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, twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, one player is on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-18-2024
 
* 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
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 
* Justin Steele, P   

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




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs vs. Cleveland: Series Thread (Games 49 & 50)

Submitted by Charlie on

With first place still in their possession and an Alec Mills no-hitter under their belt, the Cubs return to Wrigley to take on the first of several AL central opponents. Cleveland comes into the series in third place, 5 games out of first and 2 games out of second. The Cubs begin the series 4 games up in the division.

Game 1, Tuesday, Sep. 15, 7:15 pm central
CHC: RHP Yu Darvish (7-2, 1.77 ERA)
CLE: RHP Carlos Carrasco (2-4, 3.12 ERA)

Yu Darvish ended a 7-game winning streak when he allowed 3 earned runs to the Reds over 6 innings. After a wild first inning, he returned to the dominant form to which Cubs fans are now accustomed. He has roughly 3 starts remaining and 72 strikeouts. If everything breaks right, he could strikeout 100 and win 10 games in this 60 game season.

After missing most of 2019 as he recovered from leukemia, Carlos Carrasco appears not to have missed a beat. The Cubs will be fortunate to miss Cy Young probable Shane Bieber, but the veteran Carrasco continues to strike out more than 10 opponents for 9 innings, holds walks at a reasonable level, and elicits ground balls at a more than respectable rate. Current Cubs have hardly seen him at all. Rizzo is 2-2 with a homerun. Billy Hamilton, who used to have to bat, is 3-10 with a triple.

Game 2, Wednesday, Sep. 16, 7:15 pm central
CHC: LHP Jon Lester (2-2, 5.05 ERA)
CLE: RHP Aaron Civale (3-5, 3.88 ERA)

Lester could not earn a decision in the Cubs 1-0 loss to the Brewers, but he pitched 6 scoreless innings and struck out a season high 8 opponents. Can he translate that success from the floundering Brewers' hitters to the merely middling Cleveland lineup? Francisco Lindor (4-11 with a homerun) and Franmil Reyes (5-7 with a homerun) have had Lester's number in limited exposure.

Aaron Civale debuted in 2019 and made 10 major league starts. Including his 9 starts in 2020, he now has a 3.11 ERA and a 6-9 career record. He brings a low 90s fastball and a troubling mix of off-speed stuff, including both a cutter and a slider, a nasty curve, and a changeup. Only Cameron Maybin (1-5) has faced him before.

Tags
2020 Gameday Thread

Comments

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 09/15/2020 - 09:21 pm

happ / bryant(3rd) / rizzo / contreras(DH) / schwarber / baez / heyward / kipnis / caratini

game 1

baez in the 6 slot.  it's been frustrating to watch because he doesn't look totally lost at the plate...or that he's over/under-doing it...it's just not happening for him right now.

[ ]

Submitted by Charlie on Tue, 09/15/2020 - 09:38 pm

He keeps looking like he *could* get on a tear of liners to right field and then he just doesn't. His strikeout to walk ratio has gone from really bad to truly horrendous, but his underlying plate discipline numbers are not actually worse. The only big differences I can see in his peripherals are that he's missing in the strike zone more than usual and he's seeing more sliders (and fewer fastballs) than any other single season in his career. There's nothing super explanatory there--it just backs the eye test conclusion that he looks off.

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 09/15/2020 - 09:30 pm

While a world-wide famine, thermo-nuclear war, and/or sudden magnetic pole reversal is still quite possible sometime in the next couple of months (obviously none of which would be significant enough to interrupt the completion of the 2020 World Series), I've got my money on a gamma-ray burst that will destroy the ozone layer and fry all electronics or (more likely) a mass global extinction-level asteroid strike on or about 11/3. Then the 2021 MLB season can proceed pretty much as planned, except the start of Spring Training might be delayed until March.  

Submitted by Charlie on Tue, 09/15/2020 - 09:15 pm

Ross was really downplaying the chances of Chatwood pitching again in 2020. We have not seen the last of Alzolay for the irregular season.

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 09/15/2020 - 09:49 pm

i like baez batting 6th so far.

dugout going nuts for his HR...they know he needs that.  good dugout, good crew...

i gotta say it's nice seeing a guy with baez's personality handle his lack of success well.  he's not done any public showings of overly-negative angst throughout all of this.

Submitted by Eric S on Tue, 09/15/2020 - 09:03 pm

Ready for KB to sit out the rest of the 2020 season and let Bote finish the season at third.  Give  him a mulligan and start 2021 anew  - with Bote at the ready should he crater again. 

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Submitted by crunch on Tue, 09/15/2020 - 09:17 pm

i kinda wonder if KB is even a 2021 cub.  finishing the season poorly would still make him a $20m-ish dude next year in arbitration ($18.6m this year).  heating up even a little bit towards the end would tack on a few more million.

that said, his trade value is a 1-year club controlled $20m+ guy coming off a down season who's D at 3rd probably shouldn't have him at 3rd as a regular.

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 09/15/2020 - 09:50 pm

Just as a point of information, per the macro CoViD-19 agreement between the MLB & MLBPA, if an unsigned post-2020 arbitration-eligible player requests an arb hearing the player's performance in the 2020 season will - NOT - be considered by the arbitration panel. Only the player's performance up through the 2019 season can be considered (which will help somebody like Kris Bryant but hurt somebody like first-time arb-eligible Ian Happ). 

So to paraphrase that great lawyer Perry Mason, an arbitration-eligible player's performance in 2020 is incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial. 

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 09/16/2020 - 09:52 pm

when oliver perez retires in 2035, if the cubs don't hire him as pitching coach i'm done with this team.

Submitted by crunch on Thu, 09/17/2020 - 09:47 pm

cards lost...and dakota hudson left with "elbow tightness"...and they moved into 3rd place behind CIN.

good day for people who aren't cards fans.

Submitted by Cubster on Thu, 09/17/2020 - 09:05 pm

10 games left w 5.5 game lead over Reds. Normally thats good but this is 2020. 

seeded at #2 and obviously fluid but as of tonight Cards would miss the playoffs and #7 seed is Giants.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    happ, right hamstring tightness, day-to-day (hopefully 0 days).

    he will be reevaluated tomorrow.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I guess I'm not looking for that type of AB 

    Just a difference of opinion

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I don’t see Tauchman as a weak link in any position. He simply adds his value in a different way.

    I don’t know that we gain much by putting him in the outfield - Happ, Bellinger and Suzuki and Tauchman all field their positions well. If you’re looking for Taucnman’s kind of AB in a particular game I don’t see why it can’t come from DH.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Tauchman gets a pinch hit RBI single with a liner to RF. This is his spot. He's a solid 4th OF. But he isn't a DH. 

    He takes pitches. Useful. I still believe in having good hitters.

    You don't want your DH to be your weak link (other than your C maybe)

  • crunch (view)

    bit of a hot take here, but i'm gonna say it.

    the 2024 marlins don't seem to be good at doing baseballs.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Phil, will the call up for a double header restart that 15 days on assignment for a pitcher? Like will wesneski’s 15 days start yesterday, or if he’s the 27th man, will that mean 15 days from tomorrow?

    I hope that makes sense. It sounds clearer in my head.

  • Charlie (view)

    Tauchman obviously brings value to the roster as a 4th outfielder who can and should play frequently. Him appearing frequently at DH indicated that the team lacks a valuable DH. 

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally onboard with your thoughts concerning today’s lineup. Not sure about your take on Tauchman though.

    The guy typically doesn’t pound the ball out out of the park, and his BA is quite unimpressive. But he brings something unique to the table that the undisciplined batters of the past didn’t. He always provides a quality at bat and he makes the opposing pitcher work because he has a great eye for the zone and protects the plate with two strikes exceptionally well. In addition to making him a base runner more often than it seems through his walks, that kind of at bat wears a pitcher down both mentally and physically so that the other guys who may hit the ball harder are more apt to take advantage of subsequent mistakes and do their damage.

    I can’t remember a time when the Cubs valued this kind of contribution but this year they have a couple of guys doing it, with Happ being the other. It doesn’t make for gaudy stats but it definitely contributes to winning ball games. I do believe that’s why Tauchman has garnered so much playing time.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Miles Mastrobuoni cannot be recalled until he has spent at least ten days on optional assignment, unless he is recalled to replace a position player who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And for a pitcher it's 15 days on optional assignment before he can be recalled, unless he is replacing a pitcher who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, or Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And a pitcher (or a position player, but almost always it's a pitcher) can be recalled as the 27th man for a doubleheader regardless of how many days he has been on optional assignment, but then he must be sent back down again the next day. 

     

    That's why the Cubs had to wait as long as they did to send Jose Cuas down and recall Keegan Thompson. Thompson needed to spend the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he could be recalled (and he spent EXACTLY the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he was recalled). 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Indeed they do TJW!

    For the record I’m not in favor of solely building a team through paying big to free agents. But I’m also of the mind that when you develop really good players, get them signed to extensions that buy out a couple years of free agency, including with team options. And supplement the home grown players with free agent splashes or using excess prospects to trade for stars under team control for a few years. Sort of what Atlanta does, basically. Everyone talks about the dodgers but I feel that Atlanta is the peak organization at the current moment.

    That said, the constant roster churn is very Rays- ish. What they do is incredible, but it’s extremely hard to do which is why they’re the only ones frequently successful that employ that strategy. I definitely do not want to see a large market team like ours follow that model closely. But I don’t think free agent frenzies is always the answer. It’s really only the Dodgers that play in that realm. I could see an argument for the Mets too. The Yankees don’t really operate like that anymore since the elder Steinbrenner passed. Though I would say the reigning champions built a good deal of that team through free agent spending.

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