Cubs add three players to 40-man roster |
CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs today selected the contracts of right-handed pitcher Adbert Alzolay and infielder David Bote from Double-A Tennessee, and right-handed pitcher Oscar De La Cruz from Single-A Myrtle Beach. Additionally, outfielder Jacob Hannemann has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Iowa.
Chicago’s 40-man roster now stands at 36 players. Alzolay, 22, combined to go 7-4 with a 2.99 ERA (38 ER/114.1 IP) in 22 starts last year between Myrtle Beach and Tennessee, earning mid-season Carolina League All-Star honors along the way before reaching the Double-A level for the first time in his career. He also pitched for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League and earned Rising Star status. The Venezuela native was originally signed by the Cubs as a non-roster free agent on December 6, 2012 and has gone 29-18 with a 3.30 ERA (140 ER/382.0 IP) in 81 career professional appearances, 60 as a starter, covering five minor league seasons. He went 6-2 with a 2.04 ERA (12 ER/53.0 IP) in 12 outings (three starts) with short-season Single-A Eugene in 2015 before earning mid-season Midwest League All-Star honors in 2016 with South Bend, his first full-season league, when he went 9-4 with a 4.34 ERA (58 ER/120.1 IP) in 22 appearances, 20 as a starter. Bote, 24, was named a mid-season and post-season Southern League All Star in 2017 after batting .272 (128-for-470) with 30 doubles, 14 homers and 59 RBI in 127 games with Tennessee. He posted a .353 on-base percentage and a .438 slugging percentage, good for a .791 OPS. He was also named an Arizona Fall League Rising Star after batting .333 (23-for-69) with four doubles, 14 RBI, a .395 on-base percentage, a .536 slugging percentage and a .931 OPS. The right-handed batter and thrower was selected by the Cubs in the 18th round of the 2012 Draft and is a career .262 hitter (486-for-1,855) with 117 doubles, 39 homers and 237 RBI in 547 minor league games covering the last six seasons. He is a native of Longmont, CO. De La Cruz, 22, went 4-3 with a 3.46 ERA (21 ER/54.2 IP) in 12 starts for Myrtle Beach last season. Overall, he has gone 20-10 with a 2.83 ERA (80 ER/254.2 IP) in 53 minor league appearances, all but four as a starter, covering the last five seasons. De La Cruz earned 2015 mid-season and post-season Northwest League All Star honors when he went 6-3 with a 2.84 ERA (23 ER/73.0 IP) in 13 starts with Eugene. He was limited to nine starts in 2016. The Dominican Republic native began this year ranked as the number five prospect in the Cubs’ system by Baseball America. He originally signed with the Cubs as a non-drafted free agent on October 1, 2012 as an infielder but converted to a pitcher in 2013.
