/reward possibility.

Submitted by QuietMan on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 05:09 pm

From BA's Hot Sheet. Not so Hot Sheet to be more exact: •Ronald Torreyes, 2b, Cubs: Torreyes has shown some good things and some bad early in the high Class A Florida State League season. The pint-sized second baseman is hitting just .205/.274/.289 in 23 games, including a 1-for-25 (.040) stretch over the past week. The good news is that Torreyes' terrific hand-eye coordination and bat control have not deserted him. Even this past week, he has not struck out once, and he only has seven strikeouts all season. His early performance has been underwhelming, but as a 19-year-old in the FSL, there's no need to panic here. • Gerardo Concepcion, lhp, Cubs: The Cubs gave Concepcion a rather stunning five-year major league deal worth $6 million in March, a move that was widely derided throughout the international scouting community. While the deal was seen as a significant overpay, Concepcion at least figured to be able to handle the low minors without much issue due to his success in Cuba's Serie Nacional at a young age. Instead, the 20-year-old's first two low Class A Peoria starts have resulted in 12 rus in 5 2/3 innings, including a start this week in which he couldn't even get out of the first. Concepcion is throwing strikes, but he's also struck out just two of the 32 batters he's faced, a pattern consistent with his middling strikeout rate in Cuba with a very hittable fastball that sits in the high 80s. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-hot-sheet/2012/…

Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 05:26 pm

among qualified hitters Bourn, Span, Sweeney, Tejada, Ellis, Scutaro, Polanco, Walker, Carroll, Rollins, Bloomquist, Suzuki,Bonifacio (no XBH's), Brantley, DeJesus, Pennington, Reyes, Murphy, Peralta, Morel, Aybar, Byrd those aren't all that surprising, these are: McCutchen, Soriano, Francouer, Y. Alonso, Choo, Pujols

Submitted by TJ on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 05:21 pm

Why was Maholm taken out after 88 pitches and breezing along? Can our bullpen hold this lead for 3 innings? I don't like the odds. I would have kept him in unless there is something I don't know. Hopefully we can score a few more runs.

Submitted by Newport on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 05:11 pm

This dynamic pricing can suck my dick. Pretty sure I won't be able to keep my season tickets at this rate. Can't even give them away if Joe Schmoe can get them directly from the Cubs for $4 on a beautiful Friday afternoon. They really are ass fucking their best cu$tomers with this......at least they could use some lube. --------sits on ice pack--------------

Submitted by garsky on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 05:15 pm

Big Kerry Wood fan from way back, but you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em. I can't help but think he's done.

Submitted by The E-Man on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 05:24 pm

I am only guessing but it seems as if the Cubs have been in the lead into late innings in more than 50% of their games. With any modicum of a decent bullpen, they would be right near the .500 mark. Kerry Wood can kiss my ass.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 05:44 pm

Yahoo says 4 blown saves 2 by Marmol, 1 by Dolis and 1 by Wood 1 of Marmol's and Dolis's came on Thursday, so that's just 3 losses. The other Marmol blown save was against the Cardinals and Cubs came back to win. Wood's came against the Nats on Opening Day and they lost, so it's cost them 2 games I believe. I hope you're not expecting perfection from the bullpen. they're probably a few tie games that the bullpen blew as well but I'm not looking that up and wasn't your main point.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 05/05/2012 - 05:10 am

ESPN shows 2-7 as relievers and 8-9 for starters, I think you're missing a Randy Wells loss. but we were talking about blowing leads and closing out victories, weren't we? 2 of those 7 reliever losses I believe are covered by the blown saves I mentioned. I don't know the numbers but I would guess that teams generally float to .500 in games tied from the 7th inning on, but I can't say for sure. I'm certainly not defending that it's a good crop of relievers, for god's sake they have Camp, R. Lopez at one point and Marmol. But it's hardly been this rash of blowing games lates. It's pretty much a bad team all around with some decent starting pitching at times. I personally think they can play around the .500 mark give or take a few games the rest of the way, but probably can't make up that hole they already dug themselves into.

Submitted by superjimmer on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 05:16 pm

From Van Dyck's tribune article on Cub victory: "James Russell relieved Maholm in the seventh and gave up in a while getting two outs." So I didn't see the game, did Russell pitch for a while, then he kinda gave up... or something?

Recent comments

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Indeed they do TJW!

    For the record I’m not in favor of solely building a team through paying big to free agents. But I’m also of the mind that when you develop really good players, get them signed to extensions that buy out a couple years of free agency, including with team options. And supplement the home grown players with free agent splashes or using excess prospects to trade for stars under team control for a few years. Sort of what Atlanta does, basically. Everyone talks about the dodgers but I feel that Atlanta is the peak organization at the current moment.

    That said, the constant roster churn is very Rays- ish. What they do is incredible, but it’s extremely hard to do which is why they’re the only ones frequently successful that employ that strategy. I definitely do not want to see a large market team like ours follow that model closely. But I don’t think free agent frenzies is always the answer. It’s really only the Dodgers that play in that realm. I could see an argument for the Mets too. The Yankees don’t really operate like that anymore since the elder Steinbrenner passed. Though I would say the reigning champions built a good deal of that team through free agent spending.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    The issue is the Cubs are 11-7 and have been on the road for 12 of those 18.  We should be at least 13-5, maybe 14-4. Jed isn't feeling any pressure to play anyone he doesn't see fit.
    But Canario on the bench, Morel not at 3B for Madrigal and Wisdom in RF wasn't what I thought would happen in this series.
    I was hoping for Morel at 3B, Canario in RF, Wisdom at DH and Madrigal as a pinch hitter or late replacement.
    Maybe Madrigal starts 1 game against the three LHSP for Miami.
    I'm thinking Canario goes back to Iowa on Sunday night for Mastrobuoni after the Miami LHers are gone.
    Canario needs ABs in Iowa and not bench time in MLB.
    With Seiya out for a while Wisdom is safe unless his SOs are just overwhelmingly bad.

    My real issue with the lineup isn't Madrigal. I'm not a fan, but I've given up on that one.
    It's Tauchman getting a large number of ABs as the de factor DH and everyday player.
    I didn't realize that was going to be the case.
    We need a better LH DH. PCA or ONKC need to force the issue in about a month.
    But, even if they do so, Jed doesn't have to change anything if the Cubs stay a few over .500!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally depends on the team and the player involved. If your team’s philosophy is to pay huge dollars to bet on the future performance of past stars in order to win championships then, yes, all of the factors you mentioned are important.

    If on the other hand, if the team’s primary focus is to identify and develop future stars in an effort to win a championship, and you’re a young player looking to establish yourself as a star, that’s a fit too. Otherwise your buried within your own organization.

    Your comment about bringing up Canario for the purposes of sitting him illustrates perfectly the dangers of rewarding a non-performing, highly paid player over a hungry young prospect, like Canario, who is perpetually without a roster spot except as an insurance call up, but too good to trade. Totally disincentivizing the performance of the prospect and likely diminishing it.

    Sticking it to your prospects and providing lousy baseball to your fans, the consumers and source of revenue for your sport, solely so that the next free agent gamble finds your team to be a comfortable landing spot even if he sucks? I suppose  that makes sense to some teams but it’s definitely not the way I want to see my team run.

    Once again, DJL, our differences in philosophy emerge!

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    That’s just kinda how it works though, for every team. No team plays their best guys all the time. No team is comprising of their best 26 even removing injuries.

    When baseball became a business, like REALLY a business, it became important to keep some of the vets happy, which in turn keeps agents happy and keeps the team with a good reputation among players and agents. No one wants to play for a team that has a bad reputation in the same way no one wants to work for a company that has a bad rep.

    Don’t get me wrong, I hate it too. But there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

    On that topic, I find it silly the Cubs brought up Canario to sit as much as he has. He’s going to get Velazquez’d, and it’s a shame.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Of course, McKinstry runs circles around $25 million man Javier Baez on that Tigers team. Guess who gets more playing time?

    But I digress…

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Seems like Jed was trying to corner the market on mediocre infielders with last names starting with "M" in acquiring Madrigal, Mastroboney and Zach McKinstry.  

     

    At least he hasn't given any of them a Bote-esque extension.  

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil:
    Rookie ball (ACL) starts on May 4th. Do yo think Ramon and Rosario (maybe Delgado) stay in Mesa for the month of May, then go to MB if all goes "solid"?
     

  • crunch (view)

    masterboney is a luxury on a team that has multiple, capable options for 2nd, SS, and 3rd without him around.  i don't hate the guy, but if madrigal is sticking around then masterboney is expendable.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I THINK I agree with that decision. They committed to Wicks as a starter and, while he hasn’t been stellar I don’t think he’s been bad enough to undo that commitment.

    That said, Wesneski’s performance last night dictates he be the next righty up.

    Quite the dilemma. They have many good options, particularly in relief, but not many great ones. And complicating the situation is that the pitchers being paid the most are by and large performing the worst - or in Taillon’s case, at least to this point, not at all.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Wesneski and Mastrobuoni to Iowa

    Taillon and Wisdom up

    Wesneski can't pitch for a couple of days after the 4 IP from last night. But Jed picked Wicks over Wesneski.

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