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. Marlins: Series Thread (Games 105-107)

The Cubs enjoy the continued presence of Willson Contreras and Ian Happ as they continue the season post trade deadline. See below for matchups against the Marlins.


Game 105, Friday, August 5, 1:20 pm central

CHC: LHP Justin Steele

MIA: RHP Edward Cabrera


Game 106, Saturday, August 6, 1:20 pm central

CHC: LHP Drew Smyly (3-6, 4.42 ERA)

MIA: RHP Pablo Lopez (7-6, 3.41 ERA)


Game 107, Sunday, August 7, 1:20 pm central

CHC: RHP Adrian Sampson (0-2, 3.74 ERA)

MIA: RHP Jesus Lazardo (2-4, 3.97 ERA)

Comments

yet another david "4.2ip" ross pitcher exit.

steele did throw 93 pitches, but yeah...ross gets really sketchy once a pitcher gets into the 5th inning.

They may have a bunch of weak hitters, but record-wise, the Marlins are a much stronger team than the Cubs.  Who was it that said, "you are what your record says you are"?

"The Cardinals and Cubs are slated to play a two-game series on June 24-25, 2023, as part of the MLB London Series at the baseball-configured London Stadium, MLB and the MLB Player Association announced on Thursday."

neat.

the cubs + reds get the field of dreams game this year, and cubs + cards get the london game next year (first since 2019).

[ ]

In reply to by Dolorous Jon Lester

i was thinking about how embarrasing for MLB the FoD game would be once contreras + happ were gone.  they at least have those guys still around to make it a barely-above minor league quality game.

a way past prime joey votto and hoping it's a night where c.morel is actually producing doesn't make for an exciting game.

t.mancini only has 3 hits since being traded to HOU.

all 3 have been homers, the latest a grand slam.

Saturday am, Cubs just took him off the IL then dfa'd Andrelton Simmons. Chalk that up to a failed trade deadline flip exercise.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Only thing I can say in defense of the Simmons signing is that I did approve at the time of building more positional depth. After Hoerner, the SS cupboard was pretty bare (couldn't count on Morel breaking out).  In retrospect, maybe a AAAA utility type would have been better (Machado?)

contreras is still every bit a cheerleader.

higgins hits a homer and he's jumping around in the dugout.  ...and morel is, too, but i'm pretty sure he spends 16+ hours a day doing that no matter what's going on.

smyly gets a hell of an ovation coming back into the dugout after 6.2ip of great pitching.

cubs fans are appreciating the tallent left.  owners need to recognize and respect this.  this is small market bullshit and fans doing the best with what they're given is best left for teams like tampa bay and pittsburgh.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

The pen is going to be a bit sketchy, but I think the rest of the roster is looking as good as it has all year. Hopefully Morel's hammy isn't a major concern. Cubs have a very soft schedule for the next two weeks. Good time to go on a little run. 

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

This is how an August non-trade "trade" would work with regard to Drew Smyly...   

Orioles keep winning and determine they need a veteran starter.

Orioles (Mike Elias) calls-up Cubs (Hoyer / Hawkins) and says "If you put Drew Smyly on Outright Assignment Waivers, we promise to claim him." 

Now, from Baltimore's POV they can't be sure of being awarded the claIm because another club with a worse record and a better waiver claim priority could also make a claim and be awarded the claim. That's the chance the Orioles would be taking, but it wouldn't cost them anything if they don'r win the claim.

From the Cubs POV, it doesn't matter who wins the claim, as long as somebody does. They need to make sure that at least one club will for sure claim Smyly, because if he is placed on Outright Assignment Waivers in August and isn't claimed, the Cubs can't put him on Outright Assignment Waivers again until September 1st, and then Smyly would no longer be post-season eligible (the post-season roster-eligibility deadline is midnight 8/31).

As long as somebody makes a claim, the Cubs will get the $50,000 waiver claim fee and the claiming club assumes 100% of what remains of Smyly's contract (right now that's about $1.5M in 2022 salary plus his $5.25M 2024 salary or $1M club option buy-out). This is the best the Cubs can get for Smyly, and the longer they wait into August the smaller the salary offset and the greater the chance that Smyly might get hurt. (Injured players cannot be placed on Ouiright Assignment Waivers until after the conclusion of the MLB regular season). 
 
The Cubs are not going to extend Smyly a QO so they won't get a 2023 comp draft pick once they pay the post-2022 buy-out, so they might as well get what they can for him now, even if it's just $50,000 plus a 100% salary offset/savings.

And Smyly probably wouldn't mind going to a contender, either!.  

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

If you are wondering about Jason Heyward being placed on Outright Assignment Waivers, even if his knee was 100% a player with full or partial "no trade" rights (and Heyward is a "10/5 player" so he has an automatic full "no trade") cannot be placed on Outright Assignment Waivers unless and until he waives his "no trade" - IN ADVANCE. He can't wait to see who claims him and then waive his "no trade." (Not that any club would claim Heyward's albatross contract). 

totally missed that dwight smith died on july 22nd...congestive heart failure, 58 years old.

he was part of that late-80s/early-90s group of cubs kids that showed up with strong bats, but quickly faded...dwight smith, jerome walton, rick wilkins, etc...

he was a guy who stayed in good physical shape post-retirement.  tough one.

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.