{"id":637951,"date":"2026-03-22T23:04:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T23:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/637951\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T23:04:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T23:04:23","slug":"chicago-cubs-opening-day-roster-starts-coming-into-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/637951\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs opening-day roster starts coming into focus"},"content":{"rendered":"

MESA, Ariz. \u2014 The Chicago Cubs\u2019 opening-day<\/a> roster is coming into focus.<\/p>\n

The Cubs again trimmed their big-league camp roster before Sunday\u2019s Cactus League finale by returning infielder Jonathon Long<\/a>, and right-handed relievers Corbin Martin and Collin Snider to the minor-league side. Long was in the mix for a bench spot while Martin and Snider were vying for the last bullpen opening. Martin has an upward mobility clause in his minor-league deal, meaning another team could choose to put him on their big-league team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message for (Long) was that, we want you to play, he is a day away from being in the big leagues, even though he\u2019s not on the (40-man) roster,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said. \u201cSo let\u2019s go continue to improve as a first baseman and as a hitter and if something would happen, primarily probably to Michael Busch, he\u2019s an option.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve also been pretty healthy with the guys that are kind of locked in to making the team, and that\u2019s not created the opportunities for (Martin and Snider) out of camp. We know at some point there\u2019ll be opportunities for guys like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those roster moves narrow the options for their remaining 26-man roster spots. Among those still in major-league camp, right-handers Ben Brown and Javier Assad are vying for one bullpen spot. Counsell used Brown in a one-inning relief appearance last week to prepare him for the potential role, and Brown threw two innings in Sunday\u2019s outing. The Cubs will want at least one of Brown and Assad to stay stretched out at Triple-A Iowa for starting pitching depth. Left-hander Jordan Wicks\u2019 timeline for his radial nerve irritation has him projected to start building up in game action around mid-April.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs starting pitcher Ben Brown throws during the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, in Surprise, Ariz. (AP Photo\/Charlie Riedel)<\/p>\n

The Cubs\u2019 glut of healthy starting pitchers, which includes veteran right-hander Colin Rea in the bullpen, is an encouraging sign to start the season. They won\u2019t use a six-man rotation at the onset of the season, but Counsell said they could consider doing it for a turn through the rotation later in April once they get through a run of Thursday off days during the first three weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to have so much depth in today\u2019s game to get through it, just the way people use their bullpens and the way guys get injured,\u201d president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Sunday. \u201cAnd so we\u2019ve tried our hardest to build up depth, and we\u2019re going to need to rely on it. You know that going in, you don\u2019t know how it\u2019s going to look, but you know that.\u201d<\/p>\n

How the Chicago Cubs are using biometric data to further player development and health<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Seiya Suzuki\u2019s PCL sprain in his right knee<\/a> is forcing the Cubs to work through different scenarios of how they want to build their bench to start the year. Already ruled out for opening day, Suzuki is a likely candidate to go on the 10-day injured list as he continues to progress to game action.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re certainly very hopeful it\u2019s not a long-term thing and already figuring out when he can get back, but that\u2019s why you have to build up depth,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cIt\u2019s not the last injury we\u2019re going to go through. You never want it to happen, but you also know that when it does happen, you just have to deal with it. The more depth you have the better, the more versatility you have the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the main questions the Cubs are still weighing: do they carry Matt Shaw as their only infielder on the bench while Suzuki is sidelined or do they want to have another backup infield option? Scott Kingery is well-positioned if they go the route of carrying another infielder. Kingery, in camp as a nonroster invite, can play second base, shortstop and third base, and also still has minor-league options if they put him on the 40-man roster for opening day.<\/p>\n

With Mois\u00e9s Ballesteros<\/a> and Michael Conforto<\/a> already informed they made the team, that leaves Kingery and outfielders Dylan Carlson (NRI) and Kevin Alc\u00e1ntara for two bench spots, if Suzuki goes on the injured list. Outfielder Chas McCormick is not in consideration for the bench. He\u2019s been dealing with right shoulder discomfort that\u2019s kept him out of game action since March 13. McCormick was scheduled to hit Sunday and is seemingly on track to join Triple-A Iowa for the start of the minor-league season.<\/p>\n

The Cubs are also keeping an eye on transactions around the league and who might become available.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have some balls in the air with the bullpen and then the bench, and it does affect it, which guys are waivers, which guys have out clauses, things like that,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cThe timing is hard because it\u2019s happening sort of as teams are leaving, but you never want the inconvenience of that to hurt making the right decision.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MESA, Ariz. \u2014 The Chicago Cubs\u2019 opening-day roster is coming into focus. The Cubs again trimmed their big-league…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,9280,138,24,4245,4814,28881,576,161,26798,33153,111,4,256,33305],"class_list":["post-637951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-cubs","tag-baseball","tag-chas-mccormick","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-chicagocubs","tag-collin-snider","tag-corbin-martin","tag-craig-counsell","tag-cubs","tag-cubs-starting-rotation","tag-jonathon-long","tag-michael-conforto","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-baseball","tag-opening-day-roster"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116275333314179712","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}