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

And Now for Something Completely Different...

We had fun, we had laughs, we had Mark Prior's shoulder, Dusty Baker's lineup card, Mike Quade's awful nicknames and now we shall have goodbye's.

With a heavy heart and far more hours of contemplation than I expected, I'll be stepping down from my reign of terror here at The Cub Reporter. I imagine many of you know the history of the site, but here's a quick recap. The very talented Christian Ruzich began this beauty a long time ago in 2001 back when blogs and the Internet were still a dirty word. He did an incredible job of finding talented writers and eventually had a nice group of team specific blogs at all-baseball.com. Somewhere around 2003 I stumbled across the site, I think from some mention in a Baseball Prospectus article. I sort of hung around the edges of the comments for the next year and started doing my own writing at a site called Most Valuable Network (or MVN for short). Around that time (say late 2004-early 2005), many of the all-baseball.com writers broke off into their own group and started Baseball Toaster and at that time the owner of MVN made an offer to Christian. There were only a few Cubs blogs at that time, and in my personal opinion, The Cub Reporter was the very best, the site I would just hope to be able to write for one day. But because of that purchase, I was sort of thrust upon Christian and as he was slowly backing out of his duties, he found some writers amongst the talented commentators to take over the bulk of the writing and myself, Arizona Phil, John Hill and Transmission began writing for the site. And oh, what a fun few years we had.

We had recaps, previews, satirical write-ups, April Fool's jokes, minor league coverage, stupid Internet arguments, parachat and just hours and hours of endless entertainment.

Somewhere  in that time period, Christian backed away completely and I seemed to be the only fool willing to pick up the flag and lead the troops. We picked up some talented free agents along the way like Dr. Joseph Hecht aka Cubster, Don Nelson aka Cubnut, Mike Wellman, CubbyBlue's amazing artwork and most recently WISCGRAD. We migrated to our own site here so we could drop f-bombs freely and lived through the surprise of 2007, the miserable ending of 2008, the lean years of 2009-2011, the surprise Theo Epstein hire that offseason and even leaner years from 2012-2014.

And now it's 2015, the team is a legit playoff contender and shall be one for years to come. And it's still fun, but it's also a bit monotonous and obviously my writing output has slowed to a trickle. I was hoping once the winning began that my writing flame would be re-ignited, but it just hasn't happened. And if this team can't get me to write, nothing will. On top of that, my personal life has had many of the ups and downs that the Cubs franchise has endured. My twins were born 5 days before Mark Prior took a comeback off his elbow (they just turned 10 this last weekend and I still can't get them to sit through a half inning of baseball). My Dad suffered an aortic dissection around the time Michael Barrett was traded (don't worry my Dad is somehow still kicking and letting me know on each and every phone call how dumb the Cubs are). The AngelFan Wife and I bought a house, bought a business, lost a business, lost a house and went through some major health scares and very unfortunately are very much still in the midst of the lean, rebuilding years and any hopes of us being a contender again will require my focus on matters more important than goofing on the Cubs and settling Internet arguments.

So I shall miss all of you (most of you) and I will certainly miss this site. Unfortunately none of the other writers have the time either nor the desire to take over the day-to-day duties so I'm afraid that this might be it for The Cub Reporter. If I can find someone else to take over the daily duties, maybe it will survive, but I can't say for sure. If you know of anyone or have some interest yourself, please contact me through the contact form by clicking the envelope icon on the upper right and I'll happily answer any of your questions. My understanding is that the rest of the writers will continue to write as long as there is a place to write. Arizona Phil said he'd like to at the very least keep writing through the amateur draft and the rest of extended spring training through the end of June, so we'll stay open through then at least. Cubnut will continue to run the twitter account as well. I do have my own twitter account that I'll publish in the near future, although it will be far more than my thoughts on the Cubs, so follow at your own risk. I will be taking down the game chat for now as I won't be around to reset it every night.

So thank you for the laughs, for keeping me honest in the comments, for some dear friendships formed over the years, and for being a part of this rather eclectic and unique point in time and space where we all could commiserate and occasionaly celebrate over this one oddly shared interest that is Chicago Cubs baseball.

 

Comments

Wow! Thank you Rob for everything you have put into the site, it's much appreciated by me and my sure the rest. I have never met you in person but we are Facebook friends (21stCentury) and hope the best for you and your family. Take care and I wish great success in all your future endeavors.

Aw man, this is heartbreaking. But thanks for the years of work, and congrats on making a choice that's best for you.

I sure will miss this site, Rob. During the 2008 flash in the pan, being on this site during the Cubs playoff surge kept me sane while working up in Nome, Alaska, having drunken people knock on my door in the middle of the night. I believe we set a record # of entries on parachat that day.... It has been a LOT of fun. I wish all the best to you.

I'm also sorry to hear this news. Even with the reduced output of main articles, The Cub Reporter has remained my first stop when I sign on to the internet. The quality of the comments, the features on the site and the articles that were posted were certainly of a high enough quality and consistently entertaining that it made up for the reduced main content. I hope it can continue on in some capacity. I wish the best of good fortune for you, AngelFan Wife and your kids. Via con Dios.

So sad to hear this news. Thank you Rob for all the time and work you've devoted to this site. Best of luck in the future. As a Midwest transplant stuck in Texas, this is about the closest thing to hanging out at your neighborhood bar and talking Cubs baseball (although this site has a much higher baseball IQ than the average tavern goer). Although I have seldom posted, I've been quietly reading this site pretty much daily since 2005. Informative, insightful, entertaining, funny and at times aggravating; this is an amazing site. Thank you.

Ditto to what everyone has said so far (and will continue to say). This site, even during the lean times, has always been a daily go-to for me. Best of luck. I don't know where I'm going to find info on swing planes, high-paid managers and whatnot...perhaps Crunch will send out a mailer.

Well crap. I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do, and it's not like I'm paying for this. But I've enjoyed the site for a very long time. And it will be a shame to see it go. Thanks for all the entertainment for all the years!

I have enjoyed this site and the many contributions you made to it Rob. I am grateful that you made it available to us all. I will be sorry to see it go. For what it's worth, I think that many of the posters here have expressed clear-eyed views concerning the Cubs and baseball (as well as other topics), and I'm thankful for that. It's been a go-to site for me, even if I have not posted here frequently. Rob, you've had a good deal to do with the quality (and tone) of the articles and the comments, and have a lot to do with why this website has been valuable to me. Thank you.

Thanks for all the kind words, much like Sonicwind75 said, me being a Chicago transplant in Los Angeles made me miss the daily Cubs talk with friends and co-workers and this was very much the virtual way of doing it. If only we served beer...

In good news, it seems we may have a reader/commentator that would be willing to shepard the site at least through the offseason and probably beyond. So hopefully things won't change much...

Hopefully I can get it all squared away by tomorrow and go take my bullpen cart ride off into the sunset.

Rob, you've done such a tremendous job keeping this boat afloat. Thank you for all of your hard work during the last 10 years on this free, wonderful little corner of the Internet.

you were (are) a fair and insightful owner. thanks for providing us a place to kick our observations around.

I haven't commented in many moons but I just wanted to stop by and say thanks. Reading TCR helped me become a more knowledgeable fan thanks to the insight of many, and a happier fan thanks to the laughs provided by many more. Well, sometimes happier - it's not like the Cubs held up their end most of the time, but commiserating was always great fun. Anyway, Rob G., thanks so much and all the best to you and yours, and go Cubs.

All I can really add is that this is not actually a "replaceable" site. For me the writing has been on the wall for awhile, and it's been clear that you (Rob) have been keeping up the site out of a sense of loyalty or dedication, or whatever it is that motivated you. I've always appreciated the thankless work you've been putting into this. I think I've expressed it often in the comments because I'm a web/tech guy and I know what a pain in the arse it is to keep up a site, even a CMS-based site (or, maybe especially, since you have to muck around in code you didn't write). You did an amazing job and the commenters here, as I've said quite a few times in the past, are the most knowledgeable baseball fans in the world. The few times I've had spirited debates have all been done with the understanding that you guys pretty much know more than I do about the game, and although I still needed to speak up once in awhile, it was all in fun. Baseball is just a game, and so is commenting on it. Best of luck Rob, and thanks for all you've done.

Rob, without being redundant - ditto to all the above comments. I sincerely hope someone can takeover the site so the usual gang of commenters still come here. I've learned more about baseball....and the Cubs....in the 9-10 years I've been on TCR from all of you. PLEASE, PLEASE, someone step up. Best of everything to you and yours, Rob!

Thanks Rob and Phil and all the other writers and commenters. As a guy without much to say I always loved coming here to see what others were saying. Good luck to all.

I can't believe how sad I am. This site has been my connection point since I became a STH in 2004. Have so enjoyed all of the folks sticking around (other than a few real morans). AZ Phil (from my home-town), Cubster, Wisc, Mike "Welly", Tim - Rumors, comparisons, arguments, speculation, general obsession... An odd sort of "family" really. Thanks much Rob G for holding this together and allowing us to take part, contribute, or just listen. Things change, and so it goes. You have been a beast with this fantastic blog as the leader, and I wish you heartfelt success in your career and with your family life. Go Cubs!

I assume this is all part of Theo's plan....far too complex for mere mortals to understand. Thanks Rob -- it has really made being a Cub fan even more fun!

It's because I was showing murmurings of returning to active duty, wasn't it?  ~grin~

 

But in all seriousness, this is sad news. I have such fond memories of discovering the site, getting involved in it, getting recruited to contribute more substantively to it, getting paid (very modest amounts) for it, and it has pained me to see my own life expand and contract in ways that did not leave the room for TCR that TCR deserved.

 

Thank you, Christian and Rob. It was a pleasure to read you and to collaborate with you, and to goof around and have fun with you. Thank you, AZ Phill, and Dr. Hecht, and Don and Mike and everyone.  And to all my dear friends from Parachat.

I will do my best to hang around as much of the summer as I can (thought tonight is not an option, as I am visiting a friend out of the country.)  May I suggest that, if we do not find someone to take over regular day-to-day responsibilities, that we schedule a Great Big Finall Goodbye Extravaganza event?  We all pile into a chat, watch the game (and I recap it all?) and wish everyone the best?

Hopefully, it doesn't come to that.  Best wishes with all the ups and downs of your life, Rob.  You've been fantastic and you deserve the best.

I've actually been on this site since 2003 as well and (no I'm not silent towel or the chad etc and I was never banned!) but despite getting my ass handed to me by Rob occasionally and surely giving him a few headaches - I'm VERY grateful for all he's done. For all YOU'VE done rob. It's absolutely my first stop on the Internet. I moved away from Chicago in 91 and for a long time it was the Trib website that kept me connected. But that ceased to be relevant and really it's been this site with no small thanks to Rob. I personally appreciate how you Rob managed to be yourself, have opinions, give a shit and be real yet somehow maintained an air of authority, reserve and equanimity when the cards were down. Shit horrible unintended pun. The Cards are never down. I hope it stays up as a site but the Rob G era was a solid irreplaceable thing and I'm gonna miss it. Thanks again Rob. - Jim

At least Castro gave you a farewell ground ball to SS with the tying runs on base...heavy sigh.

Thank you Rob for all you've done with the site. This is the only Cubs blog I've been able to find with not only great insight into the Cubs and their minor league organization, but also with a group of commenters who clearly understand the game and are able to talk about it at an intelligent level. Many hopes as to someone being able to carry the baton.

Thanks for all the time and work you've put into the site, Rob. You've done a great job, and I would sincerely miss this little internet place if TCR were to come to an end.

Best of luck Rob G. Thanks for keeping TCR afloat over the years and giving us the chance to talk Cubs. I hope the site doesn't go away. If it does, you know this will be the year they win it all. :) I am sure I will be your #1 missed poster on hear. HaHa!! In Dusty We Trusty!!

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.