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As expected, the Cubs announced further roster cuts Saturday morning, just as they did last Saturday morning:
Cubs moves this morning...
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) March 16, 2019
Optioned to Triple-A:
Norwood
Underwood
Wick
Reassigned to Minors camp:
Bergman, Carasiti, Kontos, Mekkes, Zagurski, Court, Evans, Giambrone, Short, Adduci, Arcia, Higgins
Spring field trimmed to 40.
As was the case with the previous round of cuts, none of these should surprise you at all. James Norwood and Rowan Wick will almost certainly be on the Iowa Shuttle this year. They could be joined by George Kontos, who has big-league experience, and Dakota Mekkes, who doesn’t. Both of those pitchers will likely also pitch at Iowa to begin the 2019 season.
The 40 players remaining in camp are split as follows: 23 pitchers (which includes two non-roster invitees plus right-handed pitcher Kendall Graveman, 60-day I.L.), three catchers, eight infielders (one non-roster invitee) and six outfielders (one non-roster invitee).
A reminder, just because these players have been officially “cut” from big-league camp, it doesn’t mean they might not appear in future spring games, especially with two split-squad days coming up next week (Tuesday and Friday). We might also still see Nico Hoerner and Jared Young in spring games, as they have impressed everyone including management.