With camp over, Piniella happy with where team's at
MESA, Ariz. -- Asking Cubs manager Lou Piniella about the upcoming season had its lighter and more serious moments Thursday.
Informed that Sports Illustrated picked the Cubs to make it to the World Series, Piniella responded: "Oh, God. They did? Let's hope that they're right. That's all I can say."
SI picked the Tigers to beat the Cubs.
"Let's hope they're right about getting to the World Series part, not the conclusion," he said.
But seriously, Piniella sounded upbeat about the Cubs as they broke camp in Arizona and headed to Las Vegas for two exhibition games with Seattle in advance of Monday's Wrigley Field opener against the Milwaukee Brewers.
"We're healthy at the end of spring training, which is important," Piniella said. "The only thing we have lingering is Scotty, the Eyre thing (reliever Scott Eyre has a bone spur in his elbow).
"The rest of the team has gotten healthy. We've started to swing the bats a little bit here at the end of spring training. I think our pitching is going to be in good shape. Defensively, I think we're going to play very well."
Various weather forecasts call for cold and rain Monday, where it figures to be chilly for the first two months. The Cubs have 33 home games in April and May.
"Hitting wise, especially if it's cold in Chicago and the wind is blowing in and everything else, we've got to put speed in the lineup as much as we can, so we'll be doing some of that early in the season," Piniella said.
Pie time: Maybe the recent signing of Reed Johnson has jump-started Felix Pie, but Pie has been hot of late. He's hitting .350 (21-for-60) with an on-base percentage of .400, and in Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Angels, he stole a couple of bases.
"The last week or so is the best stretch of baseball I've seen Felix play," Lou Piniella said. "He's playing with confidence. He's having fun. He's being aggressive. He's getting good jumps on stolen bases. He's playing the outfield well. He's swinging the bat."
Making it: Infielder Mike Fontenot seemed especially heartened to be going north with the team. Fontenot, who will be a backup infielder, made an impression on Lou Piniella early last year during a brief call-up and wound up playing in 86 games.
"A lot of us have got a chance to play and show our ability," Fontenot said. "If you do well, he (Piniella) lets you get in there and play. It's been a very good experience the last couple years. I was definitely happy. Leaving a good mark in his mind is definitely good for people. You've got to keep trying to do things like that.
"Every day, I've got to come and fight. Fight every day. Do everything you can offensively and defensively to get to the big leagues and try to stay there."
Packing them in: The Cubs drew 12,782 on Thursday in the HoHoKam finale. For the Cactus League, they drew 181,280 in Mesa, their third-largest total at new HoHoKam, which opened in 1997. The Cubs led all major-league teams in home attendance this spring.
Cubs 10, Brewers 10 (10 innings)
Cubs' record: 14-14-2
At the plate: Alfonso Soriano went 2-for-2, including his third homer. Ronny Cedeno hit his second homer, and nonroster man Micah Hoffpauir belted 2 home runs.
On the mound: Sean Marshall, now battling for a bullpen job, gave up 1 hit and 1 run in 2 innings. Marshall walked three. Tim Lahey, a Rule 5 pick who likely won't stick, allowed 1 run and 1 hit in 1 inning.
Next: The Cubs play the Mariners in Las Vegas (9:15 p.m., Channel 9, WGN 720-AM). Ted Lilly pitches for the Cubs against Carlos Silva.
-- Bruce Miles