Piniella: Time for Theriot to induce a few more walks

Was Cubs manager Lou Piniella trying to light a fire under second baseman Ryan Theriot before Friday's 7-1 loss to the Cardinals.

It's been well documented that Theriot hasn't drawn a walk since May 1. His batting average is .294, but his on-base percentage is only .324 as he has walked only seven times while striking out 26.

"One thing for sure: He needs to get the free pass from time to time," Piniella said. "He just can't go a month getting 1 walk. That's one thing that he's got to get better at. He's not that type of player. He's the type of player who should be able to work the count, lay off bad pitches 3-2 and get walks."

Piniella spelled out what he'd like to see before invoking the name of Mike Fontenot, who was displaced from his starting job at second when Theriot moved there to make room for rookie shortstop Starlin Castro.

"Does he have to walk 25 (times) to 100 (at-bats)?" Piniella asked. "Absolutely not. He should be able to walk 10 times (in) 100 (at-bats). I'm saying be more selective, be a little more patient, work the count a little better.

"I know the longer you can wait up there and take a better look at the pitch, the better chances you have at swinging at strikes. You get anxious, you swing early in the count, the opposing team knows it too. What they'll do is throw you more borderline stuff to start the at-bat, hoping that you chase. It's a combination of things. He's got to work on that because I tell you, Fontenot's swinging the bat well, and he wants some playing time, too."

Theriot has been the good soldier about changing positions, and it'll take some doing to displace him from the starting lineup. However, his OBP was .387 in 2008 before falling to .343 last year.

"I think I'm in a good spot," said Theriot, who had a single and was hit in the chest by a pitch Friday. "You never go up there trying to draw walks. You don't want to go up there being defensive. You want to go up there and get hits. I feel like I've done a pretty good job getting hits this year and getting on base.

"One thing I don't want to be is passive at the plate. I don't want to go up there and be defensive. I want to be offensive. I want to be aggressive. Would it be good to walk more? Of course. It would be great to have 30 walks right now, but I wouldn't sacrifice 30 hits for 30 walks."