Cubs MLB Roster

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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 4-21-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 14
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

Navarro Blast Propels Cubs to Victory over Giants

Submitted by Arizona Phil on

Dioner Navarro hammered a three-run home run to cap a four-run 1st inning, and Jeff Samardzija and six relievers combined to throw a six hitter, as the Cubs edged the San Francisco Giants 4-3 in the Cubs 2013 Cactus League home opener before a sparse crowd (7,784) this afternoon at cool & blustery Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, AZ.

box score

The Cubs scored all four of their runs in the bottom of the 1st off Giants starter Matt Cain.

Starlin Castro ripped a single with one out, and was safe at second when SF 1B Brad Belt made an errant throw to 2nd base on what should have been the start of a 3-6-3 DP, with Anthony Rizzo reaching 1st base safely on the play. Alfonso Soriano then smoked a line-drive infield single off Matt Cain's left knee to load the bases (Cain remained in the game, although he was clearly limping), and the first run of the day scored on a Nate Schierholtz RBI ground out. Dioner Navarro followed with his three-run HR over the RF fence and into the Giants bullpen to finish the Cubs scoring for the day.

Jeff Samardzija got the start for the Cubs and had his sinker working very well today (4/0 GO/FO). He was sailing right along with two outs and nobody on base in the top of the 2nd when he surrendered a Francisco Peguero double and a Guillermo Quiroz RBI single. For the day, The Shark allowed just the one run on three hits, with two strikeouts and no walks over the 2.0 IP (33 pitches - 21 strikes).  

Carlos Marmol worked the top of the 3rd (22 pitches - 12 strikes) and gave up a run, walking the lead-off hitter and then allowing a one-out RBI rocket double into the RF corner by Pablo Sandoval, before striking out Roger Kieschnick (Brooks' cousin) swinging to end the frame.

Cory Wade was next, and went two innings (26 pitches - 16 strikes), allowing one unearned run on one hit, no walks or strikeouts, and 1/4 GO/FO. The unearned scored as the result of an error by Cubs 1st baseman Anthony Rizzo, who dropped a low (but catchable) throw from Starlin Castro that allowed Brandon Crawford to reach base safely to lead-off the inning, and Crawford would eventually score on a sacrifice fly.

Casey Coleman, Kyuji Fujikawa, James Russell, and Shawn Camp threw a combined four innings (one inning a piece) of one hit shutout ball with five punch-outs (and no walks) as the Cubs held on for the victory. Fujikawa was especially sharp, showing some life on his fastball and a great splitter.

Cubs pitchers walked only one Giants batter all day, while strikng out eight.  

The Cubs offense did not score after putting up the four spot in the 1st, but DH Brian Bogusevic (opposite-field line-drive double down the LF line) and Johermyn Chavez (line-drive double off the LF fence--or Cole Gillespie's face) collected extra base hits. Chavez's double was absolutely crushed, and probably never got higher than eight feet off the ground before reaching the fence.  

The weather was not ideal (cold northwest wind), but stiill the sparse crowd was a bit of surprise, given that it was both the Cubs Cactus League home opener and a Sunday.  

 

Tags
Spring Training Recap
Dioner Navarro
Jeff Samardzija

Comments

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:59 pm

If Brett Jackson is optioned to Iowa out of Spring Training and then is not recalled before June 11th, he cannot be a free-agent until post-2019 (at the earliest). But if B-Jax is optioned to Iowa out of Spring Training and is recalled before June 11th, he could be a free-agent post-2018 (UNLESS he is optioned to the minors in some future season).

This is similar to what happened with Anthony Rizzo last year, where the Cubs optioned him to Iowa out of Spring Training and then waited to recall him until just after the point in the season where he would not go over one year of MLB Service Time through the 2012 season (he ended up at 0+168 MLB Service Time through the 2012 season, ensuring that he cannot be a free-agent until post-2018).

The Cubs screwed-up with both Travis Wood and Welington Castillo, however,

If the Cubs had waited five more days to recall T. Wood in May, or if they had optioned him to Iowa for ten days over the All-Star Break (when a 5th starter wasn't needed for ten days, and so that T. Wood could have stayed sharp by getting a start for Iowa at Omaha on the Thursday after the MLB All-Star Game instead of remaining on the Cubs 25-man roster and not pitching for ten days), he would have fallen just short of two years of MLB Service Time through the 2012 season (he ended up with 2+004 MLB ST), meaning he would not have been eliigible to be a free-agrent until post-2017, instead of post-2016 as is now the case.

Likewise, because Welington Castillo was recalled when he was (7/31, after Geovany Soto was traded), he ended up with nine days over one year of MLB Service Time (1+009) through the 2012 season, making him eligible to be a free-agent after the 2017 season, instead of post-2018 if he had (for example) been left at Iowa until after the conclusion of the PCL season on Labor day. (The Cubs could have brought up a veteran 4-A catcher like Juan Apodaca to platoon with Steve Clevenger and get them through the month of August, until Castillo was recalled in September).

Both T. Wood and W. Castillo are now out of minor league options, so it won't be possible to get their service times any lower without outrighting them to the minors (which isn't likely to happen unless the player turns out be a stiff, and then it wouldn't matter anyway).

A club has to be careful with guys who are down to their last option year (as Travis Wood and Welington Castillo were last year, and as Rafael Dolis and Alberto Cabrera are this year), because you aren't going to get another chance to manage the player's MLB Service Time (which determines when a player can become a free-agent). So the Cubs need to try and make sure that Dolis does not accrue more than 50 days of MLB Service Time in 2012, and make sure that Cabrera does not accrue more than 107 days (both will be out of options in 2014). 

BTW, falling just short of a full season of Service Time (as happened with Rizzo last season) will NOT affect when the player will become eligible for salary arbitration, because if he falls short of three years of MLB Service Time by even as much as 30-40 days, the player would still be eligible for arbitration as a "Super Two." It only affects when a player can be a free-agent.

Submitted by The E-Man on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:37 pm

AZ PHIL: Pitching? Hey PHIL - have you seen Kyle Hendricks or Michael Jenkins much? If so, how do they project in your opinion?

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:49 pm

E-MAN: I have never seen Kyle Hendricks pitch, but supposedly he has pinpoint control and the stamina needed to be a starter.

I presume you mean Michael Jensen, and if so, I have seen him pitch, though not since Minor League Camp last year. He has an above-average fastball (he was topping out at 94) and a plus-slider, and last time I saw him his change-up was still a work in progress. He reminds me a bit of Nick Struck at a similar stage. I think he has the upside to make it to MLB, though I can't say if it will be as a starter or reliever. A lot depends on the change-up. I remember writing that I thought he projects as a reliever, but he certainly had a fine year as a starter at Peoria last season.  

Submitted by crunch on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:48 pm

via rotowurld, via paul sulivan's twitter... "Cubs manager Dale Sveum expects Matt Garza (lat strain) to be ready for Opening Day if he's able to resume throwing in the next few days."

Submitted by crunch on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:12 pm

nate sureholds 2r HR off billingsly... dodgers tie in bottom 1st off a shaky-control c.villanueva...only throws .2ip (threw a bunch of pitches, probably not injury). he only gave up a 2r single, but he walked 2. d.mcdonald 3r HR off capuano, top 3...blasted. w.castillo goes back-to-back...cubs up 6-2.

Submitted by artskoe on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:41 pm

Vin Scully just announced the Cubs are "going a different direction, that's why they traded Soriano (alfonzo) to the Nationals." I swear he said it...

Submitted by crunch on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:07 pm

...and d.willis has an arm injury...probably not a good one given his reaction and quick hook.

Submitted by jacos on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 02:44 pm

God Bless, DVR. Cubs Dodgers game replayed at 3:00 am CST on MLB network.

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Submitted by fullykräusened on Tue, 02/26/2013 - 02:41 pm

That was beautiful. A bit of Ring Lardner, a bit of Hunter Thompson. (Wouldn't you love to have Ralph Steadman do the illustrations for that story?) Of course, it also documents the unraveling of the prospect-driven 1989 Cubs--which of course we cynical long-time fans remember even as we plan for the 2017 World Champions, driven by Soler, Baez, Vogelbach, and Almora...

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Submitted by crunch on Tue, 02/26/2013 - 02:33 pm

i still think "wade davis becoming a starter under a long/cheap contract" is the elephant in the room that no one seems to want to acknowledge. i wonder if some people writing about this trade even saw him throw a cutter last year...or how sharp his curve has tightened up... his newly established cutter is "woah"...it's not just good, it's really good.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 02/26/2013 - 02:16 pm

true that. the royals are going "all in" on 2 pitchers...and i still can't believe they had to throw in odorz... they're heavily counting on their young bats to start hitting...and they gave up a promising young bat in the process of making that bet plus backing it up with pitching.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    welcome back happ!  double off the wall 1st PA back.

  • crunch (view)

    oh yeah, totally, i was just chiming about why i fan like i fan.

    i would like nothing more than hendricks to keep on hendricks'ing.  guys with his stuff can throw for a long, long time as long as it works.

    he velocity is actually up a minor amount this year.  it's really "damn" when a guy like him not only has gas in the tank, but it's looking like it was years ago.  he added a curve a few years ago and it helped a little bit, but he's throwing it less and less while the fb/change combo are less effective.

  • Alexander Dimm (view)

    CRUNCH—There is no one person in this community I’m talking about.  My remarks were not directed at you or anyone, but at a tone I’ve noticed lately. 

    You have a great, dry sense of humor and there is thought behind your comments.   You and I don’t always agree but I always understand your position.  

    Lastly, and I’ll be quiet, I agree with you on Hendricks.  We can dislike the recent performance but still love the guy.  Lots of questions about his future.
     

  • crunch (view)

    myself, i make a good amount of outrageously unrealistic comments that are sometimes "violent"...like my recent suggestion of "pulling the bandaid off" by having hendricks throw every inning of every game until he's on the IL.

    i would hope any athlete that cares about what is written on the internet realizes how casual fans can be about treating their lives like scripted TV characters that don't have real lives.  it's not an excuse to do it, but there's a lot of it out there.

    but yeah, in real life i'm rooting for guys to have long and healthy careers even if i'm not happy with current performances...except for some guys...and i'm pretty sure i don't leave grey area for those comments...and almost all of them are not good humans whether they're playing baseball or not...

    hendricks was getting a good amount of boos in his last game.  i would bet a million that he will get a standing O every time he visits wrigley in his post-playing days, or a return with a new team should his career continue...or if he comes back and puts in an oldschool good performance.

  • Alexander Dimm (view)

    What are the chances we can back off on gloating over other people’s misfortune?  One of the things I appreciate about the TCR community is that the remarks are more productive and add to how I like to follow the game.  

    Lately, however, I’m reading comments that are just mean.  If I were an MLB player, I would hate to get a back or finger injury and have someone write ‘hurrah!  I hope we never see him again!’  Especially when it is someone we were praising not long ago.  I’m not saying ‘don’t express how you feel’ but some comments lately seem downright mean spirited.  Stuff I expect from other communities but don’t often see here.  The TCR community has always spoken the truth but never with such a dark tone.

    Just my two cents.  I hope Hendricks comes back and is the professor we all know. He can pitch for the Cubs as long as he wants in my book.  

  • crunch (view)

    happ is back (and starting), mervis DH, tauchman gets RF.

    morel 5th in the lineup.  hoerner continues to lead off, even vs a righty.

  • George Altman (view)

    I don't care to see Hendricks or Smyly on the 26-man Roster the rest of the season. Both, stupid signings and option pick up by Jed. 

  • crunch (view)

    i know the cubs are paying the guys, but for the sake of the win/loss column this is some great news.

    woo!  people getting injured!  kick ass!

    sportsball is cruel.

    would have liked to keep cooper, but it looks like they're gonna go with wisdom if they have to pick a righty who's gonna K 1/3rd of his PA's.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Edwards would be my guess, or maybe they’re hoping Sanders or R Thompson can finally figure it out 

  • Cubster (view)

    So it’s Mervis, Wesn and Little for Cooper, Hendricks and Smyly. Count me in. Starting rotation for now: Taillon, Imanaga, Wicks, Assad and Brown-Wesn. Eventually Steele. 

    Lineup

    Hoerner, Happ, Bellinger, Busch, Morel, Swanson, Tauchman, Mervis, Amaya.

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