Chicago Cubs Promote Top Prospect to Finalize Opening Day Roster
The Chicago Cubs released their opening day roster before their game with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which included their top prospect.
The Chicago Cubs announced their opening-day roster early Tuesday morning in Japan in final preparations for the game with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The most notable move was the promotion of third baseman Matt Shaw, who will be on the 26-man roster for the game. The starting lineups had not been announced when the roster was released and reported by outlets, including the Chicago Sun-Times’ Maddie Lee.
Shaw was named the Cubs’ farm system’s player of the year, as selected by Baseball America, for his performance in 2024. For 121 games, Shaw had a slash line of.284/.379/.488/.867 with 21 home runs and 71 RBI playing at Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa.
He also played in the MLB Futures Game, which was part of the All-Star weekend.
Because Shaw was not already on the 40-man roster, the Cubs had to make a move.
To clear the 40-man roster spot for Shaw, the Cubs designated pitcher Keegan Thompson for assignment. Thompson, a four-year veteran, was 17-11 with a 3.64 ERA in 104 games (23 starts), with 225 strikeouts and 111 walks in 227.1 innings.
In a separate move, the Cubs placed pitcher Javier Assad on the 15-day injured list with an oblique strain. Lee also reported that while Taillon is on the list, he is not officially on the 26-man roster until opening day stateside due to the Tokyo Series’ unique roster rules.
Left-hander Shota Imanaga is expected to start at pitcher for the Cubs against the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Chicago Cubs 2025 Opening-Day Roster
Pitchers: Shota Imanaga, Caleb Thielbar, Ben Brown, Eli Morgan, Justin Steele, Jordan Wicks, Porter Hodge, Tyson Miller, Jameson Taillon, Colin Rea, Ryan Brasier, Ryan Pressly, Nate Pearson, Julian Merryweather.
Catchers: Miguel Amaya, Carson Kelly.
Infielders: Justin Turner, Jon Berti, Matt Shaw, Dansby Swanson, Vidal Brujan, Gage Workman, Michael Busch.
