Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

28 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 

Last updated 3-26-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 15
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Sammy Sosa Tested Positive and Why I Don't Care

There was always one brief glint of hope for Sammy Sosa to wiggle his way into the Hall of Fame and eventually get his number retired by the Cubs and that was to cover his tracks better than the other nincompoops who abused performance enhancers. Well...he didn't or so it seems.

As the union feared, the names on the list have begun to emerge. In February, Sports Illustrated reported that Rodriguez was on the 2003 list, and Rodriguez subsequently acknowledged that he had used steroids for three years. Now, Sosa’s name has been disclosed.

The lawyers who had knowledge of Sosa’s inclusion on the 2003 list did not know the substance for which Sosa tested positive. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified as discussing material that is sealed by a court order.

A lawyer for Sosa, Jay Reisinger, declined comment, as did an official with Major League Baseball.

So, there you go, if I lived in the Middle East, I'd throw a shoe at him. Of course, it's still an unsubstantiated rumor at this point and I'm sure Sosa Inc. will lawyer up and deny till he dies, but it's not like most of the population that cares about this thing didn't already think he abused, now they just have a little more ammunition. Plus, at this point what could Sosa possibly do to clear his name?

I've expressed my thoughts on Sosa numerous times on here and I harbor no ill-will towards him or his time with the Cubs. Hell, I enjoyed just about every second he spent with the Cubs. Did he cheat? Obviously and I certainly don't think the Cubs or baseball should do any future celebrating of his past accomplishments. But, I've always firmly grasped baseball's role in our society as entertainment....nothing more, and while folks wax poetic and glorify its meaning to our lives, ultimately its a damn good way to kill a couple of hours...or in my case, most of the day. This is not to justify Sosa's alleged actions or his double crossing peers, for they no doubt cheated and should be punished or ostracized accordingly. It is to merely point out that what is done is done. Everyone in baseball profited off this, no children or animals were killed during the process, and while I would certainly have preferred that the Steroid Era never occurred, I'm not gonna suddenly stop watching baseball because it did and I'm not gonna forget how much damn fun I had everytime Sosa came up to bat.

Comments

Waiting for Chad to weigh in. Didn't he say something to the effect of if the guy ever is found to be positive, he'll become his biggest hater? Maybe not, but that's what I seem to recall.

+1 Maybe not celebrating his past accomplishments per se, but I'd at least like to see his number retired in memory of his Cubdom.

Big deal People like to wax about the "good ole days" when Babe Ruth drank beer and ate hot dogs and hit homeruns. Those days are LONG gone. Today every guy in MLB is pushing the limit of supplements and vitamins, and workout regime, etc. ect. Who are we to pass judgement over which guy pushed the line 2% farther than the other guy?

Well put, Rob. I agree, I just wish those guys would shut the fuck up though like McGwire and go away. I wonder if these guys will ever be romanticized like Joe Jackson after awhile. How long after 1919 did it take for that to happen? Might never happen, but then again I don't believe the game is completely clean even now.

[ ]

In reply to by Andrew

you should have kept reading...

In recent years, evidence has come to light that casts doubt on Jackson's role in the fix. For instance, Jackson initially refused to take a payment of $5,000, only to have Lefty Williams toss it on the floor of his hotel room. Jackson then tried to tell White Sox owner Charles Comiskey about the fix, but Comiskey refused to meet with him. Also, before Jackson's grand jury testimony, team attorney Alfred Austrian coached Jackson's testimony in a manner that would be considered highly unethical even by the standards of the time, and would probably be considered criminal by today's standards. For instance, Austrian got Jackson to admit a role in the fix by pouring a large amount of whiskey down Jackson's throat. He also got the nearly illiterate Jackson to sign a waiver of immunity. Years later, the other seven players implicated in the scandal confirmed that Jackson was never at any of the meetings. Williams, for example, said that they only mentioned Jackson's name to give their plot more credibility.[10]

it being wikipedia, I'm not gonna take it too seriously, but well there it is...

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Heh, I read the title of your post but not the content. I was like 'comedy gold? Rob's losing it.' I actually think the Rangers would be all over Harden for Wood.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I doubt the Rangers would since it would make the Angels a better team.

As for the Angels, maybe....Santana's back to the DL and Escobar is going to the pen. But they are notorious for hanging on to their prospects and they need offense as much as they need pitching. They made the Teix trade last year but that's because they had Morales behind Kotchman in case Teix left via FA. Not sure if they have someone behind Wood and Figgins is a FA this year.

I could go on but i should do it on their site to be fair and I'm too lazy to register.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Not a big deal Rob but I'm aching to know what my "dumb roster moves" are since I basically advocated balancing the team with players who can actually play a variety of positions, cutting down the ridiculous number of useless pitchers in the bullpen, and making one plug-in trade until Ramirez gets back while re-organizing the lineup based on the statistical splits of the hitters. Probably the only "dumb" idea I suggested was the acquisition of Aubrey Huff, a player I mentioned because he's likely to be had for cheaply, he plays a mediocre third, first, and right field -- three positions the Cubs have had trouble keeping their players healthy enough to fill -- and he's a better hitter than, say, about 75% of the team at this juncture. While I wouldn't advocate trading for and starting Huff all year long, he might be the right player to turn to in a pinch -- and the Cubs aren't getting pinched right now, they're getting squeezed.

[ ]

In reply to by KurtEvans

If I may. Pinhead isn't going anywhere. Guzman is more valuable being used in higher leverage situations than trying to rack up the 'save stat' something that Gregg has done before and is doing decently this year. Finally, Torres, can play both middle infield positions as well as anyone else on the team, whereas Scales gets by at second. Neither of them should have a bat in their hands in any crucial situation, so why not keep the guy who can play defense? The Harden trade, is actually a good idea, if it gets us better than Wood. The rotation has shown it is just fine without Harden, unlike the offense without Ramirez.

[ ]

In reply to by KurtEvans

alright, well you asked...

First, my assumption is that since you chastized Al for calling his moves realistic and then he managed to put together a series of mostly unrealistic moves, you would follow up with a series of not only realistic but beneficial moves and not just some armchair GM'ing with little hope of execution.  If you were just playing fantasy GM with no regards if any of it is possible, then for the most part no harm done altough I disagree with a few moves...

1) Fire Lou Piniella  - Could it be done? sure...but it took Hendry two years to dump Dusty after injury-riddled seasons, he's obviously not gonna can Lou after two months and two playoff appearances and the team 3 games back in the Central and half the team being hurt over the first half. So I wouldn't call it particularly realistic.  And while I think the last few months haven't been Lou's finest hour, if you check two posts below you'll notice all the shaking up of the lineup in the world isn't going to do much if no one is hitting on the team(sans Derrek Lee). 

2) Promotions/Demotions - Besides Fox potentially, I don't see much if any impact.

I agree mostly with Fox and you already got your wish with Waddell going to the DL and I would try to find a spot in the lineup on most days. The pitching is good enough to hopefully bury his glove somewhere in an OF corner spelling Soriano, Bradley or Fukudome. 

Mathes - not sure you really want to use the majors as a testing ground if your goal with these moves is to get back in the race and solidify the bullpen. I don't know enough about what Mathes throws to guess on how good a LOOGY he would be, his splits are marginal at best,  but I think it's telling that the Cubs picked Waddell first when they easily could have picked Mathes. Plus Marshall has the LOOGY role for now and they were going with 13 pitchers because a few of the arms were "tender".

Scales - 31 yr journeyman who after his first 7 games is hitting with a .603 OPS. He's got a little pop in his bat but Miles is much better defensively and he deserves a shot to do what he was suppose to do now that he's supposedly healthy. Now Miles numbers aren't great since he got back, but I've been impressed by his D and he's hitting line drives now and we don't know how much that shoulder is bothering him.

Hart - sure, he can sit on the bench instead of Patton. The starters have pretty much going to the 7th lately, our bullpen depth isn't much of an issue along with this huge Patton hub-bub..

Heilman - Release? Bit steep don't you think...I mean what exactly makes any of the minor leaguers a sure bet to turn things around. If you just want to rebuild, better off keeping Heilman through free agency and hope he gets Type B free agent classification. 

Blanco - whatever....the best glove out of Freel, Scales and himself and the only one who can actually play SS. He'll probably get dropped when Freel is back anyway.

3)  Trades - Huff for prospects...I did miss your qualifying statement about the ownership issue the first time, but nonetheless he's owed about $4.67M on the rest of the year and the ownership situation is not gonna be resolved in the next month, so the qualifying statement is just lazy since obviously these moves are intended to be executed immediately. I mean if you're trying to bridge the gap for Ramirez, you've got about a month at most. Releasing Heilman who's owed a little less than a million would not make up the difference, even if he's picked up on waivers, which you obviously don't think he would be if you think the bullpen-challenged Indians would even sniff him in a DeRosa trade.

4) Shifts/Lineups - Guzman to closer

For the most part Gregg has done his job with good peripherals. 30 K's in 28.1 IP with 13 BB's. He has 2 blown saves with one 4-run blown save...but a dropped third strike on a very catchable ball could have saved one of those and he's steadily improved. I wasn't thrilled with the Gregg trade at first but the improving K rate is  a good indication he'll continue to be successful. 

Now Guzman's been good, but he's pitched once in the last week which makes me wonder if he's one of those tender arms and thus ill-suited for the closer role. Mostly though you're just shuffling the deck chairs as they say...as with your lineup.

You for some reason decide to bat Fox 8th against lefties while lauding that Fox is pretty much the big bat to wake up the offense.

All of this leads me to the biggest problem of your article (my comments in bold).

 

As a consequence of these moves, the Cubs would have a new manager,

(your results may vary)

a stronger lineup

(how so? you're really just guessing aren't you...because you've done nothing to substantially improve the lineup)

greater depth

(if you pulled off the magical Huff trade with your magic money)

, and fewer weak-spots in the bullpen. 

(how so? you're really just guessing out of your ass here once again)

But as much as this modest shake-up would impact the team, perhaps the biggest move they need to make is this...sell the team:

(neat, I'm sure the guys negotiating the billion dollar deal are gonna hurry this up because the fans are getting a bit tense about making trades).

Anyway, it was better than Al's, so I guess equally was too strong a word. Mostly though it suffers from your own self-inflated belief on their impact to the team and ability to actually execute them.

 

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

In my best Columbo ... Just one question: can you care to show me anywhere in the article in which I self-described my proposals as being realistic? I thought I titled it "by any means necessary," a reference to a quote first made by an extremist, and I further self-titled it a "manifesto." I don't think the Cubs will fire Lou Piniella. But I'm starting to believe they should. If you think that the promotions/demotions wouldn't have an impact, then I welcome you to continue your support of a team that's been keeping 12 to 13 relief pitchers -- several of whom have been exceptionally mediocre -- and 1-or-so backup middle infielders on a team that has been struggling desperately to find offense. The ownership deal ... eh, we'll see about that one. The lineup re-alignment: again, team struggles to find offense. Team bats offensive struggler LEADOFF. Correlation, maybe? If they don't build lineups based on splits and recent past performance than why not just draw names out of a hat? I doubt the results would be any worse than they already have been. But, that said, my "self-inflated belief on their impact to the team and ability to actually execute them..." I again return you to these lines: "by any means..." and "manifesto." Right in the title. I realize I don't come right out and say "never going to happen but..." but I'd hope it was pretty obvious. And certainly I never said "here are MY realistic ideas." Anybody who calls their ideas "realistic" are to be trusted about as much as anybody who self-describes themselves as being "genius."

[ ]

In reply to by KurtEvans

alright then, I have to admit I'm completely confused by the article then...

if it's not meant to be realistic or let's even say reasonable solutions, what were you trying to accomplish? You spend a good deal of time bashing Al's ideas, and yes, he was guilty of poor word choice and delusions of grandeur by calling them realistic, but it's just his ideas on improving the team(poor as they may have been). So you didn't use the word realistic but you use pretty strong words there so you obviously felt that you've solved the Cubs problems in a few short paragraphs.

No, the Cubs need to take dramatic action.  They need to shake the team up, to make smart, sensible moves, and they need to act soon.  Here, therefore, are my solutions to the cluster-frack of a Cubs team that we are tortured by watching every single day:


As a consequence of these moves, the Cubs would have a new manager, a stronger lineup, greater depth, and fewer weak-spots in the bullpen.  But as much as this modest shake-up would impact the team, perhaps the biggest move they need to make is this...sell the team!

if it was just you grab-assing at some ideas, fair enough, but you're just as guilty as Al (and no I'm not defending him, I never read his site) in convincing yourself that you fixed anything. If it was some brilliant piece of satire, I admit the joke was lost on me.

As for the 13 pitcher thing, it was for two days since there were obviously some "tender" arms that Lou called them. As for 12 pitchers, just about every team uses them and yeah, I'd prefer 11 and a deeper bench as a general philosphy, might as well get rid of Patton...but it's almost trivial with the way the starters have pitched. And unless Michael Wuertz is coming back through that door, I don't see how anyone in the minors is any much of an improvement.

The biggest problem with the team is that no one but D-Lee is hitting and no amount of lineup jockeying is going to fix it. When all the sides of your dice are a "1", you're going to roll snake eyes every time. Of course you should use splits and past performance, but I believe you were using mostly in-season splits, while I'd certainly measure it more heavily towards career or 3-yr splits. I mean, you've got Soriano batting 4th in your lineup, but the guy has a .395 OPS over the last month.  You've got Theriot batting leadoff and 2nd and Huff batting third and both have struggled mightily in June. Yet, you're convinced you've built a stronger lineup.

Anyway, I'm already sorry I got into it...I know in the blog world we're suppose to pretend that all our ideas are the best ideas ever and why don't the teams just listen to us...I should have just let it be.

People like to wax about the "good ole days" when Babe Ruth drank beer and ate hot dogs and hit homeruns. --- If Sosa gets in, I'd like to see the Wrigley Smokie Link wagon also get into the HOF.

I always find it hilarious that the sportwriters make the steroid HOF vote issue a matter of national concern. Fans (this fan, anyway) care about wins and losses and playoffs and championships (sob...) -- I personally think the HOF is pretty irrelevant, and think the sportscasters are wallowing in self-importance by boldly stating that they will/won't vote for McGuire et al. The HOF is important to the individual, no doubt, but, was Ryno's HOF induction a memorable moment? Nah. Games matter. Museums, not so much. Now, if they inducted the inventor of OPS, that would be different.

"(W)hile I would certainly have preferred that the Steroid Era never occurred, I'm not gonna suddenly stop watching baseball because it did and I'm not gonna forget how much damn fun I had everytime Sosa came up to bat." Perfectly said.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/columns/story?columnist=greenberg_jon… hat tip to Wrigleyville 23 for the link Dye, Aramis Ramirez, Buehrle, Lilly, Konerko This is where I probably should explain my cavemanlike methodology. To be considered, a player has to be excelling this season (although I made one exception for injury) and have a career history to back him up. Because we're ranking the players in 2009, the players who are doing well right now earn obvious weight. I asked a handful of players, some friends, one wife, a Joe Crede and one very garrulous broadcaster about their picks. None of their choices carries any weight whatsoever, but it's always nice to make friends (except for current Twins third baseman Crede, who offered a terse "I don't want to get into that," which made me think he just didn't want to be on the receiving end of a snide A.J. Pierzynski text message).

At some point, I'll write more extensively about it, but I am more convinced by the day that Greg Maddux is the best player left standing from 1980-2009 if you DQ those connected to steroids.

1. Agree w/ Rob on Ryno's induction speech... 2. Was @ Wrigley on Sammy Sosa Day; as he said on that occasion, "baseball been very, very good to" him...he doesn't get the flag flyin' o'er the park or the HOF... 3. Also agree w/ Rob about all the "damn fun" watchin' Sammy hit...I 'bout wet my pants when he cranked one deeeeep to CF in the 1st inning of the division-clincher in '03 & that game-tyin' blast in the bottom o' the 9th off UU in game 1 of the NLCS the same year & again the next night when he cracked one off the camera shed [was there for all those too]...there were many, many days when the joint emptied as soon as Sammy batted for the last time & everybody headed for the bars to guzzle some more of their own performance enhancers... 4. Funny how stories leaked about the smashed boom box & the truancy from the clubhouse on the last day of the season in ?? but it took 'til now for this to seep out into the light of day...

Soriano, Theriot, Bradley, DLee, Soto, RJohnson, Fontenot, Miles, Z vs Podsednik, Ramirez, Dye, Konerko, AJ, Anderson, Getz, Beckham, Danks --- ...Tribe 2-0 over Brewers, DeRosa solo HR (13), 3 walks and a Groundout...Gallardo vs Bowers

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.