Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

39 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (one slot is open), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL and one player has been DESIGNATED FOR ASSIGNMENT (DFA)   

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, three players are on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-23-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Hector Neris 
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
Christopher Morel
* Matt Mervis
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 9 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 3
Kyle Hendricks, P 
* Drew Smyly, P 
* Justin Steele, P   

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P

DFA: 1 
Garrett Cooper, 1B 
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs vs. Brewers: Series Thread (Games 134-136)

Submitted by Charlie on

The Cubs greet the Brewers to Wrigley for a three game set. This series plus the 4-game set next weekend looked at one time like they would be a fight for the division lead, but with the Cubs on the heels of the first-place Cardinals they'll be looking to toss the Brewers clear out of the ring, narrowing the Royal Rumble that was the tight NL Central to a 1-on-1 grapple. The Brewers meanwhile will cling tightly to both their place in the division and their dwindling Wild Card aspirations. Read below to see which competitors will be starting in the series.

Game 134, Friday, August 30, 1:20pmCDT
CHC: LHP José Quintana (11-8, 4.05 ERA)
MIL: RHP Chase Anderson (6-3, 4.34 ERA)

Quintana's last start against the Nats was shortened to only 4 innings in which he allowed five runs, four earned, on three walks and seven hits. He's 1-2 in four starts against Milwaukee this year. Ryan Braun is 11-42 with five homeruns off of him. Moustakas and Cain saw a bunch of him in the AL but haven't put up any remarkable numbers one way or the other.

Following a 10-run, 2.1 inning start against the Nats, Anderson recovered with five scoreless against the D-Backs. He has a win in relief and a no-decision in one start against the Cubs this year. Zobrist is 9-22 with three homeruns off of him--probably not enough to motivate an early roster move? K.B. is 7-26 with three homeruns. Javy is 1-17 with six strikeouts. Rizzo is a mere 2-23.

Game 135, Saturday, August 31, 1:20pmCDT
CHC: LHP Cole Hamels (7-4, 3.73 ERA)
MIL: RHP Zach Davies (8-7, 3.90 ERA)

Hamels was handed a no-decision against the Nats after five innings and two earned runs allowed. He's 1-0 in three starts against the Brewers this year. Hernan Perez is 8-16 off of him.

Davies has dropped five straight, allowing 23 earned runs on nine walks and 27 hits (8 homeruns) in 22 innings. Two of thos were back-to-back losses to our Cubs, making him 1-2 in four starts against Chicago this year. Kyle Schwarber is 5-26 with four homeruns and seven strikeouts off of him.

Game 136, Sunday, September 1,
CHC: RHP Yu Darvish (5-6, 4.25 ERA) Tyler Chatwood
MIL: LHP Gio Gonzalez (2-2, 4.34 ERA)

Darvish followed a frustrating 4 homerun, zero walk, eight strikout outing by holding the Mets to one earned run in eight outings. The key to his game remains keeping opponents in the yard, as he leads the NL with 31 homeruns allowed. Yelich is 3-10 with two homeruns off of him.

Edit: Darvish is a late scratch with a forearm strain (yikes) and Tyler Chatwood starts in his place. Chatwood last started on July 24and provided four innings of one-run ball against the Giants. He's had a few multi-innning relief appearances since then as well. Travis Shaw and Yasmani Grandal have crushed him in 26 at bats, and Yelich is 4-10 with two walks.

Gio Gonzalez lost to the Cards last time out, allowing nine runs, seven earned, on four walks and nine hits in five innings. He's 1-0 in three starts against the Cubs. Jonathan Lucroy is 8-13 off of him. Bryant, Rizzo, and Javy are collectively 7-59 with one homerun and 18 strikeouts off of him.

Tags
2019 Gameday Thread

Comments

Submitted by crunch on Fri, 08/30/2019 - 08:58 pm

t.skaggs died by choking, aided by an intense mixture of opioids and alcohol...accidental overdose.

from the mixture (fentanyl/oxycodone/oxymorphone) it sounds like he was yet another victim of "bootleg" street pills...or he was in way deep into an addiction.

Submitted by crunch on Fri, 08/30/2019 - 08:32 pm

cubs breeze to a win.

cast hit 2HR.  schwarb got one, too.

bote went 2 for 2 and walked twice so he's earned at least 3 pinch hit appearances over the next 10 games.

[ ]

Submitted by champsummers on Fri, 08/30/2019 - 08:40 pm

Great win

Especially sweet, as it came against the Brewers. (Who I cant stand as long as Braun is there),

icing on the cake is that a couple starters got time off.

And how nice was it to see Phelps and Strop eat a couple innings without igniting a forest fire?  Strop especially looked extremely shaky, but he eeked it out somehow.  Allowed the remaining arms to get some rest.

Very satisfying!

Submitted by Cubster on Fri, 08/30/2019 - 08:50 pm

Cardinals rained out. Cubs one game behind, same wins but have played two less games. 

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 08/30/2019 - 08:55 pm

Tomorrow night (Saturday night) at midnight is the deadline to add a player to an organization so that the player will be eligible for the MLB post-season, so expect a flurry of last-minute waiver claims tomorrow (waiver claiming deadline is 1 PM Eastern) as contending clubs look to add depth for September and the post-season and as also-rans look to jettision salary. (The claiming club assumes 100% of what remains of a player's salary, which in some cases could be a sizable chunk o' change). So some fairly noteworthy players could get claimed off waivers tomorrow, especially players with substantial salaries on multi-year contracts and players who are eligible to be a free-agent post-2019 where the player's club is not planning to extend a Qualifying Offer to the player. 

I also would expect some veteran free-agents to sign MLB or minor league contracts with contenders prior to the midnight 8/31 deadline as well (a minor league player under club control who is not on an MLB 40-man roster as of midnight 8/31 can be made eligible for the post-season at a later date if the player is added to the MLB 40-man roster and replaces an injured post-season eligible player).

A club can also trade a player who is on minor league reserve list as long as the player is not on a minor league roster as the result of an outright assignment from earlier in the season. (If a minor league player was outrighted to the minors earlier and then was subsequenlly released or elected free-agency and then either re-signed with the same club or signed a minor league contract with another MLB organization, the player is no longer considered to be an outrighted player). 

Saturday night midnight is also the deadline to reinstate Ben Zobrist from the Restricted List so that he will be eligible to play in the post-season. And as long as Zobrist is reinstated from the Restricted List after the game on Saturday, the 25-man active roster will not be impacted because Active List rosters expand from 25 to 40 on Sunday and Zobrist won't have to be added to the Active List until Sunday. However, Zobrist will have to be added back to the Cubs MLB 40-man roster immediately when he is reinstated from the Restricted List (can't wait until Sunday for that move), so there will need to be either a DFA or somebody gets moved to the 60-day IL sometime prior to midnight.

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Submitted by crunch on Fri, 08/30/2019 - 08:59 pm

imagine it's safe to assume that zobrist "being activated sunday", "joining the team sunday", etc etc is just media reporting getting to the meat of the matter without the paperwork logistics mixed into the reporting...at least one would hope so.

maddon seems very eager to have him back and mentioned having him potentially lead off, so he's not going to rejoin the team to ride pine and provide backup support even if he's not an everyday guy.  that said, sunday's matchup is vs g.gonzalez (lefty) and zobrist might start that game on the bench.

all that aside...wonder what his walkup music is gonna be...

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sat, 08/31/2019 - 08:57 am

Vimael Machin played eight positions for AA Tennessee last night (every position except pitcher). Machin did go through the catcher conversion program at Instructs post-2015 and at Minor League Camp in 2016, so it's not like he has never played the position. 

Other Cubs minor leaguers who went through the catcher conversion program in Mesa but now rarely (or never) catch are Cam Balego (plays 3B-1B for Myrtle Beach and only occasionally works as a catcher), Gioskar Amaya (blew out his right knee in January 2017 and now plays with a heavy brace on his knee), and Danny Zardon (3B signed out of Independent ball in March then converted to catcher at Minor League Camp and Extended Spring Training and now being converted to a RHP). 

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 08/31/2019 - 08:19 pm

can someone check with maddon and see why he hates d.bote?

did he scratch his car in the parking lot and not leave a note?  did he accidently take the last choice doughnut off the post-game spread?  did he mispronounce his wife's name at a public speaking event?  did he refuse to change clothes when they were wearing the same shirt at a charity event?

he's done nothing but hit like an all-star for over a month, but gets chances to do it like he's not worth giving work.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 08/31/2019 - 08:35 pm

me and you are on opposite ends of the bote love scale.

we're gonna have to out in a field and fight.

in all seriousness, i view him as a 400+ PA guy on a team with it's current construction and a guy that could start at 2nd on a lot of teams out there.  i like his play at 2nd.  his play at 3rd was pretty good last year, but really cruddy this year.  i like how he projects.

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 08/31/2019 - 08:22 pm

brewers shut out the cubs...lifeless game with decent pitching...heyward slump extends...

STL won their 1st game today, night game vs CIN coming up.

Submitted by QuietMan on Sat, 08/31/2019 - 08:29 pm

Zagunis gets the DFA to make room for Zobrist. Bote also had to be optioned to clear a spot for him.

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sat, 08/31/2019 - 08:24 pm

E-MAN: David Bote will have to spend at least ten days on Optional Assignment before he can be recalled, unless he is recalled to replace a player on the Cubs MLB Active List who is traded, claimed off waivers, or placed on an MLB inactive list (Injured List, Paternity Leave List, Bereavement/Family Medical Emergency List, etc).  

Otherwise Bote can't be recalled until Wednesday 9/11. And James Norwood (who was optioned to Iowa on Friday when Cole Hamels was reinstated from Paternity Leave) can't be recalled until Monday 9/9. But again, that's unless they replace a player on the Cubs Active List roster who is traded, claimed off waivers, or placed on an MLB Inactive List. 

It used to be that a player optioned to the minors could be recalled when his minor league team's season ended even if it was less than ten days after the player was optioned, but that rule was changed in 2017. 

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 08/31/2019 - 08:53 pm

well, to be honest, most playoff contenting teams would like to have a player slashing .435/.594/.565 the past month around...even if he's only been given 32 PA to do it.

.308/.466/.442 since the break over 65 PA.

tony kemp will at least get a chance to improve over his 52 PA with a .167/.192/.229 slash.

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sat, 08/31/2019 - 08:53 pm

This is the first time I have ever seen a situation regarding a player who is on the Restricted List for a lengthy period of time for a reason other than a suspension pursuant to a violation of the joint MLB-MLBPA JDV or JDPTP be reinstated after July 31st but prior to September 1st, both in terms of the 30-day PRE-REINSTATEMENT minor league "conditioning" assignment that Zobrist was allowed to do and the requirement that the player must be placed on the 25-man roster at the same time he is reinstated to the MLB 40-man roster.  

There is an allowance for a club to defer placing a player back on the 40-man roster for up to 30 days or until the player is placed on the club's active list roster (whichever comes first) - AFTER - the player is reinstated from the Restricted List if the club determines that the player is not in physical condition to play in games (not in "game shape"), but there is no provision for a minor league conditioning assignment PRIOR TO the reinstatement.

There is, however, a caveat in the CBA that permits very specific minor league conditioning assignments PRIOR TO REINSTATEMENT for players who are on the Restricted List after being suspended for violation of the joint MLB-MLBPA JDV and JDPTP policies (the number of days depends on how many games the player was suspended), but that agreement does not apply to players on the Restricted List for other reasons (as is the case with Zobrist). 

In other other words, in the case of Zobrist, MLB apparently interpreted the rule that gives a club up to 30 days to add a player back to the club's 40-man roster after the player is reinstated from the Restricted List if the player is not in playing shape (as was the case with Zobrist) as the same thing as the pre-reinstatement minor league conditioning assignments permitted for players on the Restricted List after being suspended for violation of the JDV and JDPTP policies.  

There is definitely a rule that requires a player who is on the Restricted List for any reason other than a suspension pursuant to a violation of the joint MLB-MLBPA JDV or JDPTP or an extended leave (beyond seven days) on the Bereavement/Family Medical Emergency List be reinstated from the Restricted List (and added back to the 40-man roster) prior to midnight on August 31st in order to be eligible to play in the post-season. Everything else related to Zobrist's situation was an ad hoc rules interpretation by MLB, since Zobrist's situation was (as far as I can tell) unique and unprecedented.  

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sat, 08/31/2019 - 08:34 pm

If the Cubs can get Mark Zagunis through waivers (big "IF" of course) he cannot elect free-agency if outrighted and he would not be eligible to be a minor league 6YFA until post-2020.  

The other 2020 "out of options" guys on the 40 who were candidates for the DFA (Underwood, Rosario, and Mills) would all be minor league 6YFA post-2019 if outrighted, so Zagunis is probably the best choice of the four.  

If Willson Contreras was 100% back active Taylor Davis might have gotten the DFA instead of Zagunis, but T. Davis is still the Cubs #3 catcher.  

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 08/31/2019 - 08:39 pm

a ton of LA fans traveled to phoenix (and a bit of fans already in the area) tonight to fill up the park.  50K+ people...crazy.

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sat, 08/31/2019 - 08:11 pm

CRUNCH: There are a LOT of Dodgers fans, Cubs fans, and Giants fans living in the Phoenix area.

Dodgers games (with Vin Scully at the mike) were broadcast into Phoenix on one of the big local AM stations for 40 years, the Giants had their AAA team in Phoenix for 40 years, and the Cubs have been the #1 Spring Training team in the Cactus League for 65 years and Phoenix is home to a LOT of Chicago-refugees (Phoenix is the far, far, far, far southwest side of Chicago). Until 1998 (when the D'backs began), Cubs day games were broadcast into Phoenix and Tucson on an AM radio station out of Coolidge, AZ, and of course Harry Caray and the Cubs were on the WGN Superstation for many, many years and that helped the Cubs to solidify their hard-core fan-base in Arizona and it really hasn't dissipated much at all over the past twenty years.   

So when the Dodgers, Giants, and Cubs come to town, the Arizona Diamondbacks are essentially like the Washington Generals are to the Harlem Globetrotters.... they are the "other team," and Dodgers fans, Giants fans, and Cubs fans just take over the place and couldn't care less about the D'backs when the Dodgers, Giants, and Cubs aren't here.   

It's really frustrating for local D'backs fans and the local media and especially D'backs players because they don't know what to do about it. The players say home games feel like road games, and D'backs fans sort of boo, and the local media whines about it, but it's just the reality of what Phoenix is.

The Diamondbacks just don't have a conventional local fan base like you see in other markets. The Diamondbacks depend on ticket sales to opposing fans when the D'backs play home games against the Dodgers, Giants, and Cubs (and a few other teams like the Brewers and Cardinals and when A. L. legends like the Yankees or Red Sox come to town as well), and that's just reality. 

So I'm not surprised that the Diamondbacks have had relocation discussions with Henderson, NV. The D'backs original owner (ex-Chicagoan Jerry Colangelo) expected opposing fans to come to games at first, but it hasn't stopped (it may even have gotten worse). The idea that the children and grandchildren of Dodgers, Giants, and Cubs fans would become Diamondbacks fans just hasn't materialized. 

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sun, 09/01/2019 - 09:30 pm

The Cubs could place Darvish on the 10-day IL retro to Thursday (a 10-day IL assignment can only be backdated a maximum of three days) and recall Bote to replace Darvish on the MLB Active List. Then Darvish would be eligible to be reinstated next Sunday 9/8 (after today, the Cubs can go with four SP until Monday 9/9 in SD)...

MON: Hendricks (vs SEA)
TUE: Lester (vs SEA)
WED: DAY OFF 
THU: Quintana (at MIL)
FRI: Hamels (at MIL)
SAT: Hendricks (at MIL)
SUN: Lester or Darvish (at MIL)
MON: Lester or Darvish (at SD) 

Submitted by crunch on Sun, 09/01/2019 - 09:38 pm

i hate craig kimbrel.  :(

19 innings...6HR given up...welcome to the cubs.

Submitted by crunch on Sun, 09/01/2019 - 09:02 pm

cubs lose...STL has 2 games again today, and again won in the 9th...game 2 in an hour.

cubs 3.5 back...will be 3 or 4 back after tonight.

STL has gone 9-1 in their last 10...12-2 during their current hot streak.

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Submitted by crunch on Sun, 09/01/2019 - 09:27 pm

i know it was a "whatever" with 0 on and down by 3 in the 9th with 2 outs, but letting kemp bat for himself vs a tough lefty like hader was a bit of giving up before the final out.

i like how baez leading off got him his 2nd 2-walk game of the season.  he's had 3 games total the past 5 seasons that don't include an IBB as part of his multi-walk-game total.

Recent comments

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Things I've been wrong about:

    -Tauchman is fine as a 4th OF. I knew that. I just want a better LH DH option and he was really the DH for us until Seiya got hurt. I'm glad Mervis is getting a chance at it. Caissie is coming for that job for sure. But Tauchman continues to be highly useful as a 4th OF with Seiya being hurt

    -I wanted Yency to go to get guys at Iowa a chance. Guys like Palencia and Sanders or RileyT. Maybe even Hodge! But Yency has been better the last two plus weeks. He did hit 96 the other day. He was 93 in Texas to open the season.

    -Leiter has his split working enough. It just needs to stay there

    -I was surprised Jed picked Wisdom over Cooper. I wonder if this happens if Seiya wasn't hurt. Wisdom has more power. Cooper is the better hitter. Jed picked Wisdom and Wisdom had an option left as well.

    -Palencia just doesn't miss enough bats. Similar to ManRod, just two yrs younger. ManRod is killing AAA for TB right now!

    Things I got right so far:

    -Hendricks. Sorry Kyle. You got paid though!

    Jed, you missed there.

    -Smyly. If Jed could've traded him before or during ST, then he should have and saved some cash.

    -Mastro.  Not a LH DH. Pinch runner. Defensive utility. Maybe he's better than Madrigal but didn't get a legit chance to prove it.

    -Luke Little is good. He's had one bad outing. That's it. Needs to get better entering with guys on base. But he needs to stay in MLB.

    -Oh yeah....Morel is doing fine at 3B! He'll get better as well!!

  • crunch (view)

    bellinger "right rib contusion"

  • Childersb3 (view)

    South Bend just lost the lead in the bottom of the 9th on the weirdest scenario, ever.

    It's absolutely pouring rain....men on 1st and 2nd, 1out....JPatterson asks for a new ball, but no time out was called....he throws the old ball toward the dugout (not sure if it rolled out of play).....the ump declares the runners get two bases each so one run scores. Then a single up the middle ties the game.

    The rain was coming down in buckets at this point.

    Just weird

  • crunch (view)

    ...and bellinger is gone in the 7th because of that 2nd blown chance and the wall he bounced off of...

    hopefully his rib cage/shoulder feels better tomorrow, we just got happ back.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil,

    Any thoughts on Y. Rojas' stuff and Y. Melendez's game (I believe I've asked about him before, sorry)?

  • crunch (view)

    wow, things are moving fast.  hopefully it continues.

  • crunch (view)

    morel with 4 clean plays in 4 innings...showed off his 100000000mph arm a couple times.

    cody bellinger not having a good 4th, though...5 run leads are handy when your CF is making your pitcher have a 5-out inning.  2nd blown chance was ruled a hit even though it went in/out of his glove...1st was lost in the lights, also ruled a hit.

  • crunch (view)

    welcome back happ!  double off the wall 1st PA back.

  • crunch (view)

    oh yeah, totally, i was just chiming about why i fan like i fan.

    i would like nothing more than hendricks to keep on hendricks'ing.  guys with his stuff can throw for a long, long time as long as it works.

    he velocity is actually up a minor amount this year.  it's really "damn" when a guy like him not only has gas in the tank, but it's looking like it was years ago.  he added a curve a few years ago and it helped a little bit, but he's throwing it less and less while the fb/change combo are less effective.

  • Alexander Dimm (view)

    CRUNCH—There is no one person in this community I’m talking about.  My remarks were not directed at you or anyone, but at a tone I’ve noticed lately. 

    You have a great, dry sense of humor and there is thought behind your comments.   You and I don’t always agree but I always understand your position.  

    Lastly, and I’ll be quiet, I agree with you on Hendricks.  We can dislike the recent performance but still love the guy.  Lots of questions about his future.
     

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