Cubs MLB Roster

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40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

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

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

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

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




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs @ Brewers: Arrieta vs Davies (Game 152)

Submitted by CTSteve on

CHC (84-67): RHP Jake Arrieta (14-9, 3.48)  
MIL (81-71): RHP Zach Davies (17-9, 3.89) 
First pitch: 7:10pmCST

Don’t say revenge. 

The Cubs could have stepped on the neck of the Brewers last week at Wrigley, but opted to get swept instead. Now the magic number to clinch the division is 8. I have no problem with having that happen on Sunday.

Arrieta last pitched on September 4th in Pittsburgh (2.1 IP, 3 ER, 4 K, 1 BB) before his hammy starting barking. He had been on quite a run before that, so let’s hope he picks up where he left off.

He’s 2-0 with a 2.08 in two starts against Milwaukee this season. Overall, the Brewers are 28-126 (.222) against him. Braun is 7-24 with 3* HR.

Davies lost in Miami his last time out (4 IP,  er, 2 K, 0 BB). In four starts against the Cubs this season, he’s 2-2 with a 3.96. For their careers, the Cubs are 45-161 (.280). Bryant is 9-25 with a HR.

No word on what ailment Braun will suffer over the weekend—other than the obvious. If Bernie Brewer is a no-show, it’s because I slashed his tires.

Lackey (11-11) and Woodruff (2-2) throw tomorrow at 6:30pmCST on ESPN*.

Go Cubs! 
 

Tags
2017 Season Game Thread

Comments

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Thu, 09/21/2017 - 09:31 am

While the Cubs magic number over the Brewers is indeed eight, it's seven over the Cardinals, so for the Cubs to clinch the N. L. Central on Sunday they would not only have to sweep the Brewers four-straight, but the Cardinals would have to lose at least three of their next four (one at CIN and three at PIT).  

Of course another possibility is that by the end of the weekend the Cubs will be a 1/2-game behind the Brewers, and then what the Colorado Rockies are doing in San Diego will be just as important to the Cubs as it is now to the Brewers and Cards. 

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Thu, 09/21/2017 - 09:28 am

Here is how the MLB Rule 33 tie-breakers work: 

SEEDING - TWO CLUBS SAME DIVISION: In the case of a tie between two clubs for a division championship, the club with the best head-to-head record gets the #1 seed and gets the home game. If the two clubs are tied head-to-head, then intradivision winning percentage (record within division) is used to determine seeding. If clubs are stil tied, then the intraleague winning percentage (the record within the clubs' own league) over the last half of intraleague games played is used to determine seeding. If still tied, then go one additional intraleague game further back from half (not including games two clubs played against each other) until one club has a better wnning percentage.  

SEEDING - TWO CLUBS TIED - WILD CARD: Same procedure as two clubs tied for division except intradivision winning percentage (record within club's own division) is not used (go directly from head-to-head to second-half intraleague record if head-to-head tied). 

SEEDING - THREE OR MORE CLUBS TIED - DIVISION: Club with best head-to-head against the other clubs gets #1 seed, then the head-to-head between the two remaining clubs, etc. If one club has a better head-to-head record against a second club and the second club has a better head-to-head record against the third club and the third club has a better head-to-head aganst the first club, then composite record among the three clubs in common games against each other is used. If still tied then go to last-half of intraleague record.

SEEDING - THREE OR MORE CLUB TIED - WILD CARD:  Club with best head-to-head against the other clubs gets #1 seed, then the head-to-head between the two (or more) remaining clubs. If one club has a better head-to-head against a second club and the second club has a better head-to-head record against the third club and the third club has a better head-to-head aganst the first club, then composite record amiong the three clubs in common games against each othet is used. If still tied then go to intradivision record, and then go to last half of intraleague record.   

TWO TEAM TIE FOR DIVISION OR WILD CARD: The two clubs play each other in a tie-breaker game on the Monday after the conclusion of the MLB regular season.  

THREE-TEAM TIE FOR DIVISION OR WILD CARD: Clubs choose designation based upon seeding. Clubs are Designated Club "A," Club "B," or Club "C". Club "A" and Club "B" play on Monday at Club "A" and Club "C" gets a "bye." The winner of Monday's game between Club "A" and Club "B" is the home team on Tuesday versus Club "C." 

TWO-TEAM TIE FOR DIVISION AND THREE-TEAM TIE FOR WILD CARD WITH TWO OF THE TEAMS TIED FOR WILD CARD ALSO TIED FOR DIVISION: The division winner is determined first and then the loser of the division tie-breaker game plays a wild card tie-breaker game at the third club (the club from the other division that was tied for the Wild Card) the next day after that. .

FOUR-TEAM TIE FOR DIVISION OR WILD CARD: Clubs are seeded and then choose (in order of seeding) to be either Club "A," "B," "C," or "D." Club "B" plays at Club "A" and Club "D" plays at Club "C" on Monday, and then the two winners play at home of Club "A" or Club "B" on Tuesday.

Other more-complicated permutations are based upon this same seeding system. First head-to-head (with common/composite record used if three or more clubs are tied and head-to-head is inconclusive), then intradivision record (if division tie-breaker but not for wild card tie-breaker), and finally record in last half of intraleague games played (with additional games added backward from half-way as necessary). 

If a club tied for the Wild Card is also tied for a division, the division winner is always determined first, and then the club that loses the division tie-breaker plays as the road team in the wild card tie-breaker. 

The MLB Commisioner may move tie-breaker games to other sites or schedule a doubleheader at one particular site depending on circumstances (weather, travel, etc)  

Tie-breaker games are considered "regular season" games for individual statistical purposes (HR, ERA, W-L, BB/K, OBP, SLG, etc), attendance, revenue, and gate receipts, but the games do NOT count in the standings, so draft order and waiver claim priority are not affected by the outcome of a tie-breaker game. 

Submitted by Jim Hickmans Bat on Thu, 09/21/2017 - 09:28 pm

Why are they not letting Otani come to America and choose who he wants to play for at a free market contract rate? It's obvious he wants to play for the Cubs. #freeotani #racistMLBantiasians #fixisin #stopthecubhate #otaniwewanti

Submitted by johann on Thu, 09/21/2017 - 09:30 pm

So it's felt like the Cubs offense has been Jekkyl and Hyde with wins/losses and offense but I ran the #s vs other division leaders and the Cubs have averaged 7.2 runs/win and 3.15 runs/loss and the other division leaders have averaged 6.60 runs/win and 2.61 runs/loss. The Cubs have scored .6 more runs per win and .54 more runs per loss so pretty much a wash. As frustrating as some of the games are then they definitely aren't unique.

Submitted by billybucks on Thu, 09/21/2017 - 09:39 pm

Brewers get back-to-back walk and score. Cubs get back-to-back walks with Rizzo and Contreras up and get nothing. Crap. Other than Schwarber HRs, there has been no offense the last 3 games. Ugh.

Submitted by The E-Man on Thu, 09/21/2017 - 09:40 pm

As I said yesterday, I believe this series decides the Division. If they lay an a egg, its on them and no one else.

Submitted by billybucks on Thu, 09/21/2017 - 09:01 pm

"Justin Wilson" is 2017 for "Adam Warren". Really, truly awful. Didn't like Joe going to Strop in the 7th for just (ha!) that reason -- who was going to pitch the 8th? With only 4 decent bullpen guys, this team cannot survive 5-inning starts.

Submitted by crunch on Thu, 09/21/2017 - 09:14 pm

happ and baez!!! tie game with 2 out in the top 9th. happ with the pure hustle and baez with the hit to get him in.

Submitted by crunch on Thu, 09/21/2017 - 09:28 pm

5th infielder time. happ gets to play IF in this version of the circus shift. bases loaded, 1 out, bottom 9.

Submitted by Jim Hickmans Bat on Thu, 09/21/2017 - 09:33 pm

I can't stop giggling that we have Wade Davis on the Cubs roster. Wadebot 2.0, so nice. Let's hope he gets the next couple of days off now.

[ ]

Submitted by billybucks on Fri, 09/22/2017 - 09:53 am

Looking to next year, I think the Cubs will either: - Make CJ the closer and hope he can improve his control and become next year's Knebel. This assumes they believe he can handle the workload. - Continue their practice of trading young, blocked talent (Torres, Soler) to get a top-level closer by trading Caratini. I think Joe likes having an experienced catcher, Caratini is too young to sit, and the Cubs don't really have any other pieces to trade (maybe Almora?) that could bring back a reliable closer. I don't see Theo paying Davis what the market rate will be -- he just turned 32, and the Cubs will likely need to pay up for an SP next year.

[ ]

Submitted by First.Pitch.120 on Fri, 09/22/2017 - 09:32 pm

Rondon? For argument's sake... was really good (maybe not elite) in 2014, 2015, & for the first 2/3 of 2016. I'm not sure I'm arguing for the plan, but he's still an asset. If somebody is going to take us to the cleaners on a trade in the off season, there are worse ideas than riding him for a few months & picking up somebody mid-season (Jeurys Familia? AJ Ramos? Brad Brach?).

[ ]

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Sat, 09/23/2017 - 09:34 am

Agree with you about CJ as closer-of-the-future. He throws his explosive fastball so smoothly, with so little effort, he should have excellent control, and will, I think in the not-too-distant future. But he's still a little nervous and jittery. He's getting over it. He had a terrific 9th inning last night; but then in the tenth, with a lead and a save situation, he started missing again. It's psychological right now. Both of his pitches are better than Rondon's. It's why Edwards never gets hit. He just tenses up and gets a little wild.

Submitted by billybucks on Thu, 09/21/2017 - 09:42 pm

Just...WOW! Cubs down to their last strike...Brewers load the bases with one out in the 9th, and have a 3-1 count on the batter...EFFING WOW! Wade Davis is something else. My goodness.

Submitted by billybucks on Thu, 09/21/2017 - 09:55 pm

Davis was so clutch, he should get the win AND the save. To quote Bill Raftery -- ONIONS!

Submitted by billybucks on Fri, 09/22/2017 - 09:03 am

As I said yesterday -- if you're going to lose, it's better to lose big and save your good bullpen guys. The difference in this game was we had our closer and they didn't have theirs.

[ ]

Submitted by billybucks on Fri, 09/22/2017 - 09:56 am

...and the Mets. I think Nelson's injury will be a problem for them. They have already said he will miss a "chunk" of next year after surgery. But, yeah, they have young, exciting talent, and hit for a lot of power. Again, if not for Braun, they would be a very likable bunch.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Fri, 09/22/2017 - 09:23 am

Let me not forget to salute Gary Jones for almost blowing the game. Only a third-base coach could get Bryant thrown out running the bases. Watch the top of the third if you don't get the reference. Here's my quick version: Rizzo hits a ground single to right with two on and one out. With the right fielder playing at Rizzo depth, Jones for some reason tries to stop the guy on second from scoring but Jay thinks he's crazy and scores easily. Meanwhile, Bryant sees the stop sign and stops, but then realizes Jones is crazy and gets thrown out trying to take third after all. Bryant's run would have been the third run, which would have given the Cubs a lead into the 8th. Wilson doesn't come in with the Cubs protecting a lead.

Recent comments

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa? 

  • Childersb3 (view)

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

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

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: I think there was an issue with Luke Little coming into a game with men on base. He seems to need a "clean" inning to be dominant. So he is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AAA. Same goes for Michael Arias. He needs to come into a "clean" inning, and is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AA. Porter Hodge is a more versatile pitcher, a better version of Keegan Thompson (multi-inning RP). But Little, Arias, and Hodge (probably in that order) are the Cubs top three RP prospects (all three are Cubs Top 15 prospects).

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    So, let’s do a little war gaming. Taillon is back for tonight’s game. He pitched two rehab games, just a few innings each, and not especially sharp. Let’s face it, he hasn’t been lights out since the Cubs gave him the big contract. In other words, as flat out bad as Hendricks has been, the chances of Taillon being the savior don’t look exactly promising.

    If Taillon is equally ineffective or perhaps even worse, what’s the next move? Winning teams can often find a way to work around a dud fifth starter - kinda. Two dud starters make things much more difficult.

    I believe the biggest reason for the recent bullpen moves was dissatisfaction with the recent blowing of big leads and the recognition that the bullpen wasn’t all it was thought to be. In other words, they are exploring alternate options and configurations. If similar juggling becomes necessary (even more so than it already is), what kind of reasonable maneuvering do we think could be explored?

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Cubdom needs to prepare themselves for Wicks to be sent to Iowa for Taillon to come up.
    Ben Brown has 4 appearances. Wicks has 4 appearances.
    Ben has 16.1 IP.  Wicks has 17 IP
    Ben was a 1.1 WHIP.  Wicks has a 1.7 WHIP. Wicks does have significantly more SOs. 
    Ben has been better, though.
    I love Wicks. I think he's a fighter and his stuff has improved.
    But, Jed isn't ditching Hendricks just yet. He should. But he won't.
    Hendricks should go to the IL and Taillon-Imanaga-Assad-Wicks-Brown should be the rotation.
    Wont' happen though.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil,
    Did you agree with the demotion of Luke Little? He'd been pretty good up until the AZ/wild pitch appearance. I know that can't jettison Smyly (just yet) so they didn't need another LHRP. Especially with Leiter effectively being a LHRP. I still thought he deserved to stay. It's not permanent. He'll be back. Lots of moves to come with Taillon, Steele and other guys coming and going.

    Also, do you see Hodge being able to "control/command" his stuff to get a chance this year?
    Is Arias better than Hodge?   Thanks

  • crunch (view)

    just waiting to hear patrick wisdom and masterboney are spotted at the airport going in opposite directions...

    aj puk going for the marlins (lefty)...gotta imagine we'll see wisdom in the lineup.

    someone has to make room for taillon, too.

  • crunch (view)

    he's a low-level cubs star in the modern history of the cubs (c.zambrano, k.wood, r.dempster, etc), but that star has dimmed...and has been dimming since 2021.

    2024 has been ugly the whole way and we're only in mid-april.  homers aside (even though there's been 7 in 17ip) he gave up 29 hits in 20 spring innings and 31 in 17 regular season innings.

    he's pretty much only got 2 pitches at this point in his career and the mix isn't fooling anyone.  he threw a noticable amount more curves in his last start to add to the mix and it didn't help his issues.  he don't have many moves left to break out.

  • Eric S (view)

    Definitely needs a 10 day stint for the hangnail - have to nip those things in the bud or suffer the consequences (ie, more opponent home run derby, etc)

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