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

2020 Cubs AZ Instructional League roster

UPDATED 10/26

2020 Cubs AZ Instructional League roster:

* bats or throws left 
# bats both 

PITCHERS
: 28
Cory Abbott 
Josh Burgmann
Chris Clarke 
Danis Correa
Brad Depperman 
Manuel Espinoza 
Richard Gallardo 
Jose Miguel Gonzalez 
* D. J. Herz 
Porter Hodge 
* Bryan Hudson 
Gabriel Jaramillo
* Scott Kobos 
Ben Leeper 
* Luke Little 
* Joel Machado
Michael McAvene 
Trevor Megill 
Erling Moreno 
Koen Moreno 
Eduarniel Nunez 
Bailey Reid 
Peyton Remy 
Manuel Rodriguez (INJURY REHAB
Cam Sanders 
Tyler Schlaffer 
Jerrick Suiter (ex-1B) 
* Brad Wieck (INJURY REHAB

CATCHERS: 5 
Pablo Aliendo 
Cam Balego 
* Ethan Hearn 
* Ronnier Quintero 
* Bryce Windham (ex-INF) 

INFIELDERS: 11
Ed Howard IV (SS) 
Kevin Made (SS) 
* Matt Mervis (1B) 
Christopher Morel (3B) 
Rafael Morel (3B-2B) 
Fabian Pertuz (SS-2B) 
* Alfonso Rivas (1B) 
Chase Strumpf (2B-3B) 
Luis Vazquez (SS-2B) 
Luis Verdugo (SS-3B) 
* Andy Weber (SS-2B) 

OUTFIELDERS: 10 
Edmond Americaan
Brennen Davis 
Jordan Nwogu 
# Yonathan Perlaza (ex-INF)
* Yohendrick Pinango  
* Cole Roederer 
Felix Stevens 
Nelson Velazquez 
* Jacob Wetzel 
* Jared Young (ex-INF) 


INSTRUCTS COORDINATOR
Jeremy Farrell 

HITTING COORDINATOR
Chris Valaika 

HITTING INSTRUCTORS 
Paul McAnulty 
Desi Wilson 

INFIELD COORDINATOR
Jonathan Mota 

CATCHING COORDINATOR
Mark Johnson 

PITCHING DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR
Casey Jacobson 

ASSISTANT PITCHING DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR:  
Carlos Chantres 

PITCHING INSTRUCTORS
Tony Cougoule 
Armando Gabino 
Doug Willey  

TECHNOLOGY COORDINATOR
Ryan West 
 
HITTING ANALYTICS COORDINATOR
Steven Pollakov 

VIDEO COORDINATOR
Sam Hunter

TRAINING COORDINATOR
Mike McNulty 

ATHLETIC TRAINERS
Ed Halbur 
Matt Hussey 
Logan Severson 
German Sunchin 
Toby Williams 

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING / PERFORMANCE SCIENCE COORDINATOR
Cory Kennedy 

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACHES: 3 
John Abbott 
Ryan Clausen 
Dallas Lopez 

EQUIPMENT MANAGER
Dana Noeltner 

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Hagsag

HAGSAG: Yes, the back-fields and the stadium will be closed, even to me. And there will be 18 AZIL games played versus other organizations (AZ, COL, LAA, MIL, SF #1, and SF #2, but no OAK), nine home & nine road, starting on Wednesday 10/14 and ending on Saturday 11/7. 

Any reason to read into the fact that Cam Balego is listed as just a C now? Do we think he might be able to handle C as a full time position?

[ ]

In reply to by bradsbeard

BRADSBEARD: Cam Balego went through the Catcher Conversion Program post-2017 and he was catching a lot in Minor League Camp the past couple of seasons and he did get some very limited work behind the plate at South Bend in 2018 and for Myrtle Beach in 2019, but I suspect the Cubs now want to see if he can take the next step and become at least a serviceable back-up catcher at AA in 2021. 

Balego is actually a legit second-tier prospect. He has plus power and a plus arm and so it's really just a matter of him becoming competent as a receiver, but of course that's easier said than done. For every Robinson Chirinos, Willson Contreras, and P. J. Higgins (each of whom successfully made the conversion to catcher), there is a Vimael Machin, Ben Carhart, Orian Nunez, and Danny Zardon who did not. So while Balego is not a  candidate to get added to the 40 on 11/20, if he makes strides to the point where he becomes a competent defensive catcher, he could see MLB in time.   

BTW, if there had been a 2020 minor league season, it was pretty clear even before Minor League Camp was abruptly postponed in March that the 2020 Cubs Opening Day catching assignments would have been something like this:

CUBS: Willson Contreras and Victor Caratini

IOWA: Josh Phegley (primary), P. J. Higgins (also 1B-3B), and Erick Castillo ("phantom IL") 

TENNESSEE: Miguel Amaya (primary), Tyler Payne (back-up), and Cam Balego (C-1B-3B)

MYRTLE BEACH: Caleb Knight and Eric Gonzalez (sharing primary duties) and Gustavo Polanco (C-1B-"phantom IL") 

SOUTH BEND: Jonathan Soto and Jake Washer (sharing primary duties) and Alexander Guerra ("phantom IL") 

EXST: Bryce Windham (ex-INF in latter stages of Catcher Conversion Program), Ethan Hearn, Ronnier Quintero, Henderson Perez, Raymond Pena, Pablo Aliendo, Orian Nunez (C-1B), and Richard Nunez (C-1B), with Windham, H. Perez, and R. Pena likely going to Eugene in June. (R. Quintero and Aliendo were the only two DSL catchers at Minor League Camp, so they were obviously being prepped to play in the AZL in 2020). 

But of course it didn't happen that way because the 2020 minor league season didn't happen, but that was the way things were trending back in March.   

Also, Guerra, O. Nunez and R. Nunez were released by the Cubs after it became clear that there would be no minor league baseball in 2020, so obviously they had no long-term future with the Cubs even if the 2020 minor league season had progressed in a normal fashion.

For a lot of reasons it's too bad that the 2020 minor league was canceled, but while all minor leaguers need game reps to develop, catchers (just like pitchers) really, really need regular game reps to keep them from having their long-term development delayed or stunted. 

Phil, what happend to Jack Patterson?  I thought he would be included for Instructs. 

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Abbott, Balego, Hudson, Marquez, Megill, C. Morel, Rivas, and Strumpf were supposed to play for the Mesa Solar Sox in the AFL, but Marquez got called up to MLB on the last day of the MLB regular season and the other seven got diverted to AZ Instructs when the AFL season was canceled last month.   

Otherwise, the guys who were playing "sim" games at the Alternate Training Site for three months (including Jack Patterson) are done. 

Tuesday's Angels at Cubs AZIL game was canceled, so Cubs pitchers & position players worked on game simulations on Field #1. 

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • 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.