Soriano will bat leadoff upon return

Even though the Cubs have done well without Alfonso Soriano in the lineup, manager Lou Piniella said Tuesday it's unfair to say the Cubs haven't missed their injured left fielder.

Soriano, who is out with a strained right calf, will come off the disabled list Thursday, as scheduled. Piniella reconfirmed Soriano will play left field and lead off.

"Listen, if we hadn't been winning, they'd say, 'Boy, these guys really miss Soriano,' " Piniella said. "You can't read or listen too much. You just got to play. Yeah, it was unfair. These guys have all done a nice job here. Certainly, if Soriano had been in there, we'd be playing the same way or hopefully a little better."

In the cold weather at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, Soriano took part in all the pregame drills, including batting practice. He proclaimed his leg ready.

"I think it's 100 percent," he said. "I hope I play maybe one or two or three games and take it away from my mind and play 100 percent."

Piniella ticked off the reasons the Cubs need Soriano, despite the fact that Reed Johnson has played well in center field and left, and Mark DeRosa has filled in well in left field. The knock against Soriano is that he's not a "true leadoff hitter" because his on-base percentage is low.

The Cubs entered Tuesday second in the National League in OBP, at .367.

"Soriano gives us some power," Piniella said, noting Soriano's 33 homers last year, 14 of which came in September. "He can put runs with one swing of the bat on the board. That's what he brings. He brings speed to the equation.

"He has fun when he plays. It's a little bit infectious for us. I've been watching him. He's been swinging the bat very well in batting practice. The ball's been jumping off his bat. He's been hitting the ball to all fields."

Soriano also said that batting leadoff was more of a "comfort" issue with him than an "ego" issue.

"I'm open for anything," he said. "Lou is the manager. Wherever he wants to put me in the lineup … I like batting leadoff.

"It's not like I have to bat leadoff no matter what. It's not like that."

Jinx? What jinx?: Right fielder Kosuke Fukudome is the cover boy on the new Sports Illustrated magazine.

"I'm not quite sure of how important this is because I haven't seen the magazine, and I don't know the circulation they have," he said. "I'm not quite sure how I should feel about it."

Fukudome was told it is indeed a big deal. He also was asked if he knew of the alleged Sports Illustrated cover jinx.

"It's a lot of people who are not actually on the cover saying it's jinxed," he said. "It's actually me playing.

"I'm honored to be on the cover. About the jinx, it's what everybody else is saying, so I'll just try my best not to go into that jinx."