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

Our Stud's Better Than Your Stud

Submitted by Mike Wellman on

 

A betting man would have to like the Omaha Storm Chasers to successfully defend their title in the American North Division of the Pacific Coast League this year. The stretch drive of the season may be reminiscent of Secretariat’s in the Belmont Stakes. But just who are those also-rans way up the track behind the young Royals? Why, besides the I-Cubs it’s the young Cardinals and young Brewers! I like the affiliations of not only my hometown team but also their divisional opponents.

Who cares, one might ask, how our prospects stack up against the Royals’? St. Louis and Milwaukee are more immediate battlefronts than Kansas City. So, any clogs in those pipelines?

Whereas the Cubs’ system is lacking in high-end pitching prospects, both the Cardinals and Brewers feature starting pitchers as their crème de la crème and both Shelby Miller (STL) and Wily Peralta (MIL) have had sour seasons thus far.

As pleased and relieved as the Cardinals must be about the emergence of Lance Lynn, who this time a year ago was toiling in Memphis while Chris Carpenter was still going strong in St. Louis, they might be a little chagrined about Miller’s struggles so far in the PCL. In 2011, he was named the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season. Rick Ankiel was the last to accomplish that feat.

But  he’s recently been given a no-shake edict, meaning he’s to throw whatever pitch he’s told, and the organization’s pitching coordinator was dispatched to work directly with Miller in hopes of improving on his stat line which includes warts like a 6.00 ERA, 82 hits in 66 IP and a .306 BAA. 

In Nashville the touted Peralta has been similarly roughed up. He was originally signed by the Brewers as an outfielder in 2005 before being converted to pitcher. He had his Tommy John circumcision in 2007 so that’s out of the way. But he’s struggling at 2-8 with an ERA and other peripherals almost as stratospheric as Miller’s. Peralta’s built along the lines of Fartolo (typo intended) Colon at 6’2” and 240. 

So while the prime prospects of two of their NL Central rivals are scuffling at Triple A the Cubs are rearranging the deck chairs in their lineup to make room for their own. They may be short on topflight arms but they appear to have at least one bat riding to the rescue. Looks like he may arrive any day now.

Tags
Iowa Cubs update

Comments

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 06/21/2012 - 06:16 pm

Jacob Turner shutting out Cardinals through 4 innings. They're certainly not gonna move him if he comes out of the gate pitching well.

Submitted by rokfish on Thu, 06/21/2012 - 06:06 pm

So do we do cartwheels when we get rid of Baker when Rizzo comes up or is it oh well nice to see you Adrian Cardenas,welcome back to Iowa.

Submitted by Cubster on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 06:06 am

from Thursdays milb cub activity: Note J Lake played 3B, Torreyes flashes some extra base hits and H Simpson actually had a really good outing. CHC AA Lake, Junior 3B 5 1 4 0 .318 2B (8), SB (7) CHC AAA Vitters, Josh 3B 4 1 1 1 .280 HR (11) CHC HiA Torreyes, Ronald 2B 4 2 2 1 .227 2B (10), HR (2), BB (15) CHC SS Candelario, Jeimer 3B 4 1 3 2 .357 HR (2), BB (2) CHC SS Simpson, Hayden 4 1 1 0 1 7 3.00 W (1-0)

Submitted by Cubster on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 06:07 am

Kevin Goldstein on Kyler Burke in the MW league all star game:
Cubs left-hander Kyler Burke was a story for becoming the first player to make the league's All-Star game as both a position player and a pitcher. The former toolsy outfielder has a 2.31 ERA as a left-handed starter for Low-A Peoria, but he was hammered on Tuesday, and retired just two of the eight batters he faced while never getting out of the upper-80s with his fastball. As a 24-year-old in Low-A, he's already a long shot, and there wasn't much in this game to provide any room for optimism.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=17433

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 06:00 pm

Several of the rehab guys who pitched well over the first two AZL Cubs games have been moved up LHP Zac Rosscup (!.1 IP with four strikeouts Wednesday night) and Su-Min Jung (three shutout inings of one-hit ball with three K's last night) go to Boise, and Zach Cates (3.1 IP allowing one run on four hits, a walk, and two HBP with five strikeouts Wednesday night) goes to Peoria. SM Jung's outing last night was especially noteworthy, because he was probably on the verge of getting released about a month ago (absolutely could not throw his fastball for strikes) after walking nine and hitting two batters in 1.2 IP (6.60 WHIP - 27.00 ERA - .286 OpBA) in EXST games. But he has worked hard to overcome the mental block, doing so while throwing mainly in Fitch Park "sim" games and a couple of intrasquad games over recent weeks.

Submitted by springs on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 06:41 pm

Daytona's Frank Del Valle, goes 6 innings and, other than 2 HBP, is perfect with 11 k. This being the minor leagues where development is more important, he was replaced in the 7th. Other than he came from Cuba, I don't know much about Del Valle's stuff. He's had a decent season (ERA slightly above 4), but nothing approaching anywhere near his performance in this game.

Submitted by SheffieldCornelia on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 06:34 pm

AZ Phil, What's the story on Scott Weismann and Luis Liria, who look to be having very good seasons out of the pen at Daytona and Peoria, respectively? Thanks!

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Submitted by toonsterwu on Sat, 06/23/2012 - 06:10 am

I'm sure AzPhil can provide a lot more info, but Weismann was a former Clemson closer whose fastball is in the low 90's and has a slider. I had high hopes for Liria entering the year. Last year, there were some reports of him topping out mid-90's (granted, sitting more low-mid 90's), with a decent-solid breaking ball (want to say slider off the top), and a usable-decent change. I was really intrigued with him as a possible starter, but they've had him in the pen, and the reports on velo this year are more 89-92, I believe, and the command issues are still there. (as a side note, that whole Latin American grouping of Cruz, Liria, Peralta, Paulino have largely been disappointing so far ... but they are still young enough, particularly Paulino. Here's hoping Arias doesn't run into problems, and Rosario somehow develops (still think he's probably a pen arm long run).

Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 06/23/2012 - 06:59 am

some of Kevin Goldstein's notes on minor leaguers... Jeimer Candelario, 3B, Cubs (Short-season Boise): 3-for-4, HR (2), R, 2 RBI, BB. Home runs in back-to-back games and 17 total bases in seven games as a 18-year-old in college-heavy league. Junior Lake, SS/3B, Cubs (Double-A Tennessee): 4-for-5, 2B, R, K, SB. Scouts have noted big progress offensively; 17-for-41 in last ten games and .318/.370/.480 overall. Hak-Ju Lee, SS, Rays (Double-A Montgomery): 3-for-5, 2B, R, K, SB. Hitting .303 with 10 stolen bases in June; .249/.316/.319 overall, so need to stay hot. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=17451

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Submitted by springs on Sat, 06/23/2012 - 06:06 pm

He also homered to opposite field on Thursday and pulled one yesterday (not sure of Wednesday). I believe all three were hitting lefty, so it will be interesting to see if he is as consistent as a righty. The other Boise Hawks of note: Dong Yub-Kim (I am a big fan, so he is first) has been inconsistent, but has hit some hard outs (I have been watching a few games online). Looks like he is getting better, but still strikes out often. Rock Shoulders: Showing a good eye at bad pitches, but missing some good ones. 32 plate appearances, 11 K and 10 BB (next highest number of walks on the team is 3) ]...and 4 hits (with a HR and a 2b). Gioskar Amaya: Went 4 for 5 last night to raise his average to .375 (12 for 32). He may be one to watch for 2b. Shawon Dunston Jr.: Hasn't done too much yet, 5 for 24 with a double, 3K, 2 BB and a CS. Jose Arias: The opening day pitcher and he has done pretty well. 8 IP, 9 H, 2 runs (1 earned), 3K and 0 BB. Taylor Scott: Dominated in his first game, struggled some last night. Looks like he has some issues being consistent with delivery at times. 8.2 IP, 7 H, 4 runs (3 earned), 6K and 4BB. Rafael Diplan: Has come in as long reliever in three games and been dominant. 9 IP, 2 H, 0 runs, 10K and 4BB. Willengton Cruz: He is someone I've been watching since 2010, when he pitched at DSL and had a 1.90 ERA with 52 IP and only 25 H and 59 K (but with 32 BB). He struggled quite a bit at Peoria earlier this year, but was strong in his first start at Boise (5 IP, 3 H, 1 unearned run, 6 K and 2 BB).

Submitted by QuietMan on Sat, 06/23/2012 - 06:34 am

So who gets bounced from the 25 man roster if Rizzo comes up on Monday? Does Campana or Cardenas head back to Iowa? Is Baker given his walking papers? Or will Soriano finally be traded?

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Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 06/23/2012 - 06:42 pm

Ian Stewart is back later in the week too. So that's another spot. --- Stewart may be eligible to come off the DL around June 28th (he went on the DL Wed evening 6-13 but it might have been made official on the 14th) but I doubt he'll be ready then. He got his wrist cortisone injection, for the diagnosis of Dorsal Wrist Impingement, Monday 6-18 and they usually let that take effect for 2 weeks (July 2nd) before any serious activity will resume. I'd expect him to need a brief rehab stint to test the wrist out before he returns. At best, it makes sense to think he'll return after the All Star break. If he's not back by then, I'm pretty sure he will agree to the wrist arthroscopic surgery which probably ends his season (or a brief end of September test of his wrist).

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Miles Mastrobuoni cannot be recalled until he has spent at least ten days on optional assignment, unless he is recalled to replace a position player who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And for a pitcher it's 15 days on optional assignment before he can be recalled, unless he is replacing a pitcher who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, or Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And a pitcher (or a position player, but almost always it's a pitcher) can be recalled as the 27th man for a doubleheader regardless of how many days he has been on optional assignment, but then he must be sent back down again the next day. 

     

    That's why the Cubs had to wait as long as they did to send Jose Cuas down and recall Keegan Thompson. Thompson needed to spend the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he could be recalled (and he spent EXACTLY the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he was recalled). 

  • 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.

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