Cubs 2025 Spring Training Newbies: How Did They Get Here?

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One of the more exciting components of players' returns to spring camp is the first image of them in their new uniform. While the updated headshot in your MLB app is nice, the arrival of the new season makes the addition more real and provides a certain layer of excitement regardless of the caliber of the player. 

Image courtesy of © Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images / © Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

The 2025 Chicago Cubs feature no shortage of new faces. While they might not have pursued the extent we would have hoped in building up the newest iteration of their roster, they addressed several areas of need and increased their depth in crucial spots. The names below represent those new names that we’ll see both on a permanent basis and for at least a spell during the spring via the non-roster invite, perhaps even later on down the line.

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Position Players

Kyle Tucker

• Acquired from the Houston Astros via trade in exchange for Hayden Wesneski, Isaac Paredes, and prospect Cam Smith.
• One of the most significant offseason acquisitions for any team, Tucker will be the Cubs’ everyday right fielder for 2025. He’ll likely hit in the two or three spots in the order, providing the catalyst this team largely lacked in recent years. No question about the role here. We’ll spend the entirety of 2025 pining for an extension.

Carson Kelly

• Acquired via free agency on a two-year contract.
• While not as impactful as the Tucker addition, Kelly was perhaps the most important add that the team needed to make this winter. In need of a competent complement to Miguel Amaya, Kelly brings strong defensive metrics and a bat coming off one of its best seasons. We’ll dive in later as to what the split will look like, but expect Kelly to see plenty of time behind the dish, even after Amaya’s second-half emergence.

Gage Workman

• Acquired from the Detroit Tigers via the Rule-5 Draft. 
• A local product (read: local to me, the Arizona State graduate who also lives in close proximity to Workman’s Basha High School), Workman isn’t guaranteed to stay in the organization for long. A former switch hitter, Workman made some offensive strides in serving as a full-time lefty last season. His value resides in his defense, though, where he could provide some important infield versatility off the bench. If he can’t hang in the spring, he could wind up back with the Tigers before the exhibition season reaches its end.

Jon Berti

• Acquired via free agency on a one-year contract. 
• In the absence of true clarity behind the starting lineup, Berti’s addition was notable late in the winter. He has experience at six different positions as a utilityman, with the potential to serve as the backup for Michael Busch at first base. While he’s never reached the base-stealing mark he set in 2022 (41), he’s still an average hitter who can be relied on for any number of positions. Unlike his other versatile counterparts in the bench mix, he’s a lock for the ’25 roster.

Vidal Bruján

• Acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays via trade in exchange for Matt Mervis & cash considerations.
• A similar skill set – and nearly identical positional splits – to that of Berti, Bruján was acquired following his being designated for assignment by the Rays. One does wonder that, given the similarity to Berti, it will combine with a lack of upside to make him something of a redundancy on the roster. If so, he may not be long for it. If someone like Workman or NRI receiver Nicky Lopez struggles throughout the spring, there’s a chance he could stick around a bit longer to cover some ground.

Nicky Lopez (NRI)

• Acquired via free agency on a minor league contract & invited to Major League camp.
• The Naperville native is an intriguing piece of the spring puzzle. On one hand, the Cubs would appear to have plenty of light-hitting, versatile infielders on more stable ground with which to work in pursuit of a roster spot. On the other, few have the experience & subsequent defensive track record of Lopez. That could give him an advantage over Workman or Bruján, especially in matters of middle infield work. 

Reese McGuire & Carlos Pérez (NRIs)

• Acquired via free agency on a minor league contract & invited to Major League camp. 
• Signed to minor league deals in December & January, respectively, the two are lumped together given the nearly identical role they were brought in for: depth. At least one of them will end up backstopping in Iowa if Amaya or Kelly sustain an injury while also providing a buffer. At the same time, each of Moises Ballesteros & Pablo Aliendo continue their development. Given that we saw the Cubs run four different catchers on their big league roster at various points last year, you can never have too much depth here. But we won’t see them at Wrigley unless it’s an emergency.

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Pitchers 

Matthew Boyd

• Acquired via free agency on a two-year contract.
• Signed very early in the offseason, the Cubs were clearly pursuing the upside play in signing Boyd. Despite middling results for most of his time as a starter in Detroit, Boyd was brilliant in his eight outings for Cleveland last season. He’ll slot into the latter portion of the rotation behind Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, and Jameson Taillon. It's pretty straightforward here.

Eli Morgan

• Acquired from the Cleveland Guardians via trade in exchange for prospect Alfonsin Rosario.
• In need of more stability out of the bullpen, the Cubs acquired just that in the former Cleveland reliever. While he outpitched his peripherals to a degree, he was brilliant in avoiding quality contact and stranding baserunners. He dealt with a pair of injury issues last year but had turned in consecutive seasons of over 60 innings in each of the two years prior. He’ll be a massive component of the relief corps this season.

Cody Poteet

• Acquired from the New York Yankees via trade in exchange for Cody Bellinger.
• The underwhelming return in what ended up being almost a pure salary dump, one wonders how much we’ll see of Poteet at Wrigley Field in 2025. More directly, one doesn’t expect to see much of it. He’s worked almost exclusively as a minor league starter for the Marlins & Yankees for his career, and the assumption is that he will continue to serve that type starting this year. He could be in for a spot start down the line, but he’s near the back of the line for starting opportunities even following early injuries to Javier Assad & Brandon Birdsell.

Colin Rea

• Acquired via free agency on a one-year contract.
• While we might’ve been hoping for someone with a bit more frontline capability as the Cubs’ other notable starting pitcher addition this winter, Rea’s skill set as a swingman will factor heavily into the 2025 team. Those early injuries could put him in line to grab some starts in April & May, with multi-inning relief appearances likely in the cards down the road.

Caleb Thielbar

• Acquired via free agency on a one-year contract.
• Facing some uncertainty from the left side of the pitcher’s mound, Thielbar had been a steady presence out of the Minnesota ‘pen for a number of years prior to posting an ERA north of five in 2024. The Cubs are banking on some command issues & batted ball luck doing him in with their infrastructure, getting him back on track for the upcoming year. He'll get plenty of looks early as one of only two left-handed relievers on the 40-man.

Ryan Pressly

• Acquired from the Houston Astros via trade in exchange for prospect Juan Bello.
• The Cubs entered the 2024-25 offseason wanting more experience at the back end of their bullpen. Pressly had recorded over 30 saves in each of the two years before Houston brought in Josh Hader before last season. There’s a bit of concern about the velocity & other peripheral factors. However, Pressly still avoids hard contact and generates plenty of groundballs for what should be a quality infield defense. Despite the presence of Porter Hodge, Pressly should get the bulk of the ninth-inning work.

Ryan Brasier

• Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers via trade in exchange for a player-to-be-named-later or cash considerations. 
• Squeezed out of the Dodgers’ crowded relief picture, the Cubs were more than happy to accommodate the arrival of Brasier following his DFA. He’s never quite gotten back to his 2021 brilliance, but his peripherals have remained consistent, and his command is effective enough that he doesn’t walk many hitters. Even with a slight dip in velocity last year, he should figure into the late-inning picture pretty regularly. 

Brandon Hughes, Ben Heller, Trevor Richards, Phil Bickford, Brad Keller, Brooks Kriske (NRIs)

• Acquired via free agency on a minor league contract & received an invite to major league camp. 
• Save Kriske; each Cubs' reclamation project spent at least some time at the big league level in 2024. Converted outfielder Brandon Hughes will be the most familiar to Cub fans since, you know, they were the ones that converted him from outfielder to pitcher. He looked like a breakout candidate in 2022 before struggling with health and performance in ’23. He pitched to an ERA over eight in 15 appearances in Arizona last season. Heller is your classic good-velo-bad-command addition, having averaged 96.3 MPH on his fastball last year. Given the presence of his secondary pitches, that would be fun to rein in. Each of Richards & Bickford are largely two-pitch guys with plenty of MLB experience to their names. The spring should give us a good indication of what the Cubs might be trying to do with this crew.

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