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 

 



 

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Rule 5 Draft 
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Cubs @ Cards: Series Thread (Games 55-57)

The Cubs swoop into St. Louis to pick off a few Cardinals this weekend. Kris Bryant and I hope every Cubs player gets boo'd this weekend!

The Cubs have dropped six out of their last ten games, but they remain atop the NL central and 4.5 games ahead of the Cards. Bryant returned to the lineup on Wednesday as DH, after taking some time off to recover from an outfield collision with Heyward. Javy played the field on Wednesday, but he played 3rd base after DH-ing a few games to rest his injured heel. The Cubs have been on a heck of a homerun streak, but have only occasionally translated that into a win. On Wednesday, Kyle Hendricks's strong performance helped the Cubs take advantage of early homeruns by Schwarber and Bryant.The Cardinals are sliding just under .500 at 27-28. They haven't won a series since before their sweep at the hands of the Cubs during the first weekend of May! Since then, they've lost two series each to the Phillies and Atlanta, as well as one series to the Rangers and another to the Pirates. They split a double-header with Kansas City. On the season, they are 15th in the majors in both runs scored and wRC+. They're pitching is also middle of the pack in terms of ERA. Yadier Molina is day-to-day with a thumb injury.

See game-by-game notes below:


Game 55: First pitch 7:15pmCDT
CHC: RHP Yu Darvish (2-3, 5.40 ERA)
STL: RHP Miles Mikolas (4-5, 4.76 ERA)


Last time out, we got bad Yu. But we got a different version of bad Yu, so that's something! He threw a lot of strikes and the Reds responded by swinging a lot. It worked out, for the Reds--they collected 12 hits and 6 earned runs. He was also sent out for the beginning of the 8th inning to, I think, everyone's surprise. He allowed five earned runs in four innings against the Cards on May 4. Taylor Davis saved that particular day.

Miles Mikolas dodged the Cubs earlier in the month. He went seven decent innings in a loss against Atlanta last time out, allowing three earned runs on seven hits, two homeruns. The start before that he exited in the second, allowing seven earned runs as things went off the rails in Texas. Javy is 3-11 off of him with a homerun. Rizzo is 4-11.


Game 56: First pitch 6:15pmCDT
CHC: LHP José Quintana (4-4, 3.73 ERA)
STL: RHP Jack Flaherty (4-3, 3.77 ERA)

Quintana followed six shutout innings against the Phillies by allowing six runs, five earned, in 5.1 innings against the Reds. It was the first time he'd allowed more than 3 runs in a start since his April 5th clunker against Milwaukee. He had a hard time getting the ball by anybody, allowing 12 hits and striking out only 2. He beat the Cards on May 5, allowing two earned runs in six innings. Goldschmidt, Fowler, and Ozuna have absolutely wrecked him. Maddon might want to start a reliever in left and just Waxahachie swap for those plate appearances.

Jack Flaherty is very good and I kind of hate it. He pitched six shutout innings against Atlanta last time. He lost to Cubs on May third through little fault of his own; he allowed three earned runs in 5.2 innings despite striking out nine. Rizzo tagged him for a three-run homerun following walks to Descalso and Bryant.


Game 57: First pitch 1:15pmCDT
CHC: LHP Cole Hamels (4-1, 4.02 ERA)
STL: RHP Adam Wainwright (4-5, 4.94 ERA)

Hamels didn't have much going for him last time, allowing six earned runs on four walks and no strikeouts in four innings against the Astros. It's his first really rough start since March, but he's been struggling with inconsistent command going back to the end of April. He's been able to battle and work around that issue in other starts, but it really caught up to him against the Houston lineup. He posted his lowest zone percentage and first pitch strike percentage of any single start in 2019. He didn't pitch in the last Cubs-Cards series, Ozuna is 9-32 with three homeruns off of him.

Honestly, y'all. I'm not really enjoying Wainwright's decline anymore. His 4.94 ERA isn't even out of character with his performances after his 2015 injury. I sort of admire the way in which he's managed to continue to be a good enough MLB pitcher even though he's nowhere near the kind of starter he was before that injury. Anywho, he he allowed four earned runs despite ten strikeouts against the Phillies last time out. The Cubs contributed six earned runs to his decline on May 5, but he allowed only five hits and two walks while pitching into the sixth. Willson hit a solo homerun off of him. He's 3-13 with three walks and two homeruns off of Wainwright. Addison Russell is 7-18.


The forecast looks good for this weekend.

The Cubs will see the Cardinals again in less than a week, June 7-9.

Comments

The discourse around safety netting has been renewed since the young girl was injured on Wednesday night. Cubs players, understandably and to their credit, immediately voiced support for as much netting as would protect fans: https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/30/us/houston-foul-ball-hurts-child-trnd/in…

No update yet on the girl's health. I'm a little put off by media coverage of injuries like this, which can draw a lot of perverse fascination. But it's also felt pretty bad to know that a child was in significant danger and not to know if she is OK. I'm hoping for good news, however vague, from tonight's broadcast.

That dumbass Mclaughlin on the Cardinals broadcast yesterday kept bringing up the Bryant statement about St. Louis being boring. Very child like on his part. 

[ ]

In reply to by Hagsag

I wonder what portion of Cardinals fandom really likes that "controversy." It still whips up Twitter scorn, but that could be like 200 vocal fans out of millions who like to act like they care.

I thought the original diss was super boring in itself. Kris Bryant is not a person I'd go to for a fun insult.

one of the ball dudes at the ARZ game snagged a ball in play...so awkwardly embarrasing.

that said, it's actually an advantage for ARZ because only 1 run scores rather than 2 that should have scored.

ball dude is mortified at himself.  thankfully, the camera crew isn't focusing on him after the initial screwup.

schwarber / bryant(3rd) / rizzo / contreras / heyward / russell(SS) / bote(2nd) / amora / Q

baez scratched (right heel)

rain delay...putting the tarp on before the rain has even showed up (not a horrible move, but it sets things up for a longer delay).

MIL/PIT is playing a crazy one.  bottom 11th, tied at 10.

meanwhile in ARZ...tim locastro is HBP for the 9th time this season...in his 53rd PA.

Very lethargic Cubs squad can’t get out of St Louis soon enough.  Not sure why Javy is at short while the heel is still clearly bothering him - his slow run to first on his gidp not encouraging. 

wainright pitching the 8th...that's a gamble.

...and it worked for STL...barely.  this was almost a tie game...almost...

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.