Spring Training is upon us and the Chicago Cubs are ready to roll. Gone is Kyle Tucker, but in comes Alex Bregman, Edward Cabrera, and almost an entirely new bullpen. We know who the key offensive contributors will be. We know what this suddenly very deep rotation should look like. But spring training works as a proving ground for those fringe players looking to make the roster. Last season, we saw Brad Keller turn a minor-league deal into a career resurgence in the bullpen. If one of these players makes that kind of impact in 2026, it’s a major win. Let’s see who else is in camp outside of the players you already know.Â
Cubs Non-Roster Invitees: Catchers
Bethancourt is back with the Cubs on a minor-league deal. This marks the second time the Cubs have come to such an agreement with the 34-year-old catcher. The last time he played in the majors was during his 24-game stint with the team in 2024, where he hit .281 including a 7-RBI game. In 2025, Bethancourt was with the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate, and hit .173 in 58 games.Â
The Cubs drafted Armas in the 5th round of the 2024 draft out of the University of San Diego. Since being drafted, Armas has played in 105 games in High-A and has a slash line of .230/.324/.339. He was likely invited to spring training to serve as catching depth, especially in split-squad games. The 23-year-old will likely begin the season in High-A again, hoping to hit his way to Knoxville soon.Â
Casey Optiz
Much like Armas, Optiz is going to serve as extra catching depth on the spring roster. Drafted in the 8th round of the 2021 draft, Optiz has been bouncing between High-A and Double-A for the majority of his career. In parts of five minor league seasons, the 27-year-old has a batting average of .201 and has generally been a part-time player to this point.Â
Cubs Non-Roster Invitees: Infielders
Now 31, Kingery is looking to make the majors with the third team of his career. Prior to 2018, he was one of the top prospects in baseball, and was given a six-year extension worth $24 million by the Phillies. He showed some promise in 2019, where he hit .258/.315/.474 in 126 games, but his career has stalled out since then. Between 2020-2022, played in only 52 games due to injuries and ineffectiveness. He remained with the Phillies in 2023 and 2024 but never reached the majors. He caught on with the Angels for 2025 and got his first MLB action in three years. He has shown an ability to play all around the field, as he played second base, shortstop, right field and center field in his brief 19-game audition with the Halos. This versatility benefits the Cubs, as their old utility man Willi Castro is now on the Rockies, but it’s been years since Kingery has done anything at the plate. Kingery represents the only NRI infielder with any major-league experience.Â
In 2024, Murray got his first opportunity in Triple-A, where he hit .204 with 11 home runs in 88 games. That wasn’t enough to keep him there, as he spent the entirety of 2025 with Double-A Knoxville. He showed some solid pop from the right side, hitting 20 home runs in 125 games, and can fill in at both third base and first base. Murray was ranked as the No. 18 Cubs prospect prior to the 2024 season, but has not appeared on that list since. With a hot spring, Murray might be able to claw his way into the team’s plans as a power bat off the bench, so he will need to capitalize on all his opportunities.
Jonathon Long
Long was the Cubs’ No. 6 prospect for the 2025 season, and he figures to remain a fixture inside the top 10. He hit .305/.404/.479, smashing 20 home runs and driving in 91 for Iowa last season. The two main concerns with Long come from his defense. He has been used primarily as a first baseman, but he’s also gotten opportunities sparingly at third base and left field, where he underwhelmed defensively. Even if he was fine defensively at first, third, or left field, all those positions are spoken for. He should be able to crack the major-league roster this year, but it remains to be seen how much playing time he will get. If free-agent acquisition Tyler Austin struggles, Long may be able to take his role.Â
The 20-year-old middle infielder was one of the top prospects in the 2022 international class and is currently listed as the number three organizational prospect. He was promoted to Knoxville last season after producing an .871 OPS in 67 games with South Bend. He struggled mightily in 39 games in Double-A, hitting only .164. He is currently behind fellow prospects James Triantos and Pedro Ramirez on the depth chart, but he’s a better defender than both of them. Rojas will get a few spring training appearances, but likely won’t be contending for a bench role out of camp. The conversation regarding Rojas will be much more interesting next offseason if the Cubs move on from Nico Hoerner.Â
Cubs Non-Roster Invitees: Outfielders
The 30-year-old was a productive outfielder for the Astros as recently as 2023 where he hit .273 with 22 home runs while playing above-average defense and adding additional value on the base paths with 19 steals. Since then, he has dealt with a variety of injuries and fell way down the depth chart for Houston, causing them to non-tender him. As it stands, he sits behind Kevin Alcantara and Justin Dean on the depth chart, but could make a push with a good spring. Between Alcantara, Dean, and the two other outfield NRIs on this list, McCormick has the longest track record of success in the major leagues.Â
Once one of the top prospects in the game, Carlson is now looking to crack the roster of his fourth team since the beginning of 2024. After being jettisoned from the Cardinals’ roster, he has spent time in the AL East with the Rays and Orioles. It has not clicked for Carlson since his encouraging sophomore season in 2021 where he had a .780 OPS and 3.2 WAR. His switch-hitting ability provides some intrigue for the Cubs, who likely won’t have another switch hitter on the roster outside of Ian Happ. 2026 will be Carlson’s age-27 season, so he is young enough to inspire a little bit of hope for a career resurgence, even if it’s certain he won’t live up to the hype he had in St. Louis.Â
The 23-year-old was the 19th-ranked organizational prospect for the 2025 season and spent the entirety of the campaign with Double-A Knoxville. He hit .261 with two home runs and nine doubles in 94 games. The left-handed hitter is never going to drive the ball with authority, but his plus speed will allow him to turn some weak contact into base hits. He has a good knowledge of the strike zone and won’t be fooled often on pitches outside it. Bateman is a depth addition to the spring roster but could make his way into the 2026 plans if he gets off to a hot start. Â
Cubs Non-Roster Invitees: Pitchers
Brigham will be 34 before Opening Day and has thrown 120 2/3 MLB innings in his career. His longest stint in the majors was back in 2019 with the Marlins where he threw 38 1/3 with a 4.46 ERA. The right-hander does not have any sustained success at the highest level, but the Cubs have shown that they’re able to squeeze more out of most veteran arms.
One of the older ranked prospects in the organization, the 26-year-old starting pitcher is coming off a fine season in Double-A. He made 26 appearances (23 starts) and pitched to a 4.22 ERA with 9.1 K/9. The Yale product has a 4.64 ERA across parts of four minor-league seasons, but could make his way onto the 40-man roster if he is able to improve his pitch mix and fastball velocity. His lethal curveball is widely considered the best in the Cubs’ system, so he could be used as a reliever if he is unable to work out some of the kinks in his repertoire.Â
Pitching in parts of four major-league seasons since 2019, Martin is yet to find any sort of success. He has a career 6.54 ERA in 75 2/3 innings pitched. He was originally a starter when he came up with Houston, and made a few more starts with Arizona before Baltimore used him exclusively as a reliever last season. His 6.00 ERA with Baltimore doesn’t inspire much confidence, but he should be willing to stay with the organization if he doesn’t crack the roster.Â
A 9th-round pick in 2022, Noland has been a mixed bag of results so far throughout his first three minor-league seasons. The 20th-ranked organizational prospect turned heads in 2024 with Double-A Knoxville, pitching to a 2.50 ERA in 16 starts, which earned him a promotion to Triple-A Iowa. He struggled to the tune of a 5.29 ERA after that promotion, but pitched to a 4.07 ERA across 132 2/3 innings in Iowa last season. Noland is a finesse arm rather than a power arm, but the Cubs are not shy about leaning on those types of pitchers. If he continues his upward trend in Triple-A, he could make the majors as soon as this summer.Â
Schultz joined the Cubs organization in 2024 when his contract was purchased from the Missoula Paddleheads of the Pioneer League. After going undrafted out of the University of Iowa, he was named a Pioneer League All-Star in 2023 in a season where he threw 96 2/3 innings with a 3.82 ERA. He has primarily pitched in both Low- and High-A ball with the Cubs, but had a brief three-start run with Knoxville last season where he only gave three runs total. At 27 years old, he’s one of the older players in Double-A, but his inclusion to the spring roster shows the Cubs have some faith in him.Â
Snider is the most exciting name on this list outside of top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins. The right-handed reliever was taken by the Royals in the 12th round out of Vanderbilt University way back in 2017. He didn’t make his debut until 2022, where he was knocked around in 42 games. He managed to get in 20 more games the next season, but ended his Royals tenure with a 5.93 ERA in 54 2/3 innings. He caught on with Seattle for 2024 and changed his pitch mix, switching to a four-seam fastball and a sweeper instead of the sinker/slider combo he used with Kansas City. This tweak caused his breakout year in the bullpen, where he had a 1.94 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings pitched. He dealt with injuries and regression in 2025. He appeared in only 24 games and his ERA climbed to 5.47. If Snider is healthy, the Cubs’ pitching lab has a good of a shot as anyone at helping him revert closer to who he was in 2024.Â
The 32-year-old righty has dealt with a number of injuries throughout his seven-year career with the Blue Jays and Mariners. In 2025 alone, he missed a month with appendicitis, and then in July he tore his Achilles, knocking him out for the year. His best season was 2023, when he was traded from Toronto to Seattle mid-season. Pitching mainly for Seattle, he finished with a 2.01 ERA on the year. The caveat is that it was only over 31 1/3 innings. His first full season in Seattle was solid, throwing over 70 innings for the second time in his career. His FIP of 3.47 was actually lower than his ERA of 3.61, so a healthy Trent Thornton was a quality reliever only twp years ago. If he’s healthy, he has all the makings of a reliever who can make the Cubs out of camp.Â
Jaxon Wiggins
I don’t want to disappoint anyone, but it is highly unlikely that Wiggins breaks camp with the team. “Highly unlikely” is still a generous phrase to use here, as the Cubs’ top pitching prospect only made three short starts in Triple-A last year after ripping through High-A and Double-A. Wiggins will be up at some point this season, likely in a similar fashion to Cade Horton last year, who was called up on May 10. The current Cubs’ rotation doesn’t carry a lot of heat outside of Edward Cabrera and Horton, so Wiggins making his debut before the All Star break is completely plausible.Â
The No. 5 overall pick in 2017 by the Braves was singed to a minor-league deal as pitchers and catchers reported to camp. Once projected as a key cog in the Braves’ rotation, the righty out of Vanderbilt struggled in his first four seasons. Walks were one of his biggest issues, as he averaged 6.9 BB/9 in 70 innings.
Everything did seem to click in 2022; he led the majors in wins with 21, and pitched to a 3.19 ERA while striking out 174 in 180 1/3rd innings. He finished 10th in Cy Young voting and became the first Brave to lead baseball in wins since Tom Glavine in 2000. In 2023, Wright regressed back into the pitcher he was before 2022. He pitched 31 innings with a 6.97 ERA before suffering a shoulder strain that sidelined him for two months. He was activated in September but did not pitch in the majors. He then underwent another shoulder surgery that would cause him to miss the entirety of 2024. He was traded to the Royals for the 2025 season but did not pitch in a game due to more injuries, mainly related to shoulder fatigue. If he makes an appearance for the Cubs, it will be his first taste of big-league action since 2023.