Next stop for Soriano: Rookie League

HOUSTON - Is Alfonso Soriano coming back tonight? Probably not, but Cubs manager Lou Piniella gave it a 25 percent chance Sunday after Soriano reported feeling good after Saturday's batting-practice session.

"It's wishful thinking," Piniella said. "But put it this way: It's thinking, at least."

If the original plan holds, it's going to feel an awful lot like spring training for Soriano.

The Cubs will play the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix beginning tonight. This morning, Soriano will head to Peoria, Ariz., to play for the Cubs' Arizona Rookie League club on a rehab assignment. Peoria is across the valley from the Cubs' spring complex in Mesa.

On Tuesday, Soriano is supposed to head to Tucson to play for the Cubs' Class AAA club. If all goes well, the Cubs were talking about activating Soriano on Wednesday against the D'backs. Soriano is almost all the way back from the broken left hand he suffered June 11.

Soriano seemed all for playing tonight.

"It's great," he said. "I want to play ... I'm ready to play today. They want me do a rehab so I'm going to do a rehab and see where we go from there."

Soriano was beaming after taking batting practice Saturday.

"It felt better than the day before, because the first day I hit, on Friday, I was a little scared," he said. "But yesterday, I swung more like I was ready for the games."

DL possible for Wood: Lou Piniella said closer Kerry Wood's blister on his right index finger wasn't any better Sunday and acknowledged that the Cubs might have to put Wood on the disabled list, as early as today.

"We're coming to the point where we're going to have to come to a conclusion on this thing," Piniella said. "I'm talking about what to do. Truthfully, we see no way (Wood can pitch tonight)."

Wood hasn't pitched since July 11, so the Cubs can backdate a DL term to the 12th.

The bat switcheroo: A Japanese media member spotted something different Saturday at Kosuke Fukudome's locker: one of catcher Geovany Soto's bats.

Fukudome, who had been slumping badly, went 1-for-4 Saturday with the borrowed bat, and he doubled twice Sunday. It's noteworthy because Fukudome is picky about his own bats and very careful with them.

"He looked at my bat, and said, 'Can I try one of your bats,' " Soto said. "That's why I gave it to him."

Soto, like many Cubs, said he empathizes with Fukudome.

"Baseball is like that," Soto said. "You have your ups and downs. Just keep your downs as minimum as possible. It happens. You've just got to keep working and grinding through it."

Lou Piniella also had some advice: back off on the work.

"I talked to him today," Piniella said. "I talked to him about his workout before the game. We're not saying it's so, but I was just exploring the thought that he might be putting too much into his workouts at 2 o'clock-2:30 in the afternoon and tiring himself out some. I told him maybe we could cut it back just a little bit and see if that works."

Fukudome usually talks every day to the Japanese media, but the Cubs may want him to ease up on that, too.