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, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024

* 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
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 10
Kevin Alcantara, OF
Michael Arias, P
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF
Jose Cuas, P
Brennen Davis, OF
Porter Hodge, P
* Luke Little, P
* Matt Mervis, 1B
Daniel Palencia, P
Luis Vazquez, INF

10-DAY IL: 2
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P
Jameson Taillon, P

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

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft
Minor League Free-Agents

Pitchers Labor and Castro Hurt in Cub Loss

Elian Herrera singled twice, doubled, scored two runs, and drove-in another, and Alfredo Amezaga singled three times and drove-in two runs, leading the Dodgers to an 11-7 victory over the Cubs in Cactus League action this afternoon at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, AZ.

Nate Schierholtz and Darwin Barney had two hits a piece, and combined to drive-in three of the Cubs runs.

box score

LHP Brooks Raley got the start for the Cubs and worked a 30-pitch 1st inning where the Dodgers loaded the bases on two singles and a walk before Raley uncorked a wild pitch that allowed the Dodgers to take a 1-0 lead.

The Cubs responded with a four-run 1st off Dodgers starter Aaron Harang.

Luis Valbuena (batting lead-off) cranked a line-drive double into the RF corner, and Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo followed with singles as the Cubs tied the game. Nate Schierholtz put the Cubs ahead with a sharply hit ground RBI single into RF to score Castro, and after Welington Castillo worked a walk to load the bases, Darwin Barney lined a two-strike two-out two-run RBI single to center.

Raley returned to the mound in the top of the 2nd and faced two more batters without recording an out (both runners reached base on singles and both runners scored). Raley threw a total of 49 pitches (only 22 strikes) in the game, coming on the heels of a start in an intrasquad game last week where he logged 55 pitches in just two innings of work. For the day, Raley allowed three runs on four hits and a walk in 1.0 IP, with a WP thrown in for good measure.

One-time Cubs top pitching prospect RHP Trey McNutt relieved Raley and immediately surrendered a rapid festival of line drives (a single, a two run double, an RBI single, and a sacrifice fly... plus a willd pitch) before finally retiring the side, as the Dodgers took a 5-4 lead.

NRI RHRP Jaye Chapman entered the game to start the 3rd and walked the first two men he faced and Scott Hairston dropped a fly ball in deep CF for an E-8 to load the bases, before a Jerry Hairston Jr SF and an Alfredo Almezaga RBI single plated two more runs for the Dodgers as Los Angeles took a 7-4 lead. Needing 31 pitches (only 15 strikes) to record the one out, Chapman was then relieved by Alberto Cabrera, who himself has struggled to throw strikes. But Cabrera actually restored order by inducing an inning-ending 5-4-3 DP, then set the side down 1-2-3 in the 4th in impresive fashion (two strikouts and a ground out), and struck out the lead-off hitter in the 5th... before getting hammered for two runs on four consecutive line-drive hits (three singles and a double) after logging pitch #20.

Meanwhile the Cubs scored one in the 3rd and two in the 4th, narrowing the Dodger lead to 8-7 at one point.

Nate Schierholtz and Welington Castillo reached base on singles in the 3rd, and then Schierholtz scored when Darwin Barney reached base on an infield single plus a throwing error by Dodger 3rd baseman Omar Luna (who had a shaky day in the field).

Junior Lake walked to lead-off the 4th, stole second, and then scored when Starlin Castro reached base on a throwing error by shortstop Dee Gordon (who made an ill-advised throw after ranging far to his left to even get the ball in the first place). Castro limped into 1st base and left the game with what appeared to be a left leg injury at this point, and PR Johermyn Chavez eventually came around to score on a walk, a passed ball, and a Scott Hairston SF.

Cubs NRI LHP Hisanori Takahashi surrendered a solo HR to Alex Castellanos in the top of the 7th to complete the day's scoring.

Michael Bowden, Shawn Camp, and James Russell did work clean (1-2-3) innings in the 6th, 8th, and 9th (which at least allowed the game to end before 5:00 local time), but by that point the Dodgers had a commanding lead, and the Cubs offense was mostly silent over the final five innings.

Comments

Recent comments

Bill 04/18/2024 - 04:02 pm (view)

A good rule of thumb is that if you trade a near-ready high ceiling prospect, you should get at least two far-away high ceiling prospects in return. Like all rules-of-thumb, it depends upon the specific circumstances, but certainly, we weren't going to get Busch for either prospect alone.
Sonicwind75 04/18/2024 - 04:40 pm (view)

Right on schedule, just read an article in Baseball America entitled "10 MLB Prospects Outside The Top 100 Who Have Our Attention". Zyhir Hope was one of the prospects featured. It stated that he's "one of the biggest arrow-up sleeper prospects in the lower levels right now."

Not sharing to be negative about the trade, getting a top 100 prospect who is MLB ready should carry a heavy prospect cost. But man, Dodger sure are good at identifying and developing young talent. Andrew Friedman seems to have successfully merged Ray's development with Yankees financial might to create a juggernaut of an organization.
Sonicwind75 04/18/2024 - 04:45 am (view)

I suspect Brown will spend some time in the bullpen due to inning restrictions. Pitched only 93 innings last year and career high is 104 innings in 2022. I would expect them to be cautious with a young player with his injury history.
Childersb3 04/18/2024 - 04:02 am (view)

I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
We'll find out soon enough!!!
TarzanJoeWallis 04/18/2024 - 04:47 am (view)

Teheran minor league deal is done, per MLB.
TarzanJoeWallis 04/18/2024 - 04:41 am (view)

Based on Phil’s sound analysis it sounds like a no brainer for Almonte to be placed on waivers as today’s roster move. We shall see.
Arizona Phil 04/18/2024 - 04:21 am (view)

I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."

Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.
Dolorous Jon Lester 04/18/2024 - 04:02 am (view)

Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.
Dolorous Jon Lester 04/18/2024 - 04:00 am (view)

Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to
-give Hendricks another few starts
-give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway
-Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks
Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).
I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.
I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa?
Childersb3 04/18/2024 - 04:59 am (view)

Pro teams have to play their "big money" guys if they are healthy and not "locker room" issues.
The Cubs wanted to deal JHey off well before they bought him out. They just didn't want to pay him to play for someone else for that long. Jed did give him 20+mil to play for LAD last yr.
Jed might also let Kyle walk at some point this year. Similar scenario to JHey, except Jed thought Kyle was going to be good/solid in '24!!
You'd think Smyly is in the same book as well. Same with Neris (he's a 1yr vet RP, so he's not really in this convo too much).
That's ~35mil between those three and those three are going to get opportunities until at least late June) over younger guys even if their performance is "iffy".
But, Jed is going to play Taillon a lot. They have to try and justify that contract and hope a veteran works out.
So, Taillon, Imanaga, and Hendricks are locks for the rest of April and probably May.
Assad, Brown and Wicks handle the last spots until Steele is ready.
Now, you're question has real merit when Steele comes back. That will interesting if Brown is still good and Hendricks is still bad. But Taillon is entirely safe as long as he's healthy.

And the bullpen moves were "money" based as well. Smyly has actually been okay. But he hasn't been clearly better than Little. Little had one bad outing. But Smyly makes 9mil. If they needed another RHRP and one of Little and Smyly had to go, it was going to Little. But that doesn't mean Smyly is one of the best 13 arms for the team.