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 Week In Quotations 06-13 to 06-19

Base Running Follies "I wasn't aggressive running the bases because I knew it was hot and I was trying to stay strong. I saw Ortiz bobble the ball and thought I had a chance. When I tried to slide, I was too late. Last night at home, I could move my toe around and it was much better.' - Carlos Zambrano Paging Tom Skilling "Generally as a good hitter, you find your stroke at about 200 at-bats, plus this is the hitters' time of year. We have a lot of guys from warm-weather places, and they're more comfortable with this [weather].î -Dusty Baker Yogi Baker "Plus, they can hit, If you can hit, sooner or later, you'll hit.'' -Dusty Baker But I Have No Problem Messing Up Dubois's "I don't want to mess up [Hollandsworth's] swing, plus right- handers have been hitting a little better against him than left-handers.î -Dusty Baker All Your Rehab Questions Answered by Kid K "I'm not concerned with gun readings right now. I'm just more concerned with making good pitches and repeating my delivery. For me it's just getting the pitch count up there.'' - Kerry Wood after his first rehab stint in Iowa "Everybody wants to talk about mechanics. Mechanics is how many times you can repeat the delivery. My arm feels great. I have regular pitching soreness. That's always good in the right spots.'' -Kerry Wood "My approach is going to be the same. I'm still going to go out there and try and put 'em away. I'm not going to turn into a ground-ball pitcher or try to nibble the corners by any means.î -Kerry Wood "If my stuff is there and my arms feels as good as it does now, everything should be fine. I'm not going to change anything.'' -Kerry Wood Just Not Good Enough ''I made some good pitches, but obviously not as many as I needed to. It's a faster game up here, and things happen a lot quicker.'' -John Koronka Relativity 101 "Some things I do on the mound, I don't feel anything. But some things I do in everyday life, I do feel it because I've got a contusion on the bone and some issues there. Pain's a relative term.'' -Mark Prior Or Half-Kidding? "We're not dealing with a normal injury, so the normal way you feel coming back from an injury is different. We are dealing with something entirely nonrelated to throwing. When I said pain was relative, I was half-serious.'' -Mark Prior I'm A Beautiful Butterfly "The horses are the horses. He's not a horse yet. He's a little pony trying to be a horse.'' -Dusty Baker, on Sergio Mitre Rumor Mill "People are always making up something." -Dusty Baker, on the rumored trade with the Yankees for Gary Sheffield Welcome to the Show "First, to get told you're going to the big leagues, and you're stunned for about 15 minutes and then it wore off. You prepare for it and take it for what it isî -Rich Hill Priorities "The reason I did that is this opportunity I can't pass up. The Cubs and the organization, I've followed since I was little. It's really cool." -Cubs 1st round pick Mark Pawelek, on passing up his 2 year Mormom mission to sign with the Cubs Awe Struck "I've got to get used to this -- meeting guys I've seen on TV." -Cubs 1st round pick Mark Pawelek Well I Feel Reassured "If I told you this was part of some master plan, I'd be full of it. Come on. I've been looking for bullpen help everywhere the last couple of years. If anyone tells you they've got this bullpen thing figured out, well ... good luck to them. He's smarter than I am." -Jim Hendry Identity Crisis "[The fans] didn't know who I was because I didn't have a number on the back, so my name was 'No Number, 'Hey, No Number, what's your name?' I told them, and they still didn't know." -Dusty Baker, recalling his first trip to spring training Hi, My Name is Mark Buehrle and I'm Class A Jerk "I'm just saying from [the] years of experience that he's had success, that he very well may be using something.'' - White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle insinuating that a veteran Cubs pitcher has been doctoring baseballs Take Up Knitting Then "He must get bored in the four days off. As a starter, I can appreciate that. Now that I'm doing the relieving thing, I don't have time to think about things like that.'' -Ryan Dempster reacting to Buehrle's comments Wishful Thinking "I tried to throw a pitch down and away. Unfortunately, it came back over the plate. Hopefully, Dusty won't hold this against me, and I'll get more work down the road." -Joe Borowski, on the pitch that Derek Jeter hit for a grand slam on Saturday The Final Stage is Acceptance "Everybody knows Rem usually gets right-handers out better than left-handers. It's just unfortunate we had to put him in a situation with the bases loaded as the best option. Matsui is really good against left-handers. I had it in my notes, but that was the best option we had.'' -Dusty Baker, on going to Remlinger versus Matsui during Friday's game

Comments

"cubs are playing crap baseball recently" - Adam

Yankees - 23 Walks in 4 games Cubs - 8 walks in 4 games

FYI--- RHP Jerome Williams will be called up from Triple-A Iowa to start for the Cubs on Tuesday night in Milwaukee. Kerry Wood is pitching tonight for Iowa.

to look at the glass 1/4 full instead of 3/4 empty, despite being 1 game over .500 and losing 6 of 7, we are only 2.5 games out of a playoff position, because the rest of the wildcard contenders have been slaughtered by the AL as well. Cross our fingers and hope we can hang tight and wait for our big arms to come back.

I guess Hendry is showing off the minor leaguers. I am thinking he has trade in mind to a team that needs pitching.

--Our Season-- A Haiku by Mr. Whipple Down, down, down, up, up Down, down, B, A, select, start? We need a good cheat.

Kerry finished his 2nd rehab start tonight (he was pulled after 4 innings): 4IP 4H 2R 2ER 3BB 6K 1HBP. Don't have the pitch count. Same old, same old.

Wood struck out six Sounds batters and walked three. Wood left the game with the Cubs trailing 2-1 as Julio Mosquera doubled home Tony Zuniga and then pitcher Gary Glover singled home Mosquera in the fourth inning. The lone Cubs run scored on a solo home run in the second inning by Scott McClain. Woodís top radar gun reading was 96 miles per hour in each of the first three innings. Wood is scheduled to start for Iowa Friday in Des Moines against the Oklahoma Redhawks at 7:05 p.m. Woodís final line: four innings, four hits, two earned runs, three walks, six strikeouts, one hit batsman.

Dusty, you're a meathead. Stop batting Corey 2nd. And Hollandsworth for that matter either.

Meanwhile the Neifi Perez show is over. Currently sporting a .257 BA and a .264 OBP in the month of June. This goes along with his .259 BA, .283 OBP month of May. He can only live so long off his April numbers to carry his entire season. .368 BA, .403 OBP. Even worse is his pathetic showing in the leadoff role. 75 AB's, .267 OBP, .273 OBP. You got to be kidding me a major league baseball team has a guy with a .273 OBP leading off? But it gets better. Currently our #2 hitter is sporting a .289 OBP for the season, and get this a .208 OBP from the #2 slot. That would be Corey Patterson. What a fantastic one two punch the Cubs have. Meanwhile Todd Walker and his unhealthy .368 OBP is buried in the lower half of the lineup. I guess Dusty really does believe walks and getting on base ahead of your sluggers clogs up the bases. It is a minor Miracle what Derrek Lee has been doing with zero production from the first two hitters ahead of him. We should all take a step back in awe of how he keeps on doing what he is doing. Imagine how many more RBI's he could have had with a couple of actual hitters who could get on base ahead of him for the last 2 months. It boils down to this. The more Perez and Patterson pollute the top of the order the less RBI chances the core lineup gets. Things that need to happend before July 30th in order of importance. -Find someone else to play SS. Sporting 2 months of .270ish OBP and doing it from the leadoff spot is a joke. -Find a replacement for Corey Patterson or move him from the #2 slot. -Permanently move Walker up to the #1 or #2 slot. Where real hitters, not fake ones should reside. -Try and find some bullpen help. But dont overpay like you did for Remmy, Hawkins etc. Remember the bullpen was bad when we were overpaying for it. The bullpen is currently no worse than those expensive bullpens than it is with the cheap one we have now. I dont know if that is good or bad. -Find a LF. Preferrably a good one. This means no to Preston Wilson. Possible solutions. -Minnesota is looking for a 2nd baseman. Funny thing is the Cubs have one. Jerry Hairston. Minn has a glut of OFers in Stewart, Hunter, Ford, Jones. Minn has been rumored to be shopping Jones for sometime. -Mariners. Brett Boone has been benched. They also could use a 2nd baseman. And we could use Randy Winn. Winn was expendable heading into this season but has since become a much needed productive OF. -Cincy. Dunn would be nice but I also agree no way in hell is he traded much less in the division. More realistic might be Austin Kearns. His price tag before the season was Josh Beckett. I think that has come down some. -Cleveland. Bullpen help galore can be found here. Riske and Rhodes come to mind. Possible OF help could be obtained but doubtful. I would love to trade for Jody Gerut. -San Diego. Again another team in need of a 2nd baseman. No idea what we could get from them. Unspectacular is Xavier Nady.

christ...for all you that hate baker some of you are pretty clueless of how he works. im not a huge fan of all his moves, but i find his lineups to be pretty damn predictable even if some of his substitutions arent. here...figure this one out...todd walker will be batting 2nd as soon as he proves his knee is back in shape...which should be next week, probally tommorow. there, that'll save some of you a post about how baker finally figured something out that should be very predictable about dusty as it is. "when will dubois get his shot?" "how long will hawkins remain closer?" "why is bartosh still on this team?" "why is jobo not in bartosh's role?" "blah blah blah..." dusty's player/lineup management is pretty damn predictable. dusty is NOT a reactionary manager...you dont "just" get 1-2 chances to fail or succeed before your worth is deemed. 162 games...40 men...25 at a time to fill 10 total spots at any given moment (11 for retarded as hell DH-league interleague bullcrap)... weee!

Is it me or do the Cubs have their share of power hitters. While it would be nice to have someone like Dunn, who no doubt is a great run producer, I would much rather see a deal for a true leadoff hitter. It sounds like the Rockies are ready to deal... I'd like to see someone like Cory Sullivan... young, fast. And if Nomar won't be back by All-Star break it would be nice to have an everyday SS.

things to remember about trades... 1- cubs are 1 of 20 or teams looking to trade for someone, aka...aubry huff isnt sitting around going "damn, when the cubs gonna make a call about me?" 2- there's only a very few teams looking to sell off stars per season, and very very few in june...to get something this early you end up doing what the giants did to get l.hawkins or you wait for an attitude problem you can snap up cheap. 3- the cubs arent sellers, they're buyers...it would take one hell of a slide over the next month to become sellers. 4- every GM fights hand over fist for every single million they get to spend. they not only feel obligated to make a player they deemed worthy of a contract work...they feel obligated to get the maximum in return for them if they're shipped out. Player A in colorado is worth what he's worth now and probally even more come a month from now. the GM admitting failure by trading a player, AS YOU AS FANS HAVE HELD GM'S INCLUDING HENDRY TO, is something to be compared and second guessed today, tommorow, next month, next year, and in the case of lou brock...forever. anyway...unless the cubs luck up, get something cheap, or have a dire situation in need of immediate fixing worth trading more than actual worth for...it could be another few weeks before the trading really heats up and the market determines the true worth of a player as GMs guage all the available offers they can gather.

Nice post, Crunch. Some of us have a tendency to forget that on the other side of every trade there is a GM who is trying to get as much as possible from you as you are trying to get from them.

Yeah Crunch good post...the worst part of your post is: "cubs are 1 of 20 or teams looking to trade for someone, aka...aubry huff". The reason why is it is, is because it is the TRUTH. Unless things really shake out the next 3-4 weeks, if Hendry wants to make a deal, he will have to overpay. Like you are saying, everyday that goes by makes it more difficult to make a fair deal from a Cubs point of view. The good thing is we have an overload of young talent to deal and a few of them (Mitre, Kelton, Guzman, etc.) are really going to have a tough time ever sticking with the big club after this year due to a varient of reasons already discussed on here. But of course a big problem is that Cubs fans want to win a WS right now, but at the same time they don't want to give up on a prospect who 2-3 years from now is good in the bigs. It is a bad situation Hendry is in. But hopefully with Wood and PRior coming back, we can start getting good starting pitching again, like we did when we went on out 15-5 run recently.

Yahoo! Sports *** Jun 16 The Chicago Tribune and The Denver Rocky Mountain News both report Chicago Cubs sources confirmed a report they have made inquiries about Colorado Rockies OF Preston Wilson, who is likely to be dealt before the July 31 trading deadline. *** I know this issues has been beaten to death, but this is the first time I've seen anything said other than on TCR. Obviously, the Cubs are trying to fill the leadoff hole first. Wilson has better OBP numbers than both Neifi! and Patterson. Adjusting for Coor's Field, though, I'm not sure Patterson to Preston is much of an upgrade. The bigest thing that worries me is the groundout to flyout nubmers Patterson- 72/58, Wilson- 59/33. I don't know if any of you have noticed, but Wrigley eats up ground balls, just ask Mitre. *** Yogi Baker ìPlus, they can hit, If you can hit, sooner or later, youíll hit.î -Dusty Baker *** Yogi Baker, lol.

Yahoo! Sports *** Jun 16 The Chicago Tribune and The Denver Rocky Mountain News both report Chicago Cubs sources confirmed a report they have made inquiries about Colorado Rockies OF Preston Wilson, who is likely to be dealt before the July 31 trading deadline. *** I know this issues has been beaten to death, but this is the first time I've seen anything said other than on TCR. Obviously, the Cubs are trying to fill the leadoff hole first. Wilson has better OBP numbers than both Neifi! and Patterson. Adjusting for Coor's Field, though, I'm not sure Patterson to Preston is much of an upgrade. The bigest thing that worries me is the groundout to flyout nubmers Patterson- 72/58, Wilson- 59/33. I don't know if any of you have noticed, but Wrigley eats up ground balls, just ask Mitre. *** Yogi Baker ìPlus, they can hit, If you can hit, sooner or later, youíll hit.î -Dusty Baker *** Yogi Baker, lol.

Just got my Jimmy Buffett tickets... The Cubs had a lottery for season ticket holders to get Buffett tickets and today was the day the winners were able to purchase them. I was lucky enough to win and I got 4 tickets for the Sunday night show. Section 35, Row 9. Any other season ticket holders win the lottery and get their tickets? Let me know. I got through right away and I was unable to get any field seats, I was wondering if anyone was able to get them or were they sold out already.

Right now, this team is so thin on offense that with the return of Prior and Wood, we can look forward to losing games 3-2 and 4-3 instead of getting handed our shorts nearly every time out. If Dusty had the good sense to construct his lineup usign the Earl Weaver approach, he would immediately and permanently move Patterson and Perez to the #7 and #8 spots and leave them there. Both are just awfula t getting on base as evidneced by their sub .300 OBP!!!! We would have 3 nearly automatic outs at the bottom ofthe lineup, but at least the guys who know how to get on base would be at the top. Only the continued wretched play by the rest of the WC contenders this past week has saved the Cubs from another long summer. It will get better, but this is not a playoff caliper team and the clock is ticking. And this season is just plain agony on the senses.

The cubs have a huge problem right now: They've got RBi guys and big hitters, but no table setters. Actually, they have table setters, they're just batting behind D Lee, Burny and A Ram. You'll notice over the last few weeks that the bottom of the order is driving in D Lee and Burny or A Ram for all our runs. The middle of the order is hitting well right now, there's just no one on base to drive in when they hit because baker needs to juggle his lineup. Neifi lost the magic, too bad, it was fun while it lasted. Look at last nights box score and look at the hits, runs, and RBIs. Top of the lineup is an abyss of zeros. If one of those guys could get on when our 3-4-5 hitters go 6-11 and score all three runs (actually 3-4 scored all three runs) with all the RBIs coming in the 4 and 6 hole. No hits and no runs from 1-2 holes, not even a walk from them. So basically, the lineup is inverted but that inversion causes guys like Neifi to go 0-5 and get last out. If our 3-4-5 hitters go 6-11 and you put people on base, we score many more runs. Barrett and Walker have well over .300 OBP (.325 and .364 respectively). That's where our offensive problems are stemming from. Heck, Jason Dubois has almost the same OBP as Neifi and he batted ninth. Come ON Dusty, recognize these numerical patterns and use them to your advantage.

Yankees are zeroing in on Mark Kotsay and Austin Kearns is overweight according to Peter Gammons. I think the Cubs could offer a better deal for Kotsay than the Yanks. And I would pass on Kearns.

Anyone heading up to MIL for tonight's game or any this week? I am heading up there tonight. I really like the new park up there and getting seats is really easy.

"Anyone heading up to MIL for tonight's game or any this week?" Why don't you ask MikeC if he's going. Maybe you two could carpool. By the way, which team are you going to be rooting for up there?

hey manny my uncle is trying to buy tickets for jimmy buffett and won the lottery but he's out of town and doesn't know the site to go to to buy them so i need to know where you went....please post back here or check your e-mail account that you post under....thanks a lot. anyone that knows, please post the address he has to go to to buy them now that he won the lottery. he is a huge parrothead and cub fan and needs these, and has put me in charge thanks!!! post back asap

"Right now, this team is so thin on offense" Huh? During this losing streak, the offense has not been the problem. We had 10 hits in something like 15 of the last 23 games, lead the league in Batting Average a few days ago, and have been putting a lot of runs on the boards. Inconsistent yes...unclutch, yes. But "Thin" is in my mind a very incorrect assesment. Lee, Ramirez, Barrett and Walker are at or over .300, Burnitz is doing pretty well, Holly has picked it up a lot. the weaknesses now are Perez and Patterson....but overall, aside from a batting order that needs to change immediately, I think we are pretty "thick" on the offensive end. Our pitching, and the 8 runs a game or whatever that they have given up since the beginning of the Red Sox series is the real concern in my mind. If we can hold teams to 3-4 runs a game, we will win a lot more than we lose.

Green Lantern... YOU GOT MAIL!!! Let me know if that helped....

AMEN ADAM!! The Cubs are built around pitching and will win or lose as a whole dependent on that and not the offense. The Cubs have gone 1-6 in the last 7. HEre are the amount of runs given up over the past 7 games: 8, 9, 0, 15, 9 ,8 and 6 Obviously they won the game Mitre threw the shutout, but of those other games it isn't too realistic to win them when you have to score at least 7 runs a game. People can blame the offense all they want, but they are overlooking the key reason this Cubs team loses...PITCHING.

I want mike maddux as our pitching coach...money is no object.

How about we retire Greg Maddux and make him the pitching coach?

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.