Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
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, twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, one player is on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-18-2024
 
* 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
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 
* Justin Steele, P   

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




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs vs. Brewers: Series Thread (Games 36-38)

Submitted by Charlie on

The Brewers (23-16) come into town hot off a pair of series sweeps and looking to knock the Cubs(22-13) off the NL Central hill. Meanwhile, the Cubs will aim to handle business as well as they did last weekend against the Cards. See below for the matchups in each game.

Game 36
CHC: LHP José Quintana (4-1, 3.40 ERA)
MIL: LHP Gio Gonzalez (0-0, 2.69 ERA)
First pitch 1:20pmCDT

José Quintana has cooled just the slightest in his last couple starts. He's continued to control overall offense but stopped striking out the world like he had in many of his earlier outings. As long as he keeps the ball in the park, that lower strikeout rate might not be so bad. The bullpen has been weakened further by the loss of Strop, and the newly returned Montgomery pitched 5 (awesome) innings in relief of Darvish yesterday. So, the Cubs could use some efficiency from today's starter. The current Brewers have seen a ton of Quintana (295 ABs), with many ABs coming from former AL Central-ers Moustakas and Cain. The good news is, the total ABs are the only thing special about their numbers against him. Christian Yelich's Bondsian transformation (minus the bulk) has continued into May. He's been so good that the key to handling him might just be to handle the rest of the Brewers' lineup.

Gio Gonzalez returned to the Brewers on April 26 after opting out of his contract with the Yankees, for whom he'd been making AAA starts. His two starts so far have both been solid, and he struck out 7 Mets in 5.1 innings last time out. Jason Heyward is 8-37 against him, and Anthony Rizzo is 2-22.

Game 37
CHC: LHP Cole Hamels (3-0, 3.38 ERA)
MIL: RHP Zach Davies (4-0, 1.56 ERA)
First pitch 1:20pmCDT

Hamels got a no-decision on the 6th against the Marlins, when he pitched 6 and allowed 3 earned runs. He hasn't earned a win since April 17, but he also has yet to be tagged with a loss in 2019. His command has come and gone at times over his last three starts, but the strikeouts have been there to bail him out most of the time. Lorenzo Cain is 5-16 against him and utility man Hernan Perez is 7-14.

Zach Davies has yet to allow more than 2 runs in a start this year. He went 7.2 and allowed 2 earned runs against the Mets last time out. I can't see anything in his numbers to explain that 1.56 ERA (not even BABIP), and I also don't see any reason why the Cubs shouldn't be the first team to break his 2019 luck. Kris Bryant is 14-38 with 2 HRs against him, and the newly reinstated Addison Russell is 8-22. Javy has yet to collect an extra base hit against the soft throwing Davies, but he's got a .379 OBP against him.

Game 38
CHC: LHP Jon Lester (2-1, 1.43 ERA)
MIL: RHP Jhoulys Chacin (3-3, 5.03 ERA)
First pitch 6:05pmCDT

Jon Lester hasn't missed a beat since returning from the IL. He's allowed 3 runs, 1 earned, over those 3 starts (18 innings pitched). During that time he's also walked exactly 1 while striking out 19. The ever aggravating Ryan Braun is 8-20 against him and Cain is 8-22.

Jhoulys Chacin has not been good in 2019. His strikeouts and ground ball percentage are both down, while his walks are up. Anthony Rizzo is 7-22 with 3 HRs against him. Heyward is 3-19.


The rainy weather looks to have cleared for this series even if the cold has remained. Enjoy the trio of day games! Edit: I just remembered we get the Sunday night game on ESPN again. Sorry, all.

Tags
2019 Gameday Thread

Comments

Submitted by Eric S on Fri, 05/10/2019 - 05:32 am

The ever aggravating Ryan Braun career numbers against the Cubs in 743 PAs (174 games): 317/393/563, 120 runs, 132 rbi, 37 HRs. Can’t retire soon enough 

Submitted by crunch on Fri, 05/10/2019 - 05:38 am

5/10

almora/bryant(LF)/rizzo/baez/contreras/bote(3rd)/heyward/domesticabuser/Q

Submitted by crunch on Fri, 05/10/2019 - 05:51 pm

73 pitches through 6 innings with 6Ks for Q...unfortunately, he's also losing 1-0.

sharp outing reguardless.  hopefully he can go 8+ innings.

Submitted by Eric S on Fri, 05/10/2019 - 05:53 pm

The switch from La Stella to Descalso has not been so hot. Descalso now 0-10 as a pinch hitter

So far in 2019 ...

Descalso 86 AB, .244 BA, 2 HR, 0.0 WAR

La Stella 90 AB, .256 BA, 9 HR, 0.9 WAR

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sat, 05/11/2019 - 05:09 am

RHRP Allen Webster to 10-day IL (nerve inflammation in right arm) and LHRP Xavier Cedeno has been reinstated from 10-day IL. 

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 05/11/2019 - 05:17 pm

the cubs are probably not going to be "high end" active in the trade market given the tepid off-season moves they made (still a top spending team, however)...and they're probably not looking another lefty starter...nonetheless...

"Bumgarner’s contract allows him to block trades to eight teams, and sources told Rosenthal that his list includes the Braves, Red Sox, Cubs, Astros, Brewers, Yankees, Phillies and Cardinals."

so basically, he's already got enough world series rings and doesn't want another one.  seriously, that's an odd "no trade" list starring some of the best teams around.  it's like he doesn't want to be traded...or he wants to hold any interested team on the list hostage for conditions of a trade (like an extension).

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 05/11/2019 - 05:32 pm

e.jackson traded to the bjays from the As.

if he gets called up, that will be his 14th team (mlb record).

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 05/11/2019 - 05:37 pm

one major positive about the "replay era" is we no longer have the "ball beat you, you're out, period" proximity plays.

it's ushered in the era of the creative slide plays and that's kinda fun.

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 05/11/2019 - 05:11 pm

4ip 0h 3bb 7k, 0r/er, 68 pitches for chatwood going to the middle of the 15th...crazy

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sun, 05/12/2019 - 05:39 am

Cubs will probably need to call-up a pitcher for Sunday night's game. somebody who can throw multiple innings if needed, so that would probably be Alec Mills (stretched-out as a SP and hasn't pitched since last Tuesday).

So option Mark Zagunis to Iowa and recall Mills would be my guess. 

Then the Cubs can option Mills back to Iowa after Sunday night's game and maybe recall Ian Happ in time for the start of the Cincinnati series on Tuesday (Happ hits like Rogers Horsnsby in Great American Ballpark), unless Ben Zobrist suddenly reappears.  

Submitted by Jackstraw on Sun, 05/12/2019 - 05:07 pm

Carl Edwards with a 1-2-3 8th inning with the game tied.

He does that a couple hundred more times and I might become a believer.

Submitted by crunch on Sun, 05/12/2019 - 05:17 pm

rizzo starts his yearly "back tightness" thing...sitting out tonight...

heyward/bryant(1st)/baez/contreras/schwarber/bote(3rd)/descalso(2nd)/almora/lester

byrant at 1st with lester pitching...that's a bit of extra work for even a seasoned 1st baseman.  if contreras needs to control a runner he'll be throwing to a glove closer to the line than the runner.  he's played some 1st before, at least...won't be foreign territory.

Submitted by crunch on Sun, 05/12/2019 - 05:19 pm

things bote needs to learn:

1- at 2nd, unless the ball is dead, if javy touches it...be ready for a throw no matter how odd/strange/uncalledfor...

2- at 3rd, with lester on the mound, if it's hit to lester...that's your play unless it's quickly hit right to lester.

Submitted by crunch on Sun, 05/12/2019 - 05:04 pm

cubs win!

STL lost today, too...putting them even further back in 3rd place.

Submitted by George Altman on Sun, 05/12/2019 - 05:21 pm

A diesel locomotive has 8 throttle positions,  Run 1 thru Run 8....going to Cincinnati 10 over .500.......lots of season left, but they're moving this Express to Run 6.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 05/13/2019 - 05:51 am

If Ben Zobrist were to retire (and I'm not saying he will, but if he does), the Cubs would save about $9M in 2019 payroll that could be used to sign Craig Kimbrel (probably a $18M salary pro-rated to about $12M for 2/3 of the season) immediately after the draft (June 3-4-5).

The Red Sox extended a Qualifying Offer to Kimbrel post-2018 so that if he signs with another MLB club prior to the June draft the Red Sox get a 2019 compensation draft pick and the club that signs Kimbrel loses a 2019 draft pick, which is partly why Kimbrel and Keuchel are still unsigned.   

If this were to happen, Kimbrel could report to Mesa as early as June 6th and spend ten days getting ready to pitch in games, and then perhaps spend another ten days or so at Iowa or Tennessee maybe throwing an inning in a game every-other day. (Kimbrel has two minor league options left, so it would just be a matter of him agreeing to a minor league assignment that would essentially be "Spring Training" games for him). 

A 2020 mutual option could be included that would provide Kimbrel a $21M salary in 2020 or a $3M buy-out if the club option part of the mutual option is declined, making the deal (in effect) $15M for 2/3 of a season ($12M pro-rated salary in 2019 plus the $3M buy-out for 2020) with a two-year AAV hit against the Cubs payroll of only $7.5M per season 2019-20, or $33M for 1-2/3 seasons ($16.5M AAV hit in both 2019 and 2020) if the 2020 mutual option were to be exercised from both sides (which would probably be unlikely).

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Submitted by crunch on Mon, 05/13/2019 - 05:40 am

it's still all in the dark.  no reliable leaks/info.  no word on what's going on or when he might come back.

his wife shut down her twitter recently (before ben left the cubs) and there's some that claims that she deleted some ben pics from her instagram, but some of her regular followers claim that didn't happen and her insta never had many ben pics to begin with.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    happ, right hamstring tightness, day-to-day (hopefully 0 days).

    he will be reevaluated tomorrow.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I guess I'm not looking for that type of AB 

    Just a difference of opinion

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I don’t see Tauchman as a weak link in any position. He simply adds his value in a different way.

    I don’t know that we gain much by putting him in the outfield - Happ, Bellinger and Suzuki and Tauchman all field their positions well. If you’re looking for Taucnman’s kind of AB in a particular game I don’t see why it can’t come from DH.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Tauchman gets a pinch hit RBI single with a liner to RF. This is his spot. He's a solid 4th OF. But he isn't a DH. 

    He takes pitches. Useful. I still believe in having good hitters.

    You don't want your DH to be your weak link (other than your C maybe)

  • crunch (view)

    bit of a hot take here, but i'm gonna say it.

    the 2024 marlins don't seem to be good at doing baseballs.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Phil, will the call up for a double header restart that 15 days on assignment for a pitcher? Like will wesneski’s 15 days start yesterday, or if he’s the 27th man, will that mean 15 days from tomorrow?

    I hope that makes sense. It sounds clearer in my head.

  • Charlie (view)

    Tauchman obviously brings value to the roster as a 4th outfielder who can and should play frequently. Him appearing frequently at DH indicated that the team lacks a valuable DH. 

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally onboard with your thoughts concerning today’s lineup. Not sure about your take on Tauchman though.

    The guy typically doesn’t pound the ball out out of the park, and his BA is quite unimpressive. But he brings something unique to the table that the undisciplined batters of the past didn’t. He always provides a quality at bat and he makes the opposing pitcher work because he has a great eye for the zone and protects the plate with two strikes exceptionally well. In addition to making him a base runner more often than it seems through his walks, that kind of at bat wears a pitcher down both mentally and physically so that the other guys who may hit the ball harder are more apt to take advantage of subsequent mistakes and do their damage.

    I can’t remember a time when the Cubs valued this kind of contribution but this year they have a couple of guys doing it, with Happ being the other. It doesn’t make for gaudy stats but it definitely contributes to winning ball games. I do believe that’s why Tauchman has garnered so much playing time.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Miles Mastrobuoni cannot be recalled until he has spent at least ten days on optional assignment, unless he is recalled to replace a position player who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And for a pitcher it's 15 days on optional assignment before he can be recalled, unless he is replacing a pitcher who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, or Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And a pitcher (or a position player, but almost always it's a pitcher) can be recalled as the 27th man for a doubleheader regardless of how many days he has been on optional assignment, but then he must be sent back down again the next day. 

     

    That's why the Cubs had to wait as long as they did to send Jose Cuas down and recall Keegan Thompson. Thompson needed to spend the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he could be recalled (and he spent EXACTLY the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he was recalled). 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Indeed they do TJW!

    For the record I’m not in favor of solely building a team through paying big to free agents. But I’m also of the mind that when you develop really good players, get them signed to extensions that buy out a couple years of free agency, including with team options. And supplement the home grown players with free agent splashes or using excess prospects to trade for stars under team control for a few years. Sort of what Atlanta does, basically. Everyone talks about the dodgers but I feel that Atlanta is the peak organization at the current moment.

    That said, the constant roster churn is very Rays- ish. What they do is incredible, but it’s extremely hard to do which is why they’re the only ones frequently successful that employ that strategy. I definitely do not want to see a large market team like ours follow that model closely. But I don’t think free agent frenzies is always the answer. It’s really only the Dodgers that play in that realm. I could see an argument for the Mets too. The Yankees don’t really operate like that anymore since the elder Steinbrenner passed. Though I would say the reigning champions built a good deal of that team through free agent spending.

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