Cubs' notebook: Soto soaking up all he can from Kendall
PHOENIX -- As much as veteran catcher Jason Kendall would love to play, he said Tuesday he'll do all he can to help rookie Geovany Soto.
Kendall wasn't in the starting lineup for Game 1 of the National League division series against the Diamondbacks, but Lou Piniella said he'll go day by day with his starting catcher.
"I'm not hurt, but everybody wants to play," Kendall said. "If you don't want to play, you're in the wrong business. Geo's had a good month."
The best thing about Soto, according to Kendall, is that he's willing to listen and learn.
"Geo's going to be good for a long time," Kendall said. "Geo wants to learn. That's the biggest thing."
One of the reasons manager Lou Piniella started Soto over Kendall was the speed of the Arizona lineup. Kendall was 2 of 51 throwing out basestealers. Soto was 4 of 10.
"They run," Piniella said of the D-backs. "These teams that are in postseason, all of them that are in the National League, they all run. We'll put Soto in there tonight and see how it goes."
Unkind cuts: Lou Piniella said Tuesday's roster cuts were difficult. The Cubs invited all the players not part of the postseason record to be in uniform for the games.
The tough ones included outfielder Craig Monroe and catcher Henry Blanco.
"These aren't easy decisions," Piniella said. "We talked about Monroe. We talked about the third catcher. They were disappointed. It's not easy."
Marquis standing by: The plan is still for the Cubs to go with a three-man pitching rotation in the division series. That means starting pitcher Jason Marquis will come out of the bullpen. It is possible Marquis could start the fourth game, if necessary, depending on how Carlos Zambrano responds after Game 1.
"Our plans are a three-man rotation, but let's see how things go," Piniella said. "I don't have any concerns. It gives us a chance to pitch our Nos. 1 and 2 starters twice. Jason's been struggling.
"We haven't played the fourth game yet. The door might be open; I'm looking to win baseball games. We'll pitch whoever we feel is going to help us win baseball games."
Lineup changes: The Cubs will face lefty Doug Davis tonight in Game 2. Cliff Floyd started in right field against Brandon Webb Wednesday night, but look for Matt Murton there in Game 2.
Lou Piniella said he'll keep the left-handed hitting Jacque Jones in center against Davis.
Rested and ready: Lou Piniella seemed confident his in-season handling of pitchers will pay dividends in the off-season.
"Starting pitching-wise, we've watched pitch counts very carefully all summer," Piniella said. "Whenever we had an opportunity to give a pitcher and extra day, we would do that, and we staggered it pretty well.
"As far as the relievers, we look at the appearances and the number of pitches that they're throwing appearance-wise. If a pitcher in our bullpen has been used more than what we want, we'll just give him a few days off. And we've been able to do that all summer, only because we have depth. If you don't have depth, you can't do that."