Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

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

Last updated 10-2-2023
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 22
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Brad Boxberger
Ben Brown
Jose Cuas
Tyler Duffey 
Jeremiah Estrada
Shane Greene
Kyle Hendricks
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Daniel Palencia
Michael Rucker
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Marcus Stroman
Jameson Taillon
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 8
# Jeimer Candelario
Nico Hoerner
* Miles Mastrobuoni
* Matt Mervis
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom
* Jared Young

OUTFIELDERS: 8
Kevin Alcantara
* Cody Bellinger
Alexander Canario
* Pete Crow-Armstrong
Brennen Davis
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman

60-DAY IL: 6
Nick Burdi, P
Michael Fulmer, P 
Codi Heuer, P
* Brandon Hughes, P
Nick Madrigal, INF
Ethan Roberts, P
 


 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs and Angels Tie One On at Diablo Park

Xavier Batista blasted his fourth home run in four games (a solo shot in the top of the 6th that put him into a tie for the team-lead in HR with Jeffrey Baez), Jose Morales hammered an RBI triple, scored a run, and drew a walk, and Carlos Penalver doubled, walked, and scored two runs, as the Cubs and Angels played to a 6-6 tie in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action this morning at Diablo Park Field #6 in Tempe, AZ.   

Junior Lake played six innings at 3B and batted six times, going 1-6. He drove-in a run with an RBI 5-3 GO in the 1st, reached base on an RBI infield single, stole a base, and scored a run in the 2nd, struck out swinging in the 3rd, reached base on a 5-4 FC and stole a base in the 5th, was called out on strikes in the 6th, and struck out swinging in the 7th. 

In five Cactus League Extended Spring Training games (26 PA), Lake is hitting 409/500/682 with six doubles, seven runs scored, three RBI, 3/6 BB/K, and 3 SB (1 CS). He has played three of the five EXST games at 3B and two in CF, and he has not commited an error at either position.   

RHP Paul Blackburn got the start for the Cubs and was roughed-up in the bottom of the 1st inning, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits (four singles and a triple).  Bit then he got into a groove and retired nine in a row. 

RHP Armando Rivero relieved Blackburn and was hit hard, allowing three runs on five hits (four singles and a triple) in 1.2 IP. He struck out three (all three swinging).  

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



CUBS LINEUP:
X-1. Jose Morales, DH #1: 1-4 (3B, F-8, F-8, 4-3, BB, R, RBI)
NOTE: Morales batted five times, hitting 2nd in the top of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings  
X-2. Junior Lake, 3B: 1-6 (5-3, 1B, K, 5-4 FC, K, K, R, 2 RBI, 2 SB)
NOTE: Lake batted six times, hitting third in the top of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th innings
1. Rashad Crawford, CF: 2-4 (1B, 1B, 3-1, 3-U, R, RBI)
2. Shawon Dunston Jr, LF: 1-4 (1B, K, P-6, K)
3. Xavier Batista, RF: 2-4 (E-9, K, HR, 1B, R, RBI) 
4. Jacob Rogers, 1B: 0-2 (BB, BB, K, 4-6-3 DP)
5. Jose Dore, DH #2: 0-2 (K, BB, BB, F-9)
6. Brad Zapenas, 2B: 1-2 (L-7, 1B, 5-3 SH)
7. Carlos Penalver, SS: 1-2 (2B, BB, L-4, 2 R)
8a. Wilfredo Petit, C: 0-2 (P-3, P-5)
8b. Erick Castillo, C: 0-1 (5-3)
9a. SLOT WAS SKIPPED FIRST TWO TIMES THRU BATTING ORDER
9b. Jesse Hodges, 3B: 0-0 (BB)

CUBS PITCHERS:
1. Paul Blackburn: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 5 K, 74 pitches (46 strikes), 4/3 GO/FO
2. Armando Rivero: 1.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R (3 ER), 0 BB, 3 K, 41 pitches (30 strikes), 1/1 GO/FO
3. Matt Iannazzo: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 PO, 26 pitches (18 strikes),  2/0 GO/FO 
4. Tyler Bremer: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 20 pitches (14 strikes), 2/1 GO/FO

CUBS ERRORS: 1
2B Brad Zapenas - E-4 (fielding error allowed batter to reach base safely - eventually scored unearned run)

CUBS CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Erick Castillo: 0-2 CS

ATTENDANCE: 3

WEATHER: Sunny with temperatures 100+

 

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

always unfortunate when life gets in the way of pleasurable pursuits...

but also cared way more about the Hawks game than the Cubs suckfest that they trot out most nights.

Wed's game is at 4pm out here for some God forsaken reason, no way to make it there on time without taking the whole day off which isn't happening.

unlikely cycle watch in progress... d.ortiz with a double and a triple (first since April 11th 2011, 17th career) through 2 innings.

Ian Stewart hits his first HR in Iowa for 2013. Some poor AAA pitcher (Matt Neil) found that one plane.

Tommy Birch‏@TommyBirch Huge news for #Cubs fans: #IowaCubs manager Marty Pevey said prospect Junior Lake is expected to join the team on Thursday.

Jim Callis‏@jimcallisBA Beginning to sense #Astros leaning to Appel if $ fit like they want.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

I looked into it just for kicks, 1st Round June Draft Pitchers with career WAR over 10: 1990: Alex Fernandez (28.9), Mike Mussina (83.0), Steve Karsay (11.2) 1991: Joey Hamilton (14.6), Shawn Estes (11.1), Aaron Sele (20.6), Justin Thompson (12.9) 1992: Rick Helling (20.6) 1993: Brian Anderson (11.4), Billy Wagner (28.1), Chris Carpenter (34.5) 1994: Dustin Hermason (11.4) 1995: Kerry Wood (27.7), Matt Morris (20.5), Roy Halladay (64.6) 1996: Kris Benson (13.0), R.A. Dickey (14.5), Eric Milton (16.6), Jake Westbrook (15.4), Gil Meche (17.1) 1997: Jon Garland (22.5) 1998: Mark Mulder (20.0), Jeff Weaver (15.4), CC Sabathia (56.1), Matt Thornton (11.4) 1999: Josh Beckett (34.0), Barry Zito (35.4), Ben Sheets (23.4), Brett Myers (14.4), Jason Jennings (11.4) 2000: Adam Wainwright (26.3) 2001: Mark Prior (16.5), Gavin Floyd (14.9), Noah Lowry (10.2) 2002: Zach Greinke (32.0), Jeff Francis (10.5), Joe Saunders (10.2), Scott Kazmir (16.6), Cole Hamels (30.0), Jeremy Guthrie (18.4), Joe Blanton (10.4), Matt Cain (31.5) 2003: Paul Maholm (13.7), John Danks (19.4), Chad Billingsley (17.2) 2004: Justin Verlander (37.1), Jared Weaver (30.4), Gio Gonzalez (12.5), Houston Street (10.0) 2005: Matt Garza (13.1), Clay Bucholtz (13.8) 2006: Clayton Kershaw (28.6), Tim Lincecum (22.9), Max Scherzer (13.1), Ian Kennedy (10.4) 2007: David Price (15.1) also, Madison Bumgarner (9.2) Notables in Recent Drafts 2008: Lance Lynn (4.2), Wade Miley (3.3) 2009: Stephen Strasburg (7.0), Mike Minor (2.3), Shelby Miller (3.2) 2010: Matt Harvey (5.1), Chris Sale (12.5)

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Heh. While this is great, O&B's point (I guess) was "injured within 3 years". Strassbourg would qualify for this. But, he's still impressive. Checked out the Cole Hammels 30WAR. Dammmnn! So, it would appear that there is noteworthy arm injuries for touted pitchers, it a characteristic of the position in our era. If TJS was offered as an IPO, I'd probably buy stock. Its gonna be interesting to see how/if Vizcaino will recover.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Well, he said: "I'd like to see a list of recent first rounders with long careers - I'm talking 3 years plus, even" so I generated that list. But, there are probably 15-20 pitchers in each first round that either never even make it to the big leagues, make it and have short and sucky careers, or make it but get injured and suck. But that's the nature of drafting and baseball I suppose. So there is a high likelihood that either pitcher the Cubs take will not make it or will turn out to be terrible, but there are usually a handful of good, solid, long-career starters that come out of each first-round, so one can hope.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

to expand upon that, here are the pitchers drafted #1 or #2 overall out of college since 1980.

1981 - #1 Mike Moore (28.2 career WAR)

1983 - #1 Tim Belcher (26.9)

1984 - #2 Bill Swift (18.7)

1986 - #2 Greg Swindell (30.3)

1988 - #1 Andy Benes (31.7)

1989 - #1 Ben McDonald (20.9)

1992 - #2 Paul Shuey (7.0)

1993 - #2 Darren Dreifort (7.9)

1994 - #1 Paul Wilson (2.2)

1996 - #1 Kris Benson (13.0)

1997 - #1 Matt Anderson (-0.5)

1998 - #2 Mark Mulder (20.0)

2000 - #2 Adam Johnson (-1.1)

2001 - #2 Mark Prior (16.5)

2002 - #1 Bryan Bullington (-0.2)

2004 - #2 Justin Verlander (37.1)

2006 - #1 Luke Hochever (0.8), #2 Greg Reynolds (-1.3)

2007 - #1 David Price (15.1)

2009 - #1 Stephen Strasburg (7.0)

2010 - #2 Jameson Tailon

2011 - #1 Gerrit Cole, #2 Danny Hultzen

And honestly, if you break it out to high school pitchers, that just adds Brien Taylor and Josh Beckett I believe (apologies if I'm missing someone).

We can discount Tailon, Cole and Hultzen as they haven't seen the majors yet. That leaves 20 names. I'd say 5 are all-out busts (G. Reynolds, B. Bullington, A. Johnson, M. Anderson and P. Wilson). Hochevar is probably a disappointment, but looks like he's could at least have a decent career in the bullpen. I'd say 12 have had decent careers or headed that way (Verlander, Price, Strasburg, Prior, Mulder, Benson, McDonald, Benes, Swindell, Belcher, Swift, Moore). Some of those could have been better without injuries of course (McDonald, Prior and Mulder to begin with). I don't know anything about Paul Shuey, but i presume some injury forced him to the pen, but he was decent out of there for his career. Dreifort looked like he was well on his way to a good career before arm injuries.

Not the greatest odds that the pick will succeed (depending on your personal definition of baseball success), but slightly above a flip of the coin. As for this pick of the Cubs becoming an ace with a lengthy career, those odds seem quite slim, which will make the pick a disappointment in many fans' eyes.

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

my feeling is that if Bryant was special, he'd have been drafted out of high school near the top of the draft. If you look at the history of top college bats with the first 2 picks, very few real stars. Some good players, but I'd say just two real stars (Clark & Drew...I think Erstad has the third best WAR of the group mostly thanks to his defense).

Joe Carter ('81- #2 pick), BJ Surhoff('85 - #1), Will Clark ('85 - #2), Jeff King (#1 - '86), Mike Kelly ('91 - #2), Phil Nevin('92 - #1), Darin Erstad ('95 - #1), Travis Lee ('96 - #2), JD Drew ('97 - #2),  Pat Burrell ('98 - #1), Rickie Weeks ('03 - #2), Alex Gordon ('05 - #2), Pedro Alvarez ('08 - #2), Dustin Ackley('09 - #2)

That's not saying that Bryant won't be good, but there was a study not too long ago that one of the best draft strategies is to get the youngest guy. Essentially get them into pro ball as young as possible...so a guy like Frazier might be the best bet to hit a home run with this pick (I doubt the Cubs go that way though).

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

it would pretty much shock the world if the cubs went with anyone but appell/gray. it's also worth mentioning that bryant is a junior, so whoever drafts him will most likely have to pay #1-3 overall pick money to him no matter where he slots. thanks to the new draft/loot setup we're probably going to be seeing a lot more highschool kids, community college transfers, and college juniors passing up their draft pick unless they get paid if they think they have the talent to move up in following years.

is castro capable of catching any ball thrown to him by an OF'r or catcher on a play at the bag? he's in such a hurry to apply the tag he consistently keeps missing the f'n ball. ...and pujols hits a 2 run homer as i type this. neat. who needs a tie game when you can be behind by 1 run?

[ ]

In reply to by JoePepitone

Fart.

If EpHoy had bothered to do to the bullpen what it did to the rotation, this might have been a bloody playoff team. Instead it's another top 5 pick.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil 10/03/2023 - 10:18 pm (view)

    It used to be that teams did not want to trade within their own division for PR reasons, but I don't see that with Ben Cherington in Pittsburgh or with Hoyer / Hawkins in Chicago, so the Cubs might target Pirates 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes and closer David Bednar.

    Hayes is a Gold Glove defender, a decent enough hitter (105 OPS+ in 2023), and he's under control at a VERY reasonable price ($8.75M AAV) through 2029 (with a club option for 2030). 

    Bednar is first-time salary arbitration-eligible post-2023 and under control through 2026. 

    One thing about the Cubs is that they can afford to overpay (which is what they would have to do to get both Hayes and Bednar) with a package consisting of a decent young MLB position player to replace Hayes in the lineup (like Christopher Morel, who could play LF in Pittsburgh) and prospects like outfielders Alexander Canario, Owen Caissie, or Kevin Alcantara (Pirates pick one, leaving the other two for the Cubs), a power-hitting 1B-DH like Matt Mervis or Haydn McGeary (Pirates pick one, leaving the other one for the Cubs), SS Luis Vazquez (who is MLB-ready but will never play SS in Chicago), 3B B. J. Murray (who could replace Hayes at the hot corner in Pittsburgh by 2025 if not sometime in 2024, and he obviously would be blocked in Chicago if the Cubs get Hayes), and an MLB-ready SP like Hayden Wesneski. 

  • crunch 10/03/2023 - 10:02 pm (view)

    boog and glanville calling the PHI@MIL game on ESPN2.

  • crunch 10/03/2023 - 10:59 pm (view)

    bellinger is my #1 want, but i fear he's the #1 want of many teams and will get crazy money + years, with the years being the big sting.  they need to replace bellinger's production if they don't get him no matter what position(s) played.

  • George Altman 10/03/2023 - 10:40 pm (view)

    I hope their top priorities are Bellinger, 2 RPs better than Fulmer/Boxberger (ideally 1 LH), and a 3B (Chapman my 1st Choice). That will put them right up to $237-257M AAV limit, but I don't see a playoff berth doing anything less.

    If they really want Alonso, Morel would be a good opening piece of that offer. 

    Unfortunately, Stroman will opt in ($23.7M) and Smyly ($11.5M) will be back. Steele, Taillon, Assad, Wicks will be rotation pieces. Would love a SP2 FA but don't see how they keep an effective offense and improve their bullpen while adding that.

  • crunch 10/03/2023 - 10:03 pm (view)

    i cannot imagine getting a legit 3rd, whether signing or via trade, isn't the highest priority for the team.  it's almost obvious they don't see morel there.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester 10/03/2023 - 10:19 pm (view)

    I’m just hoping they have an actual 3B next year so we don’t need to worry about the M boys, Bote, and P Whiffy eating all the 3B at bats next year.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester 10/03/2023 - 10:13 pm (view)

    Willson was a OF/3B when we signed him too.

    On a less successful but still got to the show note, PJ Higgins was another college IF converted to C

  • crunch 10/03/2023 - 10:03 pm (view)

    truth...and personally, i'd give him ABs (especially at 3rd) over the 2 singles-hitting-ceiling guys that got the shot.  i'm sure he can cover the ob% and defense while surpassing the power of anything masterboney and madrigal brought to the team.

    i don't view bote as a solution at 3rd, but i find it hard to believe he couldn't outperform either of the main options they had there for a huge chunk of this season.

  • KingKongvsGodzilla 10/03/2023 - 10:47 pm (view)

    Color me impressed by this assignment for Trice right out of the draft as a convert. Seems worth following after the success of Caratini

  • Dolorous Jon Lester 10/03/2023 - 10:33 pm (view)

    Bote always has great spring trainings.