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

Anywhere But Busch

On the day of the Cubs' last-ever game at the current Busch Stadium, guest writer Justin Hamm checks in with his thoughts on the stadium. He's not misty-eyed about its impending demise, that's for sure. ---------- On the Implosion of Busch Stadium Sometime in late October or early November, not long after what is no doubt going to be another insufferable playoff run by the Cardinals, a demolition crew will gather in downtown St. Louis to perform a glorious and long-overdue act. Theyíre finally going to blow the complete and holy hell out of the ballpark-size Cubby-bear trap they call Busch Stadium. Yes, Busch is the place where shortstop/defensive artiste Ozzie Smith did his best and most memorable work, and the place where Big Mac hit dinger number 62. But itís also the place where the Redbirds keep the 9 World Series and 16 NL pennant banners to which their fans allude when lording it over Cubs fans, and the place where, 18 years ago, a certain chubby seven-year old with a missing front tooth and a haircut he still insists was not a mullet caught his first-ever glimpse of live big-league action. The rules of the traditional baseball-nostalgia-piece genre insist that he should proceed by describing what a grand and breathtaking night it was. He should employ lots and lots of hyperboles when referring to the field (the very green God himself intended when he made the color) and to the ballplayers (bigger than giants, bigger than really gigantic giants). And ñ oh, yeah ñ his old man ought to figure prominently into the story, too, particularly if he and his old man were at odds over some deficiency in their relationship at the time. That way, the ending can show what the traditional endings always show: how baseball heals all wounds. But the kid isnít a liar ñ or, at least not a habitual one. What he is, however, for better or for worse, is a lifelong Cubs fan, and what he saw that night ñ his favorite ballclub play as if the Tribune Company had decided to dish out paychecks based on some backward incentive scale (two-hundred grand for hitting into a double play, a hundred grand for making an error, fifty grand for every runner left on base) ñ did nothing to ingrain in him any affection whatsoever for the ballpark in which he was sitting. The Cubs lost. The kid cried. He spilled the last of his nachos and cried even harder (okay, so he was a very chubby seven-year old, if you have to know the truth). His uncle patted him tenderly on the non-mullet and promised the luck would be better next time around. But, of course, that wasnít true. Roughly once a year for the next 18 the kid would made the same trek down I-55 and over the river to catch at least one Cubs-Cardinals game behind enemy lines, and he would never ñ not one time ñ bring anything but disappointment back over the Mississippi. Maybe he was just very unlucky when it came to choosing dates to attend games. Or maybe the Tribune company really was paying its ballplayers on a backward incentive scale (that would explain a lot, such as the Cubsí 136-187 all-time record at Busch entering ë05). To be fair, Busch Stadium isnít the only place where the Cubs struggled to win in those years. Before Minute Maid Park, for instance, there was the Astrodome (where the turf roaches proved that, indeed, everything is bigger in Texas). But when the Cubs dropped road games to ëStros, the kid could flip off the TV in seventh inning, and that was that. He never had to sit quietly in his seat while 30,000 Houstonians in ten-gallon hats and cowboy boots fired off their six-shooters in unison to celebrate both an Astros win at the hands of the Cubs and the ever-rising price of a barrel of oil. Or whatever it is that Astros fans do. But he did go to Busch. And he kept going, this silly, silly kid. And he kept enduring the taunts of Cardinals fans, and he kept expecting the Cubs to do better. And he kept finding disappointment. The Cubsí record at Busch in games he attended? 0-12? 0-15? Worse? Itís hard to say. After a while, the losses all began to blur together. The same montage-esque recollection of diving stops by The Wizard and absurdly long homeruns by Big Mac still dominates his dreams to this day ñ broken up, occasionally, by the vision of a bases-loaded, game-ending walk by LaTroy Hawkins. I know. Youíre thinking, This kid, maybe he should see a therapist or something, get himself medicated. But therapists cost a pretty penny, and the kid, now a twenty-five year old with a student load debt the size of small countryís Gross National Product, doesnít have a pretty penny (or, for that matter, an ugly one). What he does have, however, is a cheaper, much more fun brand of therapy in mind. See, he plans to be there in the fall, after the ñ gag, gag ñ sea of Redbird-red seating has been removed and all of the ñ puke, puke ñ championship banners have been pulled down, to watch that demolition crew reduce the concrete bowl that was once his least favorite ballpark to a very large, very expensive pile of kitty litter. Though it makes for a more nostalgic piece if he was going so he could say goodbye to the place where he fell in love with live baseball, he isnít, and anyway, that didnít happen the first night at Busch, anyway; it happened a year later when he first laid eyes on Wrigley Field. Heís going so he can hoist a beer, and celebrate, and hope that whatever black magic keeps his team from winning in St. Louis wonít find its way into the Cardsí new digs. Itís going to be beautiful, and probably very loud, when those ridiculously dignified (some might even say pompous) arches come crashing down. There will be plenty of hometown fans around, of course, their eyes full of fat, wet tears ñ after all, Busch may never reach birthday number 40, but it is old enough to be the only nest under-the-hill Redbird fans have ever known. Who knows? Maybe the kid will pause for a moment and feel a bit of compassion for their loss. But probably not. In fact, if he has a Kleenex, he wonít offer it up, not to any of them. Instead, heíll say to those spoiled fans from the Gateway City what heís wanted to say since he was seven: Wipe your eyes with one of your precious banners, you, you, Yankees of the National League. After all, you have so many, theyíre practically disposable anyway. ---------- Justin Hamm grew up in Bloomington/Normal, Illinois, roughly halfway between Chicago and St. Louis on I-55. He has since been banished to Cardinals land -- he lives writes in the heart of Mid-Missouri. His fiction has appeared in Red Rock Review and Pindeldyboz, while his essayish opinion pieces and book reviews have been featured in the past three issues of Mudville Magazine. He also contributes regular columns and articles on fantasy baseball to Roto America, and "The Black List" his column on books past and present is a monthly staple of The Truth Magazine.

Comments

great piece btw... Maddux starts tonight, it looks like he'll have 5 more chances to win 4 more games to keep his 15 wins a season streak alive. The starts... Tonight 09/07 @STLC 9/12 vs. Cincy 9/17 vs. STLC 9/23 vs Houston 9/29 @ Houston Pre ASB #'s: 2004: 7-7 4.51 ERA/18 BB/77 K/20 HR/112.2 IP 2005: 8-6 4.67 ERA/20 BB/72 K/16 HR/115.2 IP Post ASB #'s: 2004: 9-4 3.48 ERA/15 BB/74 K/15 HR/101.0 IP 2005: 3-5 3.97 ERA/10 BB/40 K/8 HR/68.0 IP He should surpass his innings mark tonight to get his contract to vest for next season as well.

My first Cub game was at Busch, on our 8th grade class trip from Bourbonnais, IL in 1970. Kessinger led off with a triple, Beckert hit a short fly to right and Kessinger was doubled up trying to score. Williams then doubled, but the Cubs had already blown their only scoring chance. Cards won 1-0, Jose Cardenal driving in the only run of the game. It was also Mike Shannon's first game back at 3rd base after a lenghty(kidney?) illness. Nice piece Justin. Hope you enjoy the demolition.

Card Fans are Rednecks A Mascot that Digests Seeds Blow Busch to Pieces

Wouldn't you know it -- the nice people at TCR decide to run my piece about how I've never seen the Cubs win at Busch, and the night before it comes out I go to a game there and the Cubs win. Guess I'm 1-15 now, or something real close to that. Corey hit a homerun AND TOOK A WALK and Rusch had a perfect game through six. I knew it would take something improbable and bizarre for me ever to see the Cubs win in St. Louis. I did see where they were raffling off the rights to blow up Busch. Tempting. And seriously, that hair cut I had? Not a mullet. I swear.

Very nice piece. Gave me a chuckle. I'll be pointing my Cubs-loving wife to the link. As a Cards fan, I'm looking forward to seeing the bowl blow. Horrible stadium. Oh, and Ron Galt: I'm from Philly... you're all midwestern hayseeds to me.

Does anyone know what the dimensions are going to be like at the new park or does it have any stupid little quirks like a hill in center field? Just curious.

B/N...land of Cubs and Cards fans. The only worse place to move is Missouri if you are a Cubs fan. And he did it. God Bless you. Great article! I'll be cheering when it comes down.

I've seen the plans for the new stadium a couple of times. Doesn't seem too smart to have a majority of the seats uncovered for a place that averages about 150 degrees in the summer. Those day games should be nice. The inside just looks like the old place with less seats in the outfield. The only time I was at Busch the Cubs entered the ninth down one facing the Mad Hungarian. He went into his stomping around the mound act and promptly gave up a double to Jerry Morales. Then he stomped around some more glared in and gave up a homer to Bill Buckner. It was fun but God, was it hot.

You gotta enter that raffle! If you win, i would personally pay for you to get a T-shirt made that says "Good riddance." if you wear it with a Cubs hat or something similar.

There are plenty of great memories in Busch and I have some. I was at the Cub-Card doubleheader that locked up a playoff berth down the stretch. In fact, if you see highlights of Gary Matthews bases clearing triple to win the nightcap you can see me in a bright yellow shirt cheering madly as the ball falls a few feet shirt of my cheering arms.

In 1984. (Sorry about leaving that out).

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.