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, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* 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
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

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





Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs vs. Pittsburgh: Series Thread (Games 7-9)

With the finale in Cincinnati rained out, the Cubs gather their things and head home to take on the Pirates. The Cubs come into the series atop the division with a 4-2 lead. The Pirates, meanwhile, bring up the rear with the Cincinnati Reds, both at 2-4.


Game 7, Friday, July 31, first pitch 7:15pmCDT
CHC: RHP Yu Darvish (0-1, 6.75 ERA)
PIT: RHP Trevor Williams (0-1, 7.36 ERA)

Both Darvish and Williams left something to be desired in their initial starts. K.B. is hitting .375 with 2 HRs of Williams in 16 ABs, and he has now had an extra day to rest his sore left elbow. Schwarber is at .364 with 3 long balls in 22 ABs. Josh Bell has the lone homerun off of Darvish among current Pirates.


Game 8, Saturday, August 1, first Pitch 7:15pmCDT
CHC: RHP Tyler Chatwood (1-0, 1.50 ERA)
PIT: RHP Mitch Keller (1-0, 1.80 ERA)

Tyler Chatwood got his 2020 season off on the right foot, going  6 innings and striking out 8 while earning his first win. His fastball command was sharp enough, and he mixed a slider-cutter hybrid especially effectively against lefties. Mitch Keller improved to 2-5 for his MLB career by winning his first start of 2020 on five inings pitched and 2 strikeouts. No current Cub has more than 5 ABs against him.


Game 9, Sunday, August 2, first pitch 1:20pmCDT
CHC: LHP Jon Lester (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
PIT: TBD

Jon Lester gets the ball for the matinee finale. Despite being somewhat behind schedule as far as building up for the season, he managed 5 innings pitched, 1 strikeout, and his first win of 2020. He allowed no hits and only one baserunner but had no shot at completing it as he was on a strict pitch count. Adam Frazier is 6-11 off of him.

Comments

So the Cubs are playing a 59 game schedule now? At this pace it projects to a 50-52 game season at best. 

Remember when we could've taken Nate Pearson in the Draft and instead took Brendon Little?

Oops.

Can't keep crying over Earl Cunningham and other "little" mistakes.

Hard to believe but 10% of the season is over. 

STL/MIL postponed friday because "someone" with STL tested positive.

supposedly it's at least 2 STL players...saturday game still on (for now)...hoping to play doubleheader sunday.

Here are some covid tracing informational stats.

The Cardinals just came from Minnesota but had Thursday off.  The cancelled game was scheduled in Milwaukee. The Twins played last night vs. Indians in Minn.  I'm not sure but suspect the Cards had their day off in a Milwaukee hotel. 

The two positive tests are pitchers. Here is the Cardinal pitching roster: Jr Fernandez, Jack Flaherty, Gio Gallegos, John Gant Austin Gomber, Ryan Helsley, Dakota Hudson, KH Kim, Carlos Martinez, Andrew Miller, Daniel Ponce de Leon, Adam Wainwright, Tyler Webb, Kodi Whitley, Jake Woodford (15 pitchers, 3 catchers, 7 IF, 5 OF). Remember they already have lost Miles Mikolas for the season.

Cubs have signed Cody Allen to minor league contract and he'll be reporting to South Bend. His stats from last year while with the Angels are remarkably similar to Kimbrel's with the Cubs ...

cubs great (for 12 innings) fernando rodney signs a minor league deal with HOU and is expected to be up pretty soon.  it will be his 12th team.  not bad for a 43 year old.

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

-hoener +kipnis is the change from yesterday's lineup.

rizzo takes his 10,000,000 HBP of his career.

151, actually...22nd (oops, not 26) all time and he's been the active player leader for a little while.  he's 30.

nothing like hoping the cubs score an extra run in the 8th so we might not see kimbrel in the 9th.  either way, c'mon kimbrel...do good cubs stuff.

manfred: guys, covid...quit doing covid spreading stuff

baez: *spits a swimming pool of mouth germs all over the infield*

Lorenzo Cain opts out of 2020. No reason yet, either medical predisposition, family or others but he's out.

Baseball hanging in by threads that seem to be unraveling. Enjoy each game like it might be the last.

Per Roto: Multiple Cardinals players have tested positive for the coronavirus in the wake of the club’s most recent tests.  The exact number isn’t yet known, though SportsGrid’s Craig Mish (Twitter link) reports “more than five” positive results amongst the players, while The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that “between four and six” of a “combination of staff and players” tested positive.  Former big leaguer Trevor Plouffe tweeted earlier this morning that “at least four” St. Louis players are positive.

StL-Mil Saturday game in Milwaukee is cancelled. 
Also Reds-Tigers canceled By Rain. 
The Current hurricane threat to Florida but might lead to weather cancellations up the east coast next week.

The Cubs are scheduled to be in StL next weekend. If the Cardinals go full "Marlins", that might be iffy.

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

i really don't want to do another year of "so...bote exists" but here we are.  i know the dude isn't due for hitting .350 with 40 homers or anything like that, but he sure sits a lot for a guy that performs when given a chance.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I am starting to wonder if: a.) he is a jerk? or b.) he has a hole in his swing that coaches see but pitchers haven't eploited yet. Alternatively, middle child syndrome (with Hoerner as the favored baby and Kipnis the respected elder).

At least Descalso isn't blocking him?

...and bote is in for bryant (last minute change)

happ / rizzo / baez / schwarber / contreras / heyward / hoerner / caratini(DH) / bote

hefty spending big 2020 money at wrigley.

trash bags representing hard with a mound ad, a bleacher ad tarp, and both back home plate ad spaces to start the cubs 1st.

also, the radio side has the "hefty hefty hefty homerun" call by pat.  not kidding...

if the cubs want to make more money they could have the pen wear hefty trash bags as a uniform if they keep representing garbage so closely.

Back to back nights for Ryan maybe not the best play - he was throwing 88 yesterday but 85 tonight 

phew...drama 9th win.

6-2 to start the season.  bullpens are overrated.

[ ]

In reply to by Eric S

ha.  speaking of, it's been wild to see trevor rosenthal looking like a closer again with KC after spending 2019 with WAS/DET/NYY looking like a washup.  he was dominate in spring and it's carrying over into the season.

WAS paid him $6.9m for 6.1 innings of 22.74 ERA ball.

The Cardinals continue to provoke more questions than answers. Are they one rainout away from the Eve of Destruction (Barry McGuire nod intended)?

on MLBTR: The Cardinals and Brewers scheduled doubleheader for Sunday has been postponed, MLB announced in a statement. The Cardinals had 3 players and 1 staff member test positive for coronavirus this weekend with four pending tests still unresolved, tweetsESPN’s Jesse Rogers. The positive tests will affect the schedule for the next week as well. The Tigers and Cardinals were originally supposed to play a home-and-home pair of series this week in St. Louis and Detroit. Following the cases of coronavirus in St. Louis, however, all four games will be played in Detroit, including a doubleheader on Wednesday. 

it looks like MLB has quarantined the entire city of St. Louis for this week.

contreras breaks up the no-hitter with a double in the 5th.

lester needs to throw a complete game today.

Telecast with Len/JD saying that several more Cardinals tested positive this am. Can't find it on twitter or net yet.

Another Pirate pitcher removed with injury. 

KB in Covid protocol even though he had a negative rapid test today.

This is stressful. 

more on Cardinals...

Jeff Passan says: The latest round of coronavirus tests from the St. Louis Cardinals are, in the words of someone with the team, "not good." There are expected to be multiple new positives, sources tell ESPN. Cardinals took more tests this morning, and results of those should arrive by tonight.

Robt Murray: The St. Louis Cardinals have multiple new positive tests, according to sources with direct knowledge.

2:31 PM · Aug 2, 2020

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

we're 10-ish games in and the future is looking dim for finishing the season, much less forming a 16-team post-season.

at this point it seems making it to playoffs with enough people to fill a roster is a wiser move than actually winning games.

For all the heat Lester took to this point, he's really "pitched" excellent in both starts. In fact, the entire starting staff has been really good. Bullpen not so much although I've liked Jeffress.

Any other readers in southern Il.--are you blacked out of Cubs games? My dad is always blacked out as of this year even though MLB tv lists his zip as blacked out for Cards only.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

If he is accessing via Internet, the location would be determined by the location associated with the IP address, not his physical address, that might be the issue.  A VPN service is always a good way to disguise your physical location and get around MLB blackouts. 

schwarber/contreras...woo!

been a while since i've seen a solid home plate collision...couldn't be avoided.

cubs in 11!

7-2 record to start the year.

the "socially distanced high-5s" in the middle of the infield is good stuff.

high fives followed by Rizzo passing out hand sanitizer

elbow bumps

how do you socially distance the dogpile?

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    cubs getting crazy good at not having player moves leak.

    taillon we 100% know is pitching tonight.  who he's replacing and any additional moves are unknown as far as i can tell.

    p.wisdom was not in today's lineup in iowa (rained out) and he was removed from the game last night mid-game, but not for injury.  good bet he's with the team in the bigs, too.

  • Bill (view)

    A good rule of thumb is that if you trade a near-ready high ceiling prospect, you should get at least two far-away high ceiling prospects in return.  Like all rules-of-thumb, it depends upon the specific circumstances, but certainly, we weren't going to get Busch for either prospect alone.

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Right on schedule, just read an article in Baseball America entitled "10 MLB Prospects Outside The Top 100 Who Have Our Attention".  Zyhir Hope was one of the prospects featured. It stated that he's "one of the biggest arrow-up sleeper prospects in the lower levels right now."

     

    Not sharing to be negative about the trade, getting a top 100 prospect who is MLB ready should carry a heavy prospect cost.  But man, Dodger sure are good at identifying and developing young talent. Andrew Friedman seems to have successfully merged Ray's development with Yankees financial might to create a juggernaut of an organization.  

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    I suspect Brown will spend some time in the bullpen due to inning restrictions.  Pitched only 93 innings last year and career high is 104 innings in 2022.  I would expect them to be cautious with a young player with his injury history.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
    I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
    I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
    That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
    I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
    We'll find out soon enough!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Teheran minor league deal is done, per MLB.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Based on Phil’s sound analysis it sounds like a no brainer for Almonte to be placed on waivers as today’s roster move. We shall see.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."  

    Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa?