Cubs MLB Roster

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40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus six players are on the 60-DAY IL

Last updated 10-2-2023
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 22
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Brad Boxberger
Ben Brown
Jose Cuas
Tyler Duffey 
Jeremiah Estrada
Shane Greene
Kyle Hendricks
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Daniel Palencia
Michael Rucker
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Marcus Stroman
Jameson Taillon
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 8
# Jeimer Candelario
Nico Hoerner
* Miles Mastrobuoni
* Matt Mervis
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom
* Jared Young

OUTFIELDERS: 8
Kevin Alcantara
* Cody Bellinger
Alexander Canario
* Pete Crow-Armstrong
Brennen Davis
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman

60-DAY IL: 6
Nick Burdi, P
Michael Fulmer, P 
Codi Heuer, P
* Brandon Hughes, P
Nick Madrigal, INF
Ethan Roberts, P
 

 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs @ Angels: Series Thread (Games 60-62)

Submitted by Charlie on Tue, 06/06/2023 - 06:45 pm

The Cubs continue their tour of the West Coast with a stop in Anaheim. The Angels enter the series in third in the NL West, while the Cubs can console themselves that they still have a better record than the Cardinals--and that no one is really out of the NL Central "race" yet. The Cubs will dodge their 2024 Opening Day starter and primary DH question mark, Shohei Ohtani. See below for matchups.

Game 60, Tuesday, June 6, 8:38 pm central

LAA: LHP Tyler Anderson (2-1, 5.47 ERA)

CHC: RHP Hayden Wesneski (2-2, 4.81 ERA)

The veteran Anderson had a career 2022 in his first year with the Angels. He's fooling fewer hitters this season, however, resulting in less weak contact and fewer swings at pitches out of the zone. He's had hardly any platoon splits over his career as a whole, but he's been hammered by righties so far this year.

Wesneski pitched 3.2 innings in relief of Steele on May 31 and takes his rotation spot while Steele recovers from his injury. He was solid in two minor league appearances after getting shellacked at the major league level on May 13, when the Twins tagged him for four homeruns.

 

Game 61, Wednesday, June 7, 8:38 pm central

LAA: RHP Jaime Barria (2-2, 1.59 ERA)

CHC: RHP Jameson Taillon (1-3, 7.05 ERA)

Barria debuted way back in 2018 at the age of 21. After making 26 starts that season, he has since bounced between the majors and the minors filling in rotation and bullpen depth as needed at the Major League level. He's allowed more than one earned run only once this year, way back on April 4.

Taillon has generally struggled to shut down opposing offenses this season. However, he got sixth inning outs for the first time in his last start and took home his first Cubs' win.

 

Game 62, Wednesday, June 8, 8:38 pm central

LAA: LHP Reid Detmers (0-5, 5.15 ERA)

CHC: LHP Drew Smyly (5-3, 3.56 ERA)

A tenth overall pick in the 2020 draft, Reid Detmers is only 23 years old. He made five starts with the Angels in 2021 and returned for 25 more starts in 2022. He came up with a well-reviewed curve but relies more frequently on a slider, playing off of his mid-90s fastball. He's a bit of a flyball pitcher and has been knocked around by lefties so far in 2023.

Smyly was a pleasant surprise in 2022, turning in 22 solid starts and remaining a Cub by virtue only of a poorly timed injury. He's already surpassed that 2022 value in just over half the innings this season. He was hit fairly hard in his last two outings by the Padres and the Reds.

Tags
2023 Cubs
Shohei Ohtani

Comments

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 06/06/2023 - 06:25 pm

oh snap, i thought today was an off-day.  bonus.  too bad i'm on the east coast and employed in a job that i have to be in at 6:30-6:45am...stupid job...gonna miss the end of all 3 of these games.

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 06/06/2023 - 06:43 pm

madrigal is making a joke out of AAA.  we all know what he's done in the bigs this year, but i wouldn't be shocked to see morel or mervis go down for madrigal if he keeps this up.  his production is silly even with the short sample size qualifier.

game is still in progress, but he's 2-3 with a couple doubles tonight.  .467 average with an ob% over .600 (7 walks, wow)...5 doubles, 2 triples, and a homer in 38 PA.

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 06/06/2023 - 06:11 pm

hoyer told reporters bellinger will go on a minor league rehab before rejoining the club.  even with that, he should be back sometime next week.

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Submitted by crunch on Wed, 06/07/2023 - 06:48 am

can't wait to see what slew of 17-19 year olds the cubs will get for him.  maybe they'll go in another direction and make someone take bote in return for nothing of value so they can free up payroll for *checks notes* i dunno, another scoreboard or buying some more neighborhood real estate or more political power in nebraska.

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Submitted by Dolorous Jon Lester on Wed, 06/07/2023 - 06:49 am

Probably trying to let him build some confidence after a good outing and didn’t want to see him be the one to blow it. Ohtani launched one off him earlier in the game. And it wasn’t like Wesneski could have pitched around him to load the bases for Trout. Not really defending Ross though, I think Leiter was the play given the game situation.

Submitted by azbobbop on Wed, 06/07/2023 - 06:45 am

Ross flat out blew that game. When Hughes didn’t retire Ohtani, he had no backup plan for the next three right handed batters. I’ve not been a critic but Wesneski was doing just fine tonight.

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Submitted by Dolorous Jon Lester on Wed, 06/07/2023 - 06:48 am

That was a Mark Leiter Jr spot, without a doubt. But our bullpen is so poorly constructed, he was being saved for late game. Ross made the wrong call but I don’t think pulling Wesneski was the wrong part of it. Hughes has not looked like 2022 Hughes at any point this year. Jed’s roster construction this year has been his worst yet.

Hughes was required to face 3 guys. Once he couldn’t get Ohtani, he couldn’t have pulled him for anything but an injury.

Submitted by azbobbop on Wed, 06/07/2023 - 06:11 pm

DJL…I know he had to face three batters. Two right handed after Shonei one of them being Mike Trout. Ross needed a better plan. Much better.

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 06/07/2023 - 06:06 pm

e.rios to the 10d IL, rucker up.  left groin strain.  the bad news it's retroactive to june 4th rather than starting to today which could speed his return.

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 06/07/2023 - 06:30 pm

madrigal starts off the night in iowa 2 for 2 (double, single) and he's hitting .500 now...17 hits in 34ab.

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Submitted by First.Pitch.120 on Thu, 06/08/2023 - 06:13 am

I think crunch nailed it... MLB pitchers who can effectively work the edges of the zone are brutal on "see-ball / Hit-ball" types who haven't developed that next level discernment. Ditto the BB% being a good harbinger.

 

I do wonder if the AAA robo-ump has a disparate impact on a player like NM... less guessing at what the random edges of the zone are going to be on a given day.  Not sure...

 

Another thing to keep in mind when looking at AAA stats & sample sizes is that they now play the same team/park 5-6 games in a row. Potentially compounding the impact of a +/- pitching staff, park factors, and/or match-up implications (ie, I'd give advantage to Madrigal if he is seeing the same SP x2 or RP x3 in a week). Not sure if this is relevant to Nick M. right now, but it's on my mind after watching a week's worth of line drives die in the coastal night air.

 

Submitted by Finwe Noldaran on Wed, 06/07/2023 - 06:01 pm

How would Morel being the DH have been worse than Mancini? The Morel doing worse at DH thing is likely an anomaly, but then just put him at 3B; not sure how people can make stuff so complicated............

Submitted by Finwe Noldaran on Thu, 06/08/2023 - 06:00 pm

When was the last time Morel played? Why not have him st 3B instead of Wisdom? Why isn't Meris in there at 1B, but Mancini is? I'm this close to giving the big league club a break for a few weeks............

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Submitted by crunch on Thu, 06/08/2023 - 06:34 pm

whether it's the majors or AAA, i just wanna see if mervis can be the solution at 1st or if he's bench/rest/trade-bait.  he's not figuring much out playing 3-4 times a week and dodging lefty starters.

having amaya up is not going to help mervis's already shrinking playing time and amaya is a guy just as deserving of a look for how he fits into the team's future.

Submitted by Cubster on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 06:39 am

This season is slipping away. Strengths are still starting pitching and catching defense but the erratic bullpen has really hurt even with Adbert’s strong work. It’s time to unleash some more kids in the bullpen. The offense needs help but I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel this year. Bellinger’s injury has been a big factor. Sadly, another losing series sweep will  really break the season.

Submitted by George Altman on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 06:27 pm

I have a lot of thoughts on what the Cubs should do, but a big question first:  WHO is really running this team? Does Jed have total control of baseball operations as Tom always parrots on Sports radio? If so, where does his approval limits end? Does AAV $$ and contract length need Tom's approval, and if so, how big are Tom's balls?

I believe most analysts would agree the Cubs can compete at these positions:

2b - Hoerner, SS - Swanson, LF - Happ, RF - Suzuki, C - Gomes/Amaya. SP - Stroman, Steele, maybe Taillon, Smyly for now. RP - Alzolay .... and that's all I got there.

To compete in the Playoffs, you need solid offensive players (WRc+, OPS+, WAR above 1.0) at, at least 7-8 spots. You need 3 SPs who can get you into the 6-7th inning 90% of the time. And a bullpen that doesn't blow leads in the late innings. I don't have issues with the Cubs defensively, especially if PCA or Bellinger is the Centerfielder. 

This should be obvious, but I'll say it for Jed. He needs solid offense at 3B and DH. I can live with the Mervis project at 1B (for now). He needs to keep Stroman which should be obvious to any team's executive suite if they're serious about winning Playoff series/championships.

 

So, I would ride out the rest of this train wreck season. I would put a full court press on signing Ohtani, Chapman, and extending Stroman even if payroll is over $237M AAV next year. And I would hope some combination of Wesneski, Brown, Palencia, Wicks, and FA RPs makes a better overall pitching staff until Horton, Ferris, and Gray can contribute. 

 

 

Submitted by Childersb3 on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 06:54 pm

Is Suzuki is a good enough hitter?

Is he an 80 RBI guy?

He's naturally passive. 

Is Happ an 80+ RBI guy?

He's never had more than 74 I think.

Dansby has had 96 RBIs before.

He should be in the RBI spots

Production starts with your best players.

Of course we need RBIs from 1B, 3B and DH. Those are power spots and we are way behind winning teams in those positions.

We also have some of the worst LH bat production in MLB. Maybe the worst.

I'm sticking with bold moves from here on this season. Belli comes back as 1B. PCA comes up as CF. Mervis can DH. Perlaza should come up and get some DH and Cr OF time. Wisdom gets benched for Morel to be full time 3B. Barnhart is DFA'd for Amaya to get time at C and not just DH. 

Play the young guys. Play guys with some juice. 

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Submitted by George Altman on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 06:55 pm

My point is you can't replace 8-9 spots in 1-2 seasons. As offense/defense players, Happ, Suzuki, Swanson, Hoerner, PCA, and Amaya are blocks you can build around. You work to get MLB Mervis to AAA/AA Mervis.

 

It's going to take money, persistence, and salesmanship to get Ohtani and Chapman, as well as extend Stroman. Tell me how this team wins/makes playoffs in 2024-25 without these moves?

 

I don't give a damn about 3-5 years from now. How else does this team win NOW?

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Submitted by Childersb3 on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 06:48 pm

I'll go on record that Suzuki and Happ aren't enough to lure Ohtani. We'd have to overpay the top bidder by 100mil

I've read he'll get 60mil per yr. 30mil for DH and 30mil for SP. 

Cubs would have to give him 70mil per yr. Which I'm okay with. It isn't my money. Ricketts probably have it. And Ohtani is uniquely worth it.

But Suzuki and Happ aren't likely to be big draws for FAs. They aren't bad players. Just not really good players.

Submitted by Rogers on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 06:10 pm

I think there are going to be some surprises in baseball as to who will be available and at a reasonable price.  I think a few of these teams are going to be in financial trouble.  If you have read the Wall Street Journal’s sports blurb within the last few weeks several teams have lost their TV contract as the provider has filed bankruptcy.  The league has picked it up for those teams but we all know that is not going to last forever.  I don’t think we are talking about the big stars of the game, but there are going be some very good supplemental players available for reasonable price.  I guess what I’m saying is there is not an endless supply of money available in baseball.

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Submitted by crunch on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 06:47 pm

live sports is advertising gold.  Bally Sports/Diamond Sports spread themselves massively wide (baseball, basketball, hockey) and took out tons of loans rather than Sinclair Broadcasting (who owns the subsidiary Diamond Sports/Bally) funding it outright (or at least mostly).  they're defaulting and not paying contracts all over the place now.

2020 hit them hard with revenue losses and the loans are still massive and fresh.  they're desperately trying bankruptcy restructuring, but no one believes that will work.  MLB has already taken back the Padres because they're in a joint partnership and Diamond's bankruptcy protection doesn't help protect the contract.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil 10/03/2023 - 10:18 pm (view)

    It used to be that teams did not want to trade within their own division for PR reasons, but I don't see that with Ben Cherington in Pittsburgh or with Hoyer / Hawkins in Chicago, so the Cubs might target Pirates 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes and closer David Bednar.

    Hayes is a Gold Glove defender, a decent enough hitter (105 OPS+ in 2023), and he's under control at a VERY reasonable price ($8.75M AAV) through 2029 (with a club option for 2030). 

    Bednar is first-time salary arbitration-eligible post-2023 and under control through 2026. 

    One thing about the Cubs is that they can afford to overpay (which is what they would have to do to get both Hayes and Bednar) with a package consisting of a decent young MLB position player to replace Hayes in the lineup (like Christopher Morel, who could play LF in Pittsburgh) and prospects like outfielders Alexander Canario, Owen Caissie, or Kevin Alcantara (Pirates pick one, leaving the other two for the Cubs), a power-hitting 1B-DH like Matt Mervis or Haydn McGeary (Pirates pick one, leaving the other one for the Cubs), SS Luis Vazquez (who is MLB-ready but will never play SS in Chicago), 3B B. J. Murray (who could replace Hayes at the hot corner in Pittsburgh by 2025 if not sometime in 2024, and he obviously would be blocked in Chicago if the Cubs get Hayes), and an MLB-ready SP like Hayden Wesneski. 

  • crunch 10/03/2023 - 10:02 pm (view)

    boog and glanville calling the PHI@MIL game on ESPN2.

  • crunch 10/03/2023 - 10:59 pm (view)

    bellinger is my #1 want, but i fear he's the #1 want of many teams and will get crazy money + years, with the years being the big sting.  they need to replace bellinger's production if they don't get him no matter what position(s) played.

  • George Altman 10/03/2023 - 10:40 pm (view)

    I hope their top priorities are Bellinger, 2 RPs better than Fulmer/Boxberger (ideally 1 LH), and a 3B (Chapman my 1st Choice). That will put them right up to $237-257M AAV limit, but I don't see a playoff berth doing anything less.

    If they really want Alonso, Morel would be a good opening piece of that offer. 

    Unfortunately, Stroman will opt in ($23.7M) and Smyly ($11.5M) will be back. Steele, Taillon, Assad, Wicks will be rotation pieces. Would love a SP2 FA but don't see how they keep an effective offense and improve their bullpen while adding that.

  • crunch 10/03/2023 - 10:03 pm (view)

    i cannot imagine getting a legit 3rd, whether signing or via trade, isn't the highest priority for the team.  it's almost obvious they don't see morel there.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester 10/03/2023 - 10:19 pm (view)

    I’m just hoping they have an actual 3B next year so we don’t need to worry about the M boys, Bote, and P Whiffy eating all the 3B at bats next year.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester 10/03/2023 - 10:13 pm (view)

    Willson was a OF/3B when we signed him too.

    On a less successful but still got to the show note, PJ Higgins was another college IF converted to C

  • crunch 10/03/2023 - 10:03 pm (view)

    truth...and personally, i'd give him ABs (especially at 3rd) over the 2 singles-hitting-ceiling guys that got the shot.  i'm sure he can cover the ob% and defense while surpassing the power of anything masterboney and madrigal brought to the team.

    i don't view bote as a solution at 3rd, but i find it hard to believe he couldn't outperform either of the main options they had there for a huge chunk of this season.

  • KingKongvsGodzilla 10/03/2023 - 10:47 pm (view)

    Color me impressed by this assignment for Trice right out of the draft as a convert. Seems worth following after the success of Caratini

  • Dolorous Jon Lester 10/03/2023 - 10:33 pm (view)

    Bote always has great spring trainings.

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