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

Cub Pitchers Mine Gold in Arizona Ball Fields

Five Cub pitchers combined to throw a two-hitter and Justin Bour drove-in two runs with an RBI single and a sacrifice fly, leading the Cubs to a 3-1 victory over the A’s Split Squad #2 in AZ Instructional League action at Papago Park Field #2 in Phoenix this afternoon.

Thanks to a GIDP, a PO, and a CS, Cubs pitchers faced only two batters above the minimum, and today’s pitching gem comes on the heels of the no-hitter thrown by five other Cubs pitchers on Saturday. (The Cubs did not play yesterday).

Cubs 7th round pick RHP Ben Wells (Bryant HS – Bryant, AR) got the start and threw two perfect innings with three strikeouts (the 18-year old Wells has exactly the same body-type as 1970’s Cubs pitching great Rick Reuschel), and 19-year old long & lanky (6’4 180) RHP Starling Peralta (considered one of the top two pitching prospects on this year’s DSL Cubs #1 squad) retired all eight men he faced, striking out five of them.

Cubs 2010 23rd round draft pick RHP Matt Loosen (U. of Jacksonville) left the game in the bottom of the 7th inning after being struck on the right side of the face by a line drive. He did not lose consciousness and he walked off the field under his own power.

Bob Dernier (outfield & baserunning instructor) and Mark Johnson (catching instructor) have joined the Cubs AZ Instructional League coaching staff at Fitch Park. Dernier spent the last month of the season as the Chicago Cubs 1st base coach.

Here is today’s abridged box score (Cubs players only):

LINEUP:
1. Evan Crawford, CF: 2-4 (2B, F-7, 3-1, 1B, R)
2. Logan Watkins, DH #1: 1-3 (1-3 SH, 2B, F-9, F-7, R)
3. Micah Gibbs, C-DH: 1-3 (BB, 1B, F-7, F-7)
4a. Justin Bour, 1B: 1-2 (1B, F-7 SF, F-8, 2 RBI)
4b. Ryan Cuneo, 1B: 0-1 (6-3)
5. Dustin Geiger, 3B: 1-3 (F-8, P-3, 1B, BB, R, CS)
6. Marco Hernandez, SS: 0-3 (K, K, 5-3 SH, 1-U)
7a. Reggie Golden, RF: 1-3 (K, K, 1B, PO)
7b. Oliver Zapata, RF: NO AB
8. Sergio Burruel, DH-C: 0-2 (E4, 3-1, BB)
9. Chris Huseby, LF: 0-3 (1-6 FC, L-5, 6-U FC)
10. Gioskar Amaya, 2B: 0-3 (K, K, K)

PITCHERS:
1. Ben Wells: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 21 pitches (14 strikes), 3/0 GO/FO
2. Ryan Hartman: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 1 GIDP, 30 pitches (16 strikes), 3/1 GO/FO
3. Amaury Paulino: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 PO, 35 pitches (19 strikes), 2/1 GO/FO
4. Matt Loosen: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 8 pitches (5 strikes), 0/1 GO/FO
5. Starling Peralta: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 31 pitches (21 strikes), 1/1 GO/FO

ERRORS: (2)
SS Marco Hernandez E-6 (missed catch – two-base error allowed batter to reach base – eventually scored unearned run)
2B Gioskar Amaya E-4 (overthrow at 1st base attempting to complete DP allowed batter to advance to 2nd base)

CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Sergio Burruel: 1-1 CS

OUTFIELD ASSISTS:
RF Reggie Golden - threw out batter trying to advance to 2nd base on line single to RF

=================================================

ATTENDANCE: 17 (mostly scouts)

WEATHER: Sunny with temperatures in the 90’s

Comments

AzPhil Can you give us some insight on how Wells and Peralta's stuff looked? Was Wells sitting low 90's, occasionally touching mid-90's? I admit, as of typing this right now, I'm blanking on Peralta.

[ ]

In reply to by toonsterwu

I asked AZ Phil this exact same thing after his first start. I obviously can't say anything about how he looked yesterday, but Phil said that his arm strength (i.e. velocity) wasn't quite back up to full strength yet because he hasn't pitched since May or June. Essentially, he is akin to a pitcher in the first week or two of spring training, trying to work his arm strength back up. I'm excited to see what the kid can do next year. I also was wondering about Peralta, though. I vaguely remember seeing the name when casually perusing a box score from one of the Cubs' DSL teams.

[ ]

In reply to by Hrubes20

I remember your question last time. I was curious if he showed a bit more this past outing. I'm very excited about Wells. As exciting as Golden is, and Reggie offers upside this system really doesn't have much of with the bat, Wells sounds like your proto-typical power arm workhorse type pitcher. I think too much was overstated pre-draft about how the kid only had the plus velo for a few outings late in the year - the kid was growing into his body and added inches and weight. Now, I didn't know he was 240 or more, which is a bit worrisome in some respects, but a pro training regimen could help. Add in that the reports were that his feel for his secondary stuff was good ... and I'm really fascinated.

[ ]

In reply to by toonsterwu

Submitted by toonsterwu on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 3:39pm. I remember your question last time. I was curious if he showed a bit more this past outing. I'm very excited about Wells. As exciting as Golden is, and Reggie offers upside this system really doesn't have much of with the bat, Wells sounds like your proto-typical power arm workhorse type pitcher. I think too much was overstated pre-draft about how the kid only had the plus velo for a few outings late in the year - the kid was growing into his body and added inches and weight. Now, I didn't know he was 240 or more, which is a bit worrisome in some respects, but a pro training regimen could help. Add in that the reports were that his feel for his secondary stuff was good ... and I'm really fascinated. ===================================== TOONSTER: The Cubs have brought Ben Wells along slowly for reasons previously mentioned, and while his fastball velocity is only in the high 80's (so far), he is getting swings & misses (and strikeouts) with both his slider and his splitter. He is definitely a projectable kid. A couple of other items regarding Cubs pitchers of which you may or may not have already been aware: LHP John Mincone had knee surgery, and RHP Jon Nagel had elbow surgery #2. And in case you were thinking "maybe another McNutt?"... here is 40th round draft pick LHP Brian Smith's line through three Instructs games: 2.0 IP, 10 H, 12 R (10 ER), 3 BB, 2 K, 2 HBP, 3 WP, 1 BALK

if anyone is having issues logging in(happened on Firefox for me, but not Safari), I recommend , seems to be a cookie/cache problem. You should erase them from your browser and try again. You can also try using a different browser.

Cox and Baker out in the first round, couldn't happen to 2 better guys. if Rays win tomorrow, I'm fairly certain that would be the first time I ever got all the LDS predictions correct. probably not a coincidence that all the favorites would win then.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101012&content_id=15… Am I on crack? Who exactly is the fourth candidate that Ricketts has interviewed? Lou?!? Seriously, somebody help me. Musk-rat only mentions the three left that I know of, Ryno, Quade and Wedge. I saw the Davey Martinez link above, is he the fourth?? *edit Read the Martinez article, I haven't seen anything about them requesting (in writing) an interview with him, so that would be tampering (although I do like Davey Martinez)... Maybe he's our bench coach next year?? Rob G., Az Phil... Are either of you the fourth candidate??

Not to be contrarian given that this isn't 1970 and more is known about nutrition and training, but every time they tried to make Rick Reuschel lose weight he didn't pitch as well...sort of a variation on the Sampson not taking to haircuts from his girlfriend Dee. Reuschel wasn't about velocity though but he had one hell of a sinker. I'd love a more detailed history lesson from Az Phil's recollections about Big Daddy Reuschel. Better diet and exercise worked for Geo Soto though, so if pitching doesn't work out maybe the can convert him to catching. He's got the backstop part down already.
Reuschel was listed as 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, which made him a few pounds heavier than his franchise-mate from two generations earlier, Hippo Vaughn
--- June 4, 1970: Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 3rd round of the 1970 amateur draft. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Reuschel

Bruce Levine's latest post from earlier today:
Former Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge was the latest to be interviewed, meeting with Ricketts on Monday, according to major league sources. Triple-A Iowa manager Ryne Sandberg and interim manager Mike Quade have already had their interviews with Ricketts within the last two weeks. Quade met with Ricketts before returning to his winter home in Florida after the Cubs season ended on Oct. 3....At this point it's unknown if former Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin will meet with Ricketts.
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=5676697

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

I see said the blind man (stupid Muskie), Toon implied the same above... So I guess that makes Melvin the fourth man on the grassy knoll. Rob G., is there a pool started on this?? I'm thinking Wedge gets it, because JH will be afraid to go with someone un-seasoned..... (not that I particularly like that answer). Ultimately, I think about this just like hiring Rudy last year. If the new guy works, he'll get all the credit, if he doesn't, it's one more screwup on the list, but is it really his fault? Hard to say, he can only manage the pieces he's given... (standing by return fire....)

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil 09/23/2023 - 09:02 pm (view)

    The deadline for trading players on an MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) and players who were outrighted to the minors after signing a 2023 MLB contract was August 1st, but trades involving players on a minor league reserve list are prohibited beginning at 12 PM (Eastern) on the 7th day prior to the originally-scheduled conclusion of the 2023 MLB regular season (Sunday 9/24) through the last day of the MLB regular season (including a day on which a regular season game is played after the originally-scheduled conclusion of the MLB regular season).   
     

  • Arizona Phil 09/23/2023 - 09:58 pm (view)

    jdrnym: 

    As you know, the abbreviation "DFA" stands for "Designated for Assignment." 

    There are three types of assignments: 

    1. Trade Assignment (when a player is traded from one MLB club to another)
    2. Outright Assignment (when a player is sent to the club's minor league Domestic Reserve List after Outright Assignment Waivers have been secured).
    3. Optional Assignment (when a player is optioned to the minors, subject to being recalled at a later time). 

    So when a player is Designated for Assignment, the player can either be traded, outrighted to the minors, or optioned to the minors. 

    Normally a player is not Designated for Assignment and then optioned to the minors, because the club could just option the player to the minors immediately without a DFA.

    Back in the day It was not that unusual for a player to be Designated for Assignment so that Optional Assignment Waivers could be secured (Optional Assignment Waivers were required before certain players could be optioned to the minors, and just like the old Trade Assignment Waivers, Optional Assignment Waivers were revocable if a player was claimed). Optional Assignment Waivers were eliminated in 2016 and Trade Assignment Waivers were eliminated in 2021, so all revocable waivers have been eliminated. What's left are Outright Assignment Waivers and Outright Release Waivers, and both are irrevocable once requested.  

    With the new five option limit whereby a player can (with a couple of exceptions) be optioned to the minors no more than five times in a given season before Outright Assignment Waivers must be secured (and it - IS - Outright Assignment Waivers that must be secured, even though it is for the purpose of an Optional Assignment), it now might be necessary for a club to DFA a player to clear a spot on the MLB 26-man roster (MLB 28-man roster in September) for another player and to allow for the two days (actually 47 hours) required to run a player through waivers. After the two day Waiver Claiming Period concludes (and presuming the player isn't claimed), the player can be returned to the MLB 40-man roster and optioned to the minors (even after being Designated for Assignment). But for that to happen, the player can - NOT - be replaced on the MLB 40-man roster by another player after being Designated for Assignment.  

    However, in the case of Jordan Luplow, he had - NOT - been optioned to the minors five times in the 2023 season prior to be optioned to AAA St. Paul on 9/18, so the Twins did not need to DFA Luplow in order to secure Outright Assignment Waivers so that he could be optioned to the minors a sixth time. But because he was Designated for Assignment and not replaced on the 40 by another player after the DFA, the Twins could option him to the minors (and return him to the 40) even after he was Designated for Assignment, because an Optional Assignment is one of the three types of assignments.

    So Luplow was Designated for Assignment even though he didn't need to be, and then the Twins returned him to their MLB 40-man roster and optioned him to the minors a couple of days later (which they can do, since Luplow wasn't replaced on the 40 by another player after he was Designated for Assignment). What the Twins did (DFA Luplow and then option him to the minors a couple of days later) was within the rules. It's just very odd and doesn't make a lot of sense. 

    So I will offer the most logical reason I can think of to explain why the Twins did this:  

    The Twins DFA'd Luplow because they intended to reinstate Chris Paddack from the 60-day IL, but then Carlos Correa suddenly needed to go on the 10-day IL and so they decided they wanted to keep Luplow on the 40-man roster (and on Optional Assignment to AAA) and didn't want to risk losing him off waivers or by him electing free-agency after being outrighted. Luplow has Article XX-D rights (he has been outrighted to the minors previously in his career), so he would had the right to elect free-agency after he was outrighted. There was also the possibility that he would have been claimed of waivers, and obviously the Twins felt they might need his RH bat after losing Correa and with Royce Lewis having left a game with a hamstring injury that led to an IL assignment. 

    Also, if Luplow was outrighted instead of being optioned, he would no longer be automatically eligible to play in the post-season (except as a possible injury replacement).

    Not only did Carlos Correa go on the IL, Royce Lewis went on the IL, too, two days after Correa went on the IL and two days after Luplow was optioned to AAA, so the Twins did in fact end up needing Luplow after all, and recalled him just a couple of days after he was optioned to replace Lewis on the MLB 28-man roster. 

    So that all I've got. That is the only thing that makes sense. The Twins DFA'd Luplow because they had intended to replace him on the 40 with another player (probably Paddack) and hoped that they would be able to run him through waivers and that he wouldn't get claimed and that he would accept an Outright Assignment, but then they suddenly changed their minds because of the injury to Correa and the possibility that Lewis might also have to go on the IL (which did, in fact, happen the next day).

    So the Twins were able to return Luplow to the 40 because he hadn't been replaced on the 40 by another player after he was Designated for Assignment, then they optioned him to St. Paul, and then they recalled him after Royce Lewis was placed on the 10-day IL (the minimum 10-day optional assignment being waived because Luplow replaced a player (Royce Lewis) who was placed on an MLB IL. 

  • crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:00 pm (view)

    CIN out here blowing a 9-0 lead they built through 3 innings.  9-9 tie in the 7th.

  • crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:05 pm (view)

    boxburger 10d IL, k.thompson back up.  it's his right forearm (again).

  • crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:12 pm (view)

    merryweather got out of it, but he loaded the bases with 1 out.  of course ross got cuas up in the pen...thankfully he didn't need to come in.

    looks like cuas gets the 9th.

  • crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:46 pm (view)

    4ip 2h 0bb 6k, 49 pitches.  no idea why they're giving the pen the last 2 innings when he's out there dealing like this and only threw 49 pitches.  he was supposed to pitch tomorrow and he's fresh.

  • crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:52 pm (view)

    ...and assad is now a pen arm, evidently...odd move given recent success.  i guess wicks starts tomorrow?

  • crunch 09/22/2023 - 09:16 pm (view)

    ARZ, MIA, and CIN all lose.  nice.

  • crunch 09/22/2023 - 09:54 pm (view)

    stroman is now the saturday starter...okay, then.

  • jdrnym 09/22/2023 - 09:52 pm (view)

    Phil,

    Jordan Luplow was DFA'd by the Twins on Monday and was ultimately optioned and then recalled today. I didn't think that was possible since optional waivers were eliminated years ago. How did that work for the Twins?