The Cubs are going to select outfielder Dylan Carlson to their roster before Opening Day, reports Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Carlson will unlock the $2MM salary on his deal by getting the call. Bastian adds that infielder/outfielder Scott Kingery is travelling with the team and will likely get a spot as well, though the club is still monitoring external possibilities for the final spot on their bench. The Cubs also plan to select outfielder Michael Conforto, meaning they will need to open at least two 40-man spots and potentially a third. Outfielder Kevin Alcántara has been optioned and will start the season at Triple-A Iowa.
A few spring injuries have opened up some playing time for the Cubs. They began camp projected for three bench spots to go to Tyler Austin, Miguel Amaya and Matt Shaw, with an opening for an outfielder. Austin required knee surgery and is going to be on the injured list for months. Seiya Suzuki has a knee sprain and will also start the season on the IL. Those injuries have opened enough space for Conforto, Carlson and perhaps even Kingery to crack the roster.
Carlson, 27, was once one of the top prospects in the league for the Cardinals. A few years ago, he seemed to be cementing himself as a key piece of the St. Louis outfield but his results have tapered off in recent seasons. He has a combined .210/.294/.314 batting line since the start of 2023. His once-strong defensive grades have also slipped recently. He bounced to the Rays and Orioles, with Baltimore cutting him loose at the end of last year.
After those struggles, he had to settle for a minor league deal with the Cubs coming into 2026. He has had a good camp, putting up a .304/.429/.413 line. That got a lot of help from a .433 batting average on balls in play and he also posted a concerning 26.8% strikeout rate, but on the positive side, he drew a walk in 14.3% of his plate appearances.
Carlson is a switch hitter and may be used in a short-side platoon role. He has a .274/.347/.410 line against lefties in his career, compared to a .217/.298/.356 performance against righties. Conforto is a lefty bat with better career numbers against righties. Between the two, perhaps they can form a decent cover for Suzuki’s absence. When Suzuki is back, they both may lose playing time, but Carlson could still spell lefties like Michael Busch, Moisés Ballesteros and Pete Crow-Armstrong on occasion.
Kingery, 32 in April, was also in camp on a minor league deal. He has never hit much in the majors, with a career .227/.278/.382 line. He didn’t show much better during spring action, slashing .208/.345/.333. But he provides a lot of defensive versatility. He has experience at every position on the diamond except first base and catcher. He is also optionable and could be sent down the minors once Suzuki is healthy.
It should be known in about 24 hours if he gets a spot or not. Though only two teams are playing tomorrow, all teams have to submit their Opening Day rosters. There tends to be a lot of roster shuffling ahead of Opening Day as players opt out of contracts and others get squeezed off roster spots. Perhaps the Cubs will find someone they like better than Kingery to plug in. They don’t strictly need his versatility since Shaw is expected to play a multi-positional role off the bench, so perhaps they can find someone with a bit more offensive punch.
Alcántara is one of the club’s top prospects but there are concerns about his hit tool. He has been punched out in almost 30% of his plate appearances. Just now in camp, he struck out at a 32.6% pace. With the Suzuki injury, the Cubs could have given him some run in the big leagues but sending him for some more seasoning in Triple-A is also defensible.
Ideally, he’ll find some improvement in his bat to ball skills this year. He is slated to be out of options next year. The Cubs are slated to have Suzuki, Carlson, Conforto and Ian Happ all reach free agency after this season, leaving them with just Crow-Armstrong in their 2027 outfield. It would be great if Alcántara could step up and fill one of those openings but he’ll likely need to make more contact for that to be viable.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Listen to a story bout a Man called Jed………………He’s not real smart cause his brain is dead………………
unexpected development.
thankfully, this move will likely not make the post 2026 retrospective on the Cubbies. “moves that don’t matter for $200 please, Alex”
Not really, at least not in the wake of the Seiya Suzuki injury. The only real question now is who becomes the Cubs other backup infielder in addition to Matt Shaw who will also see OF duty with Suzuki on the shelf to begin the season? Will it be Scott Kingery or a new external candidate?
I assume they plan to use Shaw in RF a lot with Seiya out, otherwise they likely would have kept Alcantara on the roster. Kingery will likely assume the utility role Shaw was going to have prior to the Seiya injury.
Michael Conforto and Scott Kingery over Kevin Alcantara or Jonathon Long is insane.
Conforto = left handed
Kingery can play all over the field.
Long is a corner infielder and Alcantara is right handed.
Why? Seiya Suzuki should only be out for the minimum 10 days. Once he’s back, he assumes the majority of reps in RF. PCA and Ian Happ are the full time options in CF and LF. Kevin Alcantara needs regular reps and will only get them at AAA Iowa. His promotion will come later this season unless a more substantial OF injury occurs before that time.
U gonna be disappointed when he doesn’t start his rehab assignment til end of april…no reason to rush him back in 50 degree temperatures
It’s gonna be a shocking 70° on opening day Thursday after a morning “drizzle” at least that’s what was reported. Weather can change at a moment’s notice
Do you really believe that the Cubs will be that “cautious” during a season when they consider themselves potential World Series candidates? They’re not going to sacrifice a full month of Seiya Suzuki unless his injury truly warrants it.
The Cubs won’t want to rush him but shouldn’t baby him either. They do have a series in Tampa April 6-8 a few days after Suzuki can return from the 10-day IL. They also finish the month with a west coast trip to LA and San Diego. Suzuki could also DH a bit more if the Cubs are worried about him exacerbating his minor knee injury.
@Aaron: I don’t think it’s a matter of the Cubs wanting Alcantara to get more reps. I think they don’t see him as a future starting position player for the team. The national media assume that, but it doesn’t appear to be so. He won’t be Suzuki’s replacement in 2027. I think he will be out of the organization by season’s end, maybe by week’s end.
Long makes sense if and only if his OPS is over. 900 in Triple-A.
Its really not over Alcantara and Long. They won’t get any at bats at the major league level at this time of the year.
The real question is what two guys get DFA to make room on the roster. That is the risk in this thing. I know that revolving door is open, but not sure who is at the bottom of that list.
Steele could still go on the 60 day. There are plenty of DFA candidates in Dean, Cowles, optioned relievers, etc.
Once Seiya comes back, it’ll be interesting who gets the DFA.
Kingery O/U 60% he’s gone when Seiya returns. No rush for Seiya. Make sure he’s 100% before clearing him.
Kingery for sure the first to go. The last time he was above replacement level by either bWAR or fWAR was before the pandemic. Not to say Carlson or Conforto have a great chance at reaching their upside, but at least Carlson is young and Conforto used to be a good MLB hitter. You can’t say either of those for Kingery.
Most likely Scott Kingery assuming he gets the last utility spot ahead of opening day. Kingery (surprisingly) still has options so he won’t necessarily need to be DFA’d when jettisoned off of the roster.
Once Seiya Suzuki returns, Matt Shaw can become the primary utility infielder rather than a substantial OF depth piece. Shaw will primarily backup Nico Hoerner and Alex Bregman. When Dansby Swanson needs a breather, Hoerner will cover SS with Shaw starting at 2B.
Good luck with your two -0.7 bWAR additions. Old recycled names give old recycled results.
Typical Cubs
No mention of Chas McCormick. I presume he didn’t make the cut, although I haven’t heard anything about him.
Chas McCormick is dealing with a late spring injury that made him unavailable for an opening day roster spot.
Since I’ve yet to see any firm reports, this makes me think that Seiya’s stay on the IL is going to a little more extended than hoped.
The Kingery thing indicates that Shaw is going to see some time in the outfield as well.
IF Kingery is on the roster he’s only infield insurance until Seiya gets back and Shaw takes his solid role.
Kingery is the 26th guy on the roster. Will get less time than Brujan did last year….please.
Edit…assume the bi-monthly Cowles game will be played.
Scottie the Spring Training machine that was so impressive the Phillies stupidly handed him 4 or 5 yrs and 20-30M before playing a day in the bigs. If I was him id have retired comfortably after that. Total loser as a player
A blind person can see the Cubs are intent on scooping up an infielder who gets squeezed out by another team’s 40 man limit. Kingery surely isn’t the answer.
They need to start Carlson or Conforto over Shaw. Shaw has been brutal in RF in spring training.
Interesting how Darraugh sees Amaya as the Cubs’ second-string catcher. (Because of injuries, he has never quite penetrated the national media’s consciousness as an established starting player.)
A healthy Amaya has a significant chance to be another Willson Contreras IMO. But the health is a big if, and Kelly has been a great find.