I wrote a post about the Era of disposable pitchers last week, but I thought it might be fun to track where some of those pitchers are. Basically, anyone who has been DFA’d by the Cubs in 2026. I saw on MLB Trade rumors that Charlie Barnes, one of these “expendables” had just been DFA’d by the Dodgers.
| Player | Cubs Tenure | MLB games as a Cub | Current Org | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Neely | 3/30/24 – current | 6 (in 2024) | Cubs | AAA (IL) |
| Vince Velasquez | 2/3/26 – 6/30/26 | 2 | Royals | AAA |
| Yacksel Rios | 1/24/26 – 6/1/26 | 1 | LG Twins | KBO |
| Charlie Barnes | 1/26/26 – 5/9/26 | 1 | Dodgers | DFA’d |
| Corbin Martin | 1/10/26 – current | 7 | Cubs | AAA |
| Ty Blach | 5/27/26 – current | 1 | Cubs | AAA |
| Doug Nikhazy | 4/28/26 – current | 0 | Cubs | AAA |
| Luis Peralta | 5/2/26 – current | 0 | Cubs | AAA |
| Eduarniel Nunez | 6/8/26 – current | 0 | Cubs | ACL |
| Christian Roa | 5/17/26 – 7/1/26 | 0 | Astros | MLB |
| Yosver Zulueta | 6/15/26 -6/28/26 | 0 | Orioles | AAA |
| Bryse Wilson | 6/24/26 – 7/7/26 | 2 | Brewers | MLB |
| Jake Woodford | 7/4/26 – ? | 1 | Cubs | DFA’d |
*2nd stint with the Cubs
That’s 13 pitchers who have spent time on the Cubs 40-man roster, and pitched in a grand total of 15 games in 2026. And 7 of those were by Corbin Martin.
- A few (Neely, Martin, Blach, Nikhazy, Peralta and Nunez) passed through waivers and accepted demotions to the minors
- A few others have latched on with other teams in the majors (Barnes, Roa and Wilson – although Barnes was re-DFA’d)
- A few more are in the minors for other teams (Velasquez and Zulueta)
- Yacksel Rios went to Korea to play
- And Jake Woodford was just DFA’d and his status is unknown.
Cubs in 7 
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