The Chicago Cubs today announced their roster for tomorrow’s opener, which comes in at 30 players – 14 position players, 16 pitchers. In two weeks, they’ll have to pare it down to 28, but we’ll get there when we get there.
The Cubs did wind up opting for three catchers (including Josh Phegley), and mostly go with the relievers you would’ve best guessed based on the limited information we have. No huge surprises in the group. Let’s go.
Here’s the full Opening Day 30-man roster for the Chicago Cubs:
Catchers
Willson Contreras
Victor Caratini
Josh Phegley
Infielders
Anthony Rizzo
Nico Hoerner
Jason Kipnis
David Bote
Javy Báez
Kris Bryant
(Daniel Descalso is on the 45-day Injured List, which means he’s currently off the 40-man, but stays in the org)
Outfielders
Albert Almora, Jr.
Kyle Schwarber
Ian Happ
Steven Souza, Jr.
Jason Heyward
Starting Pitchers
Yu Darvish
Kyle Hendricks
Jon Lester
Tyler Chatwood
Alec Mills
(Jose Quintana is on the 10-day Injured List)
Relievers
Craig Kimbrel
Jeremy Jeffress
Kyle Ryan
Rowan Wick
Dan Winkler
Dillon Maples
Brad Wieck
Casey Sadler
Duane Underwood, Jr.
Rex Brothers
James Norwood
The roster is exactly what I predicted a couple days ago, but with one exception: Dillon Maples makes the bullpen instead of Ryan Tepera. I thought perhaps Tepera’s solid spring and summer would win the day over Maples’ wildness, but like I just wrote this morning: it’s impossible to stop dreaming on Maples’ nasty stuff.
The Cubs also had to make some rosters moves to maneuver this 30-man group.