Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

28 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 

Last updated 3-26-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 15
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Soler Broken and Other Cubs News

A few weeks back, Jorge Soler fouled a ball of his shin...a seemingly common occurrence in baseball that carries little consequence past the few moments of stinging pain for the offending party. This being the Cubs and all, the foul ball sent Soler to the 7-day disabled list of which he returned off of this week. The leg still hurt though and now it's being reported that he has a stress fracture and will be out 4-6 walks and possibly the rest of the season. Oh Cubbery...you strike in mysterious ways! Soler will of course miss the Futures Game as well over the All-Star Break, which him and Arismendy Alcantara were named to the World rosters.

In other news, Alderman Tom Tunney did what he does best last night, and sent out a letter demanding how the Ricketts spend their $500M improving their ballpark.  Some aren't too terribly unreasonable (smaller jumbotron, smaller right field ad sign) and some are just dumb (get rid of a beer garden in the new hotel as if they aren't 300 of those in Wrigleyville already and no walkway from the hotel to the park which harms no one). There's a meeting with the Landmark Commission this morning to discuss any changes to Wrigley Field and I'll keep it updated in the comments.

In rumors news, apparently Ricky Nolasco to the Dodgers is pretty close to happening...seems a 5-game winning streak is enough to convince the Dodgers they didn't eff up their team too badly. There's also a rumor that the Braves will be in on Kevin Gregg, but so will many other teams and the Braves are quite set at closer and their relievers own the best ERA in baseball, so I find it hard to imagine they'll be offering the most.

Comments

Muskat says Dodgers, Nats, Blue Jays, Orioles, Phillies (wtf?) have scouts watching Garza today...

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Pass. But the Phillies started 7 and 11. They're 31-30 since. Braves 32-29 Nats 29-30 over that same span. Still have ground to make up. Perhaps they're just being prepared in case they're closer later. Or maybe they're thinking of a free aganet bid at years end.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

against teams currently under .500, they have gone

19-17...20-17 if they win today, that counts Rockies, Padres, Giants.

Discount those 3 and they are

14-11 against sub .500's.

I don't know the record against teams that were under .500 when they played them, but may have gone over since...

their biggest problem has been the NL central

10 - 25

Former All-Star catcher Darren Daulton has been diagnosed with two brain tumors and will undergo surgery next week. Daulton, who played 14 1/2 of his 15 seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies, has hosted ''Talking Baseball with Dutch'' at 97.5 The Fanatic the last four years. The station released a statement Thursday saying Daulton, after not feeling well the past two weeks, saw a doctor who made the discovery.

Why is Blake Parker pulled after 2 batters and we are wasting Russell when up by 5 runs?

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Becoming less of a fan of Sveum by the week. Why mess with Parker's head by yanking him after a solo HR with a 5-run lead in the 8th? Let him pitch the 8th and let Russell pitch the 9th. Hey Dale -- develop the kids. Getting Camp some work should not be a priority.

rather self-evident, but Theo already suggesting that Soler could see the AFL to make up some of the AB's he'll miss...

am i missing anyone here? ...obvious trade candidates garza, feldman, gregg, sureholds, navarro...maybe soriano. technically anyone can be lumped in, including guys like vanillawafers/harriston, but i don't see those guys going. the 6 listed just seem obvious targets for movement and attractive to other teams. i'm also not counting guys with control that the team is likely to hang onto like t.wood/russell.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I don't really get the idea behind not trading Russell. He's good and he's in demand. Yes, he wouldn't be a FA for a few more years, but is a LH reliever who really can't go more than 1 IP a key piece that you're saving for the future? If he could bring back a quality prospect back, then definitely trade him.

[ ]

In reply to by Andrew

gotta have someone in the pen worth a damn...it looks like we're not getting our future japanese closer back until mid-season and russell is the only dependable guy around, though russell isn't a closer type. it's a shame he's a "mostly loogie" type rather than a solid 2-sided attack, but he's not inept vs righties. as it stands it seems the pen is russell + "can blake parker keep it up?" + "cross your fingers for henry rodriguez" going into 2014. there's nothing attractive going on in AAA aside from m.bowden, b.schlitter, c.coleman, and z.putnam...which aren't that attractive right now. i do have faith in m.bowden, though...and that's about it out of that list of guys. also, r.dolis exists...which is about all i care to say.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

But that's what I mean. If he were a cost-controlled closer or even a multi-inning guy, I could understand it, but he's not. If they're gonna suck for another year or two, I'd think relievers are the last thing that Theo & Jed are worried with. Maybe the return wouldn't really be as high as I'm thinking, but if a team were willing to give up a top 10 prospect for him, I'd do that deal.

30.2ip 19h 13bb 46k ...can rosscup get moved up to AAA already? 1ip 1h 0bb 1k last night.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

He has certainly earned the promotion, but at this point, if he's coming up at the end of July or Sept. 1, there's almost no point in moving him just for a couple of weeks. And he should probably be on the very short list of guys who are ready for bullpen work once Gregg is traded, Camp is DFA'd, and Villanueva is a starter again.

Ok, here's the thing. I can understand trading Dejesus, Feldman, and maybe Navarro. They're FAs after the season anyway. But why trade Garza unless it's a top 10 prospect? Why trade him for flotsam that burns out at AA or AAA if the Cubs are lucky? Same with Schierholtz. You offer Garza the 1-yr $13M deal or take the supplemental round pick. Wouldn't the best college pitcher at pick 33-38 be better than a couple Top 15-25 prospects from the Rangers or Dodgers? As for Schierholtz, what's the likely return? Less than what they get for Garza, right? Isn't a LH RF/LF who can put up his numbers worth more than a future Rosscup or Torreyes? I don't know but I don't think there's that many out-of-town stupid GMs now that Hendry was fired who are going to give up any real value for Garza and Schierholtz. As for Gregg, why trade a guy making the minimum just to help some other pennant contender? Just my random thoughts as the trade deadline approaches.

[ ]

In reply to by George Altman

Well, they're not paying Theo's princely sum to keep a 33-44 team intact. I'd say this is a good opportunity for Theo to earn his money, and get something good in return for these guys. They're all flawed and some of them are at sell high moments. Gregg, especially, whose WHIP is about 40 points below his career average.

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

He had not very good peripherals that were never supportable imo. Plus, whenever I see an older player suddenly play well when traded, I have to ask why and what will happen when they are traded again. In 2010 at least his home/road splits were pretty large.

[ ]

In reply to by johann

Interesting Splits those 2 years... 2010: Home: 7-3,1.99 ERA, 1.094 WHIP,5.4 K/9, 2.45 K/BB Road: 4-6,3.58 ERA, 1.269 WHIP, 5.3 K/9, 2.50 K/BB 2011: Home: 2-9,3.51 ERA,1.110 WHIP, 5.9 K/9, 2.92 K/BB Road: 6-4,2.99 ERA,1.371 WHIP, 5.6 K/9, 2.07 K/BB

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

He's a no-quit relief pitcher with just enough stuff left to be the medium-leverage RHP on a contender's bullpen. He has a 0.99 WHIP so far this season. If a GM thinks he's weak at that spot and thinks 2013 Gregg is the answer, he will trade a talented but low-level prospect for him. That's all Gregg is and as much as he ever will get. No secret. But for the Cubs, that's still a trade you make.

[ ]

In reply to by George Altman

guess it depends on the system, but I'd be surprised if Cubs don't land a top 5 prospect for Garza and a second high quality prospect, teams want to win and Garza can be lights out at times and has done well in the playoffs. Not as well as they would have done last season when a team would have had Garza for over a year, but still decent. Getting Mike Olt would be good enough for me to be honest...

Schierholtz (bless his wonderful platoon splits), isn't worth a 1/$13-14M deal imo and certainly not a guy anyone would think about giving up a draft pick for...I don't know what he'll get in a trade, but since the rest of his contract is only about $1M, should be quite a few suitors. 

As for Gregg, the term "sell high" comes to mind.

TheJedi did well enough in their deals last offseason I thought, so I presume they'll continue to know what they're doing and if a trade isn't beneficial, they won't make it. I don't get the sense they'll trade just to trade.

[ ]

In reply to by George Altman

LAD and TOR have recently taken on huge money burden contracts for actual prospects while trading recently. while garza probably won't fetch a team's top overall prospect, it's not that hard to believe there's more than a few teams out there willing to trade something worth a damn even for a 3 month + hopeful playoff rental...along with the supplemental pick. garza's gotta be worth at least some team's top-10 organizational talent as a starting point...maybe multiple guys...but probably not a top 1-2 talent unless bidding gets crazy.

"ESPN's Buster Olney reports that the Yankees are considering signing Ian Stewart to a minor league contract."

Note that Ryan Sweeney is a free agent at the end of the season while Nate Schierholz is only arbitration eligible.

rumor be D'Backs interested in Samardzija...

Bradley or Skaggs would have to be in play, plus Eaton, Davidson or Chafin you'd think?

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Sorry. How about Skaggs, Holmberg, Eaton, & Davidson for Samardzija & Brett Jackson

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

Darwin Barney seems like a gritty and white Kevin Towers player....throw him in and get Archie Bradley :)

With Thursday's win in Milwaukee, the Cubs have started a winning streak of at least two games for just the sixth time this year. The 5-game win streak a few weeks ago is the only one that's been above 3.

Twitterverse says Rockies interested in Gregg as well as looking at SP's

Feldman and Gregg make a lot of sense for them.

From Rotoworld: Reds released RHP Mark Prior. Prior had been on Triple-A Louisville's disabled list since April 25 with a right shoulder strain, and evidently the club wasn't optimistic about his chances of recovering and contributing. Though he's still just 32, you've got to wonder if this is finally the end of the line for the former No. 2 overall pick.

i'd love to go watch prior pitch @ pp one more time...i remember the night he fanned 10 & jacked 2...(didn't he?)

i think i was aroused there in our seats right behind the plate on that magical night in may...

BA Prospect Hot Sheet: 6. Alberto Cabera, rhp, Cubs Team: Double-A Tennessee (Southern) Age: 24. Why He’s Here: 8 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER. 3 BB, 13 Ks. The Scoop: If the Cubs were less desperate for starting pitching and playing more for today, Cabrera might be pitching in their big league bullpen now. That’s the role he filled throughout 2012, when he was pegged as a reliever and made his major league debut in August. But the front office moved him back to the rotation and returned him to Double-A this year and it has paid off, as Cabrera has posted a career-best strikeout rate as a starter as well as a reduced walk rate. IN THE TEAM PHOTO Paul Blackburn, rhp, Cubs: When the Cubs drafted Blackburn in the supplemental first round last year, they knew he had better feel than the average high school arm. That has been apparent in his first three starts at short-season Boise. The 19-year-old has walked two while striking out 20 and has yet to allow an earned run. He was 0-1, 0.00 this week with 12 strikeouts in 10 innings. http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/prospect-hot-sheet-kyle-crick-jum… BA Prospect Chat: Is Arismendy Alcantara the Cubs Second Baseman after the All-Star game next year? And is he a viable lead-off option in the future? Jim Shonerd: At the earliest, and he hasn’t exactly mastered Double-A yet. He didn’t look like a leadoff guy coming into the year, but he’s showing a lot more patience (his 32 walks are already a career high), so you could see him in a leadoff role, though he’s been hitting second or third with Tennessee. Is Alberto Cabrera more of a back-end guy or might he be a mid-rotation candidate? Jim Shonerd: He can be more than a No. 4 or 5 guy. It’s a power arm and he’s shown effective secondary stuff enough to believe he can be a quality big league starter. Dan Vogelbach looks like one of the sweetest pure hitters I've seen in a long time. do you think his bat can carry him to the majors, and do you see him being a great hitter in the majors, maybe a .300+ avg hitter, maybe another prince fielder? Thanks Jim Shonerd: .300 might be a stretch, but he’ll be more than a one-dimensional power hitter. He doesn’t just swing for the downs and will use the whole field, so he should be able to hit for solid averages, not to mention his patience that leads to walks. http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/85051/

doh... "Carlos Zambrano left Friday's start with Triple-A Lehigh Valley with right shoulder tightness."

s.baker exists... "Scott Baker (elbow) will throw his second simulated game on Saturday. Baker has been slowly building up his arm strength since he was shut down at the end of spring training. Assuming he stays on schedule, Baker believes that he'll be ready to rejoin the Cubs' rotation at the end of August."

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

If he can actually throw some, maybe someone rolls the dice in August. I remember Peavy got traded while on the DL. It's certainly possible, but with the 1-year deal, he'll definitely have to show teams something.

"Former major league pitcher Justin Miller was found dead Wednesday evening, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's office." damn. he was that guy with all the awful tattoos in case you don't remember...infamously the "I (heart) Billy Koch" tattoo on his ass that Koch told him he'd give him $1000 if he'd do it.

Cubs activated C Steve Clevenger from 15-day disabled list; optioned him to Triple-A Iowa. Zach Putnam transfered to 60 day DL.

The Jeff Samardzija rumors were surprising, but the more I think about it, the more I am in favor. If Samardzija can bring a group of top prospects (Bradley would be a nice anchor of that group), I am all for it. While the Ninja is significantly younger than Garza in terms of free agency status, he is only 14 months younger in years. If we believe 2015 is when the Cubs might start getting good, that would be Samardzija at 30 and getting older as the young prospects come (hopefully) to the majors. As for Travis Wood, we haven't heard much about him but he definitely should be trade bait as well. Assuming there is an offer of a good (but not great, bottom of top 10-12 of teams prospects perhaps) value, I would make the trade; I don't think that we can count on Wood's success being long-term and getting value for him would be quite beneficial. If we were able to trade Samardzija, Wood, Garza, Feldman, Gregg and, if we get decent value, Russell, it would seem like a very dramatic move. But this could add incredible value to rebuilding and we will have about the same chance of success now while a greater chance of future success.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

It's true that his BABIP is freakishly low this year, but he's 26, get's the ball over the plate, and the fact that his BABIP is under .270 tells me that there is some spin on his ball that makes it just a smidge harder to hit than the average average pitcher. So to me, he may not be a guy you build around, but at his age he seems like a good, steady starter that you only trade if somebody offers at least a little more than he seems to be worth. Last night I was really noticing how often he gets the ball to where Navarro framed it - even if he was framing high and outside he wasn't making Navarro reach for it. I'm really starting to take to this guy.

there is a lot more nirvana and alice in chains than i thought len would push on us tonight...especially for a guy into indie-pop. also, soriano HR. also, navarro HR...cubs lead 4-1, top 7th.

Danny Knobler‏@DannyKnoblerCBS I'm told Cubs were "heavily represented" at Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez start tonight in Tijuana.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

cubs 2028...i can't wait. i get it...well, i don't get jeff locke's success...but it'd be nice to see a few kids come along in syngergy with some under-the-radar support signings + longterm commitments to kids on the cheap (i hope the cubs rizzo/castro turns out to be as smart as PIT's mccutchen signing). at least theocorp seems to be getting some of the under-the-radar parts right...that bodes well for the future. about locke...the dude throws an average fastball, an average curve, and an average change...throws a TON outside the zone...and no one seems to be able to make good contact on any of it. he works outside the zone as effectively this season as marmol has in some of his better stints...only without a single plus pitch or high-end velocity. guys are offering at out of the zone trash on the guy and doing a good amount of nothing with it. i have no idea how he's getting some of these guys to offer at it, nor how long it will continue. he's not as wild as marmol, though...not trying to paint that picture. while he's got control issues, it seems like he's getting in the area he wants rather than just tossing it up there.

a bit 3/44 but BP's transaction analysis on Marmol and Stewart...
There was a period of time not too long ago when Marmol was an elite reliever. Now the expectation is he will go unclaimed through waivers, because of his remaining salary (somewhere around $5 million), before being released. From there Marmol will find another opportunity. He might be as frustrating as any reliever in the league, but he still misses bats at a good enough rate to merit work. Here's the most interesting thing about Marmol nowadays: despite being a fastball-slider pitcher he's had a reverse platoon split for a few years running. Could a team try him as a right-handed left-handed specialist? Probably not. It's funner to think about than his downfall anyway. Stewart's release comes on the heels of a late-night Twitter rant, which led to a two-week suspension. The irony in the whole mess is Stewart wanted his release because he felt boxed out from the big leagues with the Cubs. Yet by taking to social media to air his qualms it's possible Stewart poisoned the wells of 29 other teams. Maybe not, and a team will view this as a one-time public venting—the Cubs, after all, traded for and later re-signed Stewart—but he's at the point in his career where he's closer to organizational depth than impact player, and that means he cannot afford to make noise.

a bit 3/44 but BP's transaction analysis on Marmol and Stewart...
There was a period of time not too long ago when Marmol was an elite reliever. Now the expectation is he will go unclaimed through waivers, because of his remaining salary (somewhere around $5 million), before being released. From there Marmol will find another opportunity. He might be as frustrating as any reliever in the league, but he still misses bats at a good enough rate to merit work. Here's the most interesting thing about Marmol nowadays: despite being a fastball-slider pitcher he's had a reverse platoon split for a few years running. Could a team try him as a right-handed left-handed specialist? Probably not. It's funner to think about than his downfall anyway.
Stewart's release comes on the heels of a late-night Twitter rant, which led to a two-week suspension. The irony in the whole mess is Stewart wanted his release because he felt boxed out from the big leagues with the Cubs. Yet by taking to social media to air his qualms it's possible Stewart poisoned the wells of 29 other teams. Maybe not, and a team will view this as a one-time public venting—the Cubs, after all, traded for and later re-signed Stewart—but he's at the point in his career where he's closer to organizational depth than impact player, and that means he cannot afford to make noise.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=21063

Buster Olney‏@Buster_ESPN Rival execs believe the Cubs should be able to get more than the value of a first-round draft pick for Matt Garza; trade expected soon. Buster Olney‏@Buster_ESPN The Giants are looking around for a RHed hitting outfielder. ---- Think Soriano would change his mind about SF (and you know play better)?

The Giants are looking around for a RHed hitting outfielder. ----- when I first read the above I thought it meant red-headed hitting outfielder and thought immediately they wanted Matt Murton.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.