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 @ Reds: Series Thread (Games 4-7)

The Cubs head out for their first road trip with a series win against the Brewers under their belt. Next up on their divisional to-do list are the Cincinnati Reds, last year's fourth place team but an opponent with the potential to jump up and surprise in an unusual season. This four-game series constitutes 6.67% of the whole season; there's some substantive work to do in Cincinnati.


Game 4, Monday, July 27
CHC: LHP Jon Lester (0-0, -.-- ERA)
CIN: LHP Wade Miley (0-0, -.-- ERA)
5:40 pm CDT

The series opener is a match up of veterans. Wade Miley makes his debut as a Red following a very serviceable 2019 with the Houston Astros. You may remember that he also pitched an injury-shortened 2018 season with the Brewers. Right-handed hitters have fared significantly better off of Miley both in his career and recently, so the Cubs may take this opportunity to get some playing time for bench righties Albert Almora and/or Steven Souza. Almora is 4-10 with a dinger off of him, while Souza is 6-24 with a .750 OPS. Rizzo is 3-23 with no homeruns, but maybe those were loud outs; he's struck out only twice against Miley.

Lester gets his first action of 2020 after building up a bit more slowly than his rotation-mates. He hasn't been a top-of-the-rotation guy for three seasons, but the Cubs hope he can put up a bunch of solid outings and continue his campaign toward 200 wins. Former Cub Nicholas Castellanos has hammered Lester to the tune of 3 homeruns in only 12 at bats ( along with 3 singles and a double). Eugenio Suarez has tormented Lester across 42 ABs, accumulating 6 homeruns and a 1.306 OPS in the process.



Game 5
CHC: RHP Alec Mills (0-0, -.-- ERA)
CIN: LHP Tyler Mahle (0-0, -.-- ERA)
5:40pm CDT

Tyler Mahle opens the sequel in his sixth career start against the Cubs. Last year he had two no decisions having allowed seven earned runs in 12 innings pitched. Baez 4-10 with a homer off of him as is Schwarber, albeit Kyle has also struck out 5 times against the righty.

Alec Mills has been more than serviceable when called up on by the Cubs in 2018 and 2019. He finds himself in the rotation to start 2020 due largely to an injury to Quintana. Perhaps the 28-year-old righty can take advantage of it. He pitched 12 of last year's 36 innings against Cincinnati and allowed 4 runs across three appearances. He earned a win in a 2-inning relief appearance in Cincinnati on Sep. 16.



Game 6
CHC: RHP Kyle Hendricks (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
CIN: RHP Sonny Gray (1-0, 1.50 ERA)
5:40pm CDT

Sonny Gray's 2019 was his best season yet and a remarkable rebound from a middling 2018 that he spent with the Yankees. Current Cubs have done little off of him, collectively posting a .357 OPS in 122 ABs. Albert Almora leads the pack at 3-10 with a HR (and 4 strikeouts).

Hendricks pitched a gem on opening day, completing a 3-hit shutout in just over 100 pitches. If he can just do that every start, that should do.



Game 7
CHC: RHP Yu Darvish (0-1, 6.75 ERA)
CIN: RHP Luis Castillo (0-0, 1.50 ERA)
5:10pm CDT

Luis Castillo really started to put it together last year and has come into his own as a legitimate ace. He even neared the now elusive 200 inning mark, though he fell short at 190.2. Kyle Schwarber has tagged him for 3 homeruns and collected four walks off of him, and Contreras and Happ have posted OPSs north of 1.000 in limited exposure as well. Victor Caratani, Darvish's designated receiver, has 7 strikeouts and only one hit off the righty.

Darvish took a loss in his first start, struggling a bit with inefficiency and then giving up six hits in only 4 innings pitched. He did, however, avoid both the walk and the long ball. He's held most current Reds down, but last year's rookie sensation Aristides Aquino has tagged him for two homeruns in five ABs.

Comments

Boom, there it is.

MARLINS get Twelve (12)  positive covid tests. Four over the weekend and eight today (includes two coaches). The Marlins Home Opening Game in Miami vs Orioles is cancelled. Miami Team to stay in Philly. 

The Marlins are quarantined in Philly at a local hotel, putting the entire hotel staff at risk. The visitor clubhouse is a risk with the Yankees due to play tonight but at least the Yankees are at a different Philly hotel. The Philly club attendants for the visitors clubhouse are quarantined. The Yankees do have their own Clubhouse staff in town. This is the next level of disruption-outbreak. 

sources are from The Athletic and MLBTR

I'm sure they will all get rapid tested before allowing them to play vs Cubs in Cincy tonight.

Definitely a case for re-scheduling tonight's Cubs/Reds game as well - We'll see. 

Lineup posted: KB (LF), Rizzo, Javy, Schwarber (DH), Willson, Souza (RF), Bote (3B), Nico, Almora (CF) 

I like it  

Good lineup construction with a lefty on the mound - rather not see JHey starting against them more times than not.  Hopefully KB's bat gets going but at least he's played very sharp defense at third and he hasn't been a liability in the outfield in prior years. Bote had extreme reverse splits last season - need that to straighten out as well. 

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Can't imagine they play a game in the next 2 weeks without bringing in the entire taxi squad. With that many positives, everyone should be quarantining.

MLB: These protocols will protect our profits players from a very contagious virus!

Marlins active roster: 40+% infected in 1 weekend.

rain delay...

it's long enough that they're not expected to make another announcement for an hour+.

len/jd in suits bothers me more than it should.  i have no idea why i even have an opinion on this.

rizzo is good at HR's and HBP's.

lester goes 5ip 0h 1bb 1k, 1hbp on 76 pitches.  he was taken out throwing a no-hitter, but he wasn't exactly dazling even if it wasn't bad at all.

Wonder if the back issue KB experienced last week is still biting him - weird seeing him look so bad/off against 87 mph fastballs up in the strike zone 

Really did not want to see this become a save situation.  Also: in late innings with a lead, may want to swap Souza out for JHey because Souza just cost the Cubs two runs ... and thus creating the save situation 

Well, that was a big improvement by Kimbrel - he did not give up a homer. #progress

Clutch job by Jeffress - How in the hell is Theo going to get out of this self fulfilling Kimbrel death spiral. 

Jesus.

That might have gone a wee bit better.

I found it interesting that Ross let Kimbrel get into the worst case scenario for a reliever without control/command (outside of a game-ending HR). Once the bases were loaded, I started getting "Marmol" flashback anxiety attacks. Clearly a 3 run lead was the perfect situation to break in Kimbrel but, sheesh...that was as close to ugly as it gets.

Kimbrel is toast. Might be time to cut losses. He at least shouldn't be the closer for the moment.

went to bed to a 8-1 game.

this pen is butt.  kimbrel is butt.  butts.

kimbrel is the first pitcher since 9/26/18 to walk 3+ and HBP a guy in 0.1ip.  that pitcher was kimbrel.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Kimbrel becomes a free-agent and delays signing until mid-season, then gives up a ton of game-blowing HR once he does return to MLB, then starts to get skittish about throwing strikes and tries to get hitters to chase pitches out of the strike zone, then walks the world, and that's where Kimbrel is at right now. 

From the Cubs POV, they can't use Kimbrel in high-leverage sitiations until further notice. It's not that Jereny Jeffress or Dillon Maples or Rowan Wick are great closer options, but Kimbrel is an unmitigated disaster right now. 

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

Even with 16 pitchers (and 11 relief pitchers) on the Active List roster, there is already a strain on the Cub bullpen just four games into the season.

They probably need to drop Josh Phegley right now (Phegley is out of minor league options and will likely be claimed off waivers when the Cubs remove him from the active list, but so be it) and replace him with another RP (like maybe Jason Adam, Adbert Alzolay, Dakota Mekkes, Colin Rea, or Michael Rucker) and then keep Jose Lobaton on the taxi squad as a 3rd catcher (in case anything happens to Contreras or Caratini) and sign one or two more veteran AAA catchers for the practice squad.   

The Cubs cannot afford to keep Phegley on the Active List. They can't wait until the 30-to-28 cut-down on the 15th day of the regular season (August 6th). They need to replace Phegley with another pitcher immediately.  

cool long term follow up. Probably makes Theo/Jed feel good too.

from the Athletic (Bowden)

Thankfully, there were a lot of feel-good stories over the opening weekend. Daniel Bard of the Colorado Rockies won his first game since 2012 and appeared in his first game in seven years. He pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, picking up the victory. Having overcome the yips, he said just three words to his manager Bud Black after the win: “That was fun.” 

WAS players have "voted" to not play MIA this weekend.  it's up to MLB, but WAS has made their voice heard.  this is all working out just great.

also, MIA has 4 more covid positives.  15 players and 2 coaches...

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Manfred has the right to relocate game(s) as he sees fit, which should be no big deal given the fact that there are no spectators and thus no ticket sales to refund, and there should be hotel rooms available all over the country in case of a last minute change of venue. So while the Marlins probably wouldn't like it, Manfred could order them to just stay isolated in their hotel rooms and (for the players who don't test positive) play road games only indefinitely. 

Also, Manfred can temporarily change waiver claim priority so that a club that has an outbreak can get first waiver claim priority as long as necessary. And since players on the CoViD-19 IL do not count against the MLB 40-man roster, the Marlins can probably just keep making waiver claim after waiver claim (they claimed two pitchers from the Reds yesterday) and get additional players that way. 

Worst case scenario is that the Marlins (or any other club that might face a CoViD-19 outbreak in the days and weeks ahead) just don't play for a period of time and the postponed games are not made up. But so what? What with the goofy schedule and with 16 teams making the post-season playoffs, does it really matter if some games are canceled and not made up (as long as the situation isn't intentionally manipulated by a club to gain a competitive advantage)?   

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

so now we're here...

Craig Mish @CraigMish
The Miami Marlins 2020 season at least temporarily,  has been paused. This will allow the team to continue to monitor health and safety of players.

...also, the yanks/phillies game tonight has been postponed

Manfred has the right to relocate game(s) as he sees fit, which should be no big deal...

How about Nuuk, Greenland?  Would he need approval from Denmark?

Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Mexico City, San Juan or Santo Domingo?

London, Rome, Berlin or Tel Aviv?

does it really matter if some games are canceled and not made up (as long as the situation isn't intentionally manipulated by a club to gain a competitive advantage)?   

So now we have to worry about bad teams performing or allowing bioterrorism on the good teams? The Yankees have a lot of enemies. Could an owner be bought off to the allow his team to sacrifice the season to take out the Yankees? Tribalism, the new America (except we can't use "Tribe" as a team name). Who is Putin's favorite team? (Answer: The Reds).

Man Cubs bullpen is a shitshow so far. Rowan Wick our best reliever?

[ ]

In reply to by chitownmvp01

Of the 11 (11!) relievers currently on the 30 man roster, I have these four relievers as their current top tier: Wick, Ryan, Jeffress and Tepera, with top tier defined as least likely to implode in any appearance.  

[ ]

In reply to by Eric S

ERIC S: Agreed, plus maybe Brad Wieck (but only if it's version 2019) once he is healthy.

And I would add that if there is anybody in the pen who might emerge as a shut-down high-leverage get-out-of-a-tough-jam guy like Carlos Marmol was back in the day (before he became a closer), it would be Dillon Maples, who has the best pure stuff on the staff and is virtually unhittable (though he must cut-down on his walks before I would trust him to get the final three outs). And I like Rex Brothers as another late-inning "get out of a jam with strikeouts" guy, but (like Maples) he can't close unless & until he throws strikes more consistently.  

Alec Mills should have value as a multi-inning and piggy-back guy if & when Quintana is back in the rotation, and I would also say that although Duane Underwood Jr gives up too many HR to be a useful late-inning reliever, he does have the variety and quality of stuff to be a SP or (even better) a multi-inning piggy-backer, except the Cubs won't be able to send him to South Bend to get him stretched-out since he is out of minor league options (as is Mills). 

Norwood (despite the high-90's FB velo), Winkler, and Sadler (despite being out of minor league options) have the least value and should be the first to get cut.

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

My heart sank when Winkler came into the game with a 6-0 lead in the sixth and immediately walked the first two hitters on nine pitches (and the pitches were not particularly close either) Really set the tone for the remainder of the game.  I think Sadler walked the first batter he saw in an exhibition game on four pitches with a lead as well ...

Agree with your tiers and it's a bummer that Wieck has had the health setbacks this year

bryant and contreras days off.  both at once?  a'ite.

rizzo / caratini / baez / schwarber(LF) / happ(CF) / heyward / bote(3rd) / kipnis(DH) / hoerner

m.mikolas (STL) to have season ending arm surgery.  in great STL tradition, some minor leaguer not on the national radar will come up and pitch cy young quality ball until they're traded away and totally fall apart.

the cubs dugout is talking smack to the guy who tried to fight an entire dugout last year.

So Wick for the save?

Nice job by Sadler tonight, even with the home run allowed

The Cubs 162 game rounded-off equivalency record is now 11-3, their best start since 2016.  

I think it's been discussed but Cardinals just lost Miles Mikolas for the season to pitching arm flexor tendon, probable TJ surgery. Calling all Bob Tewksbury and Kyle Lohse clones. Can Dexter Fowler pitch?

bryant / rizzo / baez / schwarber (LF) / contreras / heyward / happ (CF) / caratini (DH) / hoerner

mlb suspends joe kelly (LAD) 8 games for throwing at alex bregman (HOU)...that's a normal season equivalent of a 3-week suspension.

it's notable that joe kelly is a notorious headhunter at this point that's been suspended for it in the past.

I forgot about Hendricks huge home/road splits from last year. Reds have rudely brought them back to my attention

Just one of those nights - Gray is simply dealing - no-hitter type stuff

rex brothers with 38 pitches of crap to cap off hendricks losing it in the 4th...now it's norwood's turn to do whatever it is he wants to do being down by 9 runs.

triple play!

hey, something good.

Even though we are heading into the second week of the MLB regular season, the games feel more like the second or third week of the Cactus League to me. 

Colin Rea called up from the South Bend Bubble - Dillon Maples sent back to said Bubble. 

From limited times I've seen Rea pitch in the majors, he's gives up hard contact, but generally his pitches end up in the catcher's mitt when not smoked over outfield walls

[ ]

In reply to by Eric S

ERIC S: Rea was the PCL Pitcher of the Year in 2019. He has a full assortment of SP-type stuff and is a classic #6 (4-A) starter with a minor league option available (actually two) that would have made him valuable in a pre-CoViD-19 2020 MLB season in a Des Moines-Chicago "shuttle" role, and now at the very least he will give the pen somebody who can throw multiple innings.    

Intersting thing about Rea is that with 12 days in MLB in 2020 (12 days in 2020 being equivalent to 33 days in a normal MLB regular season) he will become arbitration-eligible post-2020 (which also probably makes him more-likely to be non-tendered post-2020) 

Also, by spending the first seven days of the 2020 MLB regular season on the Cubs MLB Active List roster Dillon Maples accrued 20 days of MLB Service Time. 

Phils-Jays series canceled. Phils have one coach and one staffer but no players test positive. 

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

That works out perfectly, because now the Nationals (whose weekend series with the Marlins was canceled) can play the Blue Jays (whose weekend series with the Phillies has been cancelled) three games in DC over the weekend. 

The new thing in MLB circa 2020... 

Ad hoc scheduling, just like a mid-summer after-dinner pick-up game back in the old neighborhod when I was a kid.  

"You guys vwanna play a game?" 

"Sure! Let's do it!"  

bryant / rizzo / baez / schwarber / contreras(DH) / heyward / caratini / hoener / happ

david bote is sitting around waiting for someone to get injured so he can play i guess.

MLB likely to announce (premature news blurb, but it's believed to be in place) double headers will be 7-inning games this season.

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.