Unlike his manager, Cubs catcher Geovany Soto(notes) knows all about the reefer.

Soto admitted to using marijuana Thursday after the International Baseball Federation announced that he tested positive for the drug while playing for Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic in March.

The positive test means Soto is banned from international competition for two years, but it has no bearing on the Major League season. The Cubs released an unsigned statement saying Soto has been drug tested regularly and this is his only offense

Before speaking with reporters after the Cubs' 6-5 loss at Detroit, Soto released a statement saying he was "embarrassed by my lapse in judgment" in riding the canni-bus.

"While I full acknowledge my inappropriate behavior, I want to assure my fans and my family that this was an isolated incident," Soto added.

Soto then downed an entire family size bag of Fritos. (OK, we can't confirm that last part.)

Last week, Lou Piniella in a discussion about performance-enhancing drugs said he didn't "know a steroid from a reefer."

What a doob. Soto, at least, is helping his manager get savvy.

The revelations come as the 2008 NL Rookie of the Year appears to be breaking out of a sophomore slump that lasted for two months. The budding superstar (get it? budding?) is slugging .589 this month and is batting .227 with six homers and 21 RBIs overall.

Perhaps his slow start was due participating in the WBC; the tournament has been blamed for slow starts and injuries to others. But was the experience so bad that Soto had to result resort to marijuana to get through it?

(Before we go, one more pot pun: Now warming up in the Cubs bullpen, Ryan Hempster!)