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

Angels Take Down Cubs in Diablo Park

Alex Abbott drilled a triple and a single and scored twice and Jose Antonio Rodriguez reached base three times (two singles and an HBP) and scored a run, helping the Angels to a 7-4 victory over the Cubs in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action this morning at Diablo Park Field #7 in Tempe. 

Eloy Jimenez belted a two-run triple, walked, and scored a run, Kevonte Mitchell singled twice, stole two bases, and scored a run, and Andrew Ely reached base three times (two singles and an HBP) for the Cubs in a losing cause.

Mitchell leads the EXST Cubs in stolen bases with eight (no CS) in 16 Cactus League EXST games, and E. Jimenez has been an "RBI machine," with 13 ribbies in just 15 Cactus League EXST games (leads team).

ELOY JIMENEZ in 15 Cactus League EXST games (55 PA):
265/309/511, with three doubles, three triples, and one HR, three walks, eight strikeouts, and one HBP, and two SB (no CS).  

NOTE: Through 23 Cactus League EXST games so far, the Cubs have hit only five home runs as a team... one each by Frandy de la Rosa, Eloy Jimenez, Ricardo Marcano, Yohan Matos, and Taylor Teagarden,  

19-year old lanky lefty Justin Steele (Cubs 2014 5th round draft pick - George County HS - Lucedale, MS) got the start for the Cubs and quickly and easily retired the first seven men he faced (6-3, 4-3, 3-U, 5-3, K, F-7, K) on just 20 pitches, before running into trouble with one out in the bottom of the third, when he allowed four consecutive batters to reach base (1B, 1B, BB, BB). The 2014 Mississippi High School Player of the Year, Steele was cruising along, working his two-seam fastball in the low 90's and getting a ton of ground balls with it, before he began to lose command in his third inning of work once he had to start pitching out of the stretch. 

JUSTIN STEELE in his four Cactus League EXST games : 
9.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R (3 ER), 4 BB, 9 K, 13/7 GO/FO, 63% strikes (4 games) 
2.79 ERA - 1.03 WHIP 

RHP Oscar de la Cruz "piggy-backed" with Steele, working 3.2 IP (65 pitches) and allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits (all singles), two walks, and an HBP. He struck out three (all swinging), with a 5/3 GO/FO. Along with RHRP Scott Frazier (whose fastball velocity has reached 99 MPH this spring) and Alexander Santana (mid-90's fastball that sits at 94 and touches 95), the 20-year old 6'6 de la Cruz is one of the hardest throwers among Cub pitchers at EXST, with a 94 MPH fastball that can touch 95. Like a lot of young pitchers, de la Cruz's fastball command and secondary stuff (breaking ball and change-up) need work, but he was the ace of the staff at DSL Cubs last season, and he is in the mix for one of the rotation starter jobs at Eugene this year. (Carson Sands, Justin Steele, and Austyn Willis are virtual locks to make the Eugene rotation, with de la Cruz, Santana, and Jose Paulino likely competing for the remaining two slots). 

Here is the abridged box score from today's game (Cubs players only): 


CUBS LINEUP
1. Kevonte Mitchell, CF: 2-4 (E-3, 1B, F-8, 1B, R, 2 SB) 
2. Carlos Sepulveda, SS-3B: 1-3 (F-7, BB, 4-3, 1B, R)
3. Frandy de la Rosa, 2B: 1-4 (K, F-8, 1B, K, CS)
4. Eloy Jimenez, RF: 1-3 (L-7, 3B, F-8, BB, R, 2 RBI)
5. Alberto Mineo, 1B: 1-4 (1B, 4-3, K, F-8, R)
6. Andrew Ely, 3B-DH: 2-3 (1B, F-8, HBP, 1B)
7a. Tyler Alamo, C: 0-3 (6-4 FC, F-8, 6-4-3 DP)
7b. Jhonny Pereda, C: 1-1 (1B)  
8. Kevin Encarnacion, DH #1: 1-4 (K, 3B, K, P-4)
9. Ricardo Marcano, LF: 1-3 (L-7, 5-3, 1B, PO)
10. Andruw Monasterio, DH-SS: 0-3 (F-8, K, F-8) 

CUBS PITCHERS
1. Justin Steele: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 2 K, 5/1 GO/FO, 38 pitches (23 strikes) 
2. Oscar de la Cruz: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HBP, 5/3 GO/FO, 65 pitches (40 strikes) 
3. Sam Wilson: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 1/1 GO/FO, 9 pitches (4 strikes) 
4. Yomar Morel: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 1/0 GO/FO, 23 pitches (17 strikes) 

CUBS ERRORS
1. 2B Frandy de la Rosa: E-4 (throwing error while attempting to turn 5-4-3 DP allowed runner on 3rd to score unearned run)
2. 3B Carlos Sepulveda: E-5 (two-base throwing error allowed batter to reach 2nd base safely)

WEATHER: Mostly sunny & breezy with temperatures in the 90's 

ATTENDANCE: 3 


Comments

Phil, what is happening with Pierce Johnson and Tommy La Stella down in Mesa. They have both been out for quite a while.

[ ]

In reply to by Rogers

ROGERS: Pierce Johnson (lat strain) is with the Pitchers Rehab Group (includes Marcelo Carreno, Anthony Carter, Dylan Cease, Pierce Johnson, Trey Masek, Erling Moreno, and Austin Reed) and he has been participating in limited drills on the field (including playing catch) but he is not throwing off a mound yet. (As an MLB guy, Neil Ramirez is not part of the PRG and so he has his own rehab schedule).  

Tommy LaStella (strained rib cage) is rehabbing inside the Under Armour Performance Center with Mike Olt (fractured wrist), Jacob Turner (elbow), Will Remillard (2015 TJS), Jose Rosario (2015 TJS), and Trey McNutt (2014 shoulder surgery), but is not cleared for field activity yet. His rib cage will probably have to be close to 100% before he is allowed to participate in field activity, because both hitting and throwing are affected by his type of injury.  

rumors never die...

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/why-haven%E2%80%99t-cubs-made-deal-mets-…

...the Cubs are not looking to move a three-time All-Star who’s 25 and potentially under club control through the 2020 season on a reasonable contract.

~snip~

Castro made a spectacular diving catch to his left in the ninth inning to help preserve Monday night’s victory. His OPS has dropped to .652 but the Cubs are waiting for him to get hot and want to see how he responds in a pennant race.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Def not a sell high moment for the Cubs since, like the article says, Russell is off limits. Castro showed some signs of doing more than just pulling everything and GDIP in the Brewer series but he's still not hitting for much yet. And Baez won't bring enough right now. So nothing will happen for awhile. Besides, do the Mets really have an overabundance of pitching? I've never been aware of such a concept before. So it's tricky. They give up a front line starter for, say, Castro, lose another guy to arm problems, and suddenly they're the Mets again.

Did anyone see Lester complaining about the ump last night? I can't remember seeing anything like that. JD or Len, can't remember, was doing some lip reading when an exasperated Lester threw up his hands and appeared to say, "I don't know where to throw the ball". It was pretty fun stuff to watch. Frustrating, too, to watch that umpire. What's with the home plate umpiring this year? Is it as bad as it has seemed? My imagination? Not just Cubs. Both teams, usually. Cubs broadcasters also noted that Wally Backman, a player I always kinda liked, said Bryant's the best hitting prospect he's ever seen, as in ever.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

i cant remember the last time a pitcher got that much rope to hang himself with. it's surprising he didn't get tossed an inning or 2 before he was done. the last thing we need right now is lester doing maddon's job of taking SP's out too early.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Yeah, but I can see the frustration. He was hitting his spots, not getting the calls. To his credit, he didn't say anything about the umpiring after the game, just that he stunk. I didn't think he stunk but I'm glad he does. Good to see him rounding into form out there a bit.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Lester was a bit lucky, Mets had a bunch of hard hit balls last night. Twitter feed on left side on this site has Mark Simon of ESPN saying that usually players hit .700 on a hard hit ball, but Mets were only 2-7 (.285). It's middle of May, Lester needs to start getting better and lead this pitching staff which desperately needs help.

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

I thought he pitched just below great with a few too many walks. Wind was blowing out 20 mph and not all those hard hit balls were off him.  I counted 3 hard hit balls between Rosscup (line drive double play to Rizzo) and Rondon (line drive caught by Castro and the game-ending double play). It all evens out, believe he was giving up a higher than normal line drive percentage in his first few starts.

He had a 6.23 ERA in April off a .424 BABIP, he now has a 1.80 ERA in May off a .214 BABIP.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

i don't know, the TV pitch tracker had most of those pitches right on the edge and I wasn't paying close enough attention to see if that was a consistent call all night. Lester seemed like quite a bit of a cry baby about it because he gave up 2 home runs that inning already.

MLB Umpires suck at calling strikes. I'd settle for consistent but that doesn't hit the 50% mark for the games I watch. If they can't call strikes...well strikes, then I'm in favor of a 'pitch trax' computer calling balls and strikes. The HP umpire can stand there and call foul tips, check swings (they get most of those wrong anyway), balks, and scoring plays at home. Maybe they can get more of those right.

Report just out that confirms the obvious that the Cubs have been in talks with the Mets to trade Castro. Confirmed by GM Jed Hoyer. No surprise there. I just think the Cubs are looking for more than a top pitching prospect (like Syndergaard). They want a more proven starting pitching commodity.

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

you talking about this?

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/30637/castro-to-the-mets…

it's got the same quotes from the CSN article I posted it earlier.

confirms Mets and Cubs were talking, not necessarily about Castro although I'm sure it makes sense. Cubs are either gonna want volume in young pitching or one very established starter if they move Castro.

Doubt it happens in middle of year unless Cubs are out of it and they can easily move Castro to 2B in offseason, he doesn't seem like one that would complain. All depends on what others are offering. Cubs still don't have a better SS/2B tandem than Castro/Russell at moment regardless of who plays which of those positions. Baez, Alcantara and LaStella aren't worth moving anyone over at the moment.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

The comment you pulled out of the article you posted earlier said the Cubs were not looking to trade Castro. I think that it is obviously not accurate. I agree with you on what the Cubs are looking for in exchange for Castro. And I agree Castro/Russeell would be the best combo, but adding a top starting pitcher and taking out our weakest link would likely make up for any drop up the middle by trading Castro. All depends on who they get. It will be interesting as this story will not go away all year.

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

I'd hope that at this point in the season, that the Cubs are looking to be blown away by the Mets, in order to trade Castro. The list of FA pitchers this off-season is substantial, and with Russell's OBP at .282..Baez and Alcantara in AAA, and Lastella hurt...the middle infield looks a little thin. They need a couple of the youngsters to step it up.

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

I think you need to re-read that article, because everything Hoyer said was in generalities with Rogers trying to stir things up about Castro and then backtracking on half of it saying it's all just makes sense at some point down the line. They probably talked about Castro...they probably talked about a half dozen other players too.

Rogers also thinks Castro is hitting well right now so I'm wondering if he wrote that article two weeks ago and forgot to edit it.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

This management team has a history of trading their starting shortstop mid-season while in pennant race, but as you say it will all come down to what is being offered. In the end I think they will add pitching, but I think it will be more of a #3 starter type.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

was there more than the Nomar trade?

don't get me wrong, I think they'd trade anybody if they feel they have a legit shot this year and they think it would help the team.

I just think all the Castro trade talk is the Cubs and everyone in basbell knowing they have depth in the middle infield and the Cubs are doing due dilligence in case they do want to make that trade, whether it's Castro or Baez or whomever. My guess is Russell and Castro flip SS and 2B over the offseason myself.

I don't have a lot of faith in Baez, what he has in power on Castro he gives up in far less contact on a team that desperately needs some guys that make contact. Defensively...probably a little better ultimately, but he's had some issues too. I think a Baez, Vogelbach, McKinney package could get a good starter for them at the deadline without giving up their core. I have more faith in Alcantara over Baez at this point in being a major league regular. Castro seems to be pretty well-liked by his teammates, I would be surprised if they dealt him in a pennant race myself, but you never know.

@TommyBirch Tsuyoshi Wada bumped from tonight's start with the Iowa #Cubs. Iowa manager Marty Pevey gave no reason. Says Wada isn't hurt. #MiLB #PCL

Guessing Travis isn't getting that 1-2 more starts to figure it out. Does give Cubs an extra bench bat.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

and now throwing in the bullpen, looks like he's just getting moved so his starts line up with Travis in case they want to make a switch

@TommyBirch Pevey on Wada: "Where he might pitch would be on Thursday. But, I don't know that for sure." #Cubs #PCL #MiLB

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Wonder if we see the Cubs take Travis's recent horridness as an opportunity to push him through the outright process, as per AZ Phil's comment a post or two back. Would seem there's no room for him in the bullpen with established loogies Russell and Coke there and Maddon-favorite Rosscup as well. Or perhaps some mysterious oblique soreness or something. DL'd due to inflammation in ERA?

Fowler, Bryant, Rizzo, Montero, Soler, Castro, Coghlan, Arrieta, Russell vs. Syndegaard

Every Tuesday at noon Maddon joins 670 for interview, today's was funny and interesting. http://cbsloc.al/1bMPXId Today's take away, Joe re-watched game last night to see where his "batters were standing in the box" and the strikes called against them.

more on Wada, through a translator he said the plan is for him to pitch tomorrow, but not sure where yet. So maybe Hammel is nursing something?

Mets lineup

Granderson RF, Murphy 3B, Cuddyer LF, Duda 1B, Flores SS, Nieuwenhuis CF, Plawecki C, Syndergaard P, Tejada 2B

Was reading the Fangraphs articles today about batted ball data (one was about Soler), and realized that Fangraphs I guess had the data on Coghlan I was looking for all along. It only takes a glance to see that the numbers confirm what game footage suggests--baseball has been pretty cruel to Coghlan this year. It's easy to look at his very low .232 BABIP and assume he's been unlucky, but when you look more closely at his batted ball rates it becomes clear that he should be enjoying a crazy hot streak right now rather than pulling up the rear of the Cubs offense. Coghlan's soft-hit % is an unreasonably low 8.2% (compare to Rizzo's 20.6%), and despite pulling the ball much more than he did last year, he's actually hitting fewer ground balls. Poor Chris should be having a career month-and-a-half if not for all the at'em balls. Makes me curious how frequently this much bad luck follows a hitter around for a 30-game stretch.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

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