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 @ Angels: Series Thread (Games 60-62)

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.

Comments

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.

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.

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.

[ ]

In reply to by Dolorous Jon Lester

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.

[ ]

In reply to by Finwe Noldaran

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.

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.

[ ]

In reply to by azbobbop

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.

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.

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.

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

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

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.

 

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............

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............

[ ]

In reply to by Finwe Noldaran

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.

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.

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. 

 

 

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. 

[ ]

In reply to by Childersb3

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?

[ ]

In reply to by George Altman

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.

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.

[ ]

In reply to by Rogers

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 (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.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.