2 players who do deserve to be on the roster - 2. Jeremiah Estrada
First on the list of those who deserve a promotion and that was surprisingly left off the roster to begin the year is Cubs reliever Jeremiah Estrada. After a brilliant season in 2022 which saw Estrada climb the ladder from High-A up to the MLB with a combined 1.30 ERA in the minors across 48.1 innings, he followed up his call to the show with a 3.18 ERA in a small sample of 5.2 innings of work. So far in Triple-A Iowa this season, he has a 0.00 ERA in 2.2 frames.
Estrada has one of the brightest futures among Cubs relievers in the farm system. He will undoubtedly be back up at some point in the season, presumably upon an inevitable injury at the major league level. It would be surprising if the Cubs opted to DFA anybody so early in the season, but Estrada had no real reason why he didn't make the cut in the first place other than the Cubs' decision to sign multiple relievers.