Fielding skills have held Fox back

Jake Fox admitted to wondering what took so long. But he also said he understood the criticisms of his game.

Fox, the hot-hitting infielder-outfielder, was recalled from Class AAA Iowa on Wednesday as the Cubs made a flurry of roster moves.

In addition to Fox, they "selected" the contracts of infielder Andres Blanco and lefty reliever Jason Waddell from Iowa. To make room, they placed infielder Aaron Miles on the disabled list with a strained right shoulder and optioned infielder Bobby Scales and struggling reliever Neal Cotts to Iowa.

Fox led the minor leagues in the Triple Crown categories, with a .423 batting average, 17 home runs and 50 RBI. He had a .503 on-base percentage and an .886 slugging percentage, which combined for an OPS of 1.389.

"I think it was a concentration on being more consistent," the 26-year-old Fox said. "I've taken it one day at a time because that's always been kind of a criticism of me, is being very aggressive at the plate, not being consistent. I really want to take out the whole big picture of it and concentrate one day at a time and having good at-bats, 1 at-bat at a time, one pitch at a time."

Of course, the other big criticism of Fox is that he can't play defense. Drafted as a catcher in 2003, Fox was moved from behind the plate. He has played five positions this year. Before Wednesday's game, he took groundballs at third base.

Fox hit a key pinch double in the Cubs' 3-run eighth inning of Wednesday's victory over the Pirates. Still, manager Lou Piniella didn't seem sold on starting Fox.

"That's a toughie," Piniella said. "We'd love to have his bat in the lineup, but let's see him over there for a few more days working with Alan (coach Trammell), and I'll let Alan make that determination."

Goodbye and hello? Infielder Ryan Freel came out of Wednesday's game in the fifth inning with a strained left hamstring, an injury Lou Piniella described as a pull. That could land Freel on the DL, and because of the injury, the Cubs may bring Scales right back.

"If Scales isn't too far, he can catch a taxi back from the airport," Piniella said.

Long time coming: Left-handed reliever Jason Waddell came up looking to make his big-league debut after eight-plus seasons in the minor leagues.

After a strong spring with the Cubs as a nonroster man, Waddell went 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA at Iowa. He attributed the high ERA to one bad outing at Colorado Springs.

"They just said I opened up some eyes," Waddell, 27, said. " 'Just keep doing what you're doing, and we'll see you up here.' It turned out they were right."

Neal Cotts took the move philosophically.

"If you don't pitch well up here, that's the way it goes," he said. "I wasn't getting done, and that's the bottom line."