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

Your 2019 Eugene Emeralds!

6/12 UPDATE/CHANGES

SS Luis Vazquez has been moved-down to Eugene from AAA Iowa and C Marcus Mastrobuoni has been reinstated from the South Bend 7-day IL and so his rehab assignment at Eugene has been canceled.  

C-1B Danny Zardon has been moved up to Eugene from AZL Cubs #1, and SS Luis Verdugo has been moved down to AZL Cubs #2 from Eugene.  

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


6/9 ORIGINAL POST 6/9


The Northwest League begins play this coming Friday (6/14). 

Here is the provisional 2019 Eugene Emeralds Opening Day roster (subject to change). 

In most cases 2019 draft picks will be initially assigned to one of the Cubs two AZL squads.

 EUGENE  

35 players 

Last updated 6-12-2019

SS-A 

* bats or throw left 
# bats both

PITCHERS: 21 
Maikel Aguiar 
* Chris Allen 
Alfredo Colorado 
Jeremiah Estrada 
Kohl Franklin 
Fauris Guerrero 
Garrett Kelly 
Ryan McCauley 
Ivan Medina 
M. T. Minacci (will likely begin season on 60-day IL) 
Zach Mort 
Eduarniel Nunez 
Raidel Orta 
Yunior Perez 
* Ruben Reyes (ex-OF)
Casey Ryan 
Niels Stone 
Jesus Tejada 
* Didier Vargas 
Carlos Vega 
Blake Whitney

CATCHERS: 3
Caleb Knight 
* Jonathan Soto 
Danny Zardon 

INFIELDERS: 6 
Luis Diaz 
# Reivaj Garcia
Rafael Mejia 
# Yonathan Perlaza 
Jake Slaughter 
Luis Vazquez  

OUTFIELDERS: 5 
* Edmond Americaan  
Yovanny Cuevas 
Dalton Hurd 
Fernando Kelli
Brandon Vicens

MANAGER
Lance Rymel  

COACHES
Mike Carter (Hitting Coach/Outfield Instructor)
Armando Gabino (Pitching Coach) 
Carlos Rojas (Assistant Coach/Infield Instructor)

ATHLETIC TRAINER
Sean Folan 

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACH
Dallas Lopez 

Comments

j.estrada...good.

i'm ready to see him get his shot at moving up the system.

Franklin, Y. Perez, E. Nunez, Stone, Estrada, and D. Vargas were stretched-out as SP at EXST, but Vargas might work more as a RP than as a SP because of a need for another lefty in the pen.

RHSP Yovanny Cruz, RHSP Danis Correa, LHRP Riger Fernandez, and RHRP Jake Reindl were projectad to make the Eugene Opening Day roster at the start of Extended Spring Training, but all four were shut-down during the course of EXST and so they will be left-behind in Mesa.  

RHSP Kendall Graveman (on Cubs 60-day IL - July 2018 TJS) threw a bullpen side-session this morning at Riverview and he looks to be about ready to throw "live" BP and then begin a minor league rehab assignment in the AZL.

Because he had TJS he is eligible to have his Article XIX-C minor league rehab assignment renewed for up to 30 additional days beyond the normal 30 day max limit, so he could spend up to 60 days on a Minor League Rehab Assignment in July-August before possibly getting reinstated from the 60-day IL in September (presuming there are no medical setbacks during the course of the rehab). 

Graveman would also figure to be in the mix to replace Cole Hamels in the 2020 Cubs starting rotation (Hamels is a FA post-2019). 

Every short-season A team should have 15 healthy right-handed pitchers, right?  Or maybe pitcher-heavy drafting for three consecutive years doesn't work in the real world?  After really poor results developing pitching internally, I think panic has set in.  Nice to have a lot of bites at the apple, which is how Theo talks about this.  But to assess your talent, the pitchers have to get meaningful innings against quality competition.  With a bloated pitching roster here, several guys side-railed at higher levels and some prior high draft picks still in Extended, who knows what have we have really got?  The few undamaged guys we have given up on at higher levels seem to find new teams right away.  I am happy for them but I think it shows the Cubs have too many arms in the system to understand what they've got and other teams can see it.

Craig Kimbrel threw a 44-pitch bullpen session this morning (with a number of high-level staff in attendance) at Riverview about an hour after the Eugene Emeralds bus pulled out of the parking lot headed to Sky Harbor Airport.

Other than bouncing a handful of sliders, Kimbrel's session seemed to go well (threw all 44 pitches without a break) and afterward he appeared to be in good spirits, shaking hands with Rehab Catcher Tyler Pearson and Rehab Pitching Coach Carlos Chantres. 

Next step is "live" BP, probably on Wednesday, as Kimbrel continues his "Spring Training" in June in Mesa. 

[ ]

In reply to by Raisin101

RAISIN: That's really peculiar.

The Eugene provisional roster I received has Luis Verdugo (not Luis Vazquez) listed as one of the infielders, Raidel Orta is listed as a LHP on the linked list but I can tell you he is absolutely positively a RHP (the roster I got does not distinguish between LHP and RHP, so I guess you just have to know which ones are which), M. T. Minacci, Garrett Kelly, and Zach Mort are on my Eugene roster (although as I mentioned in the post Minacci will likely be placed on the Eugene 60-day IL, and Kelly and Mort were not at Extended Spring Training so I don't know if they will actually physically report directly to Eugene or maybe be relocated to another affiliate's roster prior to NWL Opening Day), and Marcus Mastrobuoni will be at Eugene on a rehab assignment (he is on the South Bend 7-day IL) after spending April & May at EXST (he had hip or knee surgery last year). 

BTW, prior to the start of the short-season leagues in June, a player on a minor league injured list can rehab at Extended Spring Training and play in Cactus League EXST games (which are every bit as real as minor league games at South Bend or Myrtle Beach, except the EXST games are not "official" and there are no roster limits), and then after the conclusion of Extended Spring Training a player on a minor league injured list (including any player on an MLB 40-man roster who is on Optional Assignment to the minors) can be assigned on a roster-exempt rehab assignment only to a short-season league affiliate (Eugene, AZL Cubs #1, or AZL Cubs #2, but not the two DSL teams), with a maximum of three minor league rehabbers assigned to any one of the short-season affiliates at any one time. In fact that's one of the reasons the Cubs added a second AZL team last year, so that they could place more minor league players on roster-exempt rehab assignments.

There is no limit on the number of players on a club's MLB injured list(s) who can be assigned on a roster-exempt Article XIX-C Minor League Rehab Assignment to any one affiliate at any one time (Barnette and Cedeno are both at Iowa right now, but the entire Cubs MLB IL contingent could be at Iowa at the same time if the Cubs wanted it that way), and a player on an MLB IL can be assigned on a roster-exempt rehab assignment to any minor league affiliate (including full-season affiliates), even to a minor league affiliate while it is playing in its league's playoffs (imagine winning the Southern League Championship because you had a rehabbing Anthony Rizzo and Javy Baez in the lineup!).  

When Adbert Alzolay, Jake Stinnett, and Tommy Nance left EXST they were reinstated from the Iowa IL (Alzolay) and Tennessee IL (Stinett and Nance) and were assigned to Myrtle Beach on an unofficial (but real) rehab assignment, but because a player on a minor league IL cannot be assigned to another full-season affiliate in the organization as a roster-exempt rehab player, Alzolay, Stinnett, and Nance counted against the Pelicans active list roster limit while they were there, even though they were rehabbing.  

So because he is on South Bend's IL and because Eugene is a Cubs short-season affiliate, Marcus Mastrobuoni will not count against Eugene's active list roster limit, and you can also expect a full load (three rehabbers per team) assigned to the Cubs two AZL teams when they begin play next Monday (probably Little, Hultzen, Hockin, de los Rios, K. Thompson, and Lillis-White to start with, and eventually Hoerner, Z. Short, F. Mejia, and Cardona).

There are no official roster-exempt rehab assignments permitted for players on the Eugene, AZL Cubs #1 and #2, and DSL Cubs #1 and #2 injured lists (they just get reinstated from the IL when they are ready to play in games, and they count against their club's active list roster limit when they are reinstated from the IL). 

AZ Phil, did you ever see Luis Vazquez making it a month between AA and AAA with no one replacing him?

That's kind of crazy, right? 

Childersb3: I do know that the Cubs consider Luis Vazquez (right now) to be the best defensive SS in the system, and I have seen him make plays in the field that only Javy Baez can make (and that's going back to AZL 2017, AZ Instructs post-2017, and to Minor League Camp in 2018).

That said, I did not foresee him getting to AAA or even to AA in 2019, even as an emergency injury replacement. He really belongs at South Bend (or at Myrtle Beach if Ademan wasn't there), and as I think I might have mentioned here this time last year, Vazquez is a legit prospect just because of his glove. His defense is elite. And he's only 19! 

HAGSAG: He's supposed to be here, but I haven't seen him. Or at least he's not throwing bullpens. 

PHIL: Is there a chance (or have you heard) that Rafael Morel would move up from the DSL once the AZL gets under way? How often does that happen?

K-DUB: I have never seen an in-season promotion to the AZL for a Cubs DSL position player, because the position-player draft picks are initially assigned to the AZL, and even if the draft pick eventually gets moved-up to Eugene, some other position-player at Eugene gets moved-down to the AZL to make room for the draft pick, and so getting regular playing time becomes problematic.   

It's not that unusual for pitchers (especially older DSL pitchers) to get moved-up to the AZL from the DSL during the season, however, because the pitcher draft picks are usually placed into a conditioning throwing program at the UAPC after they sign and don't pitch in games right away, which creates a need for fresh arms in the AZL (especially with the Cubs running two AZL teams). So older DSL pitchers like Jose Gomez, Francisco Gracia, Francisco Fermin, and/or Donato Auguste could get moved-up to the AZL, possibly as soon as this weekend. Last year the Cubs waited too long to call-up extra pitchers from the DSL and so they ended-up having position players pitch in AZL games (and they were close games, too, not blow-outs) during the first week of the AZL season.

As for R. Morel, as long as he's getting his reps he'll almost certainly stay in the DSL for the entire season, then maybe come up to AZ Winter Instructs in January, then perhaps Minor League Camp in March, then very likely Extended Spring Training Apiril-May, and then AZL (maybe Eugene) in June. There's really no reason to rush him. 

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • 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.