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

Cubs @ Pirates - Arrieta vs. Burnett; Game 12 Thread

I really didn't think they were going to play this game. Hopefully the rain stays away...

Jake Arrieta vs. A.J. Burnett

#Fowler CFHarrison 3B
Soler RF*Polanco RF
*Rizzo 1BMcCutchen CF
Bryant 3B#Walker 2B
*Montero CMarte LF
Castro SS*Alvarez 1B
*Coghlan LFCervelli C
Arrieta PKang SS
#Herrera 2BBurnett P

Just a reminder to avoid too much play-by-play in the comments, there are better places to follow that. If you wish to refer to a play with a comment of worthiness, go for it though.

Comments

Maddon wanted to review that force out on the Rizzo FC, but thought better of it. It was close, I think his foot was off bag, but isn't the "neighborhood play" not reviewable?

Burnett makes Lester look like he knows what he's doing with men on base

Nice jump by Rizzo on SB, terrible slide

Montero did nothing right on that SB by Polanco, slow to get out of mitt and crouch and bounced it.

Soler almost with the OF assist on a slow roller to RF, thought that was a gimme. Fun to have that in the outfield...

Arrieta looks like shit and getting hit hard in 1st. Doing his best Lester impression.

As hard as Arrieta was hit in that 1st inning, it could have been a disaster. Getting out with only one run keeps us in the game. At least some of the hard outs were right at people.

oh crap, Castro just lined a ball behind him and it went through the screen and nailed a girl in the head who was standing up and I think trying to get back to her seat. It looked awful.

Couldn't be any worse timing. WOW! And she had great seats. Hope she is OK and Pirates take good care of her and hook her up with good seats for a future game.

Kent Sterling still the biggest asshole on the planet

@KentSterling Not to be insensitive, but shouldn't lady popped by a foul ball go to a hospital instead of delaying the game as she is treated? #Cubs

Bryant has stepped awkawrdly on first base twice now while trying to leg out a hit in his short career (that I've seen)...a good way to tear up an ankle or knee.

Love how the team logo incorporation has spread from the center field grass to pitcher's mound and now in color on the mound. Pirates doin' it well. Never been to their park but heard it is great.

Kang should have kept that one in his pocket on the throwing error.  Glad he didn't though.

Maddon has a good case. Cervelli stood in front of plate well before ball got there.

Jake has done a great job settling down after a rocky 1st inning. He's looked nasty since then. It's a shame he doesn't have the lead. Let's get some runs!

I've seen enough of Herrera the starter. Russell 2/4 with 2 doubles tonight. Just sayin'.

strop would have looked good last night with 2 on and 1 out in a tie game looked good tonight protecting a 4 run lead. something like that. i get it...shitter's a groundball pitcher...whatever. he has a knack for not having it work out. great stuff, cruddy results.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

it took a while, but jd and len seem to have finally figured out when one is setting the other up for a joke or riffing off each other. len/bob really had that down. it probably helped that they shared similar interests (especially a love of music) outside of the game.

If all my math is correct, that was nine hits out of Cubs 2-3-4 hitters. Who are 23-25-23 years old.

CWS scored 4 in the bottom 9th to beat CLE 3-4. awesome...unless you really really hate the wsox.

The thing is - the Cubs have no chemistry yet. New manager, young guys, Lester trying to find himself, huge holes in LF/2B, injuries in the pen etc etc. and they still appear to be able to hang. Could be scary when they get it going. Props to Rizzo and Castro for holding down the fort ...

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

it's what they're used to. it's been a while since a lot of them played with the same guys and same crew year after year. unless they have attitude/ego/"new money" problems they tend to be able to get it together unless the vet presence is cruddy (sup sosa?). nonetheless, yeah, it could be even better once they get used to seeing each other and working with each other year after year. hopefully some more long-term contracts will be coming rizzo/castro style.

Have they given up on Mendy already? It sure seems like it, after Maddon said how much he loved the guy all spring.

Cubs can control Rizzo through 2021, Bryant through 2021, Soler through 2020, Russell through 2021, Starlin through 2020. Enough said. How nice is it to have a quality GM? The future is bright on the North Side!

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

until castro is traded, anyway. wait, what? =p as much as i'd like castro to slide into 2nd or 3rd, there's been a lot of rumblings about him being shipped out once russell establishes himself. that said, russell is still so young and far from automatic that he could end up back in AAA while on a short leash in the majors. we'll find out. la stella is due to come off the DL in a few days. i wonder if he's not going to be ready to go and that pushed this issue.

[ ]

In reply to by Sonicwind75

Exactly. They're not going to essentially swap Castro for LaStella in the lineup. Castro led the league last year among shortstops in OBP. Len Kasper pointed out the difference between an aggressive Castro and tentative one last night - it was a nice observation. I credit the Great Maddonini with the aggressive style of play on Castro's part this year.

Guess I will move beyond certain things just to be able to discuss my excitement with other Cubs fans. I kept my expectations low because of young players and never tried to expect more than .500 which still would be an enormous improvement. However, the thing that has impressed me more than anything is even in the losses we have never seemed out of it. Up till the 9th inning we still have runners on base with a chance to tie the score and batters up always looking like they will come through. Every team loses and every player fails more than they succeed so it is an expected part of the game but I've yet to see this team obviously give up or be in a position where they were obviously out of it. Also, while I think offense is more important than defense, it has been an absolutely refreshing thing to see an OF that other players respect. Not every position has to be an all star at batting and so far Coghland has provided a middle of the road OPS while making some excellent defensive plays and Soler is outstanding on both sides of the plate. Infield wise Bryant, Castro and Rizzo have all looked incredible defensively and offensively and now we have Russell coming up to do the same at 2nd. I did hear Kasper make an interesting point that when Castro is doing well defensively he is aggressive on everything and when he struggles it snowballs and he becomes tentative. So far this year the vast majority of the time he has been aggressive and his few "mistakes" have been on end of the stretch tries that are a product of range. He has by and large looked incredible out there. He's never gonna have the OBP I would like to see but isn't it amazing to see a lineup where a player like him can be end of the order? Anyway still not trying to get my expectations too high but just excited to see baseball every night win or lose that I can be into and happy to see a plan I have supported from day 1 even through losing seasons finally coming to fruition.

[ ]

In reply to by johann

Last year Castro led the league in OBP among all regular shortstops. So saying he will never have the OBP you hope he has is like saying nobody else at that position probably will, either. I've been saying Starlin is underrated since this season began. I'll continue with this: http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/year/2014/position/ss/sort/onBas… Note that Hanley Ramirez is not in this list - presumably because he played a lot of 3B last year. This year so far Castro is sixth in the league among shortstops at .353 OBP, not shabby at all. I think the perception is there about him not having a high OBP because he still swings at a lot of bad pitches. Just imagine what he'll be like when he's 28 or so.

Cubs are really pushing their chips into the middle here. Anyone know exactly how many at-bats Russell got at AAA? It'd be great to hear someone in the media ask JedStein about the AAA 500-AB rule before you can call a guy up. This is exciting and crazy. This season was already going to be a heckuva lot of fun with most of a season of Bryant and maybe a Russell call-up at some point and now we have hopes for a three-headed ROY race all in the same lineup.

I think it would be funny if Russell won the ROY instead of the other two guys, and the other two guys were 2, 3 in the voting. #royallcubs

They say a manager doesn't make any real difference to a team. I've always thought that, generally, it doesn't. But when it does, I think it can make a big difference. I think this year is a good example of that. I absolutely love this team's aggressive base running. Yesterday when Rizzo was thrown out at third I was still, like, "oh well, cool anyway." What's really cool is that Maddon isn't afraid to move the runners with the power hitters up. He knows Rizzo, Soler, and Bryant all know how to control the plate. Well, he probably thinks Bryant can, rather than knows he can -Bryant has just a few games under his belt. Anyway, this makes this team quite a formidable one offensively methinks. How good the Cubs are may hinge on if Lester is okay. He seems to be getting better, not worse, so I'm not yet worried about an arm injury that he hasn't yet been willing to discuss with his manager. But I'm still concerned about some kind of shoulder inflammation or something he's not sharing with the group. That crazy bad toss to first the other day reminds me of when I had a bad rotator cuff that mostly came out when I threw a way that I wasn't used to. The fact that he was up to 94 in his last outing is a good sign that he is okay, though. Fingers crossed because that's two aces if he is. Meanwhile, St. Louis is 8-3 and in first place. Have I ever said how much I hate St. Louis morans?

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

I agree, when Rizzo was thrown out at home, it required a perfect throw, perfect execution by the cutoff man, and a perfect reception by the catcher. I say test the defense and make them earn the out. Many times there's a failure somewhere along the way and the runner can capitalize on the mistake.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

j.lester's control/command/velocity seems to be fine. his 1st game was clumsy, his 2nd runners got all up in his head (it seems), and it looked like he was doing his thing in the 3rd game. lester is awesome, he's an ace, but he's not elite...the cubs passed on elite to protect a 2nd round pick and save some loot. lester's game comes with some baggage and tempered expectations. it wouldn't be a disaster if he ends up being the 2nd best pitcher on the team over the next few years. can't really complain too much if he ends up being a mid-3.00 era guy. it's what he's been up until now aside from a glimpse of greatness last season.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

That seems about right. If the Cubs manage to get into the playoffs, if Arietta keeps this up we may see Arietta then Lester, which gives them a huge chance to win the first two games. That could be a lot of fun. We'll see if this team can sustain this level of energy all year, as in, say, August. They're young whippersnappers though, so hopes are high.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

“The female fan who was struck by a foul ball during last night’s game was sent via ambulance to the hospital for the appropriate examinations. Thankfully, the fan was released from the hospital following those examinations. “We are extremely grateful for this positive outcome. The organization is in the process of reaching out to her to show our support. Due to privacy laws, we will not reveal the name of the fan, nor additional details at this time. “We wish to thank the PNC Park personnel and fellow fans who were on the scene at the time, as well as the Pittsburgh EMS for their quick response.”

so...anyone heard where russell is slotting in? he going to be the new 9-slot "pseudo table setter" dude?

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I think it might make the most sense, but will it hurt him psychologically coming in and batting 9th. A big deal was made when Bryant was called up and batted clean up his first game. Just throwing that out there. There really isn't many other place in the lineup to go. The worst non pitcher will hit 7th, pitcher 8th. Maybe 6th? But then he will have two bad hitters behind him.

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

it would please me to get rid of this whole 'pitcher 8th' thing...especially after last night. it would be a shame to stick a guy like him in the 7 slot (assuming the pitcher is 8th) without a good patience and pitch selection "tool" to take advantage of being fed crap with no one on. it seems his game is contact-heavy. that said, as good as he is, he's not grown into his "average" power. he would be hitting 2nd on a lot of teams or thrown into the 6-8 slot given his current skill set. i have no idea what maddon has planned for him.

Just spitballing here, but he doesn't seem like the type of player to fall apart if he's in the 9th slot.

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

3 years of tank-n-trade after taking over an old team should do that. thankfully, they've delivered what they promised. cashner was traded out for a badly needed power hitter, the roster was traded for whatever spare parts were coming down, 1-year contracts were really 1/2-season rentals, and ninja was the last "name" from the former administration still around when he was traded (aside from the extended castro). they got their early picks in the draft and did a good job with them...still waiting on the deeper picks to show something. it was a hard time to sit through for some of us. it was 3 years of delayed christmas for others.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Crunch: I ask this not as an attack or as snark but as an honest question. Would you have preferred a rebuild similar to what San Diego did this off season? Shedding prospects and absorbing larger contracts in trades. The Cubs had greater prospect pool and payroll resources than San Diego, it would have been interesting. To San Diego's credit, they did keep their top couple of prospects but it seems like a quick fix.

[ ]

In reply to by Sonicwind75

there's a lot of ways to rebuild. a 3-year rebuild is a new one for a lot of baseball, and a rather radical direction for a large market team. 480+ games of "you knew this didn't matter before it began" to sit through. /personal opinion/ i expected it in year 1...year 2 was pushing it...year 3 was a damn joke. /personal opinion/ yeah, i'd prefer the quick fix, but the crux is we'll never know what would be better because all we have are outside examples in differing years mixed with hypotheticals. it's all trade/sign/draft and so many ways to get it done depending on the desired outcome.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Thanks to the bold and risky moves of Theo Epstein, a "Cubs-style rebuild" is now part of sports vernacular and with good reason: He took a plundered, bare, worthless organization and rebuilt it into an enviable baseball organization. I look around baseball, and there's not one organization I look at with envy. Tigers... maybe? Shrug. Point is, it was a big job- and if it took 3 years to do, then I don't want the 2-year solution.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

i dunno if any team is going to try a 3-year rebuild, though. it got a term coined, but that is a lot of ask of many fan bases and some teams might not be able to survive it without a bit of harm. like most things sports related, though...do it right and the "damage" very soon ends as the fans forget, forgive, and relish in what's going on now.

[ ]

In reply to by Sonicwind75

I don't think the Cubs could have done that. They were in a much more dire situation. They had Cashner and Baez. and a major league roster full of bloated contracts. Also the players who were big signs have bombed: Feilder, Pujols, Hamilton etc. Also they didnt just rebuild the player structure they tore apart the entire organization, scouts, minor league hierarchy. It's really apples and oranges. ALSO THE PADRES DID a three year rebuild before this move. They have been in rebuild mode for many years.

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

Padres had a pretty good farm system to deal from, somewhat thanks to McLeod and Hoyer. Even without signing Shields they had a pretty decent starting staff even if they didn't make a move. I like what they did this offseason, they gave up their #2 prospect in Wisler in the Kimbrel trade but it's getting pretty easy to find pitching. But they've been pseudo-rebuilding for years to get guys like Ross, Gyorko, Cashner, Alonso, etc and they went for it. They certainly won't be able to sustain it though. The Cubs are built to be a dynasty, Padres are a 1-2 year makeover that'll he have to keep doing every year. Might work...might not. I have no doubt the Cubs won't see below .500 for the next 6-8 years unless they just tank Red Sox style because of injuries.

 

Can we start referring to Rizzo, Castro, and Bryant as Clark, Sheffield, and Waveland? We don't have to, but I just think it would be really, really cute.

Still no official word of 25 or 40 man roster moves. Are the Cubs trying to swing a last minute deal? Or is there nothing to see here.

David Ortiz is a prick: Example #1,532 http://nesn.com/2015/04/david-ortiz-isnt-happy-about-jim-palmers-critic… ESPN.com’s Gordon Edes asked Ortiz after Monday’s game whether he ever had any issues with Palmer in the past. “No, actually I thought that he was one of my guys,” Ortiz said. “All of a sudden now he’s killing me, huh? I guess anybody who wants to get famous or make some noise comes to Papi, right?” Jim Palmer is only a HOFer and pretty famous Prick Papi. Maybe so much juicing has messed with your head.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    in other news, it took 3 PA before a.rizzo got his 1st HBP of the season.

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • 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.