{"id":43129,"date":"2025-03-21T21:55:53","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T21:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=43129"},"modified":"2025-03-21T21:55:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T21:55:53","slug":"a-look-at-some-upcoming-cubs-roster-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=43129","title":{"rendered":"A look at some upcoming Cubs roster decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"

TOKYO<\/strong> \u2014 News item (Bluesky link):<\/p>\n

All right, so we know a couple of cuts have been made from this active roster, which shows 29 players. There are 15 pitchers listed there, so the 13 pitchers the Cubs will open the season with are as follows:<\/p>\n

Starters (5)<\/h3>\n

Sh\u014dta Imanaga, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd, Colin Rea<\/p>\n

Relievers (8)<\/h3>\n

(in alphabetical order)<\/p>\n

Ryan Brasier, Ben Brown, Porter Hodge, Julian Merryweather, Tyson Miller, Nate Pearson, Ryan Pressly, Caleb Thielbar<\/p>\n

You might disagree with me putting Rea among the starters and Brown among the relievers, but that\u2019s the way I see things right now. Brown could be a useful multi-inning reliever if he doesn\u2019t start \u2014 among the other seven relievers there isn\u2019t really anyone like that. Of course, Rea could do the same. Remember that Craig Counsell has some history with Rea, as Rea pitched for Counsell in Milwaukee in 2021 and 2023. As always, we await developments.<\/p>\n

This also leaves the Cubs with just one lefty (Thielbar) in the bullpen. Unless Jordan Wicks returns, or the Cubs find another lefty somewhere (Luke Little, maybe, at some point?), they\u2019re going to have to identify a righthander who has reverse splits and can get LH hitters out, as Mark Leiter Jr. did for much of last year.<\/p>\n

With the departure of Wicks and Eli Morgan (for now) from the active roster, that leaves 27 names for 26 spots. It appears to me that Nico Hoerner should be ready to take the field for the North American Cubs opener next Thursday against the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.<\/p>\n

So that leaves the question: Who goes off that active roster list so that Nico will remain?<\/p>\n

There are only two choices here, in my view: Vidal Bruj\u00e1n and Gage Workman.<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t see much of either of these men during the Tokyo Series. Bruj\u00e1n served only as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning of the second game. Workman didn\u2019t play at all against the Dodgers.<\/p>\n

Bruj\u00e1n is out of options and, in my view, is more versatile than Workman.<\/p>\n

The Cubs could make a minor trade to keep Workman and send him to Triple-A Iowa, and in the end, that\u2019s what I think they will do. As always, etc. etc. etc.<\/p>\n

The Cubs don\u2019t have to make any moves until just before the first game at Chase Field next Thursday, so they have nearly a week to make this decision.<\/p>\n

Which choice do you think they will make? And who will be the fifth starter?<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Poll<\/h3>\n

Of these two infielders, who will the Cubs keep on the active roster?<\/h4>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Poll<\/h3>\n

Who will be the Cubs\u2019 fifth starter?<\/h4>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cubs will be back playing, in some form, Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":43130,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nA look at some upcoming Cubs roster decisions - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=43129\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A look at some upcoming Cubs roster decisions - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Cubs will be back playing, in some form, Friday afternoon.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=43129\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-21T21:55:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/avtvip-86-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=43129\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=43129\",\"name\":\"A look at some upcoming Cubs roster decisions - 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