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

Cubs vs. Athletics: Series Thread (Games 112-114)

The Cubs are in first place after sweeping the Brewers at home and now prepare for a three-game set against the Athletics. With the Cardinals still hot on their tail, they'll need to keep up the kind of intensity they've shown over the last few days. Although they are 8.5 games back in the AL West, don't expect the A's to go down easy. They are 64-48 and playing for an AL Wild Card spot and are an all around tough opponent. See match-ups below.


Game 112, Monday, August 5, 7:05pmCDT
CHC: RHP Kyle Hendricks (8-8, 3.07 ERA)
OAK: RHP Chris Bassitt (7-5, 3.84 ERA)

Hendricks starts things against the A's. He's coming off seven shutout innings and a win against the Cardinals. He last allowed a run on July 21, against the Padres. Khris Davis is 5-17 off of him, former Cardinal Stephen Piscotty is 4-15, and former Philly Cameron Rupp is 0-7.

Bassitt has accumulated 292 major league innings and 48 starts since 2014, briefly with the White Sox and then bouncing between the minors and the majors with the Athletics. He's spent the majority of 2019 healthy and in the majors. Nick Castellanos is 4-11 with three doubles off of him.


Game 113, Tuesday, August 6, 7:05pmCDT
CHC: LHP Jon Lester (9-7, 3.86 ERA)
OAK: LHP Brett Anderson (9-7, 4.04 ERA)

Lester surrendered five earned runs in a five-inning loss to the Cardinals last time out. Current A's have a .596 OPS against him in 56 at bats.

Former Cub Brett Anderson is back at it with the A's. He rebounded from his rough 2017 with a decent half-season in 2018 and has improved on that performance this year. His strikeout rate has just about hit bedrock, but he continues to get groundballs more than half the time. He hasn't won since July 5, having lost his last two and getting handed no-decisions in the two starts before that. He's allowed 13 earned runs in 24.1 innings during that stretch. Current Cubs are 6-20 off of him with three strikeouts.


Game 114, Wednesday August 7, 1:20pmCDT
CHC: LHP José Quintana (9-7, 4.40 ERA)
OAK: RHP Homer Bailey (9-7, 5.20 ERA)

Q allowed two earned runs over six innings and got a win as part of the Milwaukee sweep. Going back to the beginning of July, he's allowed sixteen earned runs over 28.2 innings and hasn't had a scoreless appearance since June 29. Current A's have a .860 OPS against him in 63 at bats. Robbie Grossman is 5-20.

The A's picked up Homer Bailey from the Royals after the All-Star break, and he's gone 2-1 in four starts since then. Most recently he got a no-decision while allowing two earned runs in six innings to the Brewers. Rizzo is 11-28 with two homeruns and six walks off of him. Heyward is 7-21 with a homerun.


Meanwhile, the Cardinals take on the Los Angels juggernaut and the Brewers try to make up some ground in a series against the last-place Pirates. Is it time for scoreboard watching yet? The division has been so tight all year that I feel like I've never really not been watching the standings.

Comments

I'm moved into my new place, but now I hop on a plane to Chicago for the week! Technically, I'm in town for a conference. But I'm meeting my dad there ahead of time and we are going to our first Wrigley games together. I'll be there Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon. You'll know who to blame if things go awry.

The Brave New World of post-Trade Deadline Outright Assignment Waiver claims has begun, as the Cincinnati Reds claim RHSP Kevin Gausman off waivers from the Braves, and so Reds assume 100% of what remains of Gausman's contract (about $3M in 2019 salary plus club control via salary arbitration in 2020).  

Craig Kimbrel to 10-day IL (retro to Sunday 8/4) with knee inflammation, so Duane Underwood Jr gets called-up from AAA (but maybe just for one day since Pedro Strop is eligible to be reinstated from IL tomorrow). 

heyward / cast / bryant / rizzo / baez / schwarber / caratini / kemp(2nd) / hendricks

Baez #27, 2-2. But Maddon takes Out Hendricks with a man on and 1 out in 7th. phew, Wick is wicked and gets the DP.

phew.

too much drama for a win.  wow.

Brad Brach cleared Outright Assignment Waivers (he was not claimed) and declined an Outright Assignment and so the Cubs have no choice but to give him his Unconditional Release.

Therefore the Cubs are on the hook for what remains of his 2019 salary (about $500K), plus the first $500K 2019 roster bonus, plus the 2020 $1.35M player option, plus the $100K 2020 club option severance (about $2.45M total), offset by the pro-rated MLB minimum salary in the event he signs a major league contract with another club in 2019 and/or in 2020 (about $150K remaining in 2019 and $555K in 2020).  

So Brach will spend the next couple of days on Outright Release Waivers (waiver price is only $1 but claiming club assumes 100% of player's remaining contract and player can reject waiver claim and still get 100% of his salary). 

Jonathan Lucroy is in the exact same spot with the Angels as Brach is with the Cubs, BTW. Like Brach, Lucroy was not claimed off Outright Assignment Waivers (waiver price $50,000 and claiming club assumses 100% of contract) and so now he goes on Outright Release Waivers (see previous paragraph). 

Both Brach and Lucroy will be free to sign with any club after they clear Release Waivers at 1 PM (Eastern) on Wednesday, and if they do, the player's new club will only have to pay the pro-rated MLB minimum salary for the balance of the 2019 season (about $150K). 

So if both Brach and Lucroy were to sign major league contracts with another club after clearing Release Waivers, what the Cubs would be paying Lucroy (pro-rated MLB minimum salary) would be offset by what another MLB club would be paying Brach (pro-rated MLB minimum salary), making it a de facto trade. 

2019 Kintzler placed on the ten day IL with a strained pectoral muscle. 2019 Strop activated from the IL

Insert 2019 gif of a kick to the nuts

4ip 10h 3bb 6k, 10er (11r)

major props to lester for marching back out there after giving up 8 in the 2nd to keep munching away on the shit sandwich he was eating.  that couldn't be easy to do in front of a dead house of 30K+ stunned fans.  at least they weren't boo'ing.

So we’re into August and Lester‘s ERA has gone from 3.86 to 4.46 in a single start - yeesh.

meanwhile, underwood over here putting on a f'n clinic.

2ip 0h 0bb 6k so far...

da hell is going on tonight?

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

t.davis is throwing so slowly it's not even registering on the gun for the tv broadcast.  jd mentioned 1 pitch showing 61mph on the park gun as a high mark.  ...and now the broadcast is showing him pitching in the 50s/60s.

bases loaded, 0 out...no runs score.  great job.  cubs pen problems are solved.

Schwarber is catching

and Taylor Davis is pitching

Always a sign that the Cubs are trying to close out a tightly contested game

Taylor Davis is legit.  Can get out of a jam, created by himself (Cubs bullpen tradition), but stays cool under pressure and knows how to keep the hitters off balance with his 50 mph heater.  We found our new closer.

I've now attended two games this season, and Jon Lester is 0-2 with 15 earned runs allowed in 8.1 innings in those games. I am willing to accept payment from Lester or any other Cubs' pitcher who would like me to not attend any more games. (You have approximately 13 hours, Q.)

Good idea.  The games I've attended this year the Cubs average 7 runs scored.  I take Paypal and Venmo to make it quick and easy.  Disclaimer:  Cannot guarentee win, just the runs.

Happer with the grand slam - playing his way into more starts at second. Three run shot by Schwarber not too shabby either

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Thankfully a non-Lester start is the magic elixir for Cub victory at Wrigley for you!  BTW, Cubs have scored a ton of runs in Q’s last three starts. Clearly he needs to start every other day. 

Also, I wouldn’t worry about Javy — he’s a baseball animal and probably will shed his leg overnight and grow a stronger one by morning. 

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.