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

Glen-Done!

Butterball Rusch's days as a Cub are over, the team has released him to make room on the 40-man roster to fit in Cliff Floyd and Jeff Samardzija. There were no statements from Rusch or the team as of yet, so I'll just make some up.
"Did you see him pitch last year? My apologies to Cubs fans everywhere." (Jim Hendry) "I've fooled 4 different teams over 9 years, convincing them that I could pitch in the majors. So yes, I consider my career a success." (Glendon Rusch)
All kidding aside, best wishes on recovering from the blood clot that ended your season Glendon and I hope you continue your career with the St. Louis Cardinals one day. The fact that I defended Glendon on far too many occasions (conveniently I can't link to any of them right now as our archives are in Internet limbo) makes this move even better in my book, since he won't be around anymore to make me look bad, which I can do all by myself anway. AZ PHIL: Rusch is owed $3.25M for 2007, and the Cubs are on the hook for the entire bag of coins unless some other MLB GM chooses to sign him for the MLB minimum, in which case the Cubs will only owe Rusch $2.87M. My guess is that Rusch will sit-out the 2007 season and make sure the blood-thinner medication is working, and then maybe mount a comeback in 2008. After signing Jeff Samardzija and Cliff Floyd and adding them to the 40-man roster, the Cubs will still need to remove one more player from the 40-man roster. My guess is that player will probably be Buck Coats.

Comments

it's also possible that the Cubs worked out some sort of buyout with Rusch considering he wasn't even sure he'd pitch again.

Depends on the language in the insurance and if they took out insurance on his contract.

ROB G: Besides adding Cubster for medical analyses, I think we might also need to get an insurance guy, too.

Rob G. — January 25, 2007 @ 5:31 pm I’ll look into AZPhil, hope you don’t mind me combining the posts. =============================== ROB G: Not at all. I defer to your expertise is such matters. You do good work.

Is all the text jumbled together on your browsers? It seems suddenly that all the paragraph breaks are gone....

ROB G: Yes. There were no paragraphs for a while, they were all stuck together. But then the paragraphs came back. I think Mr. Rosage is messin' with us again.

seems to be fixed, nevermind. Gremlins, someone stop feeding Gizmo after midnight....

For the first time in awhile the 40 man roster is really fun to sort through. I agree that Buck Coates is the most likely to drop off next but if you play the game of sequence the roster in reverse order as to who goes next...it gets tougher quickly. They don't have any OF's who would go after Coates (short of a trade) Catchers: Geovany Soto would be my vote for next after Coates Infielders: I doubt they want to unload Dopirak or Scott Moore, although I was never sure Dopirak warranted a roster spot in the first place but I'd put them 3-4 after Coates and Soto. Pitchers: Wow...it's so jam packed you can't pick them apart without a shoehorn. Rapada and Cherry just got added and I can't wait to see what they show in the spring. Samardzija is on the 40 man via his contract. The rest are part of the kiddy corp we saw last yr including Mateo, Ryu, Marshall and Guzman. The only way they move space here is with a trade or a DL.

Alas, without poor Glendon to pick on, who do we have left to kick around, Captain America? I for one will miss the donut jokes.

Well there's still Hank White and Ronny Cedeno still has a shot at the team. I imagine Jason Marquis will soon become a "favorite" in no time quick.

Should have been done last year! "ROB G: Besides adding Cubster for medical analyses, I think we might also need to get an insurance guy, too." FUNNY! HA HA! Actually, in addition to the insurance guy, a financial specialist, attorney specializing in contracts, dietary consultant, golf pro, meterologist, and agronomist could all be helpful to TCR. Oh - and a shaman. For us agnostics...

Without a doubt Glendon Rusch gave the Cubs his best years, mediocre as they were. (18-18) with two winning seasons and an ERA one year under 4.00. It's not many Cub pitchers who can say that! So long Tits. I'd wish you good luck but Jim Hendry already dropped $6 on you and took care of that problem.

Who knew releasing Rusch would free up two roster spaces for svelter individuals.

Woo!!! This has been a long time coming... Who is Hendry going to eat all those all-you-can-eat buffets with. Even though he wasn't likely to pitch much this year, so far this is the third best move Hendry has done this offseason (behind resigning ARam and signing Soriano).

I never had a big problem with Rusch, other than he coming into ST looking like the michellin man's albino twin last year. I thought he was mis-used as a short man by Dusty, though. Looking at the contracts that Seattle gave that Angel's lefty, and Jason Marquis's deal, that two year deal he signed doesn't look that bad. It just didn't work out. I am not going to go all revisionist history and say I thought he would put up a 7 ERA in '06. Although Hendry got burned on Wood and Prior again in '06, I still think there are very few people who thought Williams and Rusch were going to be incapable of being mediocre ML starters last year.

"Actually, in addition to the insurance guy, a financial specialist, attorney specializing in contracts, dietary consultant, golf pro, meterologist, and agronomist could all be helpful to TCR." Dibs on the golf pro.

NEAL: But he had absolutely nothin' last year! How could you not have a problem with that? His home-run totals last year and the year before were embarrassing. He was a friggin' BP pitcher!

The Chicago Tribune reports that Rusch's salary for the 2007 will be covered by insurance. Rusch was a nice guy, even nicer when pitching for another team.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-070125c… I don't see a mention about insurance but it does say that Rusch was pretty much ruling out this year. Interesting tidbit: "He could stop taking his medication and play now, but he would have a recurrence," Tanzer said. "His plans are for 2008." Tanzer said the Cubs would be his first choice, just because they tried to keep him on the roster this season for one more year of service time toward retirement benefits. "Loyalty begets loyalty," Tanzer said. "He hopes to come [to Chicago] this spring and maybe work some in spring."

I should have said 'I never had a big problem with Rusch's contract' - I had a problem with him all last year.

Are you a golf pro, WES? My putting sux. If I could putt I'd turn pro.What do I do?

CWTP: It seems like there are quite a few pros that can't putt either! Keep the blade straight at all times, man.

Weaver to Seattle might put Redman in St. Louis. I still stand by my statement that Redman will be the best pitcher acquisition of the offseason, dollar for dollar. Dude's gonna get $2 million, maybe? That'd be half of what Jamie Walker got. Phil Nevin still needs work too - not sure he fits anywhere. Steve Finley go home.

Glendon Rusch was yet another lousy signing by the dim witted Jim Hendry. Our GM is just about the lousiest in baseball. Awful farm system, never any great or inspired trades (unless the other team is in dire economic straits and wanting to slice payroll), etc. And then what does Hendry do when all else fails? Simply opens up the wallet to free agents. God forbid how awful the Cubs would really be if Hendry didn't have a $100 million plus payroll to operate with. Good luck to Glendon Rusch. Hopefully he drops the donut habit, loses weight and makes a full recovery from a scary medical situation. He seems like a quality guy in life.

Silent Towel: "Awful farm system, never any great or inspired trades" While I agree the farm system has gone backwards pretty much every year Hendry has been GM, the Nomar trade was an inspired trade. What does surprise me is the idea that Hendry, who many, if not most, fans though should not be reupped if they didn't make the playoffs last year, firstly got an extension. But then his bosses let him spend $400 million this offseason, but very well should be on a very short rope. I can't imagine how the organization could keep Hendry on if they don't make the playoffs after all the money he spent. This is what surprises me the most they let Hendry, who should be "playing for his job" this year, spend that kind of money. I sure hope McDonough or someone at Trib tower had/has close oversight.

Good point Manny..let me ask this: If the farm system is bad, and Hendry should not have been allowed to spend $$ like he did, how exactly should he have gone about improving the team?

I think really you mean, "The farm system's position players are bad." I actually think the pitchers have been grade B or better over the last 10-15 years. Kerry Wood Prior Z Farnsworth Ohman Wuertz MArshall Veal Cherry Hill MAteo Marmol J. Cruz Bautista Plenty more, I would think. Sure, you can always bring up bad ones, but that is what happens in the minors. I'd agree other than CPat, the Minor League position players have been crap. But give the Cubs a little credit for some minor league pitching development. It is really interesting that several posters who are complaining about spending money on FA's are the same ones that were bitching about the Cubs NOT wanting to ever spend any money! You guys are really funny!

mannytrillo — January 26, 2007 @ 9:37 am This is what surprises me the most they let Hendry, who should be “playing for his job” this year, spend that kind of money. I sure hope McDonough or someone at Trib tower had/has close oversight. ------------------------------------------ Manny, I understand your point, but I for one don't get the impression that Hendry has been given free reign on FA signings, this offseason or in general. Concerning this offseason, the early meetings involving Hendry, Lou, McDonough, scouts, etc. and their offseaon plan have been referenced extensively. It seems pretty clear the front office met and came up with a list they planned on targeting aggressively. I have not read anything to the contrary that has given me the impression there wasn't very close oversight into how Hendry spent the Trib's money this winter. And in general, I've never gotten the impression that Hendry is the type of GM that comes to conclusions on his own, the rest of the front office be damned. For better or worse, it has always seemed that he has given a lot of weight to the wishes of his manager.... and the obvious change in finances post-McPhail leads one to believe that there was significant oversight from above during that time period also. Hendry is obviously the fall guy for personnel decisions, no doubt about that. But I for one have never gotten the impression there hasn't always been "close oversight" on Hendry's actions.

Dusty Baylor: "If the farm system is bad, and Hendry should not have been allowed to spend $$ like he did, how exactly should he have gone about improving the team?" Personally I don't think he should of been allowed to attempt to improve the team as I think he shouldn't of been reupped. But since he was brought back by his buddy McPhail right before he got kicked out, he should of been able to spend whatever money the Trib could give him. But like I said, I would hope McDonough or someone in the Trib tower did approve everything. I truly hope this scenerio DOES NOT happen, but i just hope if the Cubs don't make the playoffs, Hendry gets fired and than McDonough uses the excuse over the next few years that he is saddled with a high payroll. I really don't think that will happen, but it does scare me a bit.

LNL: "Hendry is obviously the fall guy for personnel decisions, no doubt about that. But I for one have never gotten the impression there hasn’t always been “close oversight” on Hendry’s actions." I agree and good point about McDonough being part of most meetings (player personnel and manager decisions). The only problem with that is McDonough is a marketing guy and not a baseball guy like MacPhail was. Hopefully we make the playoffs this year and this all becomes moot.

# mannytrillo — January 26, 2007 @ 10:56 am Hopefully we make the playoffs this year and this all becomes moot. --------------------------------- I'm agree, and if we don't, I'll be right there with ya calling for Hendry's ass to be canned.

While we're on the topic of farm system here are a few bites from a recent Oneri Fleita (Cubs Dir.Player Development) interview Dopirak - 100% healthy from ankle injury (screw still in however) R.Harvey - pleased with what he saw from Harvey in the 2nd half of last season. "Don't give up on Dopirak and Harvey....big guys with power often take longer to develop" See: D.Lee and R.Howard. Fleita is high on Jake Fox's bat, but needs to refine his catching tools. Won't hit enough for a move to 1B. Loves Samardzija's sinking FB with movement..could be in the bigs next Sept for bully work...like what the Twins did with Liriano, Cards with Wainwright etc. Pie will have a shot to break with the big club but he's a long shot at this point with the loaded OF. Wasn't detered with Pie's poor WL showing. Soriano or J.Jones would have to fail in CF. Didn't say anything about Pagan. Fleita: don't write off Blasko, Hagerty and Brownlie. "Ohman suffered 2 surgeries & missed 3 years"..."you just never know". "Guys often come back stronger". Claims the 3 aforementioned guys will start their seasons in the pen. Didn't mention that Blasko hasn't thrown a competitive pitch in 3 seasons. champions adding Ryno, Harkey, Bob Dernier(baserunning & OF instructor) and promotions for Quade, J.Davis, Carmelo.

"don’t write off Blasko, Hagerty and Brownlie" Oh, give me a fuckin' break, Fleita.

TEST...

ROB: Umm, I can't post as my usual self anymore... do I have to log in/log out every time I want to change my handle? That'd be... weird.

a lot of Cubby Kool-Aid to say the least on Fleita. Everything was ultra positive in a rather lengthy 12 minute interview. I'm rooting for Hagerty since I also spent time at BSU but if Brownlie could improve his command he would be great batting practice pitcher on the ML level.

manny: Why do I get the feeling that you'd rather see the Cubs lose 100 games and Hendry get fired than see the Cubs win the World Series? This personal vendetta of yours is getting ridiculous. And Silent Towel: No inspired trades? Seriously? Gonzo for Nomar? Choi for Lee? Bobby Hill for Aramis? Say what you will about Jimbo's FA signings, but one thing the man can do is make a good trade.

Oneri Fleita stinks. The Cubs are SO abysmal at player instruction and development that it's beyond laughable. And he has the gall to still be touting the wondrous virtues of Luke Hagerty, Bobby Brownlie, Ryan Harvey, et al? Unbelievable. Jim Hendry is a high school baseball coach masquerading as a big league GM. I don't know what Fleita is, but it ain't much better. Hopefully Tim Wilken can be the brains in the bunch.

Listen Dougie, Jim Hendry was able to pull off the D. Lee and A. Ramirez deals because Florida and Pittsburgh were desperate to shed payroll. They were good moves, but anybody with a big wallet could have pulled off those moves. My God, people still bring up the Todd Hundley salary wash trade in defense of the dim witted Hendry. Unbelievable. Kenny Williams and Terry Ryan are examples of GMs who consistently engineer quality trades with long-term benefit. Hendry can barely tie his shoes. He's awful. And just think how awful he'd really be if he didn't have an open checkbook at his disposal.

They were good moves, but anybody with a big wallet could have pulled off those moves Then why didn't they? Ramirez at the time was making $3 mil (which would be pro-rated) and jumped to $6 mil the next year, your telling me any contender at that time wouldn't make that deal? Even if they couldn't afford his 2004 salary, he'd have been easy to pawn off in the off-season.

Silent Towel: Silent Towel: Is it possible to make any more donut references or saying anyone isn't terrible. I suppose you'll change your turn when the Cubs win the division. I won't know, because I'll be skipping over your posts.

Silent Towel: It's easy to be negative. If you're proven wrong, it doesn't matter because the Cubs are winning and everyone's happy. If you're right and the Cubs suck, you get to say "I told you so." Whether or not you think the Pirates and the Marlins were in dire financial straits doesn't matter. Hendry was the GM who absolutely fleeced those teams, not Cashman, Theo, Schuerholz, or anyone else. And especially with that Pirates trade, it seems Hendry did a great job because how often do you see a team trade a guy with as much potential as Ramirez (he had already had a 35 homer season btw) to a team WITHIN their division? Anyway, I'm not so drunk on Cubbie Kool-Aid as to say they're a lock to win the World Series, or even the Central, but as a fan you've got to be somewhat optimistic. It has to just be emotionally draining to be so negative all the time, and if that's really how you feel, why bother being a fan in the first place?

"Are you a golf pro, WES? My putting sux. If I could putt I’d turn pro.What do I do?" It's all in the hips. Come on now, say it with me. It's all in the hips. You've got to go to your happy place.

dan "wow, check out the VORP on travis hafner" perry seems to be taking a season off from non-stop yanks bashing to concentrate on the cubs. another woe-is-everything jim-hendry-sucks article. evidently the cubs are also in the weakest division in baseball...and pinella "must" refrain from batting soriano lead-off...and floyd has murton's job...and kerry wood needs to be a closer to "sate his ego"...and the pitchers must get Ks cuz the OF defense sucks...and Z needs an extension cuz for some reason dan thinks he's gonna be even more valuable than he is now (though really, Z is the FA market for youth next year and his value is set now next year this time)... http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6407078

The Baseball-Reference entry for Rusch (link in the article) lists him as 6-2, 170. Maybe when he was 16.

I hope Rusch leads a healthy remainder of his life, donates part of his 2007 "salary" to what he considers a worthy charity, and stays as far away from Wrigley Field as humanly possible. If they bring him back for an ST NRI in 2008, well that's just wrong.

Man, I remember the home opener a few years back when Rusch started for the Brewers...we all, stupidly, thought that we have made the steal of the century from the Mets...then there was a time back in '05 when he actually put together a few decent starts in a row, and a few of us wondered, again, if we had given up too quickly. Well, I'm sure he's a nice guy, he did make some nice dough, and he had his 15 minutes...I could see him winding up in Midwest League ball next year....

One thing that I'd like to point out is that I've known people who take blood thinners. Once you're on them, I think it's pretty much a --rest of your life-- type thing. And people taking blood thinners aren't exactly as athletic as they used to be. It kinda saps some of your strength and speed. Even if Glendon wanted to continue his carreer, he couldn't unless he got off the blood thinners. And if he did that, he'd be risking his life with those possible blood clots. If one of those gets in your brain it's either a stroke or death. Neither is probabaly worth risking just to try to make a comeback bid. So Sayeth the God of WAR!

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.