Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

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

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

Last updated 4-18-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL
* Justin Steele, P   

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





Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Sunday Funnies: Watching Playoffs with my Bears Anger.

I try to keep my Bears Anger in check, but it bleeds out all the time.

Anyway, there really is good football to watch today.
Happy Playoff Sunday.

Comments

for those of you with Baseball Prospectus subscriptions, here's a really interesting article on the Cubs from the series called: Rubbing Mud by Matthew Trueblood, from 1-7-16. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=28170 Some really interesting insights on (it's a long article, but a few highlights)... Kyle Hendricks:
Kyle Hendricks is badly misunderstood. People say things like that he gets by with his sharp intellect and guile. They say his stuff wouldn’t work in short bursts. They talk about him as a finesse pitcher. None of that is really true. In truth, Hendricks is a two-pitch pitcher who dominates hitters with one of the best changeups in baseball. Finesse pitchers don’t survive on two pitches... Nor do they have this much trouble turning over the lineup card three times...Hendricks isn’t a guy whose stuff won’t work in short stints; he’s a guy whose stuff only works in short stints. In those stints, though, that stuff works marvelously.
Basically, he adds that accumulating Cahill, Warren, Wood and Richard are a part of a strategy to get the most out of Hendricks (and the bad half of a season that Hammel has been noted for). Essentially, piggybacking. Maddon's use of runners in motion:
Maddon put 180 runners in motion, more than did any other manager. (The Rays, Pirates, and Giants each put 173 men in motion, though each of them also had more runners in positions to run than did the Cubs.)
Replay challenges:
Maddon and his coaching staff orchestrated the best use of instant replay of any staff in the league last year. Ten teams won a higher percentage of their replay challenges, but the Cubs still won over 57 percent of theirs, and a league-high 28 overall challenges. Perhaps as importantly, opponents won only 18 challenges against them.
Model modern plate appearance:
They did more damage than anyone else when they put the first pitch in play, and they swung at the first pitch more often, on average, than all but seven other teams. Yet they also saw more pitches per plate appearance than any other team in the league. To put this in perspective, the four clubs immediately trailing the Cubs in pitches per trip to the plate (the Red Sox, Yankees, Indians and Mets) were all among the five least aggressive teams on the first pitch.
In other words, the Cubs weren’t afraid to go up to bat and bash the first hitter’s pitch they got. When they didn’t get that pitch, though, or (as was often the case; they did also lead the league in whiff rate) when they missed it, they dug in and made opponents earn every out, at the highest possible cost. They were able to both wear down opposing pitchers with their patience, and punish them with their power. As a result, only the Blue Jays and Dodgers chased opposing starters earlier, on average, than the Cubs did last season.
It’s likely that the Cubs front office addressed their lineup by adding Heyward and Zobrist mostly for all of the simple, broad-strokes reasons they’ve listed publicly: their strong contact rates in a strikeout-prone lineup, their balanced skill sets, and the market’s failure to properly value them because of their ages (penalizing Zobrist too much for being fairly old, not prizing Heyward enough for being radically young). In so doing, though, they have added two players who not only help reshape their lineup to maximize the damage it can do, but increase that lineup’s ability to score as the game progresses.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Thankfully, the Cubs finally have to think about a season considerably longer than 162 games. I won't be surprised to see Maddon go to whatever they are now calling the emerging practice of 3-4 inning stints by multiple pitchers in one game, over and over again. Even if someone emerges out of that group, there's a much longer season to contend with.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

So Ron Rivera and Greg Olsen are part of a dominant NFC championship team headed to the Super Bowl, while the Bears have missed the playoffs for 5 straight years, fired a joke of a head coach in Trestman, don't do anything well, and have needs at just about any position you can name.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

i still don't get all the hype over pitch framing. the best regulars give you 1-1.75 extra strikes a game. the worst take away 1-1.5 per game. a majority of regulars blip somewhere between the -1 and +1 territory. it's totally worth tracking and it's an important snapshot, but it's the flavor-of-the-moment that seems to be a bit too hyper-important. as far as schwarb goes, i think schwarb's main issues before caring about that are his how many pitches clanked off his glove, how his lack of movement didn't stop many wild pitches (along with the scattering of passed balls), and his arm. even if he was an ace at pitch framing, an extra 1.5 Ks a game doesn't make up for any of that other stuff.

Wrong-way Phil Rogers is at it again. Proposing multiple trades for Jonathan Lucroy. His Cub based improbable trade proposal swaps Montero for Lucroy, with Almora, Candelario (to Brewers), Vogelbach and McKinney (to Rays) in a 3 way trade involving the Rays. Rays get Montero, Cubs get Rays former 1st round RHP Taylor Guerrieri. Brewers get Faria and O'Connor from Rays. http://m.mlb.com/news/article/162613138/five-potential-trades-for-jonat… must have taken a lot of tequila/absinthe to come up with some of these.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

JACOS: Ian Happ was moved to 2B at Instructs. I mentioned it in passing in a couple of posts and comments at the time, but I probably should have made it more prominent. The basic instructs squad only played one game, but he worked hard in drills, although he seemed a bit stiff at 2B (he played 2B in college).    

The Cubs also moved INF Vimael Machin (2015 10th round draft pick - VCU) to catcher and Dominican catcher Yohan Matos (2013 IFA - $270K bonus) to RF, and Chris Pieters ($350K bonus - Curacao - 2011) continued his conversion from LHP to CF. 

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

I would say it has to do with the center-fielder sweepstakes in the organization right now. There are a bunch of CF candidates in the low minors, largely because the Cubs drafted three outfielders in the first four rounds last June, including a fourth rounder, Darryl Wilson, who signed for $800 K over slot. Four potential CFs who could converge on South Bend at some point this season are Happ, Dewees, (Eddy Julio) Martinez and Wilson. If they don't converge at SB, it will happen higher up. Eloy Jimenez will probably claim right field. Left field is not a good option for an athletic player. A decent 2B who can hit is a better prospect than a left fielder who can hit.

[ ]

In reply to by CTSteve

much like schwarb catching, it's most likely one of those things that won't hurt to try with a nice upside if it works out. i don't think many are expecting it to work out given what was said about his play at 2nd pre-draft. going from 2nd back to LF shouldn't be much of a return-to-learning curve even if he spends the next few years almost exclusively at 2nd.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

One thing to keep in mind about Billy McKinney is that while he hasn't displayed a lot of HR power in games, he did win the HR Derby at instructs post-2014. He definitely has HR power.

McKinney does need to work harder on his defense, though, because he sometimes looks a bit lazy and disinterested in the field. He also has a slightly below-average OF arm, so although he has played RF in the minors, he very likely will be a LF at the MLB level.

I would rate McKInney as one of the Cubs Top 5 prospects. He can rake. 

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

"Three weeks later, On August 22, Crull died. Ten hours later the Cubs beat the Giants 3–2 at Wrigley Field and Murcer hit his 24th home run. At that point the Cubs' record was 70–53, and they were 7½ games out, in 2nd place. The Cubs slumped and finished at .500 with an 81–81 record." cubbery is timeless.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

I saw somewhere where the Cubs are monitoring him daily, whatever that's supposed to mean. I think it was Levine via MLB Trade Rumors. Anyway, the article seemed to imply that the Cubs are still interested. I hope that's not the case. Fowler gave us a nice year last year, especially the second half, but man, it's just not a need, and I really want to see a full year of Soler.

According to The Trib, the Cubs have invited 18 nonrosters players to camp. pitchers: Stephen Fife,Brandon Gomes, Jean Machi, Felix Pena,Jonathon Pettibone ?, Armando Rivero, Drew Rucinski, Duane Underwood, Luis Cruz, and Jack Leathersich. infielders: Munenori Kawasaki, Jesus Guzman, and Kris Negron. outfielders: Albert Almora, Juan Perez, and John Andreoli. catchers: Taylor Davis and Tim Federowicz

It looks as though the Cards youngsters are doing well, and Waiwright did well his first time out, gut was a little wild. Piscotty and Girchuik doing really well. I think every Cub - Cardinal game this year will be a nail biter.

Recent comments

  • Raisin101 (view)

    Hi Arizona Phil!

    Exciting to see Naz Mule in box scores a few times. What's his stuff like now after the TJS?

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Mastrobuoni can't come back, yet

    Wisdom does have an option left. He can hide in Iowa if Jed DFA's someone else

    Does Brennan Davis get shown the door? I know it's too early for that, but these injuries are crunching the roster of a 12-7 team playoff demands and BDavis isn't going to help anytime soon.

    Someone has to go to add Peralta. And Canario isn't going to get to play everyday regardless of RHers or LHers. Neither is Tauchman. Also don't see PCA getting a chance over Peralta.

    If Jed does those moves:

    4 OF: Belli, Peralta, Canny, Tauch

    2 C: Gomes and Amaya

    2 DH: Cooper and Mervis

    5 INF: Busch, Nico, Dansby, Morel, Madrigal

    Little short on OF depth but two injuries will do that  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I have had the pleasure of watching some of the young A's pitchers lately (first Joe Boyle the last day of Minor League Spring Training in March, and more recently Luis Morales last week and Steven Echavarria yesterday at Extended Spring Training), and it reminds me of the Miami Marlins a couple of years ago. A really nice collection of young pitchers. It will be interesting to see what the A's will get for two years of ex-Cub Paul Blackburn at the Trade Deadline (there should be a robust market for Blackburn). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Good deal

    MB needs some talent infusion!

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Very possible. Suriel, too. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: if a pitcher is recalled to be the 27th man for a doubleheader and then is optioned back to the minors the next day, the 15-day "clock" does NOT reset. The one day call-up for the doubleheader is treated like it never happened with respect to a pitcher having to spend at least 15 days on optional assignment before he can be recalled. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Probably the only reason David Peralta is still in the organization (he is at AAA Iowa) is to be available in case anything bad were to happen to Ian Happ (which it just did). So if Happ needs to go on the IL, the Cubs can select Peralta to play LF, DFA Wisdom (and hope he and what remains of his $2.725M salary gets claimed off waivers), and recall Mervis to platoon at DH with Cooper (with Canario / Tauchman sharing RF), at least until Suzuki and Happ are back...

     

  • crunch (view)

    i'd just like to take a moment to express to the world i'm still pissed willson contreras is not a cub when the pricetag was 5/87m (17.5m/yr).

    it would be nice to have a legacy-type player to stick around, especially one with his leadership and the respect he gets from his peers.  cubs fans deserved more than 1 season of contreras + morel...that was gold.

  • crunch (view)

    happ, right hamstring tightness, day-to-day (hopefully 0 days).

    he will be reevaluated tomorrow.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I guess I'm not looking for that type of AB 

    Just a difference of opinion