Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

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


28 players are on the MLB ACTIVE LIST, plus seven are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two are on the 10-DAY IL, and three are on the 15-DAY IL


Last updated 9-22-20239
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 14
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Marcus Stroman
Jameson Taillon
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 6
Nico Hoerner
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom
* Jared Young

OUTFIELDERS: 6
* Cody Bellinger
Alexander Canario
* Pete Crow-Armstrong
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman

OPTIONED: 7
Keven Alcantara, OF 
Ben Brown, P  
Brennen Davis, OF 
Jeremiah Estrada, P
Caleb Kilian, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Michael Rucker, P

10-DAY IL: 2
Jeimer Candelario, 1B
Nick Madrigal, INF

15-DAY IL: 3
Adbert Alzolay, P
Brad Boxberger, P 
Michael Fulmer, P 

60-DAY IL: 4
Nick Burdi, P
Codi Heuer, P
* Brandon Hughes, P
Ethan Roberts, P
 

Minor League Rosters

Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

D'backs Let Their Sticks Do the Talking at Salt River Fields

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Thu, 09/14/2023 - 09:16 pm

Kenny Castillo blasted a three-run HR in the bottom of the 1st, Alexander Benua hammered an RBI triple and scored in the 1st, walked in the 3rd, singled, stole two bases, and scored a run in the 6th, and singled and scored in the 8th, Yerald Nin cracked a bases-loaded bases-clearing double in the 8th, and Juan Aparicio singled twice, walked, stole two bases, and scored a run, as the Diamondbacks scored early and often en route to a 13-5 thrashing of the Cubs in Arizona Instructional League game action Thursday morning on Whirlwind Field at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, east of Scottsdale, AZ.  

Yahil Melendez belted a triple leading off the game and scored the first run and then he singled in the 5th, Adan Sanchez drilled three singles and scored two runs, Jose Escobar sliced two oppo-field line-drive doubles into the LF corner and scored a run, and Ed Howard collected two RBI on a pair of sacrifice flies, drew a walk, and stole a base for the Cubs. 

D'back pitchers struck out 15 Cub batters, including Jefferson Encarnacion four times and Drew Bowser three times. 

Here is the abridged box score from the game (Cubs players only): 

AZIL CUBS LINEUP:
1a. Yahil Melendez, 2B: 2-3 (3B, K, 1B, R)
1b. Alexis Hernandez, 2B: 0-2 (K, L-8)
2. Ed Howard, SS: 0-2 (F-8 SF, 5-3, 6-4-3 DP, BB, F-8 SF, 2 RBI, SB)
3. Carter Trice, DH-C: 0-3 (F-8, K, K, BB, BB) 
4. Jefferson Encarnacion, RF: 0-4 (K, K, BB, K, K) 
5. Adan Sanchez, C-DH: 3-4 (1B, 1B, K, 1B, 2 R)
6. Drew Bowser, 1B: 1-4 (K, 1B, K, K) 
7. Alfonsin Rosario, CF: 1-3 (F-8 SF, 4-6 FC, 1B, K, R, RBI)
8a. Geuri Lubo, 3B: 1-2 (F-8, 1B, RBI)
8b. Reggie Preciado, 3B: 1-2 (2B, K) 
9. Jose Escobar, LF: 2-4 (2B, F-9, K, 2B, R)

AZIL CUBS PITCHERS: 
1. Juan Bello: 2.1 IP, 6 H, 6 R (6 ER), 0 BB, 2 K, 2 HBP, 1 HR, 1 BALK, 1/4 GO/AO, 44 pitches (27 strikes) 
2. Carlos Garcia: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 6 K, 2/1 GO/AO, 64 pitches (38 strikes) 
3. Dominic Hambley: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 5 R (4 ER), 3 BB, 2 K, 1/2 GO/AO, 43 pitches (26 strikes)

AZIL ERRORS: 2 
1. 2B Alexis Hernandez: E-4 (errant throw to 1st base on infield single allowed batter to advance to 2nd)
2. P Dominic Hambley: E-1 (errant throw to 1st base on attempted 1-3 putout allowed batter to reach base safely)

AZIL CATCHERS DEFENSE: 
1. Adan Sanchez: 1-6 CS 
2. Carter Trice: 1-1 CS, 1 PB 

WEATHER: Mostly sunny with temperatures 100+ 

ATTENDANCE: 13 

Arizona 
Scoring 
Service 

"Just because it isn't official doesn't mean it didn't happen" 

Tags
Cubs Instructs

Comments

Submitted by KingKongvsGodzilla on Thu, 09/14/2023 - 09:12 pm

Hey AZPhil, thanks again for keeping us informed. Who is Juan Bello? They seem to throw him alot since coming back from whatever kept him out 

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sat, 09/16/2023 - 09:02 pm

KKvG: Juan Bello was one of about five or six pitchers at the Cubs Dominican Academy in 2022 who were considered to be the Cubs best DSL pitching prospects. The others were Kevin Valdez, Freilyn Silverio, Eligio Paredes, and Carlos Garcia (who was on the Restricted List in 2022)    

K. Valdez (the Cubs #1 DSL prospect in 2022) got moved up to the ACL Cubs during the 2022 season, and Bello, Silverio, Paredes, and C. Garcia were invited to post-2022 AZ Instructs  

All of them were invited to Minor League Camp this past March, but Bello went down with an injury just before the start of Extended Spring Training and was out of action April through July. 

Bello made three or four appearances in the ACL in August, but he is still rounding into game shape. He has a plus curve and (with the exception of one horrendous ACL outing in August when he walked all four batters he faced) he throws strikes, maybe almost too many strikes.  

BTW, the Cubs #1 DSL pitching prospect this year was Alfredo Romero, and just like with Kevin Valdez in 2022, A. Romero got moved up to the ACL during the 2023 season. He looks REALLY good (long arms & long legs, very athletic on the mound, features a FB & SL combo, and he is working on a CH).  

[ ]

Submitted by KingKongvsGodzilla on Sat, 09/16/2023 - 09:54 pm

Hell yeah, thanks. Hopefully Silverio can get over taking some lumps at 18 and walking out healthy (unless he didn’t)

BTW you were first on Michael Arias, no? He’s one of the realer ones this year and you were pretty excited. Marino Santy too, def could only have heard of 96 with a curve, some chutzpah, from you

You wouldn’t happen to know what’s up with Richard Gallardo? I assume he’s in Arizona rn

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sun, 09/17/2023 - 09:55 am

KKvG: I was at the backfields in March 2022 when Michael Arias, Marino Santy, Joel Sierra, and Kenyi Perez threw their first stateside "live" BP. Santy and K. Perez threw on Field # 3 and Arias and Sierra threw on Field # 4. They were considered to be the Cubs' top four DSL pitching prospects in 2021 and they were the only four called up from the DSL for Minor League Camp (pre-Extended Spring Ttaining) in 2022. 

I was standing with one of the Cubs minor league guys watching the four pitchers throw and he told me to watch Arias in particular because he was a converted shortstop with athleticism and a fluid delivery who was hitting 100 MPH with his FB at the Dominican Academy, and if he could develop a reliable secondary pitch (easier said than done, of course) he could move fast.  

Once Extended Spring Training started Arias was clearly the Cubs #1 pitching prospect there and I reported that here at TCR. All four of the pitchers were given priority slots in EXST games as the Cubs tried to marry their side work with game outings. Sierra was hitting 100 MPH with his FB but with no secondary pitch by the end of EXST, but then he got hurt and was shut down and really hasn't pitched for about a year & a half now.

So it took a while, but Arias finally did develop a usable secondary pitch, and Santy improved his command enough to where both were in the Myrtle Beach starting rotation in 2023. In fact, Arias has already moved up to South Bend, and is now considered to be one of the Cubs Top 10 pitching prospects by the Cubs themselves. 

So yes, you did read about Arias here first.     

BTW, even though he is only 21 and just reached Hi-A in June, Arias is a possible Rule 5 Draft pick if he is not added to the Cubs MLB 40-man roster in November, just because of his extremely high ceiling.

And if Arias is added to the 40 in November he would get four minor league options (just like Kevin Alcantara when he was added to the 40 last November), so the Cubs would not need to rush him. 

Recent comments

  • crunch 09/27/2023 - 09:29 pm (view)

    took tailon 5 pitches to give up a HR to the 2nd batter of the game.  phew...

  • crunch 09/27/2023 - 09:59 pm (view)

    candel's back and playing 1st.  tauchman DH'ing...  j.young optioned to AAA...forgot he was here.

  • crunch 09/27/2023 - 09:49 pm (view)

    he's wearing this one for life whether he likes it or not.  you can't pull a brant brown in the last week of the season when it's 4 teams going for 2 playoff spots...especially with your last games going forward vs teams that are 1st place in their division.

    he might as well do whatever it takes to move on because it's part of the drama of this chase for the post-season no matter how the cubs do here on out.

  • Arizona Phil 09/27/2023 - 09:33 pm (view)

    FWIW, the year Brant Brown dropped the fly ball in Milwaukee the Cubs made the playoffs anyway, although they did have to play a tie-breaker play-in game with the Giants at Wrigley Field to get in as the N. L. Wild Card team (there was only one Wild Card team in each league back then)...  

  • Charlie 09/27/2023 - 09:16 pm (view)

    Ron Santo's voice came out of me while watching.

    I am really hoping for a bounce back by Suzuki tonight. That error in that moment could really get in your head -- and unfairly shift the public perception of the player for a long time.

  • Arizona Phil 09/27/2023 - 09:28 pm (view)

    F NOLDARAN: 

    The Cubs have no control with respect to Marcus Stroman or Drew Smyly exercising their player options for 2024. 

    Stroman will get $21M in 2024 if he exercises his player option and Smyly gets $10.5M in 2024 (includes a $2M salary escalator based on IP in 2023) if he exercises his player option (both likely, especially Smyly). 

    Kyle Hendricks has a $16M club option for 2024 or else a $1.5M buy-out, and it remains to be seen if the Cubs will exercise the option (which is really just a $14.5M savings because of the buy-out). I would think the Cubs will exercise the club option, because they can always trade him.  

    Also, the Cubs will be paying performance bonuses post-2023 to Yan Gomes (either $250K or $500K based on games started at catcher) and Smyly ($2M based on IP). Also, Cody Bellinger gets as $1M bonus if he wins N. L. Comeback Player of the Year Award (which is very likely).

    So with the $3M+ in performance bonuses still to be paid, the Cubs 2023 payroll AAV will likely end up just slightly under the 2023 MLB $232M CBT threshold, possibly within $1M (TBD).  

    BTW, as things stand right now it appears that the Cubs will have somewhere in the vicinity of $30M in 2024 salary to spend on additions to the roster (I am presuming that Bellinger will opt-out, that Stroman and Smyly will not opt out, that the Cubs will pick up the club options on Hendricks and Gomes but will not pick-up the club option on Brad Boxberger, and that the Cubs will tender 2024 contracts to only three or four of the arbitration eligible guys -- Steele and Alzolay for sure, probably Merryweather, plus MAYBE Tauchman and/or Leiter), with Nick Burdi, Codi Heuer, Nick Madrigal, and Patrick Wisdom likely to be non-tendered (or traded prior to being non-tendered if another club is interested). 

    However, I suspect that the Cubs will attempt to re-sign Heuer and Burdi -- and Tauchman and/or Leiter if they are non-tendered -- to 2024 minor league contracts with an NRI to Spring Training. Brandon Hughes and Ethan Roberts are not arbitration-eligible but they also are likely to be non-tendered and then the Cubs will attempt to sign them to 2024 minor league contracts with an NRI to Spring Training.

    MLB Contract Tender Day this year is November 17th (the Friday immediately prior to Thanksgiving), so I expect to see a lot of transaction-related activity at that time throughout MLB. 

    However, the deadline to add Rule 5 eligible players to the MLB 40-man roster is PRIOR TO MLB Contract Tender Day, so the Cubs will need to drop as many players from the 40 as roster slots are needed PRIOR TO MLB Contract Tender Day.

    The players presently on the 40 who are most likely to be Designated for Assignment (and outrighted if not claimed) to clear slots on the 40 prior to MLB Contract Tender Day for Rule 5 Draft eligibles would probably be Michael Rucker, Jared Young, Jeremiah Estrada, and Caleb Kilian (in that order), although the Cubs could also just DFA one or more of the players they have  already decided to non-tender and not re-sign (like Madrigal and/or Wisdom, and maybe Leiter and/or Tauchman). 

    At 9 AM (Eastern) on the day after the final game of the World Series (two or three weeks prior to MLB Contract Tender Day) is when unsigned MLB Article XX-B players are automatically declared free-agents (they do NOT have to file, it's automatic), so that's when Bellinger, Boxberger, Candelario, and Fulmer will be removed from the Cubs MLB 40-man roster, and then at 5 PM (Eastern) on the 5th day after the final game of the World Series is when all players still on a club's MLB 60-day IL (Burdi,  Heuer, Hughes, and Roberts) are automatically reinstated to the 40-man roster.

    So by 5 PM (Eastern) on the 5th day after the final game of the World Series, the Cubs 40-man roster will likely be full (subtracting free-agents Bellinger, Boxberger, Candelario, and Fulmer, and adding Burdi, Heuer, Hughes, and Roberts back from the 60-day IL). 

    5 PM Eastern on the 5th day after the final game of the World Series is also the point in time when unsigned minor league players eligible to be a post-2023 MLB Rule 9 6YFA are automatically declared free-agents, unless the player is added to the MLB 40-man roster or has signed a 2024 minor league successor contract. This will impact the Cubs with respect to OF Yonathan Perlaza and SS Luis Vazquez (two legit prospects who are eligible to be minor league free-agents post-2023).  

  • Sonicwind75 09/27/2023 - 09:07 pm (view)

    Ron Santo's "ohhhh nooooo" is what immediately came to my mind. 

  • crunch 09/26/2023 - 09:52 pm (view)

    in 1 week of play, masterboney has gone from a line of .206/.289/.265 to .262/.333/.328

    11 hits and 1 walk in 21 PA.  9 singles, 2 doubles.

  • crunch 09/26/2023 - 09:36 pm (view)

    that was a true kick in the teeth loss.  6 run lead blown.  ARZ won.  CIN won.  MIA postponed (vs NYM)

  • JoePepitone 09/26/2023 - 09:12 pm (view)

    You don’t win 100 games without having a lockdown closer. 

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