Colvin recovering well

HOUSTON Cubs manager Mike Quade wanted Tyler Colvin to meet the team in Houston this weekend.

It wasn't possible, as Colvin is still recovering from a collapsed lung, the result of being hit with a piece of broken bat two weeks ago.

But the good news is Colvin is doing well.

"I wanted so bad to (bring) him in for this weekend, at least for the last two days," Quade said. "The doctors ruled, so we weren't able to do that. It would've been nice to have had him here for a couple days just to hang out with the guys. He was obviously a big part of this year. He'll be fine. He's going to get himself healthy."

Colvin sounded strong on the phone from his home in South Carolina.

"I feel good," he said. "I seem to get better each and every day. Right now, I feel great.

"Breathing is fine now. Once they took that tube out, the breathing got a lot better. Now it doesn't bug me to do anything, breathing wise. ... Right now it's fine, but early on it was kind of tough. I was afraid to sneeze."

Colvin suffered a collapsed lung when he was speared in the chest by a piece of Welington Castillo's broken bat as Castillo doubled to left field in Florida. Colvin was coming home from third base.

"At first, it really didn't register that it had stabbed me," he said. "It had just felt like it knocked the breath out of me. That's why I kept on going. Once I touched home, (pitcher Jeff) Samardzija said, 'Are you OK?' I was like, 'Yeah, I just got the wind knocked out of me.' He said, 'No, you're bleeding.' "

Castillo used a maple bat, the source of much controversy these days because of their tendency to send shrapnel flying when they break.

"I can't say much about it because I use maple bats," Colvin said. "I think Major league Baseball is doing a good job of reducing the number of broken bats, and I think they'll keep working on it and getting it better."

Colvin can begin light jogging now, but he has six weeks of no heaving lifting, which means no weightlifting for now.

Melvin interviews: Managerial candidate Bob Melvin has had his interview with Cubs GM Jim Hendry in Houston. Melvin previously managed the Mariners and Diamondbacks, compiling a record of 493-508.

Hendry interviewed Melvin in the fall of 2002 before he hired Dusty Baker. Melvin appeared to be Hendry's strong second choice back then.